Happy 40th Birthday to me!
Well today I joined the 4-0 club, and I gotta say, it feels fantastic! 🙂
Ben and I went up to the “big smoke” and popped into the DMV. With the issues to the title – some din at the DMV with the previous owner had put the control number in place of the VIN on the title, so when we got insurance Progressive could not give us full coverage as we’d originally paid for. When we passed emissions, they had put in the correct VIN and told us to take a photo and show it to the inspector at the DMV as that should suffice to get things rectified on the title. So down to N. Scottsdale we went, only to be told that we have to bring the RV down so that the inspector can lift the hood and look at the same plaque with the VIN as we’d taken a photo of to “verify” it… This will be an inspection that will probably last 2 mins at best. Over an hour spent at the DMV being sent from one area to another – got our exercise in today for sure – and we still have to go back with the RV. Can you say “frustrating”?!
After that, we took advantage of being in the Big Smoke and hit up our favourite Asian grocery store and stocked up on some much needed veg, TVP, spices and condiments – most items that would never see the inside of a majority of my friends pantry’s. But having grown up in Hong Kong (and traveled extensively throughout SE Asia) my tastes are a bit “funky” to most Western palates. Ben’s used to it now after 10 years of being together, although in the early days…
My birthday dinner was a strange treat of Taco Bell which we picked up on the way home. We stopped in at Walmart and Ben picked us up some So Delicious chocolate almond dipped coconut ice cream popsicle’s which was a delicious treat after our veggie Cantina burrito’s.
The best part of the day though… driving back home here. We both realised how living here the past week has resonated with us deeply. We love living out here in “the sticks”, away from the bright lights, big city noises, and pollution. We find a deep sense of peace here. We feel connected here – to the land, the desert, the brush, the wildlife… it just feels… right.
I always considered myself a “city girl” growing up in Hong Kong, but deep down I think that I have held this secret that has finally revealed itself to me. I love living out bush. I even love that we don’t have all the conveniences that we always had – like running water, flushing (unplugged) toilets in home… even houses so solid that a gust of wind, or a cat or dog running through doesn’t move a thing. I’m looking forward to moving further up north and going even deeper into the wilds. Maybe not forever, but for a break. It’s in my blood – the traveling, the staying where we want and going when we want, and visiting the big city as opposed to being eaten up by it. 
I’ve never really been one to be locked into conformity, always standing outside the box. While most of my life I’ve stood just on the fringes, I’m at a stage in my life where I’m ready to cross the line and stray way out… Just be and finally be me.
I love this life. Even with the latest “discovery” that the kitchen sink has been leaking and the shelves underneath are warped, wet, and starting to mold, just another item to add to the list of  “fix ups” (can we win the lottery now just so we can fix this thing up and get moving already?! 😉 ), but I really do love it.
Last night, Ben observed that this place really does feel like “home”. And it does, it really does.
So while my 40th birthday was sans huge party bash, or a trip to some exotic locale, or even dinner out and a movie, at the end of the day, it was truly one of the best birthday’s ever. Not because we had any extra money to spend, and what we did have went into the gas tank and groceries for a while, but because we got to come home to our beautiful home… our RV in the desert. 🙂
Bouncin' Around 