Welcome and hello friendly people! It’s a super gray and rainy day, keeping us from the little hike I had planned to some colorful dunes, also dubbed a mini Grand Canyon. A starting out with rainy day isn’t as terrible for me mentally as a heavy gray. It’s been a lot of raininess lately….
But it’s been busy too!! We did drop back down for easter celebrations in Pcola. We drove through Bay Minette visiting a cool playground with an active Splashpad. There’s some really nice people in that town, one of which contacted me through facebook inviting us to dinner.
I don’t know how satisfied the kids were with easter since we waited for our friends to come back from church to do an egg hunt. It wasn’t the longest wait they had for an egg hunt, though, and they found plenty of treasures. We mainly focused on non-candy things, though I did sneak some into the eggs I prepared. Otherwise, they got stickers, hair clips, googly eyes, bubbles, balloons, etc.
It was a straight backtrack on Monday morning to follow up on meeting up with Kelsey in Bay Minette. One can feel trepidation anytime one meets new people, but I feel lucky to attract amazing humans to us. Also, parking at the playground and not imposing our everything on unknown circumstances, I feel like I act pretty smart (with my mom keeping a gps track of me) walking into who knows what.
As I stated, I meet amazing humans and this family definitely counts toward that tally! We hung out amongst a plethora of stray cats that habituate the area. Kelsey was beyond hospitable, open, curious, and caring. It’s very comfortable to be around her. She’s a mom of three kids, two of which are in school. Her son is Atreyu’s age and seems to be into all of the things Atreyu enjoys. Will, the husband, is a fairly quiet dude. Very sweet and compatible with Kelsey’s vibe. I feel like we could’ve probably stayed longer, but besides not wanting to impose for too long, I am trying to get a bit of a move on out of the coastal line of the south….
So we drove to the fresh water spring to refill our water with sweet tasty water before heading east….
Now, silly me. Looking back, I vividly remember thinking about the area I should pull off on to try and refuel and recombobulate… I clicked just a pinpoint on the de soto national forest, which is great camping if you’ve sufficiently calculated the everything…..
So as I drove for some reason I just didn’t feel like stopping at the spots I thought I would or should. Like the intent of doing so didn’t quite leave. The recognition of it being the point I had viewed on the map happened. For some reason I thought that another set of good spot to stop was coming up and that by, any rate, I had put a Walmart as my destination. So color me caught of guard when the dot off the side of the highway was a dirt road forrest entrance, and not a department store. Quick scan on the map system put me enroute to Petal, MS.
It was a smaller walmart parking lot, but they allowed us to stay the night! I don’t ask, I look for signs stating no overnights allowed (no soliciting signs in aggressive placements count as such too) but if there’s other RV’s or truckers, I might ignore some signs… This Walmart was a safe spot and a quiet night.
In the morning, we headed to the laundromat where we met some kind locals and got the little load of laundry cleaned and folded with the kids assistance. They also did their homework while we were there, so it was an easy decision to reward them with a zoo visit in Hattiesburg.
Galixy is plenty pleased with her tail. We took the dogs for a little walk in the adjacent park right as it started to rain. I have a free museum marked in the area I had intended to go to, but both Walmart’s in Hattiesburg were very overnight unfriendly… disinviting if you will…. I’d already electronically explored (reconned) the area of Columbia and the mini Grand Canyon, so it felt appropriate to do that drive….
Woke up today to the lovely people from Petal reaching out. I feel honored they’ve shared us and looked us up! We’ve received a couple of electronic donations! It’s very validating and I’m SO grateful! Thank you so much for the support. Mentally and financially. It means a lot!
Especially right now I’m trying to save up for the parts to make Matilda sound(er) again. A break booster and lift fuel pump are priorities, though the oil cooler (inclusive of radiator flush) and front end (ball joints and tie rods) are very close nexts. I’m crossing my fingers that my friend, Andy, in northern Arkansas is willing and able to help me do the work. So fuel to get there is also a thing…. BUUUUUUUUUUUT! I’ve seen a beauty of a beaut of school busses allowing me to dream! of a 6 window (30-32ft) manual transmission, 7.3l idi. Those the literal specs!!! or just of reconsidering my own space management in Matilda? however the kids are always still growing and more room wouldn’t hurt….. Especially with that dream chassis, the but fits back upped over a curb into a single parking space….. I could put the bug on facing backwards…….
Humans will dream! Continue to act in the favor of the kids and their education…. Quick brag! At the zoo was an educational station manned by a couple zoo employees,. My kids zoomed right through all the everythings. The lovely ladies were visibly impressed. I was too!
I’m always second guessing myself and hoping I’m capable of doing better for these little sprouts…. I’m super human…. and by that I mean I’m a very humany human, so receiving validation is sought after. Connection is longed for……
It has momentarily stopped raining and we’re needing some ice for the fridge and drinks for the kids….
On that note, I must reitterate that we do run mainly on your kind donations and I greatly appreciate your contributions. Every little bit helps and gets us to explore just a little more of this exciting world. I accept donations via CashApp: $MatildaBugus and paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/matildabugus
If you’d like to peek at our Amazon wishlist follow the link below. We really appreciate those special wants/wishes/deferred needs finding their way to us possibly via your help! https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3LUAOP5L0M5FY?ref_=wl_share
We now have merchandise ready for you to order! Represent and support at the same time! We love these shirts and we love you! Check it out!
https://matildabugus.bigcartel.com
CashApp: $Matilda.Bugus
Venmo: available upon request.
Feel more than free to Contact me. You can establish such via the Contact Me page here on the blog, OOOOOOOORRR! get on your facebooks and join the group “Spotting Bugus” or like the Matilda Bugus Page. Also availble on Instagram, Youtube, and the TikToks.
I wish you all some sunshine, because it’s what makes me happy, so really I wish you a ray of happiness, a smile, if you so will.
A splash of grateful
As I’m grateful for you.
Matilda the Bugus 