Sunflower honey from the Ukraine

Sunflower honey from the Ukraine

Today’s honey was sunflower honey from the Ukraine. I wasn’t sure about it on my first taste — it was definitely less sweet than the clover honey I’ve been eating — but I was sold by the end of my oatmeal.

In my head, before I took this picture and realized what the real name was, I was calling it “sunshine honey.” And it’s a good day for sunshine honey, because, wow, it is cold and gray and wet and bleak outside.

I love the sound of rain on the roof of the van, but taking the dogs for their walks in cold, gray drizzle and returning to the van means wet clothes, wet jackets, wet towels everywhere. The van isn’t big enough for rainy days. And it’s actually cold enough today that I’ve closed off the cab and the bathroom to try to keep it warmer, making it feel even smaller.

An interesting irony: tea is an obvious pleasure of a cold, rainy day. Mmm, nice warm beverage to cuddle between my hands. But I usually heat water on the propane burner and I don’t use the propane without opening up the overhead vent and running the fan. Today is not the day for that. I don’t actually know what the risk is — explosion? carbon monoxide poisoning? — but I take my warning labels seriously. Fortunately, I have an induction cooktop and electricity, so tea remains an option.

I’m currently at Lake Griffin State Park, in central Florida. I’ve stayed here before, so don’t have a lot to say about it — it’s a small park, but cozy and pleasant. The sites feel more cramped and close together than the average Florida park, but there’s loads of greenery. My view right now is all palmettos, although if I turn my head, I can also see the trailer in the site next to mine. If the weather was nicer, I could rent a kayak and go out on the river for a while, which would be lovely but is totally not going to happen today. I’m not adding any more wet clothes to the pile already slowly steaming up the front.

Some of the RV blogs that I read have done end of 2017, beginning of 2018 posts: miles traveled, places stayed, money spent. Plus plans for the new year. I’m not going to do that, except to say that I came pretty close to 20,000 miles in 2017. I think I drove through 38 states, and I know I visited four different coasts — Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf, and Caribbean. Can I count the Caribbean as a coast? I think so.

As for my plans for 2018 — I’m going to watch my son graduate from college in May. I’m going to celebrate my stepmom’s birthday sometime around July, somewhere unknown, but maybe Ohio. And I’m going to write a lot of words. Apart from that, I honestly have no idea what I’m going to do or where I’m going to go. Adventures await!