Week 1 – Mercury Retrograde

I walked out of the house leaving behind everything I didn’t want to be a part of me any longer.  Its time had come and gone, there would be no grieving.

In front of me stood the future, perhaps just the near future, time would tell.  My new home was a huge white one ton dually truck and 5th wheel 35ft trailer, together way too big to be on the road in my experience!

Trying to love the uncomfortably large truck more, I named her Dharma as that was what I was searching for. My Dharma, my purpose… that’s where this journey will end someday, somewhere. The trailer got named Luna, as it was the moon I was to follow, down the road and through all her cycles and mine. Decorated with highlights of blues and greens, same as the sky and the grass, even when indoors I would be closer to the outdoor colors.  

Within my future in addition to this big rig, was my partner, friend and lover, Mike. We had been best friends and more for 2 years. He has the most loving and trusting heart to come along on this crazy ride, and I’m so thankful to have him with me.  Also, as an added bonus, all three of my dogs would be joining us on this adventure to discover the land and myself. They would offer some of the toughest but most impactful opportunities to grow and change in the first few months. Little blessings in disguise if you look hard enough. 

We picked up the trailer from the dealership the week before, gone on a one night short trip with it, did some last minute fixes like internet and new tires and parked it in front of the house.  Next step was fun, just put everything we wanted to take with us in the trailer, then on Tuesday, June 1st we handed over the keys and drove away.  The plan was to stay close to Las Vegas so I could work the last week in the office so I’d booked a spot at Lake Mead.  It was all smiles as we drove down the road, you know its the right decision when not a tear is shed after living there for 9 years. 

It’s funny how everything was so new back then.  Arriving at the campground just past Boulder City at about 4pm I found the office still open and we got our site number, rules and were led to our first spot of many more to come. It was a perfect spot with a back view of the lake, perfect to use our back patio for the first time. 

We were all prepared and had a plan on how to park.  First we would have to remove the motorcycle from the back garage then back into our spot.  As far as RV parks go (having been to several since) this parking spot was about average width and length.  It was also at an angle so no problem for Mike. The problem came in trying to remove the motorcycle WITH NO KEYS!  Couldn’t find the keys anywhere and Mike swore he’d left them back in the yard of the house.  

Well this put a huge wrench in our plans, while also reminding us to get a second key made soon!  So Mike got to practice backing the trailer in twice to that spot, unhitching both times, and he also got to drive all the way back to Vegas to get the keys he already had in his pocket. We now laugh about this, and really since we started out this trip basically on the eve of Mercury Retrograde it could have been so much worse. 

But Mercury wasn’t done with us yet… that was just day 1!

If you aren’t familiar with Mercury Retrograde it is a period of time that happens 2 or 3 times a year when it appears that the planet Mercury is moving backwards from the perspective of Earth.  Mercury is the planet associated with communication, travel and electronics, so during Mercury Retrograde it is common to have strange things happen with electronics, easy miscommunications to arise and travel plans to have obstacles or issues.  For example, my garage door opener would often not work the first couple times I’d try the button during Mercury Retrograde, but it worked fine any other time. All planets have a retrograde period but since Mercury is associated with such important daily life items it is probably the most well known and spoken of. 

After a couple nights of getting used to our new home we then took off on our first trip away from the Vegas area.  We had a spot booked in Utah for free through our RV dealership that they offer their customers.  Just a few hours drive and we arrived at the tightest spot ever with trees on both sides and permanent mobile homes too. Not to mention the asphalt had just been paved and was still soft.  

After many back and forths, tearing up all that new asphalt, we finally got into the spot.  We settled in a bit then decided to take the Harley for a drive into town.  Found a cool local biker bar for a drink then headed for dinner. This is the life of new places and adventures!

On our way back the bike started acting strange and we were about to get our next dose of Mercury Retrograde! 

By the time we hit the highway we were only able to go about 10mph and had no idea why or if we could keep going.  It was a great lesson in keeping each other calm and we just putted along, taking time to look at the beautiful sunset.

But darkness was approaching and we were afraid the bike was going to overheat as it was getting really hot.  We managed to go the full 30 miles going that slow the entire time which took forever!  During that long slow drive we realized how reliant we are on each other and no one else as we are heading out away from friends and family.  There will be no one to call to come help us out along this journey.  

Turned out the bike was in something called limp mode and Mike was able to figure out how to get it out of it and loaded back into the trailer.  A quick stop at the Harley dealership and it was all fixed up again, no harm done but some nice lessons learned.

As the final memory of this first spot away from the Vegas area, the slide cover got ripped and dented as we pulled out of the spot on the huge old tree. Felt like its way of saying don’t forget me when you’re gone.  

Next we drove to our friends’ place near Fish Lake Utah.  They have a beautiful old farmstead with horses, teepees and even a labyrinth.  We were excited to get there, now on our 5th day of RV life.  Still figuring out our rig and this new life, we arrived happy to see familiar faces and some new ones too.  

Backing in went perfectly and we began to unhook the truck. As I was lifting the trailer off the truck with the landing gear legs, all of a sudden the whole trailer dropped while I was under it! Scared me to death! Luckily the truck was still under the 5th wheel so it didn’t fall far, but it broke the pins that hold it up on the legs. Now we are stuck, no idea what to do, and I’m shaking from that moment of fear that took hold of me when the 17000lb trailer fell above my head! 

We were at the right place though!

A very handy resourceful guy worked on the farm with my friends and he came to our rescue like a super hero! He was very familiar with the landing gear mechanism and was able to confidently take it apart and even had the tools to cut us new pins!  We were so very lucky to be there and have access to him and those tools, and we were safe. 

We still use those pins manually today, almost a year later. Manual is way better than automatic mechanisms, especially when you don’t really know how they are working. 

We stayed for a few nights on the ranch and enjoyed their beautiful property, having group fires and drumming too. Even some angel pictures taken before saying our good-byes.  

As we hit the road we couldn’t help but wonder what is the next thing to come our way? What else does the Universe have in store for us?

Apparently we had learned our lessons well because there were no more mishaps during the rest of that Mercury Retrograde phase.  We often talk about it though, how each mishap could have been so much worse. They were perfectly placed to make us aware of important life lessons as we started out.  

We learned to trust each other and to keep each other and ourselves calm by realizing we are safe in this exact moment so no need to panic. Fear and panic are emotions that do not belong in our new RV nomadic life and I thank the Universe (and Mercury) for helping us learn this right out of the gate. 

Also thankful that every week since that first one has been less traumatic!