When You Find a Great Place to Stay, Stay There!

Big Bird! A lot like Birdie, but bigger, with twin beds so the dinette stays up, and more storage!

We are camping at a beautiful state park we’ve never been to before. Our initial plan was to stay here a couple of nights, then head toward Gettysburg and tour the historic sites…something I’ve always wanted to do. We sat in the sun yesterday afternoon and had lunch surrounded by falling leaves. The weather is cool with lots of puffy white clouds in the clear blue sky. We are steps from a huge lake. And, we’re tired.

Camping on a lazy Sunday afternoon!

We’ve been running around like crazy this year with SO much driving. And, here we are with this really great new camper in a really great new (to us) state park so…we decided to just stay here for a few more days. We drove around the park with the site availability map open on my cell phone and picked a beautiful site tucked in the woods. It sits far enough away from the road that the noise is minimal and it’s just a short walk to the lake. It’s a win/win, I think.

The campsite we had the last two nights. The sites are spread out and surrounded by trees.

Our truck is packed to the gills with a lot of the camping gear that came out of TOW-Wanda and Birdie. We are trying to figure out just exactly what we really NEED for the new camper and where and how to store it most efficiently. We don’t want to just throw things in this camper all willy-nilly then wonder where we put it. Staying put will give us time to do just that. And to rest and enjoy CAMPING…not just sleeping in the camper one night then moving to the next place like we did to and from Colorado.

A camp breakfast…a steaming plate of ham and eggs!

I love the fact that I’ve spent more nights sleeping in a camper this summer than I ever have…other than the time I traveled full time. Camping is “the great escape”. My dear friend Ben would beg to differ with me. He grew up farming in northeastern Colorado and spent far more nights than he would ever want to remember sleeping outside to beat the heat in a house without air conditioning or fans. Or sleeping in the hay loft. Or just outside on the ground. Camping isn’t fun to him.

The view out the big window over the kitchen!

I know it’s not fun to a lot of people. But for me? It’s like living in the children’s books featuring The Boxcar Children. It’s like my childhood fantasy of riding my bike to Canada. It’s the soothing place that helped heal my broken heart after losing Mr. Virgo. And, it’s the place my sweet Mr. FixIt and I can go to escape the workaday world of life on five acres. We only have to mow another time or two. And before long, the snow will fly and Big Bird will be tucked away for the winter in our building…hopefully! We still need to clear out a space for her.

The view out the skylight right over our heads!

But, for now…we are celebrating our “Anniversary Month”, enjoying our new treasure, and getting the rest we need. That is a gift worth it’s weight in gold!