Lets Go Camping - LEAF 2006

---

---

On the road… finally… two days of loading the RV and cleaning the house but we are on the road. Of course within 5 miles of the house we hit a 90 minute delay due to an accident but it is a really different experience than in a car. Ed drove the beginning of the delay and the Garmin GPS gave us a lot of alternatives (by the way, they all worked but all had bad traffic as well). The kids were happy creating crafts and reading books. Then, Ed decided he needed a bathroom break so at the next standstill, the RV went into Park, I went into the driver’s seat, Ed went into the bathroom, and the DVD player went on. Try doing that in an SUV!

So here we are at 7:30pm pulling into the Asheville KOA East in great spirits and raring to go. Ed, the backup expert pulled us into spot A2 with our derriere overlooking a nice wide stream. The kids and I rode shotgun, which is on the back bed with the shades open when you are backing up a 27 footer, yelling keep coming keep coming, STOP!!!!

When we stopped, Jacquelyn looked at me and said “This is a pretty cool backyard. Just think Mom, we have an entire summer of having really nice backyards”. Well, that pretty much summed it up, Ed and I am going to embark on a summer of finding the coolest, prettiest, most awesome backyards for our kids.

Like old pros, we shifted into campground readiness. Ed pulling out and attaching his hoses (including the potty hose which is his job for the whole summer if I have my say), I got a fire started, the kids went exploring up and down the river which ended up in picked yellow wildflowers (which is what I told them even though my suspicions ran more to weeds). We whipped up the old staple of hot dogs, sausages, beans and corn. I pulled the chairs down to the fire pit which was by the river. We each took our plates down and Danielle looked at us and said that the food tasted better out here than at home.

We can already see the challenge of ‘just being’. After dinner, I wanted to just sit and enjoy the fire, the water, and the sound of all those trucks driving by on the highway. The kids had other ideas that involved being to cold, or to hot, or playgrounds, or inside. I simply decided to stay outside and Ed came and joined me. What I realized is that our kids don’t know how to ‘be’ any better than some of us ‘adult like’ people. They were ready to move onto the next thing but at 9pm at a campground that doesn’t have activities, just scenery, there is not much doing going on. It will be interesting to see how we all adjust to the slowing down of doing and the movement towards being. Obviously, there will be more to come on that.

And so I sit in bed with Ed, each with our own laptops, typing whatever we feel like typing. Two kids asleep about 12 feet away from us. Ed and I laughing because all of a sudden the RV starts to rock a bit and then some more, with both of us wondering what large animal might be outside trying to push us into the river but then figuring out that when the kids move around up front, it moves the RV in the back as well. My prediction for the summer: we will all learn to become powerful sleepers capable of ignoring most if not all outside stimuli in the quest for sleep.

---

Photos

Heres how the kids unload the RV
Jacquelyn and Danielle exploring 'our backyard'

The Girls
How many pictures will Ed be in this summer? hmmmm

Our Home on Wheels
As you ponder the picture, ponder 9 weeks and 10,000 plus miles.....