Pensacola, FL: “Playing House” & Whispering Waves

After a crazy month in Florida, we finally started making our way west. We took a pit stop in Pensacola, where my uncle owns twenty acres that he uses for hunting and recreation. Guillaume and I used it for parking, and, for the first time, we got a taste of what it would feel like to park on private land.

Salies was immediately in love with the property. In the morning, we’d wake up and let her out. Most days she wouldn’t come back inside until the sunset. Never needing a leash, she was free to roam. When Guillaume and I would run around the property, she’d skip next to us. Only leaving us to chase an unsuspecting squirrel.

The property had electricity and a fire pit, which we used daily. For water we simply filled our 40 gallon fresh water tank and took quick showers (or drove a half mile to my uncle’s house). All and all, it was a functional setup. By the end of our week long stay, we had decided to purchase some land of our own one day.

Aside from “playing house” on my uncle’s acreage, Guillaume and I explored Pensacola beach one afternoon. The sand was white and clean. The water was clear and turquoise. The surf was gentle, so the beach was almost completely silent. Whispering, the waves sang their tidal song.

I could have sat there for hours with a book and an iced tea.

Back on the property, we spent our evenings catching up with family. My uncle smoked ribs one night and hosted a fish fry another! We roasted s’mores and told stories over the campfire.

One afternoon, Guillaume decided it was time for some home improvement. He added a few extra compartments to our storage staircase (something we’ve been meaning to do for awhile).

Tiny home improvement day! #morestorage #stairs #tinyhome #thgj

A post shared by Jenna | TRAVEL & TINY BLOG (@tinyhousegiantjourney) on Feb 11, 2015 at 4:04pm PST

For the cabinets you see above, Guillaume was able to salvage the hinges from an old decaying house on my uncle’s property. He simply took apart the crates and created doors with the pieces. I had a few baskets laying around that fit perfectly in the lower crate. Boom! Just like that, EXTRA STORAGE! Now.. what am I going to use it for?

New storage in our crate staircase! #ilovethem #cratestairs #tinyhome #tinyhouse #thgj

A post shared by Jenna | TRAVEL & TINY BLOG (@tinyhousegiantjourney) on Feb 11, 2015 at 4:06pm PST

As we left the property, my uncle requested that we carve our insignia into a nearby tree.  A tradition he’d like to start with family campers that come to visit. This was the best I could do:

Feeling rejuvenated from our weeklong retreat, we pulled away from the property, only to realize too late that the tree took it’s revenge on our wood stove flue…

Luckily, just the cap was damaged. An easy fix, but it’ll have to wait until we reach our next destination… where being french means something different altogether.

• Jenna