The Best Gifts Never Come Wrapped

My daughter, Kyra, and I recently traveled by car then train to spend a day together in New York City.  (It's sort of a tough place to bring your RV.)  With her six-days-a-week work schedule, we don’t get to enjoy adventures like this on a regular basis.  We did a bit of shopping, a bit of sightseeing, a bit of eating and a whole lot of walking and talking.  The photos in this post were taken with Kyra’s phone and a small point-and-shoot camera that would fit in my pocket because I didn’t want to lug my good camera around with me all day.  Big mistake.  The photos from Kyra’s phone were fine but the ones from my camera, well, not so much.  So, please overlook the horrible photos.  While many of them leave a lot to be desired, the adventure itself was excellent - New York City is a glorious destination during the holidays, especially when you share the adventure with someone you love.

When I began thinking that I wanted to extend greetings of the season to you, for some reason my mind wandered around to the gifts of the season.  And then it just sat there, contemplating.  We celebrate Christmas at our house and, yes, gifts are exchanged.  Many come in boxes with holiday paper and bows.  Some are experiences or gift cards that represent future experiences.  All are thoughtfully given and graciously received.  But what about the gifts that never come wrapped?

Grand Canyon National Park - We're Big Fans of the North Rim (National Parks Trip #2)

This post represents another installment in the series detailing the second of our three cross country National Parks camping trips with travel trailer in tow.  At the time of this trip in 2010, our son, Ryan, was 16 and our daughter, Kyra, was 11.  We were on the road for 4 weeks and 1 day.

Alan and I have been tent camping since we were married 40 years ago.  But it wasn’t until 2006 that we purchased our first travel trailer.  That first “RV summer,” Ryan was 12 and Kyra was 7, and we started out by frequenting private RV parks with amenities and activities that we felt the kids would enjoy.  It was on our first cross country National Parks camping trip in 2007 that we tested the waters of dry camping (camping without water, electric or sewer hookups) in Yellowstone National Park’s Madison Campground.  We discovered that we loved waking up in the Park surrounded by nature instead of other RVs.  The space, solitude and scenic views we experienced at Madison ignited our passion for camping in State and National Park campgrounds.  The rest, as they say, is history.

"The Four Tendencies" - An Upholder and A Questioner Square Off

Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way.  I’m not affiliated with or receiving payment from anyone – I’m just sharing my thoughts and experiences with you. 

Two years ago, New York Times best-selling author Gretchen Rubin (some of you may remember her from “The Happiness Project”) published a book called “The Four Tendencies.”  I read the book when it was first published, and just recently finished reading it for the second time.  I wish she had written it sooner.  Like back in the first decade of my marriage instead of the fourth.  That way, Alan and I could have easily avoided 478,296 repetitive disagreements and had 478,296 laughs instead.

Campfire Talk

On Veterans Day, a warm word of gratitude to all of our Veterans for serving on our behalf, and to their families for sharing their heroes with us.

I’ve been trying to come up with an appropriately descriptive title for the posts that have a little bit of everything thrown in, and I think I’ve finally settled on “Campfire Talk.”  You know how you get a really good conversation going with your camping buddies when everyone is sitting around a fire in the evening?  The talk flows seamlessly from one topic to another, everyone is engaged in it, and there’s often a lot of storytelling and laughter going on.  Those occasions are truly enjoyable for me because, most often, it’s a smaller group of people which is a lot easier on us social hermits to handle than a large group.  Trying to visit or talk with everyone in a larger group feels more like speed dating than anything else to me, and I find it more difficult to make personal connections.  Campfires have been bringing people together for centuries, and so has good conversation.  I like the relaxed feeling of a campfire chat, and enjoy the warmth of both the fire and the pleasure of the relationships I share with the friends and family members in the camp chairs around me.  So, Campfire Talk it is.

Now that I have the title of the post down, you’ll know that anytime you see the “Campfire Talk” heading, the post will have a little of this, a little of that and who knows what else.  Please note that I’m not affiliated with or receiving payment from any of the companies or organizations mentioned in this post.  I’m just sharing with you bits and pieces of what’s been on my mind lately – you know, the kind of stuff you might talk about around a campfire with fellow camping enthusiasts.  Please do feel free to throw in a comment or two, so it really is more of a conversation among friends than a college lecture!  The photos in this post were taken in 2017 along the Oregon coast, during our third cross country National Parks camping trip.  Now, on to the first official edition of Campfire Talk . . .

Bidding a Fond Farewell to this Year's Camping Season

We just closed out this year’s camping season at our family favorite – Northampton Beach Campground on Great Lake Sacandaga.  Even though we have a true four-season travel trailer, we always wind down our camping season in September or October – for a couple of reasons.  One, many of the State Parks we favor in the Northeast close down on Columbus Day weekend.  I’m sure that I could find a few private RV parks that stay open later but, since our hearts belong to the State and National Parks, giving up the spacious campsites and lovely natural views that we enjoy so much in public campgrounds just doesn’t seem worthwhile to us.  Two, in our neck of the woods, snow is not unheard of in October.  In order to settle in the Creek Side on its pad up in the back where it spends the winter months, Alan needs to back the 32’ trailer up the driveway, across the front lawn, make a corner around the birch trees, guide it through two gates and squeeze past the boat garage.  Did I mention that we live on the side of a small mountain, so it's an uphill battle for part of the way?  If you saw him pull off this maneuver, I’m betting that you’d just stand right up and start clapping.  It isn’t a feat for the faint of heart.  Once there’s snow on the ground, it becomes Mission Impossible, especially since the turn around the birch trees can be a bit slick in just rain, never mind snow.  And there’s that little embankment to worry about if you do start sliding on the turn.  While our Creek Side would allow us to enjoy winter camping, we always tuck it safely away before the first snow flies.

It was with happy hearts that we set out for Northampton Beach in early October and with heavy hearts that we returned.  (That last camping trip of the season hits me hard every time.)  But this visit was SO much better than the week we spent there in June when it rained.  Nearly.  Every.  Day.   This time around?  Delightfully sunny skies.  Nearly!  Every!  Day!

North to Alaska . . . Not!

I was going to title this post, “The Year of the Cancelled Vacations,” a phrase that Alan and I had each come up with independently of each other over the past week or so.  But it was so darn depressing that I couldn’t do it, no matter how accurate a title it was.

Right after the first of the year, I cancelled all the reservations we had for our spring trip to the southern states because we found out that our son’s long-time girlfriend would be graduating with her Master’s degree on one of the Saturdays in May we had planned to be away.  That’s one of the pitfalls of travel planning more than a year in advance.  (We ended up swapping our 2019 scheduled trip for one we were hoping to take in 2020 and it worked out just fine - more on that at another time.)  Then, in June when we had returned to our #1 favorite campground (Northampton Beach on Great Lake Sacandaga in central New York), and watched the rain come down day after day after day, we decided to cancel our fall camping plans at another State Park so that we could come back and (with good-weather luck!) have a chance at enjoying our favorite lake one last time before our camping season ended.  In my last post about the Outdoors RV Owners East Coast Rally, I noted that we almost had to cancel that trip a couple of weeks ago due to a malfunctioning trailer brake system.  All of those situations were minor bumps in the road compared to the major pothole we hit as our 40^th wedding anniversary drew near.

The 2019 Outdoors RV Owners East Coast Rally - An Excellent Adventure!

In March of 2017, Alan and I purchased our second travel trailer – a Creek Side 26RLS made by Outdoors RV Manufacturing (ORV) in La Grande, Oregon.  If you’re interested in the why and how of that whole complicated story, you can find the details in the post from March of 2018 called "Today is Our 1st Anniversary! (link HERE)  At the time we were researching our purchase, it became apparent that there was a strong sense of customer loyalty among the owners of ORV travel trailers and fifth wheels, and that this small company worked hard to remain connected with its customers. 

Every year in June, ORV hosts a get-together for the owners of its rigs at an RV Park in Eastern Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains near the ORV manufacturing facility.  While I have to admit that the setting is, indeed, beautiful, I also have to say that a round trip of more than 5,000 miles to attend a three day owners’ rally is a bit far to travel.  However, since the majority of ORV customers reside in the states of the Pacific Northwest and the provinces of western Canada, it certainly makes sense to hold the gathering out there.  But what about those of us in the eastern part of the United States who enjoy our rigs just as much as our counterparts in the west, and who would love to get together with other ORV owners to trade stories about our RVs and our travels?  Granted, there are far fewer of us in the east than in the west.  But, thanks to an ORV owner in Ohio, the Outdoors RV East Coast Rally debuted in 2018.  Sadly, Alan and I missed that inaugural event due to the ongoing construction project at a rental property.  But, with the construction project behind us, we decided we weren’t going to let 2019 slip by without making a valiant effort to attend this one!

It Was 40 Years Ago Today . . .

On September 15, 1979, two young kids said “I do” with absolutely no idea as to what really lay ahead.  Since that day, Alan and I did a lot of growing up together, made some big plans and saw them through to fruition, lost all four of our parents and brought up two amazing kids.  In between all that, we traveled a lot of miles together.  A lot.  Indeed, we’re both road trippers at heart.

National Parks Traveler - A New Addition to My List of Favorite Places!

I’m pretty sure I’ve made it obvious to readers of this blog that, while Alan and I are passionate about traveling in general, we’re particularly fond of the State and National Parks scattered throughout our beautiful country.  So I was absolutely delighted when I recently ran across National Parks Traveler, an organization dedicated to providing news about our National Parks and an extensive collection of ways to enjoy them and other public lands.

Mesa Verde National Park - A Step Back in Time (National Parks Trip #2)

This post represents another installment in the series detailing the second of our three cross country National Parks camping trips with travel trailer in tow.  At the time of this trip in 2010, our son, Ryan, was 16 and our daughter, Kyra, was 11.

When one or both parents are working, it can be difficult to build the vacation you really want to take around a limited number of days off.  It’s very true that Alan, I and our two kids could have flown to our various destinations, rented a car and booked a hotel - and there are certainly countless families that do that and have absolutely wonderful vacations.  For us, however, camping is the adventure and having all the comforts and conveniences of home tagging along behind us is just how we prefer to roll.

Luckily, by the time our second National Parks trip was in the planning stage, Alan had six weeks of vacation to work with.  (That grammatical error was just for you, Mike!)  I was working part time in the local school district, so my summers (and the kids’, of course) were free.  Once Alan’s approval came through for a four week block of time, we had a major decision to make – the same one we faced every time we started to plan a vacation.  Do we limit the stops and immerse ourselves in each one?  Or do we try to fit more in, but make the visits to each National Park shorter?  It was never an easy choice and, honestly, we would have had a great time no matter which option we chose.

Blog, Blog, Blog

The miscellaneous photos in this post are from some of the many places we’ve been to but I haven’t had the chance to document yet – and there will be plenty more to come, “Good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.”

I did it again.  When I looked back to the prior installment in the series on our second cross country National Parks camping trip, I found that it has been more than five months since my last post.  Yikes!  My intent was to document that trip on a much more regular basis but, alas, it seems like there’s always something more pressing at the top of my mind and the tip of my tongue.

"My List"

Within the past week or so, two things occurred that have given me so much food for thought that this post practically wrote itself.  First, Alan and I got into a Bucket List discussion which happens occasionally around our house.  Then, I heard an old Toby Keith song called “My List” written by Tim James and Antonina Armato that hasn’t been on the airwaves in a while.  In 2007, our kids, Ryan and Kyra, traveled on their first cross country National Parks camping trip with us.  Ryan was 13 and Kyra was 8.  When we returned, I created a DVD of photos and videos from that trip set to the music of “My List.”  (You’ll find some of them below.)  To this day, I can’t listen to that song without that DVD playing in my mind.  Memories of the trip and talk about our Bucket Lists started tumbling around in my head.  Here’s what I shook out . . .