Living Life – Page 3 – The view from the edge of our empty nest.

Why Oh, Wyoming?! Casper and Sheridan, We May Be Back!

Stops #2 and #3 in Wyoming

The road through Wyoming was unique in its beauty.

Life still happens when you are a full-time traveler. It is not a perpetual vacation. This leg of our summer of travel fun got hit with a little bit of “life”, smack in the middle of Wyoming. We had planned that the last two of our three stops in Wyoming were going to be filled with a couple of hikes, a stop at a rodeo, some downtown historic district shopping and a mix-in of a museum or two. Instead, we had to go with “Unplanned Plan B”.

“Unplanned Plan B” really ain’t so bad after all.

We did enjoy a delicious restaurant meal, but much of the rest of our time in Casper and Sheridan Wyoming ended up at home – watching movies, eating (waaay too much ice cream), crafting (I can’t wait to show you some of my recent crafts!) and catching up on household duties (yes, ya still gotta pay bills, run the biz and clean the house as a full-time traveler).

Perhaps it was something in the water, but within two days of arriving in Casper, we all started needing to stick very close to the bathroom – and I mean ALL of us. The dogs, the humans and ultimately, even the cat. At first, we thought only Calvin was having issues. Then we spent a couple of days feeling very “off”. When we thought Calvin was in the clear, we ventured out for a few hours, to do some exploring and enjoy a meal at a local steakhouse, only to come home to find that Bug also was now suffering the same fate…ALL throughout the camper. Sigh. It was then that we decided that sticking close to our RV home was our best “Unplanned Plan B”.

What, we have to go with “Unplanned Plan B”?!?!?

Welcome to Casper – where things won’t work out quite like you planned!

The drive throughout WY was exceedingly dry, but occasionally we saw refreshing water scenes like this one, on the way to Casper.

When it came time to move from Casper, north and west to Sheridan, we felt like the dogs were well enough to travel, only to discover an hour into the trip that Stencil the cat was suffering a similar fate. Worse yet, she was struck as we were driving up the highway. She became agitated and meowed and complained (not unusual for her on travel days – just about the only thing she hates about the RV life). Then the complaining paused and we smelled the distinct odor of a cat that had just had an accident in her crate. With no pull-offs or rest stops in sight, and not really sure how to safely resolve the issue and clean up the cat on the side of the highway with only a water bottle, we drove the next hour and a half with the windows down. Thankfully, it was a short travel day and Stencil settled down and found a place to rest in the back of her crate and away from her offending odor.

Bug recovered and found a way to completely relax on this travel day!

We arrived at Peter D’s RV Campground, cleaned up the cat and her crate, set up our home on wheels, and almost immediately, the hottest of the HEAT set in. It had been in the 90’s for days, but for the remainder of our stay, the effects of global warming were apparent, with record-breaking temperatures between 99 and 109 degrees for days on end. Additionally, the wildfires, still many miles away in Montana, Oregon, California were spewing a grey haze of smoke throughout Wyoming. Each day, as our pets healed, we did our best to keep the A/C running and the camper cool. The shades were pulled, a blanket was hung over the door window to reduce the sun’s impact, and we managed our electricity use to prevent any further problems (the electric capacity was being taxed since it was so hot that most folks decided to stay home each day). The smoke and heat beat out some exploration of Wyoming.

Instead of Plan A, full of fun visits and exploration, we wound up our visit to Wyoming mostly at home. The nice thing that I learned about this experience is that it was really nice (once everyone’s intestines were settled, at least). We are blessed to be living this semi-retired, traveling lifestyle. We don’t have to feel rushed or compelled to “cram it all in” to a specific timeframe. We didn’t get to see and do Wyoming like we had planned, but we can return some time and try again. Perhaps we will pass through here again this fall on the way to Denver for the Broncos-Ravens football game (that is another adventure we have in the planning stages!). Wyoming will be cooler then – and this time, we won’t drink the water.

(The fun we still had):

We were able to stop by the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Casper during our stay. Operated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the center does a great job of educating and bringing the late 1800s to life. The Platte River runs through Sheridan and is the location where the major western frontier trails converged (before Sheridan even existed). Pioneers, missionaries, Mormons, miners and explorers traveled thousands of miles, mostly on foot, through this area. Sometimes 600 wagons a DAY passed through the area. We discovered the Atlatl (AT-lat-uhl), a Native American hunting tool that aided in throwing a dart. We learned about the varied reasons for westward exploration of North America, the hardships they faced and the methods and planning that brought them success in their amazing efforts.

Always a fun hobby of mine wherever we travel, we hit a few thrift stores for some bargains, and then we enjoyed dinner date night at FireRock Steakhouse. The service was strong (thanks, Bailey) and the food was delicious. Top on the list was the Firecracker Shrimp appetizer. The French Onion Soup was the 2nd best we’ve ever had (sorry, but Dobbin House Restaurant in Gettysburg, PA has everyone beat!), and the Blue Cheese Wedge salad was PERFECT! The flavor on our steaks was amazing, and when there was a temperature problem with the main entrée dishes, they cooked it all over again and made it right. Thanks to the manager that was attentive and wanted to be sure we had a great experience. The décor was dark, appealing and BUSY!! Our cocktails were exceedingly well made.

A Club Car Martini with a cinnamon rimmed glass

We enjoy trying the beef wherever we go out west!

My DH fell into the crab cake trap – again. As native Marylanders, we know what crab cake is supposed to taste like. The lesson: stop buying “Maryland Crab Cake” from places that are NOT in Maryland! We should not be surprised that Wyoming crab cakes are not going to be as they claim.

Don’t EVER order a Maryland Crab Cake when not in Maryland! (we knew this, but instead, curiosity won the day!)

While at home, I enjoyed lots of crafting. My latest project includes a counted cross stitch that I now have about ⅓ complete. I also have been making vinyl stencils for glass etching, and as always, sending gift packages to our loved ones back east.

Most of the campgrounds where we have camped out west have been unimpressive, even disappointing (and expensive for what you get). There are MANY great campgrounds around, but we simply booked too late to get the top picks. But we were happy to find Peter D’s RV Campground. This is camping a little more like I remember it! Privately owned and exceedingly polite and helpful, our dogs enjoyed their morning walk with a visit to the camp office where owner, Peter D, would offer them a treat. The campground is spotless and meets all the basic needs (there is no pool, but I am told there is a town pool nearby). Our reservation was made with a phone call and a verbal promise that we would have a site when we arrived. No cash on hand to pay the bill? That’s okay, just bring it when you can! The laundry is spotless and includes a “take one, leave one” book nook. The dog run is large and there is a center grassy section of the campground that sports a beautiful vegetable garden (thanks so much for the squash we were sent on our way with on travel day!) and a few resident bunnies that seem very content.

These bunnies layed on their sides in the grass no matter how close we approached – they had few worries in life at Peter D’s RV Campground

The campsites are TIGHT, but that is the only criticism I could mention. With slides and awnings out, we were within six inches of our neighbors. All sites are pull-through. The cost is exceedingly reasonable ($35 per night this year in celebration of their 20th year in business) and puts all those gravel covered KOA Journey’s to shame. The location is on the edge of a residential neighborhood, close to everything, but sits below the highway in a little hollow, so the highway noise is reduced and hardly noticed. This is a terrific quick stop or even good as a stopping point for a while as you explore the Sheridan area.

Photo Credit: Sharon Nothnagel on FB Group “Grand Design Solitude Owners” (we are rig #3)

While in Sheridan we enjoyed an afternoon exploring the Trail End Mansion and learned about how a poor Texas cowboy, turned wealthy rancher, governor and senator, built and lived in this beautiful mansion. I have always been drawn to old homes, and this Flemish Revival is exquisite from the early 1900s did not disappoint..

We wandered into downtown Sheridan and shopped a few of the unique stores and admired the plentiful sculptures all around town. We ate at Just Ledoux It Saloon and Steak Out, a restaurant with a great story – honoring a man that I didn’t know of until I was intrigued by his mention on their menu. Visit here to find out about his interesting life.

We ended our evening with a couple of drinks at the historic Mint Bar, founded in 1907. Uniquely decorated, this is the place we felt like we were truly hanging with the locals. We saw some genuine modern day cowboys and felt like we almost fit in with our own western garb. One additional happy discovery in Wyoming is the price of drinks! We managed to have two whiskey’s and a glass of wine here for $17.

Since 1907 (first, the Mint Saloon and now the Mint Bar)

A feast for your eyes from top to bottom. If the walls weren’t covered in old photographs as shown here, they were covered in shingles with branding symbols burned into the wood.

Lots of taxidermy, amazing curvy and carved wood on the bar and some local humor (complete with a lady that was nearly fall down drunk before 5 pm).

Yep, and a creepy glass-enclosed Jackalope!

We left Wyoming with happy memories and a lot of excitement for our next destination – MONTANA!

Safe travels, and remember that it isn’t your plan!

Easy Questions With Complicated Answers

"Where do you live?" - Answers from the road we travel.

3 By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; 4 through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.
Proverbs 24:3-4

Sometimes it feels like we are giving a loaded answer to what is a fairly innocuous question. “Where are you from” or “Where do you live?”. We answer as succinctly and clearly as possible. “We are full time RVers. We live and travel in our RV year-round.” Then we pause for the reaction. We have gotten it all in response. Stranger, acquaintance, friend or family, it is sometimes difficult to know what reaction we will receive. It seems, however, that the reactions seem to fall into one of three different categories.

Perhaps the most surprising (and thankfully, the least common) reaction is what I call the “Trailer Trash Look”. They immediately look down upon us and the way we are choosing to live. They give us a confused stare. These are the folks that might not understand or have any experience with camping. They might not understand the amazing diversity of campers and camping styles that are found in this country. They might think that campgrounds are like run-down mobile home parks (sometimes they are). They might have prejudged (and misjudged) people that live in trailers or motorhomes as desperate, nearly homeless folks that are under/unemployed and not hardworking. They might be very “inside the box” thinkers. They might just be jerks judging our lifestyle.

How we choose to live might not be what they imagine it to be.

They are easy to handle. Simply smile, end the conversation quickly and move on. No amount of explanation or education is likely to change their opinion, and this type of person doesn’t generally want to hear it anyway.

The second type of reaction we get is the one I struggle with the most. I call it the “Green Is Not Your Color Look”. Envy shows clearly when folks’ initial response is said in a generally pleasant but slightly sarcastic tone. “I wish I could do that” or “Must be nice” or even “Well, aren’t you lucky?”. Sheesh. This lifestyle is usually a choice. It is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice in my choices. It is not simply the result of waking up rich one day. We chose this lifestyle because of its richness in experiences. My husband and I planned for this opportunity. We made financial decisions to be able to prepare for this lifestyle. We live responsibly and aware of our ongoing financial choices, following a monthly budget and sticking to it.

Our lives are about choices, and occasionally about how we react to our adversities.

I am never quite sure how to respond to people who make these comments, but for some reason I feel compelled to try. I say “Well sure, you can choose to do this lifestyle too! People of all walks of life have made it their choice”; or “It is indeed nice, thank you. I’ve been a saver my entire life, so this is the time when we can enjoy those savings”; or “Well, not lucky really, but blessed. This is something we have worked hard for, so we are really blessed to have the opportunity for these experiences.” No matter how we have responded, it seems that our message never quite connects with the commenter. They never quite hear that their limitations are usually of their own making. All of our lives are mostly about our choices, and occasionally about how we react to our adversities.

By and large, however, we get great support and enthusiasm. The most common response is true and genuine happiness and understanding for our choices. “That is amazing.”, “What an adventure.”, or “I’ve always wanted to do that!”. This response is sometimes followed by questions about our favorite places or future destinations. It is a pleasure to share with these folks. We connect with them and learn about their lives as well. Often they have had an equally interesting and different life that they are living, and we love to learn about them. We often connect on a very human level, appreciating our differences and enjoying the time learning about our amazingly diverse world.

By and large, we receive great support and enthusiasm about our nomadic lifestyle.

Regardless of people’s reaction to our life in a 350 square foot trailer and a truck, people usually want to know what it is like for us. They want to understand the day-to-day – the good, the bad and the ugly of it all. What is hard for us? Why are we doing this at all?

People can understand and usually even guess the harder parts. These are the things that stop many others from living this lifestyle for very long, or from trying it at all. You are separated from your friends and loved ones by many miles and often many months. You must eliminate most of your personal items, by either selling them, giving them away or storing them out of reach (often at a great cost). You must live a life of greater solitude (if you are single) or of less alone time (if you are part of a couple), or of very limited personal space (if you are part of an RVing family). These can be the tougher parts of FT RVing.

Learning to live in a smaller space requires a coziness that can be fun, but that also leaves you searching for your own personal space. Here, the “dining table” becomes an office and craft room.

The galley kitchen is fully functional, but a complete “open concept” with the “living room” and “dining room”.

The sofa in the “living room” gives a small bit of “personal space” to our doggos on a daily basis.

Andrew and I have found ways to work through these challenges. We recognize that every so often, we will be returning to our “hometown base” of Maryland and Pennsylvania to see our families – including our mothers, siblings and children. We need that time and they need that time. Life goes on and there will always be graduations, illnesses, marriages, births and even deaths to draw us together. We just work these things into our travels – expected or unplanned, we know they will happen.

We also always leave an open-ended invitation to our friends and loved ones to visit with us. When passing through a certain state, we have met with new and old friends along the way. When visiting a fabulous place, our kids and sometimes our close friends will fly in for a visit/vacation. Because of our nomadic ways, these visits must be planned out, but it really is not much different than millions of families around the globe that live far apart from their loved ones for a lifetime.

We love when our loved ones visit us! Here, two of Andrew’s kids stopped by Colorado for a visit, including a Colorado Rockies game!

My baby, Ella, cooks up some Thanksgiving dinner with us on Tybee Island, Georgia.

Shedding our home was a difficult process that was also very easy in the end. Selling a home that you love or leaving a town that you feel a part of can be a challenge. Ultimately, we have found that the simplicity of life is a positive outcome to our loss of possessions. Having no yard work, property taxes, utility bills and large capital and maintenance projects frees up our finances to create experiences and feel little stress when the kitchen sink springs a leak (yes, those things still happen in a tiny home on wheels).

It took many months of Facebook Marketplace sales, yard sales and donation trips to our local non-profit thrift store to shed us of nearly all our personal belongings.

WHY? So why do we do this full-time RVing thing? Why do we choose to live apart from loved ones and friends? Why do we choose to shed our treasured belongings and live in such a small space? The reasons are many:

Meeting diverse people: The gift of camping in this lifestyle we choose is that we DO meet many kinds of people. They are varied and different from us in many ways. If we still lived in our little neighborhood where our “sticks and bricks” home was located, we would meet mostly people that were similar to us demographically. But because we meet new neighbors weekly, we meet people that come from much more varied walks of life. Campers, we have found, come from very different geographic, familial, financial, political, ethnic, racial and career backgrounds.

This Native American display at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science was a great way to show the diversity of people and lives that we have met while traveling the country.

In South Carolina, we met a traveling couple and their three furry family members, complete with a motorcycle sidecar that allowed the entire family to camp and motorbike around the country. Both Mike and Jean were retired from really interesting careers in horse racing, with Mike being part of a world class, hall of fame horse training family and Jean being a thoroughbred rider. He shared interesting stories of growing up while rubbing elbows with Hollywood stars like singer Burt Bacharach, actress Angie Dickinson and many others, with dinner parties, hosted by his mother, being the norm for their family.

In Florida, we met Doris, a single 89 year old full-time RVer who had recently downsized to a 25 foot class C camper. She retired from her traveling jewelry sales career (also in an RV) and declined the opportunity to move in with her daughter. Instead, she spends her free time as a daytrader and self-described youtube fanatic, following other full-time RVers she meets along the way.

We have met camping families that homeschool their children with experiences and discipline. We have met a lesbian couple that travel and blog their way through their adventures and chronic illness, entertaining and helping others along the way. We have met those that are our political polar opposites, and yet, we enjoyed a campfire together. We enjoyed meeting the retired couple in their 70s that were RVing for the first time, making a cross-country trek in their Class B camper to visit their daughter in Washington state.

This interesting neighbor, whom I met Thanksgiving weekend, purchsed this military surplus equipment at auction and converted it into a unique way of camping.

The ways all these “neighbors” we meet travel and live are all very different – seasonal snowbirds, workampers, weekend warriors, location independent full-time employees, traditional 65+ retirees, young risk-takers that fund their travels with an entrepreneurial online presence and yes, even those that are struggling financially and hanging on to whatever stability they can find while living in an RV in a stationary location. We have enjoyed meeting them all.

This globe-trotting traveler was going to circumvent the WORLD in his Unimog before Covid converted his trip to an exploration of the USA.

Embracing a more minimalist life: This benefit of FT RVing wasn’t one of our initial goals, but it has been an unexpected enjoyable outcome. We have grown to enjoy a smaller, more casual wardrobe (we usually wear the same five outfits weekly). We cook simple, (generally) healthy meals a few times a week instead of daily, and we enjoy the extra time to slow down our pace. Most urges to acquire material things are shifted to our loved ones – we love sending care packages of objects found in our travels to those we miss back east. We have left the race to build a career, to have a beautiful home, to drive a nice car. Instead, we have less “stuff” – part time work, just enough to support our lifestyle, a tiny home on wheels with no mortgage payment and one vehicle that is our shared mode of transportation. In exchange, we have more experiences that we value far more than the items we have removed from our lives.

We are more glampers than these minimalist retro campers that we saw in the Casey KOA (Illinois). but no matter how small or big your rig, minimalism is a necessity of life. When something new comes into the rig, something else must leave.

Having incredible life experiences – By and large, THIS is what most people are excited about, and I really must agree. The romance of travel and the beauty of our country is what we were drawn to and what many others we meet think about when we first tell them where we live. The sunsets are indeed a little different in every place we settle for a while. The animals are diverse and interesting – from the swamps to the sandy beaches to the mountains. The really cool things we try are so numerous we will never be able to get through the entire list. But even the simple everyday events of exploring a new thrift shop, shopping at a newly discovered farm market, or chatting with a shopkeeper in a newly discovered little downtown – even in these simple life moments we make discoveries and are amazed by the world around us.

The sunrises and sunsets are indeed a little different in every place we settle for a while. This beautiful sunrise in Myrtle Beach, SC, like all of them, is courtesy of our good and gracious God.

The animals are diverse and interesting – these large turtles lived among us in our central Florida campground.

The Sand Hill Cranes mate for life, dance for joy, and are among the most interesting we lived among while wintering in Florida.

After falling in love and then living three decades apart, and then while we each went through some of the most difficult years of our lives separately, we focused on our children, and simply “getting through” the tough years. When we rekindled our lost relationship, we were finally able to look ahead to the day when life could again be beautiful and full of love. As our children became young adults, our obligations and roles changed, and we were able to instead focus on our life together as a couple. Full-time RVing became a way to quickly reinvent our lives, to step away from past pain, and see what life had in store for us in this next phase of life – finally celebrating “our time”.

Andrew’s surprise 50th birthday party (four years ago) – about the time that we started to actively plan for “our time”, to begin in July 2020.

We are Andrew and Tina, husband and wife FT RVers, living in our 36 foot fifth wheel trailer, traveling the country with our two dogs and a cat, missing our loved ones, and living a very blessed life.

Home Sweet Home – at a Harvest Hosts stop near Leavenworth, KS

1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Corinthians 5:1

Some Of The Best Experiences In Life Happen When You Just “Go With The Flow”.

John 7:38 ESV “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

The Schmidt Party of Nine – L to R – Jonathan, Ellie, Sarah, Andrew, Tina, Abby, Patrick, Christy and Ben

Several months ago as we were planning our visit to some of the western states in our RV, my husband, Andrew, talked about a couple of bucket list items of his brother’s that were in the area where we would be traveling. Included on Patrick’s list was seeing Brit Floyd (a Pink Floyd cover band) in concert at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre in Colorado. He also wanted to attempt to climb Grays Peak, the “easiest” of the state’s “14-ers” (fourteen-ers), which is any mountain at least 14,000 feet tall.

We checked out the event schedule at Red Rocks. Lo and behold, Patrick’s bucket list band was playing this summer! Seeing it as a great opportunity to visit with his brother, Andrew asked Patrick, “Are you in”? The beginning of an unexpected lifetime adventure was suddenly evolving and we didn’t even realize it.

Patrick and his family bought concert tickets and airline tickets. We bought concert tickets and booked a campground nearby. Andrew’s three children heard about what we were doing for that leg of the trip and decided to come along as well. More plane tickets, more concert tickets!

Bucket List – A panoramic view of Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Morrison, Colorado

The phrase “going with the flow”, infers change and flexibility. Of the “Schmidt Party of Nine”, none of us except Patrick had ever seen or knew much of anything about Red Rocks or Grays Peak, but for some reason, we were all excited and ALL IN! As trip planning proceeded, we devoured videos of climbers and concert-goers. We became very excited and immediately realized that we might also be a bit unprepared! We purchased bear spray, trekking poles and began shopping for very outdoorsy backpacks that were capable of holding hydration packs. We crafted emails to the kids, helping to prepare them for what was ahead for us. We heard more and more information from Patrick and learned about things we might encounter such as altitude sickness and the legalities of marijuana. We ventured further into our excitement and completely became fans of Patrick’s bucket list items!

As our post-Covid world began to open, we were disappointed to discover that the concert date was postponed (the band was likely moving on to a larger venue for our June visit) and in that instant, Brit Floyd at Red Rocks was yanked out of reach for us. The great part about this bad news? Everyone still wanted to make the trip to Colorado! We pivoted and decided that we should still go to Red Rocks, as our research and Patrick had by now told us all that the fabulous venue had to offer – museum, a hall of fame, miles of trails, yoga, movies and more.

So this week, the idea sparked by Patrick came to be. The spark that was further fanned by his generous sharing of information and enthusiasm absolutely CHANGED THE LIVES of all nine of us, aged 19 to 54. We saw and experienced beauty and inspiration like we have never before seen and felt.

This experience of a lifetime began with Patrick’s enthusiasm for two very specific goals.

It is safe to say that we are all so grateful that we decided to go with the flow and jump on the new experiences that Patrick wanted to experience. His goals became our shared goals.

At Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Park, we hiked a challenging 1.5 mile trail that helped reality set in for what we were to experience the following day on Grays Peak. The beauty was overwhelming. The merging of natural rock formations with man-made architecture was incredible. The altitude affected our breathing. Our muscles burned in the hot Colorado sun even at only 6,500 feet. We felt first-hand how conscious hydration and calorie replacement is a real thing. We toured the museum and music hall of fame, bought souvenirs in the gift shop and every one of us vowed that we would return some day to see a concert here (and Patrick ended up seeing the replacement band at the venue the next night).

We went to bed early that night, each of us feeling some anxiety for the mountain ahead of us. We awoke at 1 am to make the drive to meet Patrick and his family at the base of the mountain parking area at 4 am. The stars shone like never before. We all could feel the nerves in our guts and the chill of the suddenly 40 degree mountain air.

4:04 am, June 11, 2021 – before dawn, adrenaline pumping in the cold air and darkness. feeling underprepared but thrilled.

As the sun was just starting to rise, we hiked the bridge over the river of melting snow and began our ascent, ready or not. The trip to the top of Grays Peak is 4.5 miles and is one of the most popular mountain hikes in the state. The youngest in our group quickly were able to pull out ahead of us, not affected as much by the thin air and having the advantage of less weight and more fitness in their bodies.

Arms outstretched, Abby strikes a pose that many of us struck over two days – an attempt to show appreciation for the overwhelming vastness of beauty we were encountering as the sun rose.

At times I had to stop and catch my breath every 10 steps. This first third of our ascent was the most difficult for me, and I grew angry at how difficult it was (I had lost 15 pounds in anticipation of the hike, but grumbled at myself for having not lost 30!). “What on earth had Patrick gotten us into!?” I thought to myself. This was where the battle was mental as much as physical.

We slowly stepped toward the approaching sunshine, step-by-painful-step.

Mercifully, after about a mile or so into the hike, as we entered the valley between two mountains, the ascent became more gradual and the views more glorious than could even be imagined. My lungs began to acclimate to the lack of oxygen and as I watched the time and distance progress on my Fitbit, I could sense my progress and my attitude improving.

Our group of nine began thinning out, and Patrick, Sarah, Andrew and I gave the kids their desired “go-ahead” to move on at their own pace and said a silent prayer that they would make good choices in what truly could be a dangerous place. After that point, we didn’t see Patrick and his wife Sarah again, who had settled into a location slightly behind us as they adjusted to perhaps more-than-expected altitude nausea and unbeknownst to us at the time, a catastrophic boot failure that forced their return to our vehicles.

Go ahead – go as far as you can go! We will do the same.

At some point, Christy, Andrew’s oldest, had decided to reverse direction and left the “youngsters” and turned back to the “old folks”, worried both about her next steps on the snow-covered and increasingly difficult trail they had encountered, and about her parents lagging behind. As we met each other, she was both surprised and pleased to see us, not really believing that we were still attempting the difficult climb. Renewed in spirit, she joined Andrew and me for the rest of our hike, and passed that spot that had caused her initial retreat, conquering fears and growing in personal strength at the same time.

Cell service had long ago disappeared before we even reached the parking lot, but as we entered the second mile of our ascent, we rose above the tree line and suddenly our phones could “see” the cell towers and began to allow all the texts and pent up phone data to come through. We received a text from one of the kids – “If you can see this – we are almost to the top!”. We were inspired to do our best and push our personal limits.

Another hour or so into our uphill battle, we saw the approaching image of Ben and Abby, Andrew’s middle and youngest children, returning down the mountain and amazed to see us. We discovered that they had not quite made it to the top. Their obstacle was a ledge of ice in what was becoming increasingly high winds that began just as the most challenging mountainside switchback section of the trail began. They made an attempt and decided that safety would be their choice this time. Patrick and Sarah’s children, Jonathan and continued on, eventually becoming the only two of our group that would complete the full ascent.

Abby and Ben returning toward us – excited about their accomplishments.

Seemingly in disbelief when they see Andrew, Christy and me – still making our ascent.

Andrew and I (along with Ben) eventually arrived at the same location where Ben and Abby had decided to turn around an hour earlier. We took our first sit-down rest of the day and watched as other hikers slowly moved across the narrow trail of ice, now melting into a sometimes more treacherous slushy snow. Grown adults, some trying to hug the wall of snow above them or crouch low to the ground to avoid slipping into the long slope below them slowly and methodically crept across the part of the path we could see before the first switchback.

The photos don’t effectively show the challenge these hikers had traversing the beginning of the switchbacks.

The slope, the ice, the snow, the loose rocks – the factors that helped us make a decision as to when our ascent was completed for the day.

We seriously contemplated whether or not we might make an attempt, but witnessed (and photographed) too much struggle with more prepared, fit and younger hikers than us. It was ultimately a very satisfying and easy decision. The mountain had not actually defeated our aging bodies. Our fear had not won out over our desire to make it to the summit. We simply decided that this was how far we should go today. We had achieved something far beyond what we had expected and were proud of all of us.

Andrew attempted a phone call to our nephew, Jonathan who we expected might be at the top by now and the call went through! He and his sister had made it to the top, all 14,278 feet, representing a victory that our entire group felt and shared with them. Jonathan is an experienced and savvy outdoorsman, and he volunteered that this trek was “hardcore” for him. At one point, he even helped in the rescue of a man that was stuck on the mountainside.

We were thrilled for Jonathan and Ellie and even more satisfied that we had made the right decision to turn back down the mountain. At this point, three miles and 11,111 steps in, perhaps at about 13,000 feet, we realized that our adventure on this mountain was only half over.

With the decision made to start our decent, we were able to savor the journey that much more. Ben was often able to “get ahead” of us, and then take a seat for a while to enjoy the views of this peaceful place until we caught up with him.

As the adrenaline finally began to ease, our muscles began to ache. The use of our muscles changed as well, and the need for agility on a downward hike became mission critical. The sun was now shining on our hard working bodies and we continued to shed our layers. We stopped more frequently to simply stand and savor the views. The three of us, Ben, Andrew and I, caught up with others – first Christy and then Abby, and not a mile from the end of our day, even Jonathan and Elie caught up with us and passed us, no doubt happy to return to their mom and dad to tell them of their incredible feat.

All smiles as we savor our accomplishment – and only halfway through our day’s adventure!

Our group once again growing, we carefully made our way back down the mountain.

Exactly 7 ½ hours from the beginning of our adventure, all nine of us were finally all together again, with smiles and cheers and hugs all around. It was just after noon. We had crammed quite a bit of adventure into our morning. Along the way, we touched lives with some amazing people. Two young boys, perhaps 8 and 10, with their dad, passed us on the way up and on the way down the mountain. Several hikers with large backpacks that included skis and poles passed us, then skied down from the summit, and when the snow ended, hiked the rest of the way, passing us once again. Young adults in the best shape of their lives zipped past us, wished us “Good Morning” and gave us words of encouragement. Dogs of all varieties were living a great dog’s life and looking incredibly happy, one even carrying his own backpack, no doubt filled with his food and water. We were even passed along our descent by an ultra-marathoner and his dog that were literally running down the mountain.

There is nothing like a little mountain hike to reconnect with siblings.

Through all of it, we learned that hikers are an incredibly supportive and positive group. They taught us that the victory isn’t necessarily at the top of the mountain, but in your own personal challenges and hard work, and your arrival at that place where you can say to yourself “I am so blessed to be able to do this and so proud of what I achieved today,” THAT is when you celebrate great victories.

We made it – no injuries – and only tears of happiness.

To say the photos don’t do the views justice would be a gross understatement. These are views that will make you cry (some of us did). These are places that if you stand quietly, you can hear God speak to you, simply because you are that much closer to heaven. These are experiences of places and people and animals and plants that will inspire you and become a part of your soul – changing your DNA while fully absorbing the experience.

Thanks so much Patrick, from all of us. I aim to go with the flow more often because I have been reminded that joining an adventure with others that I never even knew I wanted can bring inspiration, achievement and love of life into my world better than anything already on my bucket list.

Isaiah 40:3-4
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged
places a plain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bonus photos: We explored Morrison, Colorado in the afternoon of our visit to Red Rocks, where Schmidt Party of Nine enjoyed a meal together. It is also at a nearby wings shop where Christy and Ben tried “Rocky Mountain Oysters”, a unique “delicacy” of bull testicles. An acquired taste, for sure.

Boulder Beer Shake (chocolately), in Morrison, Colorado

A last minute addition to Ben and Christy’s bucket lists – check and check!

More Bonus Photos: Straight from the Denver airport, we wasted no time discovering Colorado, with a stop at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, where we spotted, Mule Deer, White Tail Deer, Prarie Dogs, Bison and one VERY large rabbit!

Now I Understand The Magical Redemption of Baseball

Baseball is a lot more than a sport – and now I understand that more fully.

For a couple of weeks in February 2021, my DH and I are exploring Sarasota, Florida and attending five Orioles Spring Training baseball games. It is a leg on our FT RVing journey, long ago planned. We also had plans for a return visit to Orioles Dream Week as well, but Covid cancelled the program this year, much like a lot of the world’s big plans.

Spring Training 2021 at Ed Smith Stadium was a walk down memory lane to Orioles Dream Week 2017

Orioles Dream Week is a weeklong program whereby Orioles fans become players for a week, immersed in professional baseball facilities, alongside former MLB players, and two baseball games a day, as players in the game they love.

Andrew has enough baseball knowledge in his head to fill an encyclopedia. He KNOWS the game, its history and it is a part of his soul! I, on the other hand, know just about nothing about ALL sports! Instead, I enjoy the human side of sports – I love the stories, the traditions and the atmosphere. So a few visits to Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota this month have been a series of terrific date nights for us, that is also a “coming home” of sorts, where we get to reflect and remember our first trip to the area in 2017. Below is a little story I wrote about our experiences at Orioles Dream Week, that are still so darn true for our life! Enjoy.

The activities for Orioles Dream Week were held at the Orioles Minor League facilities at Buck O’Neil Complex at Twin Lakes Park and their Major League facilities at Ed Smith Stadium.

Baseball is more than a sport. I finally understand that. It transcends from sport and moves into being something about life. But in 50 years, I never understood that until now.

As newlyweds, my husband, Andrew, and I went to an Orioles game last summer celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the 1966 World Series-winning team, there were a dozen aging former professional players that visited the park and were introduced to the fans. The announcer rattled off each player’s most important baseball statistics and achievements in their career. And before their names were ever spoken, just hearing the introductions, my baseball-almanac-sweetheart named the player and proudly told me how that player impacted his life by sharing some special memory of the era. “I played baseball with Billy Hunter at his camp when I was a kid”, he said. Or “Wow, my dad and I watched him play”, or “That guy helped teach me how to hit a ball”.

The history of baseball lives inside Andrew’s head and heart, and is on display everywhere at the beautiful Ed Smith Stadium.

All these decades later, Andrew’s youth was reflected back to me in the memories of his direct and indirect baseball experiences with the Baltimore Orioles. So I had a feeling that his participation in Orioles Dream Week would be important to him, but I didn’t fully understand how or why exactly, until we went there. Despite knowing Andrew since childhood, dating and loving him in high school, despite our lives each taking left turns when we parted ways at my graduation, and despite reconnecting 30 years later and finally marrying, it wasn’t until Orioles Dream Week that it finally all made sense to me. It took me 50 years and a trip to Sarasota, Florida to understand it. That is the magic that baseball can have on a person.

Orioles Dream Week, for us, connected some missing links in our lives…the connection between baseball and love; between choices and life. It certainly doesn’t take on this meaning for all players and fans, perhaps not even for a lot of them, but for us, Orioles Dream Week helped us better understand the mistakes we made and the regrets we have because of them. We must all accept the results of our actions, but Orioles Dream Week helped us face them – and conquer them.

At our hotel on the beach in Sarasota during Dream Week (which was not as nice as it could have been, as we learned first hand what it was like to experience Red Tide durig our stay.

Dream Week began on a flight with a large group of fellow passengers, all conspicuously dressed in orange fan shirts, O’s baseball caps and smiles that made you forget it was 6:00 am on a Sunday. With whispers that Tippy Martinez was on board with us, and chatter with new-found friends, we arrived at the Buck O’Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park, the minor league spring training fields of the Baltimore Orioles. The players, ages 30 – 84, were immediately led to the locker room to suit up and get ready for warm-ups and drills, while family members traveling along (aka fans) were shown their way to the cafeteria, a place that would be our home base for the next week.

The cafeteria was our “home base” all week, enjoying breakfast and lunch each day, the hilarious morning meeting, and was a cool and quiet place to relax during a break from the games. Here, the MLB players line up in front before a raucus crowd of baseball lovers.

That moment when my husband walked out of the locker room on that first day of camp was a tremendous rush of emotion. He was wearing the uniform that he always wanted to wear – the Orioles, and his name and “our number” were emblazoned on the back. That proud boyish smile in my wonderful 49 year old husband’s face was what I had hoped for and dreaded for all these many months of preparation. It was the first of countless moments he and I would experience in the next week while in Sarasota, Florida.

The moment when he stepped out of the locker in his official Orioles uniform was priceless and wonderful. The smaile says it all.

Orioles Dream Week was absolutely magical for him, for me, and I believe for the other players and coaches on his team. He and I would get a taste of what baseball might have been for us, had we communicated better and tried a little harder to hold onto our passions; had we stuck with baseball and each other.

All week I would cheer him on in a series of games while he was managed and coached by former major league players that had successfully taken baseball to the next level. It was a thrill to watch him play again and see the joy it brought everyone on the field and in the stands. Through challenges and successes on the field, Andy would be able to test his mettle and learn just how much of what he had was the natural talent that God gave him, how much of it was practice and hard work, and how much of it still remained after decades of baseball as only a spectator. We would also forge new relationships with other baseball fans, each with their own unique story that brought them to Orioles Dream Week.

There was the player that fought back from both a heart attack and a severe bone break to be a return player. He brought along his wife, who consistently rooted him on with his own cheer that became so popular among the team that they too would spell out the chant “R-U-S-S, Russ, Russ, Russ” every time he came up to bat. There was the player that found Dream Week to be such an inspiration that he has returned many times and maintains a blog about his trips to help others understand how it can be a life experience not to be missed.

There was the wife, who not only surprised her 73 year old husband with the trip, but then further surprised him by bringing their two sons to play baseball right alongside their father all week in Florida. There was the retired fellow that had been a lifelong fan of baseball and the Orioles, but had never once played the game before arriving at camp. And there was the quiet team member whom we learned very little about until late in the week at the team dinner. It was then that he shared the importance of Dream Week to him, as a challenge to further himself, battling Parkinson’s disease following a varied, interesting and successful career in two branches of the military, in business and as a newlywed starting off a new chapter in his life.

“Sammy’s Studs”, as it were, following their game at Ed Smith Stadium.

Perhaps the most inspirational impact of all was that of the retired professional players that acted as our team’s coach and manager. Glenn Gulliver and Sammy Stewart worked together so smoothly and made the week so much fun, while at the same time sharing their amazing talents with team members looking to play the best baseball they could play. They filled the team with kindness, humor, comradery and stories of their experiences that gave every player a personal inside historical tour of baseball.

Glenn was the calming voice of reason between the two. He pitched all fourteen innings (seven innings each for our team and our opponents) of the traditional “coach pitch” Wednesday game (and then played a round of golf that evening). He quietly talked to Sammy about which player might be best placed in what position on the field and chatted comfortably with the team members.

Coach and Manager, Glen Gulliver and Sammy Stewart olayed to win, but to also make it a memorable and fun week. They were the special ingredients that made this a very special ife moment.

While at the same time, Sammy shouted out hilarious and colorful advice from the dugout in his gravelly voice, teasing anyone in his path, becoming the glue that brought the team together. Having already faced tremendous heartache and difficulty in his life, it seems that baseball has been a rudder to help steer Sammy through all the trials and thrills of his life. Sharing that passion and honesty with this newly formed “band of baseball brothers” was invaluable to us all.

The first night began with the team draft, where our fates for the week were decided with a good meal and lots of laughter.

Sammy Stewart, Andrew Schmidt, Glen Gulliver

The genuine and heartfelt natures of our coach and manager allowed the team to be amazed by the players they were, while at the same time become friends with the wonderful men those ballplayers have become. Somewhere right in the middle of those games, between the wrapped hamstrings and ice-packs on pitching arms, the banquets and bull sessions, the meals and long days in the warm January sunshine, baseball began to heal us. The naturally occurring wounds of living life as a flawed human being faded a bit each inning that week. Baseball became redemptive as Andy and I realized that there were no guarantees of what life would have been like had he – and I – and baseball all stayed together all these years.

We will always regret that we didn’t face all of life’s challenges together. We will always regret that we didn’t try “one more time” to get what we both wanted. But because of Dream Week, he once again played the game he has always loved and I was there to love it with him. It was both exciting and bittersweet. Life may not be exactly what we wanted it to be, but is still better than we thought it could ever be. Love and baseball go hand in hand. In fact, Orioles Dream Week has reminded us just how blessed we are to be at this place and this time.

Living the dream at Orioles Dream Week, 2017

Safe travels – and keep trying to get life right, because God doesn’t count you out after three strikes!

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How Covid and FT RVing Showed Us New Ways To Share The Love

In my family of origin, there were a lot of little details that were “traditions” we cherished during holidays throughout the year. At Easter, we Holmstrom’s took the obligatory photos dressed in our Sunday finest and with our baskets at our feet. At Thanksgiving, the dressing and sauerkraut played just as important a role as the turkey. Finally, Christmas morning gift opening always began with all four of us kids piled in our parent’s king-sized bed, digging through the stockings that Santa left before we explored what he left under the tree. Much of the rest – the bigger components that fill in a holiday experience, would be altered a bit each year to meet changing family member’s needs – varying locations, attendees and menus. We treasured it all, but we weren’t very prone to consistency.

My brother, Steve and me, visiting Granny and Pop-pop (maternal grandparents) in Baltimore, MD in 1970.

Granny (Albertina Heming) and my mom (Diane) in 1968. That mid-century modern silver tree is a holiday detail that has survived and was used for many years through my own parent’s retirement.

My husband’s experience was a bit different. Many aspects of the holidays were a re-creation of the year prior – decorations, menu, guests and celebratory details were a great annual tradition. Change was eschewed, conceding to it only when absolutely necessary. The Schmidt family traditions run deep and long and are equally treasured.

*Every big holiday in the Schmidt family included a visit to Grammy’s house (and many times for my family as well, but that is a blog post for another day).* Here is Andrew at Grammy’s house for Christmas in 1967.

When Andrew and his brother started their own families, the tradition continued. Here is Abby (Andrew’s youngest), Grammy (his paternal grandmother), his neice Elia, and MomMom (his maternal grandmother), all dressed up for a Christmas visit.

As adults, we each continued our “holiday styles” in a similar manner, with my holidays moving with the ebb and flow of family member geography, the growing up of me and my three siblings, the loss of grandparents, the start of marriages and the birth of grandchildren. Andrew’s experience was a bit more steadfast and certain. Despite many of the same family changes over time, his family endeavored each year to keep every holiday the same at its’ core. Each style seemed to work for each of us….and then we got married! Cue the David Bowie music…”Cha-cha-cha-changes!”

When we married in 2015, holidays became a new conglomeration of step-siblings, new step-cousins, and a mix of guests that varied with each holiday and each year. With my family moving form PA to MD, and the sort-of blending of two households, the holiday table looked a little different each year. This photo shows the “kid table” at Thanksgiving, circa 2017.

We always tried to lasso a few of our kiddos each year to celebrate in different ways – this was the day in 2019 we got a small group of us together to pick our Christmas tree – with Ben (Andrew’s son), and Chris (Christy’s best guy).

So when we declared our full-time RVing plans and as Coronavirus descended upon our world, it quickly became apparent that our big holidays were going to be much different for a while. And so far, different they have been! Initially, I had one goal in mind – to make sure our kids all had a place to spend and enjoy each holiday no matter where we were in our RV.

We also intended to find enticing travel locations that might create a holiday option for any of our six children to visit if they wanted. Even though all our kids are now young adults, it was important to me that each of our kids had some holiday options. Despite all the intentions and planning, we realized much of it was beyond our control.

The inability to travel during a pandemic created a quiet heartache as treasured holiday time with our loved ones was relegated to texts, phone, and video calls. I have learned that Covid had a far greater impact on holidays than full-time RVing ever would. I expect to miss seeing most of my loved ones when I travel. But there is an added level of sadness when I know my stationary-living loved ones also cannot see and do most of the things they would like to do to celebrate.

These are the types of holidays that everyone around the world misses – a gathering of generations and households. This was Thanksgiving 2016, the last that we enjoyed celebrating with all of our parents. Fathers and fathers-in-law have since passed, placing another change upon us that we wish we didn’t have to face.

So as we wrap up a year of Covid holidays and six months of living on the road, I am grateful for whatever time I can get with my loved ones. Brief visits with Ella, my college-student-youngest did happen – masks on and hugs withheld, before she had to return to her new “school home” in Gainesville, FL to work her part-time job at Walmart. It has become clear that holiday familiarity is suspended for a while as everyone’s adult responsibilities, Coronavirus, and our geographic distance take their toll on our family, like so many others.

It was our thought that our other children and parents, all currently based out of Maryland and Pennsylvania, would have family members nearby to give them a “holiday home”. Unfortunately, with Covid, that couldn’t always happen. My two older kids both work every day in high-Covid-risk food service environments, so Covid really prevented them from being able to do much holiday visiting at all, in an effort to keep other more Covid-vulnerable relatives safe. Instead, my oldest, Adalie, delivered Thanksgiving dinner from her place of employment to her brother, Lorne, since they both worked through the extended Thanksgiving weekend. Lorne made a pumpkin pie and visited a local friend’s family. They had recently lost their son/brother and it was important to him to help fill their holiday with some happiness.

Andrew’s children each varied their own plans slightly, knowing that we could not all be together this year. Christy was moving into a new apartment and kept busy with her boyfriend and his family. Ben and Abby, still living at their mother’s home, had a place for a more traditional, albeit, smaller Thanksgiving.

Our mothers each had perhaps the most challenging Thanksgiving celebrations of all of us. My mom spent her first Thanksgiving as a widow, having just moved out of her home of 55 years – and into her own adorable in-law suite in my sister and brother-in-law’s home. My mother-in-law spent her first Thanksgiving ever without anyone else at the table. Our moms enjoyed meals provided by our siblings, but the holiday differences most certainly were the dominant theme. We all did our best exchanging calls, texts and special flower deliveries, but watching all these changes unfold was certainly the most difficult part of the holiday to navigate.

Easter 2020 was a Covid-bust – with a full lockdown and stay-at-home order in MD, so we were bound and determined to make Thanksgiving on the road special in whatever way we could. Here, Andrew and I walk the beach with Ella on Thanksgiving Day in Tybee Island, GA.

Our Thanksgiving had some really nice moments despite all the limitations. Andrew and Ella and I enjoyed a pot-luck meal hosted by the campground where we were staying, so I was able to cook our favorite dishes, without having the full load of a turkey and a dozen side dishes. We ate at a picnic table at our campsite, with a tablescape of seashells, pine cones and mini pumpkins. Instead of hosting 15 – 20 guests, our family-of-three walked off our meal on the beach of Tybee Island, GA on a warm afternoon, exchanging “Happy Thanksgiving” greetings with strangers instead of our parents and most of our children, all of whom we missed dearly.

A Thanksgiving 2020 freast for three- safely outdoors, with our feet in the sand, at Rivers End Campground, Tybee Island, GA

Where the Savannah River meets the Atlantic Ocean at sunset. Sometimes different can be great, and at the same time, you miss your people even more.

Christmas was a repeat of a similar scenario. We met Ella at a campground on the gulf panhandle in Carrabelle Beach, FL for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was a treat that included long walks on the pure white sand, collecting seashells and walking the dogs. I made many of Ella’s favorite meals and put all my “Mom efforts” into her, unable to host or dote on any other kids or parents. Facetime and Zoom meetings replaced a trip to someone’s house for a day-long visit. Gifts were mailed, with a hope, but little expectation that the USPS was going to deliver in time. It was quiet. It was relaxing. It was still lovely. But It was very, very different.

Christmas tree hunting was a trip to Goodwill, and decorating took only about an hour in our tiny RV home. But something about the twinkling lights helped give us the warmth of Christmas even when we missed nearly all of our loved ones.

Even a visit by one is better than a visit by none (she still needs to practice her mask-wearing as part of her adulting lessons). What we lacked in wrapping paper for gifts (as shown in photo), we made up for with shipping packages of love to those we missed.

I filled my 2020 “Mom-tank” by cooking special food for Ella and Andrew, and visiting with all of our kids on Facetime or Zoom on Christmas (this was a breakfast casserole).

By the time our second Covid-impacted Easter rolls around and we wrap up a year of traveling-holidays, I am not sure that much will be “back to normal”. We hope the Covid vaccine will be widely available by then so that flights can be booked and larger gatherings of loved ones from different households are once again safe. But if it isn’t, I know it will still be okay, despite the differences. The holidays have to change every year, but the core of every holiday will always be the same. These important days of the year are about sharing love, and we will all find new and different ways to share that love with those we love and miss.

Safe travels – and happy holidays all year-round, wherever you are planted!

The gallery of photos shared below is a walk down memory lane from the 1950s thru the present, showing how our families and our family traditions have evolved over the years. It is a digital family photo album of resilience and love.

This is actually a socially distant “bon voyage” crab feast we hosted in summer, 2020; I included it here because we were actually having an Easter Egg toss that had been Covid-cancelled in the spring! It was a day that marked the beginning of life on the road, as well as the continued crossover of generations of the Schmidt and Heming familes that began in the 1950s and continues four generations later

There Is A Garden Full Of Roses and Thorns In “Empty Nest Full-Time RVing”

Take the good with the bad – and you will be rewarded with grand adventures to remember always!

We didn’t expect empty-nest full-time RVing to be life in a bed of roses. We knew to take the good roses with the not-so-good thorns, because this is still “real life”, even if it is less conventional than other ways of living. While many roses and thorns were anticipated, there are a few interesting, unexpected or less significant roses and thorns we have discovered. Here is a list of some that come to mind after five months on the road with just me, my Sweetums and our three furry pets.

Murphy was right (again) – the flat tire won’t happen until after you buy $1734 in new RV tires. But rose-colored kudos to Goodyear who agreed to replace the ruined nearly new tire at half price. They didn’t need to do that but we appreciate that they did.
You will grow a renewed appreciation for sunrises and sunsets. You have more opportunities to see them, and fewer distractions (#taketimetosmelltheroses). Gosh, they are awesome.

A little bit of cheating here, but this is the St. Augustine, FL area taken the summer BEFORE we went FT, as we conducted our College Campus Tour 2019. (she chose Santa Fe College and University of Florida in Gainesville!)

3. You can still be very busy as an empty-nester on the road. It is a different kind of busy, but there is still a lot to do. The difference is, the totality of the items are less “mission-critical” and are generally more fun than “before” (e.g. gather and send care packages to loved ones, download and organize photos, work on itinerary details, etc). Besides, you get to look outside the window at your workspace and see an ever-changing scene.

Not a bad “office with a view” – and a cat! If I MUST work, this is a great place to do so (of course, the next place we go may be even prettier!)

Even in the early morning hours, windows with a view that changes with every campsite are a nice treat as you take care of mundane tasks such as balancing the checkbook.

4. A cold, rainy day by the (electric) campfire in your RV can be cozy and warm and relaxing, but a tropical storm with sideways rain and 50 mph gusts can be a bit too much white knuckling as your rig sways and shakes.

5. You can cook anything in an RV kitchen. I thought I might not bake cookies or tackle a big batch of Thanksgiving dressing (AKA stuffing if you didn’t grow up in my family) once we moved into our tiny new RV home. It takes practice and sometimes some creativity (fewer specialty tools, utensils, and appliances), but anything I have tackled has been possible and enjoyable to make as well! Counterspace is always a challenge, and two people in the kitchen at once can be a tight fit, but it works!

Steak (thanks to my personal grill master!), mashed cauliflower, roasted brussels sprouts and a glass of deep dry red wine- RVing YUM!

If the little RV galley kitchen isn’t enough, remember that bacon cooked outdoors is among the best you can get!

6. You might just miss old-man winter. We headed from Maryland to Florida at the launch of FT RV living (taking a kiddo to college), and then made our way north again while summer was still in full swing. We weaved our way south again but seemed to always keep slightly ahead of the fall season to which we are accustomed. We actually MISSED the full, slow transition from summer to fall and I think we will miss the snow and cold weather as well. That is not to say that it wasn’t awesome to walk the warm Georgia beaches on Thanksgiving day, or that we will choose to spend January and February in Maryland any time soon. But I think that we might just plan our future travel so that we can enjoy some seasonal changes a little bit more (and avoid Florida every summer!).

7. If you enjoy a regular bath in your sticks and bricks home, you will really miss it in your RV home. Now I understand why bath-loving RVers see an occasional hotel stay, spa day or hot tub soak as “essential”.

I really do miss our giant bathtub…but any tub would do – sunken, claw foot, whirlpool, whatever – I miss it!

8. It still feels good to make your bed each day – it is just a little more exhausting.

9. You really can live with only three of each type of clothing (three t-shirts, three shorts, three long pants, three long-sleeved shirts, etc). You really need fewer items of clothing than you packed in your rig.

10. You might just miss having your old yard. We miss our backyard for our dogs as much as our dogs miss their backyard. It was a far easier task to let them outside on their whim, without committing to a leash walk or trip to the dog park.

Bug and Calvin miss our backyard perhaps more than we do, but we can make a leash walk and dog park work now that we are FT RVers.

There are no dog parks quite as wonderful as this grassy hillside for Calvin to chase…and NOT retrieve tennis balls!

11. A shorter visit by your kids is best once you become an empty nester. We love to have our kids visit us (six of them, ages 19 – 28), and a couple of them have done so several times since we began living on the road – for a few hours and for overnight stays. We have discovered (and perhaps they did also), that a short stay is just about right. One recent 24-hour visit by our youngest resulted in one item left behind and three cups, a plate, silverware, a bag of cookies, a bottle of OJ and cookie wrappers being left lying around. This was all despite the fact that said adult child slept at least 14 of the 24 hours of her stay! Conversely, it was a real treat to cook for her and hear her appreciation for Mom’s food!

It was great to have her visit – for 24 hours – and great to cook a feast – and also great to return to our empty nest – and I am SURE she enjoyed returning to her apartment and “college adulting” (which really is like “Adulting, Jr.”.

12. You might miss driving or you might not. I miss driving. My dear husband does not (because he is doing it all!). Backstory: I have a growing history of vision limitations that makes me uncomfortable driving in in the dark, in unfamiliar places or with unfamiliar vehicles. Therefore, driving a massive F350 long-bed, dually truck (after driving a small Volvo SUV for years), ALWAYS in a new, unfamiliar place, and sometimes towing a 35 foot trailer, leaves me with few options to drive. I have practiced, and will do so some more, with the hope that some of my vision problems of recent months can be improved over time. But in the end, I miss feeling as independent as I did previously when I could easily hop in a car and just go.

13. RV propane stoves and ovens aren’t so great. I have had a strong preference for gas stoves all my adult life, but not in the RV! Adjusting the flame is difficult (burning hotter than they need to and impossible to achieve a good “simmer”), they warm up the small space of the rig on already warm days, and the oven is so uneven in its heating that it is generally useless. On the rosier up-side, I LOVE our portable single burner induction cooktop and our convection microwave oven! I use the propane oven for pan storage and can often cover the stovetop to create additional mission critical counter space. I prefer to cook for the two of us on the induction burner (using free campground electricity instead of purchased propane) and I do nearly all my baking in our convection oven (microwave). Both took some learning, but the results are very satisfying.

RV propane stove on the left (3 burners)….portable electric induction cooktop on the right. It is nice to have options.

14. The time between each freezer defrosting is shorter than you might expect. It seems that no sooner do we defrost the freezer, it is time to do so again (monthly, on average). This is a task we did not have with our previous electric residential fridge but it is a necessary evil of an RV (propane/electric) refrigerator.

15. The countertop ice maker makes ice that is ALMOST as good as Chickfila ice! It is also my favorite appliance (we use a lot of ice). I suppose if we had opted for the residential fridge in our RV (that is an option in camping now that didn’t exist years ago), we could eliminate the previously mentioned defrosting issue as well as the need for a counterspace-eating ice machine (the residential fridge comes with an ice-maker), but for now, this setup works for us.

16. The sound of a hard and steady rainfall on the camper roof feels sooooo peaceful and safe and relaxing. Yep, roof rainfall, especially in the evening, cuddling with my DH (and perhaps a dog or cat) evokes feelings of great comfort. It reminds me of the feelings I had during my childhood when our entire family would gather on the back porch of our home during thunderstorms, huddled under blankets, just to hear the roar of the rain on the porch’s plastic corrugated rooftop.

17. RV air conditioning is loud and temperatures are somewhat erratic. I miss the quiet consistency of traditional central air (and I only had central A/C twice in my life – in a townhouse I rented in my mid-20s, and in the last five years of our “sticks and bricks” living!)

17. You will miss your loved ones…but appreciate them so much more. Being apart from your children, after spending their entire childhood WITH them is perhaps one of life’s greatest changes we face as parents. It is expected and takes some time to adjust to a new way of living. When we added a nomadic lifestyle on top of our empty nest, I began missing them in a whole new way. It also has grown feelings of great appreciation for the young adults they are becoming. They make me so proud of where they are headed and how they got there. Additionally, I miss my mom, my sister, my brother, my stepkids and a whole host of people that I haven’t lived with for a really long time – or never lived with at all! To all our extended family and friends – WE MISS YOU and we CHERISH the time we get to spend with you.

These are our people – well, most of them. And we miss them every day!

Safe travels – roses and thorns included!

To Know Him Was To Love Him – And Sometimes To Shake Your Head In Wonder

He had a smile and a laugh that could be contagious – even if you realized you were laughing at his antics as much as laughing along with him.

The day after we moved into our fifth wheel trailer to launch our full-time RVing adventure, my dad died, less than a month before his 80th birthday. It was July 18, 2020. It was another blow to our family, just about halfway through 2020, a year that will be remembered worldwide as being one heck of a tough year.

It had been obvious for the previous two weeks that the end of Dad’s boisterous journey on this earth was upon us, but his health had been declining for quite some time, a victim of decades of smoking (followed by decades of quitting), a lifetime of poor diet (but no alcohol) and a number of falls that hastened his decline over the years. No matter the resulting health consequence, Dad was unfazed. Diabetes? No need to cut back on M&M’s or test blood sugar! Heart attack? Don’t tell ME I can’t do the things I enjoy! Back injuries? Physical therapy and exercise are for sissies! Failing heart requiring a defibrillator? Why the $%@ can’t those !#%$ doctors fix this and get me back to puttering in my yard!?

We had always joked with Dad that he had as many lives as a cat, and each time he fell from a tree or roof that he should not have been climbing, or survived triple bypass surgery, or crashed his vehicle for unclear reasons, he was one step closer to his demise. It took decades, but it seems that 2020 was his year, and COPD was the final challenge he would face.

He actually complained less and reminisced a bit more once he became bedridden in the last days.

Thankfully, his final days, laying in bed, losing his independence to weakness, losing his spunky attitude to delusions, losing his consciousness to morphine, were short-lived. His final days were perhaps his biggest fear, always teasing us that we should just take him out to the field behind the house to shoot him rather than force him to suffer. Instead, we sat with him and Mom. Visitors helped us all pass the time. Hospice workers helped us understand how to help him. In the end, he was peaceful and as he took his final breaths, my sister, Mom and I said prayers over him (something that he would have cringed about while living, but was just perfect in the moment he passed.

It should be noted, before sounding too harsh or callous, that my dad was a CHARACTER! He cursed like a sailor and loved to argue all the tricky topics in life – politics, religion and the medical field! What he lacked in tender loving care, he made up for as a really great dad.

Dad managed to mix work and play – be it cleaning up the yard or building a project for us.

Dad showed his love differently – he was steadfast, reliable and good to his core. You ALWAYS knew what you were getting from him. I think WE understood him better than he understood himself. He showed his love in his actions and in his subtle presence. We knew Dad loved us, even if he very seldom uttered the words.

It was a treat to watch him become a grandfather – and see the full extent of his “soft side”, as it were.

He quietly supported us in everything that interested us. Scouting projects for my brothers, directing Christmas traffic in our church parking lot, and taking unexpected trips to my college to rescue and repair my car following a flood. He could fix just about anything with whatever tools he might have on hand, a roll of duct tape and a little elbow grease.

Mike, Dad and Britt out on the town together.

This is Morfar, quietly supporting grandson Lorne, at his band’s first gig. (Dad struck this pose as my sister prompted him to look all cool like the young kids!). Hilarious. (note the Huey helicopter t-shirt, undoubtedly a quiet way of supporting and remembering our brother, Steve)

Dad sat quietly in the room, the willing participant of any family gathering or social event, even if such activities were not the way he would ever choose to spend his day. Conversely, a healthy debate, albeit greatly skewed by his perceptions and undaunted by the facts at hand, was pure entertainment for him and often resulted in exasperation for us all. If you didn’t “get him”, you could very quickly be offended by him. But to “know him” was to understand and love him.

Ho, ho, ho and Merry Christmas from the quiet man of the house (but yet the hat declared “bah humbug”!)

He would argue or lash out in anger seldom, but when he became that upset, you knew that he was struggling greatly with the issue at hand. He was passive by nature, a roll-with-it kind of guy above all else. Even when frustrated beyond words by something idiotic that we four kids might have done, the worst punishment would be the spewing of a few choice insults, interspersed with some colorful curse words, and the hurling of his wooden Swedish clogs in our direction. His bark was always worse than his bite, and we grew to toughen our skin to his rough edges and instead see all the goodness, fun and helpfulness that was within him.

His quest for helping was especially true with animals, I think perhaps, because he saw them as the most helpless in a difficult world. He rescued them, nursed them, built habitats for them, and always, always, stopped to help a box turtle across the road. Critters found in the wrong habitat (in our house or car), were gently placed outside to “be free” rather than squishing and tossing them. Over the years, he always took the time to feed the horses in the roadside pasture, visit with the ducks on the pond, or sit and watch the geese fly overhead just before sunset. Over the years his dogs were his best buddies and his favorite conversationalists, simply because “they listen and don’t give me no lip”.

Dad had many canine buddies, and this little lapdog, Cheetah was among his adoring fans.

Every day, Dad arrived home from work at 6:00 pm and we had dinner together as a family. He was a small business owner, and I grew up to greatly admire that simple daily act. He managed to walk away from the endless responsibilities of his business and simply go home. He would enter the back door, “drop trow” at the top of the basement steps, toss his dirty uniform down the basement so that Mom could add it to her endless laundry pile, and then scurry through the kitchen in his “skivvies” past the hustle and bustle of his family gathering for the evening meal. Every day, for my entire childhood, I could count on him and knew what to expect from him.

But I think the biggest impact Dad had on me was his willingness to see different places. EVERY summer, he would close his small auto-repair business for two weeks and take us camping. At a time when there was no paid time off, and little money to spare, he and Mom managed to show their children the world. By the time I was an adult, I had been to half the states in the US and several countries as well. We had experiences in those adventures that became a direction in my life – a desire to work hard and succeed in my goals so that I might travel and see even more of the world.

Not many American kids got to say they were able to travel to Sweden, Germany and Canada before they were all grown up and on their own.

Mom and Dad encouraged us when we shared our plans to travel full-time for a while. “GO!”, they said. “Do it now (before we are retirement age), while you are able”. You see, their camping days after we kids grew up, amounted to RVing the country about six months out of the year. The balance of the year they spent at home with family in the Maryland/Pennsylvania area and worked part time jobs to save up money for their next trip. They were blessed to take some of their grandchildren camping for a week at a time, to tag along on their children’s camping vacations, to travel across the United States for an extended trip out west, and to take annual trips to Myrtle Beach and Florida, two of their favorite destinations. But their health declined before they were “finished”. They always wanted “next year” – to the point that up until his final weeks, Dad would still talk about getting their motorhome in shape for their next adventure. Dad and Mom weren’t quite wanting to be “finished” with traveling, but their health limitations brought their adventures to an end.

Dad would take a “Sunday drive” just about anywhere, and when on vacation, every pit stop and roadside attraction (even “South of the Border, SC”), led to another mini-exploration of the world.

MA and Pa…Holmstrom, hamming it up on one of their visits back to the old “homestead” in Fallston, MD while NOT traveling during retirement.

Camping with the grandkids – sometimes three generations all together, and sometimes just kids and their Mormor and Morfar – made lifelong travel memories (this photo was from a winter trip to Florida).

So it seems completely expected and greatly satisfying to “see” my dad in my full-time RVing travels since we lost him on Day 2 of our adventure. We have spent time in Virginia exploring some of the very places he and Mom took me to while camping as a child. We have sat in our camping chairs around a campfire, just like Dad did, in rural South Carolina and the swamps of Georgia and savored the special outdoor moments you only experience with camping.

The campfire was always the perfect place for Dad to solve the world’s problems – if only the world would do it “his way”

We have also spent weeks in Florida, at a quiet campground, where I see an elderly gentleman ride his bike every day. He immediately reminds me of my dad and I wave. The shaky old-man wave I get in return is just like Dad used to do – a slightly uncomfortable social interaction, but with a pure intent to just say “hello”.

“Hi Dad. I miss you. We all miss you. Thanks for all the valuable gifts you have given us.”

This is not Dad…and it is ot the man on his bike in our campground…but both were just as adorable as this gentleman. (Photo credit: Dunya News

Safe travels, and show your “people” you love them.

Dad built the pool…and the swing set…and the play house…and the fort…and we all (Britt, Mike, Steve (pictured) and Tina all had a great childhood on Upland Road.

Fargo, Georgia – Where Wildlife Outnumbers The Human Life!

Since my dear husband and I are not (yet) regular boondockers in unimproved land areas (#campinggoals), we are not often faced with the feeling of isolation and true solitude. We both grew up in a world without cell phones, where our parents were not able to reach us or determine our exact location all day as we played outside in the woods behind our neighborhood. As children, that was normal. Teenaged Andrew and Tina would drive at night on a country road (trying to avoid parental detection, but also not easily able to reach anyone if we got an unexpected flat tire, or ran out of gas (a more likely scenario in my teenage years). As teenagers, that was normal. We were comfortable with it because that was the only option back then.

We were typical kids of the 70s – and playing outdoors iwas how we spent or days. (Photo credit: Children’s Environments Research Group)

Today, however, that feeling of being completely on your own, if only for a few hours, seldom happens. If a child leaves the house, a parent generally has the ability to know where they are located. If a problem happens, help is usually a simple phone call away.

For the first time in a long time, Andy and I recalled those feelings as we drove through Fargo, GA on a gorgeous fall day in October 2020. It was Halloween weekend, and our destination was the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, also known as the Okefenokee Swamp (cue spooky music). The one-lane road laid out ahead of us, as straight as a pin, with small pine trees and natural green growth on both sides. We drove and drove, windows down, the dogs excitedly sensing that our destination was near. We rode for 20 miles from Fargo, down Route 177, with the last dozen miles absent of businesses, homes or crossroads of any kind. Miles before our destination, our cell service became unusable. Texts stopped coming and going. As dusk fell, we felt like we had already left civilization before we had even arrived.

There were miles of road into the state park – and not much else!

The entrance to the park is gated and closed each evening, and it felt as if we were leaving one world and entering a new one as we passed through it. It was after 5:00 pm when we arrived, so with the Steven C. Foster State Park Trading Post closed for the day, we went straight to our campsite.

This spot is just a few steps from our campsite.

The next morning we awoke to a very quiet morning and we took a walk. The campground only has 66 campsites, and it was largely empty (and grew emptier at the end of the weekend – spoiler alert, after the weekend, we were one of only three campers on our loop). Our first task had little to do with seeking solitude. In fact, sad to say, we needed to find cell service so that I could handle our small vacation rental business in the coming six days, and Andy needed to make sure he could see his Baltimore Ravens play football on Sunday from our remote location.

We hadn’t wandered 50 feet from our campsite before we turned a corner and saw deer. At first a couple, then several. They were accustomed to human presence, but still wild and skittish. It was as if they understood that we were a temporary visitor to their land, their space. They obliged us, and allowed us to watch in awe at their morning beauty.

That morning we arrived at the Trading Post, located about a half mile from our campsite, really hoping we could meet our tech needs and still take in this beautiful place. As we approached the building, I noticed a couple on their cell phone video-chatting with their family members. As we entered the screened-in front porch, I saw a gentleman on his laptop. I was encouraged. Upon entering the store, we were met with an oasis of civilization. Camping supplies, snacks and tourist trinkets were all for sale. This was also the place we could rent boats to see the swamp up close, or even schedule a guided tour. But the moment of victory was the confirmation of free wifi! It only worked in and around the trading post, but it was blazing fast and able to handle my email, file processing and wifi phone calling and texting needs for the next several days!

Later that day, Andy had managed to maneuver the satellite dish to acquire the minimum NFL channels needed to watch the Sunday game, albeit at about 85% satellite connection. “Please Lord, don’t let it rain on Sunday!”, I whispered under my breath (ultimately, it DID rain on game day – for about 1 ½ hours, right up until kick-off, when the skies finally cleared and the game came into focus!).

Victory times two! Time to enjoy Okefenokee!

We spent five days immersed in the wildlife. Every hike we took, every trail we wandered, and even just walking down the state park road, we stumbled upon a new animal discovery. We saw a multitude of deer, several bucks included. We watched them eating, running and scratching their backs in the late afternoon sunshine. Andy spotted a raccoon and we enjoyed the sight of many birds of all sizes. We saw bears on three occasions, surprisingly close to the state park employee resident cottages, sitting below the acorn trees. Other campers had reported that the bears had also been seen in trees, so we became adept at looking up, down and all around us as we walked.

The bears and the deer seemed to like the acorn trees and showed up nearly every day

This was perhaps the largest buck we saw during our stay.

It was thriling to be able to get up close and personal with the animals.

On Halloween night, we lit a campfire, and set out a small bowl of candy as about a half dozen children came by to keep the Trick-or-Treat tradition alive in a very different location. What we noted was the absolute darkness of the sky. Absent of any light pollution, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge reveals a big dark sky that was wondrous – it is difficult to describe the vastness and open miles of blackness.

The highlight of our stay, however, was an afternoon on a rented skiff, out on the water trails of the swamp. Having received surprisingly little instruction for its operation (once we finally asked!), we were pushed off the little dock and out onto the open waters that completely surround the little island that the campground sits upon.

Andrew quickly learned to drive our little boat well – and we had two oars with us as well in case the engine failed us.

The canal that left the campground Trading Post was narrow, but opened out to wider waters.

The initial waterways of the swamp are wide open and the birds were soaring over our heads. There were other birds that stood on fallen trees, waiting to spot their next meal. The landscape was unique and stunning. The quiet feeling of being alone in this natural swamp world was pervasive for most of the next four hours we spent on the water. We spotted only three other groups of people in our water travels – two skiffs like ours and a group of six kayakers paddling silently with binoculars and cameras in hand.

This skiff, like ours, was one of only three sightings of other travelers that day on the water.

The bird life was soaring all along our travels.

Our goal for the day, however, was to see alligators. With a small map in hand, marked with water trails and natural points of interest (hollow tree, Alligator Cove, Five Sisters cluster of trees, etc), we noted the wooden signs staked into the swampy waters with arrows to guide us, and made a left turn down a water “trail”, identified the narrow open water surrounded on both sides by millions of lily pads.

The Five Sisters was a marking landmark on the map and helped us navigate the water trails.

It immediately grew darker, as the overhead tree cover and Spanish Moss filtered out the sun. Andy had to drive the skiff slower, to adjust for the obstacles in the water – mysterious bumps underneath us that were likely hidden logs of long ago fallen Cypress trees. I was reminded of a 1970s animated Disney movie called the “Rescuers”, where an international team of mice flew to the spooky bayou swamp to rescue a little girl named Penny. The mystery animal sounds, the black waters, and the shadows cast by large overhead growth all created an impressive backdrop for our day’s adventure.

The mix of dark and sunlight in the swamp made a mysterious and beautiful scene.

Awww, Bernard and Miss Bianca, along with Evinrude, cruised the swamps fearlessly….Andrew and Tina were a little more tentative.

Disney’s bayou may not have been in Okefenokee, but it sure felt like it!

It didn’t take long before we noticed bubbles under the water, and small ripples on the surface that told us we had just missed an animal of some sort startled by our presence. We were keenly aware that there were MANY eyes upon us, and we would have to remain quiet and alert if we wanted to see our prized alligator. About an hour into our travels, we were rewarded.

We estimate that snout to eyeballs was about 1 1/2 feet,,,with a lot more gator under the murky water!

Andy saw him first. Just the eyeballs initially, then the crown of the head, the long snout. The rest of this massive alligator remained hidden in the water. His head alone we estimated to be more than a foot long. I immediately began snapping photos in the general area he described seeing the gator, but it was another 30 seconds or more before I actually SAW the beast and was aware of him through the camera lens. All of the wildlife, especially the alligators, are incredibly well disguised in their natural habitat.

Invigorated by our sighting, and thrilled with the size of the prize, we relaxed and were able to see the rest of the phenomenal water world in which we were now fully immersed. I jokingly reminded Andy that I was worth more alive than dead, in case he had enough of me already, as this would be the perfect place to plan the disposal of any evidence of ne’er-do-well activities. I also wildly wondered that this was the perfect place for a band of criminal brothers to live a life of seclusion and safety from the world that wanted them caught for their bad acts (cue more spooky music).

We traveled about ten miles into the watery day trails on our skiff and were fortunate enough to spot two more alligators. They were both smaller than our first, but both were completely OUT of the water, sunning themselves on logs. We accidently coasted to within four feet of one (learning to maneuver the skiff), and thankfully, that alligator did not flinch one muscle.

We managed to get the nose of our skiff (where I was seated), to within four feet of this gator (accidentally)!

As we left the swamp day grails, we found this beauty sunning on a log.

Upon our return to the civilization of the Trading Post, we missed our final turn into the canal that led to the dock, a final reminder of how far away we were from the human world to which we were so accustomed. This was truly a special place set aside by our nation to provide refuge for wildlife, and we were so blessed to be able to become a part of it for six days. We were rewarded with breathtaking sightings of animals, natural growth that was astounding, and just enough time apart from the human world to feel enveloped by God’s great design.

Relaxing on our little skiff, taking in the beauty of God’s natural outdoors.

Safe travels, and Go Gators (double entendre intended)!

The thrill of the gator hunt was exhilarating!

This is The Best Campsite Of My Camping Life

A panoramic sunset just outside our camper door.

Sometimes the very best campgrounds have no cable, no wifi, no sewer hookups and limited amenities. These are the campgrounds that use their natural resources – provided by Mother Nature (and a massive man-made lake) to become among the best out there.

Well, I have found the best – at least My Best – and it is a hidden gem that I am willing to share with you. Just don’t tell too many people, please! We want to return there someday, and I hope my best campground ever still has my best campsite available when that day arrives!

Let me set the picture. The campground is in the rural upcountry area of South Carolina (the northwest corner of the state). It sits on a series of three very small islands that are connected by a narrow road in the middle of 18,372 acre Lake Keowee. This area is a water-lover’s paradise – pontoon boats, canoes, kayaks, speed boats and jet skis – just a few of the watercraft you will find. Fishing, water skiing, swimming, sunbathing, hiking and more can all be found very nearby.

But the thing that makes this place so darn special is the view – just sit in your camp chair and take in the 360-degree amazing water views. Add a small breeze, the warm fall sunshine, and a campfire at dusk and you have all the makings of a perfect camping day.

Okay, here are the details…and then some more photos at the end to prove my point.

Mile Creek County Park is in the foothills of Pickens County, SC. You can visit MileCreekPark.com to find out more about the park itself. If you want to reserve sites at the campground that is part of the park, simply go to ReserveAmerica.com. The roads are narrow and sloping at times. The sites vary in shape and size and setup significantly, so don’t fudge any camper lengths when selecting your site. Even if you cannot snag a waterfront site, you will still enjoy lovely views, as these are tiny islands, and these sites are perched high, tucked low, and hidden among trees – giving you a feeling of privacy that belies the closeness of the sites to each other.

Our GPS screen on the drive into the campground gave us great perspective about the size of these three tiny islands. Our site was located at the last blue breadcrumb shown by the read triangle (the top edge of the 2nd island).

We had only four nights to stay at Mile Creek Park, so we never left our little island. Why bother? We had what was essentially a little private sandy beach beside our site that I imagine would be great for summertime swimming, although even during our late October visit, we spotted someone swimming nearby in the lake. We had trees all around us that were changing into their fall color show. And we had water – lots of water….On. All. Sides.

A view of our campsite from across the lake (campground island number three) shows our rocky shore and our sandy shore.

Yep, it is my favorite campsite ever. Site #42. Of course, we’ve only been FT RVing for 16 weeks, so I am really excited about what great beauty we have yet to find along the way, because this is a beautiful country.

A setting sun on our tiny Home Sweet Home on wheels.

Safe travels – and may we all find the perfect spot just to sit a while.

Note that ALL of the following photos were take FROM OUR CAMPSITE.

Ten Lessons Learned In Our First Three Months of Full-Time RVing

After only three months of full-time RVing, we have learned some stuff! Some of it we learned the hard way, some of it, just by observation and experience. Some of it matters a lot, and some are just little anecdotes that we’ve figured out along the way. Here is a list, in no particular order.

Don’t go too fast or too far in one day. The guideline that I have read about is “The Rule Of Three’s”: 1. Don’t drive more than 300 miles in a day; 2. Don’t travel after 3:00 pm; and 3. Stay at each destination at least three days. We have broken that rule a few times, and we usually end up reminding ourselves that we really should follow “The Rule Of Three’s”. Once we were RVing full-time, we re-learned that lesson the hard way when we drove too far, and arrived as it was getting dark (long after 3:00 pm) and planned a quick overnight stay before heading on down the road again the next morning. Doing so caused us to be tired, hungry and anxious to get our camp set up for the night. The end result: Camper Slide-out – 1; brand new Apple Macbook – 0. That sucker was crumpled like a piece of corrugated sheet metal. Ugh. Time to buy a new Macbook, slow down, and live by “The Rule of Three’s”.

A very new, yet very sad Macbook lost out to our RV slide on a day we ignored the Rule of Three’s. Sigh.

Our Cat Loves RVing!….(and our dogs don’t do too badly either). We had a small menagerie of pets in the years leading up to full-time RVing. We thought that due to the advanced age of some of our pets and soon-to-be adulting children who might take a few pets with them, that we would end up with only one or two dogs on our trip, which wasn’t too bad considering that at the time we married and combined our households into one, we had three dogs, four cats a parakeet and even a passing additional cat and guinea pig! By the time we launched full-time RVing a little more than five years later, we were left with two dogs and one cat. We REALLY HAD NOT PLANNED TO TRAVEL WITH A CAT. REALLY. So it really was a pleasant happenstance to discover that Stencil the cat really is a great camper. It took about four “travel days” for her to quiet down in the truck – she clearly did not enjoy the travel part of camping at first. But once we returned her to the camper, she LOVED it! The ever-changing window views, the fresh air through the windows, even the ability to move from one end of our camper to the other with very little “floor travel”, Stencil quickly became our best furry camper!

Stencil prefers faucet water over a water dish every time.

FT RVing is NOT vacation! Accept this fact early, because there is a big difference between vacationing in an RV and living in an RV. When on vacation, it has been our personal experience that diet and exercise sort of get a “pass”. That is NOT true when you LIVE in an RV. You cannot act like you are on a perpetual vacation. Lots of things in an RV are different (and better) than a “regular” life in a sticks and bricks home. But diet and exercise cannot be two of them. You must continue to put some miles under your feet…and you have to eat like it is NOT vacation! Trust me. Three months in, and we are just beginning to realize that the dryer did not shrink our clothes that much!

Walking, walking, walking – in beautiful downtown Greenville, SC = Reedy Falls Park

Cleaning is quicker, but must happen more often! This one is simple, but still nice to realize and live first-hand. Get a great vacuum (Shark Rocket), use some nice essential oils and diffusers (especially if you have pets), and embrace simple cleaning techniques (vinegar and baking soda are clutch!). Life is simpler, cleaner and less overwhelming (especially if you RV with only grown adults!)!

Sometimes it is okay to take a shot of whiskey at 10 AM – Consider this real RVing scenario: Take a little hike. A bug flies into your mouth. Spit. Cough. Swallow. Complete your hike, with visions of the wriggling bug in your digestive system. Take a shot of whiskey – just to MAKE SURE that the unfortunate bug is fully neutralized. Yep, it was 10 AM and my dear husband joined me in my whiskey cleanse with a toast and a smile. It did the trick and readied us for our next hike in the beautiful outdoors. Perhaps next time I will keep my mouth shut a little bit more!

This wasn’t our whiskey walk morning, but a peaceful wine evening at Ft. Chiswell RV Park in Max Meadows, VA on our 5th wedding anniversary.

Your dogs may need time to adjust to tiny house living – It may take some training, some secret spying or some new dog teaching tools to be certain your dog is behaving well in your absence. We moved from a home on 1.22 acres in a rural area, to a home that generally sits in a close-knit campground with regularly changing surroundings. Our first month our dogs got a “ticket” from the campground, giving us a friendly reminder that they were misbehaving while we had left to do laundry. We worked to change the behaviors and just when we were beginning to think we might have the problem licked (close the windows, play the radio, pull the shades and have the dog “vibrate-collar” ready as we pull up to the camper in case our arrival causes them to misbehave). Nope. A kind dog-loving neighbor in month three let us know that Calvin-the-separation-anxiety-dog was whining miserably because he missed us so much when we left for a dinner double date. We have upped our game now, with ultrasonic training boxes and no-bark collars that emit a tone and vibrate automatically. We will figure it out – it will just take some time.

Bug is our old-man traveling dog – a very happy and peaceful camper – sort-of willing to share **his** camping chair with his human.

Alone time is still important but takes some planning to achieve – When retired, my mother and father would travel for about six months of the year in their RV. Mom told me that the secret to creating some alone time for her was to tell Dad that she needed to go shopping for some “unmentionables”. Like magic, Dad lost all interest in tagging along with her and she had the afternoon to herself. In my RVing life, my husband and I joked about how our trip might end up being only six weeks long if we couldn’t adjust to so much life togetherness in a tiny space. I am a person that values, enjoys and really needs some regular solitude. Now that we live together in 350 square feet of space, I do still get my alone time, but it just happens differently than at any other time in my life. It used to be that kids would leave for school and my husband would leave for work. Viola’, alone time just happened five days a week! Now I have to discipline myself for early morning walks to start my day off right. I have also discovered that I really enjoy using a meditation app on my phone to create peaceful harmony in my headspace. Reading creates a sense of time alone as well, and FT RVing has allowed me to really dig into leisure reading like I haven’t been able to enjoy since summertime when I was a nerdy middle schooler! Now, when my husband goes to play a round of golf, the day is a nice treat for me as well because I have a block of hours all to myself! I might just use the time to watch a chick-flick or decide to balance the check-book. But it is only me, myself and I for that time to be recharged and ready to miss him all over again!

Andrew enjoys some solitude at the front of our chartered sailboat on the water in the Historic Triangle of Virginia. Alone time can be achieved in many great ways when FT RVing.

A surprising number of campgrounds do not supply fire rings or picnic tables – As a kid, I only cared if there was a playground or swimming pool at a campground, so perhaps I just didn’t take notice of how many campgrounds provide no picnic table or fire ring. Out of the ten campgrounds we have stayed in for our first three months of FT RVing, four of them allow campfires, but provide no ring. One of those campgrounds allowed a simple ground fire, but the other three required we provide a fire pit raised off the ground. So we have now purchased a Solo Stove Bonfire and stand, which is pricier than the portable firepits you may be more familiar with, but is high quality, takes up a smaller footprint (19.5” diameter) and is made of heavy duty stainless steel. There is a double wall exterior which helps to create a secondary combustion and virtually smoke-free fire! We love it! The picnic table shortage that we encountered is not as much of a problem for the two of us, but it may be very important for larger families. We already have two portable tables and several chairs that meet our needs.

Our purchase of the Solo Stove Bonfire and base stand accessory (not shown here), was a great addition to our glamping gear!

Most campgrounds do not recycle – Perhaps this lesson is more of an east coast thing, but it is so disappointing to see so little support for recycling. Only ONE campground out of ten has supported any recycling – and they did a poor job of it at that. They had a couple of recycling dumpsters at one location in the park that were poorly marked and gave campers no guidance to get it right (what is recyclable in that location?). They did not indicate to us that recycling was even an option when we checked in. Regular garbage dumpsters were distributed around the park at different locations, so most campers never even saw the recycling dumpsters and simply threw everything in the garbage. I recognize that recycling costs businesses money, but I would bet that more campers than not are accustomed to recycling some of their waste in their non-camping lives and would prefer to do so while camping as well. Recycling just seems to be a natural fit with camping, doesn’t it? It has been difficult to feel “okay” with throwing out glass, plastic, paper, aluminum and steel like it was the 1970s when recycling just wasn’t a thing in our world. It just feels wrong to me. I hope that this is a FT RVing experience that does not hold up as we criss-cross the country.

I hope that more campgrounds will begin to support recycling to help us all love the earth a little better.

SAVOR every moment – Loosen up, slow down, and savor the simple things. Our FT RVing life won’t last forever. Traveling North America is not something we plan to do forever. So now is the time to really savor what we are experiencing in our traveling lives. I am simply terrible at this. It has taken me every bit of these first three months to simply be OKAY with sleeping in a little longer just because I can. I have to remind myself to be OKAY with putting off a chore another day so I can sit by the lake and read for a while. This is a life lesson for me that I have always known and always worked to balance in my busy life, but by launching our travels this year, it has been a great reminder for me. This is OUR TIME, these are OUR TRAVELS, and life will still have challenges and TRIBULATIONS. So my biggest lesson learned is to work every day to SAVOR. EVERY. MOMENT.

Savoring the mountain views when we entered the open air chapel at Pretty Place, SC – As is engraved on the overhead beam “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills.” Psalm 121:1

Savoring some patio time in Waldo Florida – even if it was 90 degrees and 90% humidity!

Savoring the view from our campsite at Palmetto Cove RV Park in Cleveland, SC

Savoring a day in the city of Greenville, SC – a walk in the park, lunch by the waterfalls, and some touristy shopping makes for many fabulously “savorable” moments.

Safe travels, and enjoy the living and learning as you go!