Hello, again, friends! And welcome to another RV season featuring our crazy cast of characters and one clunky, jam-packed RV named Kevin (pronouns she/her/hers). We are back for the 2024 camping season with a few upgrades and an ambitious itinerary that we will surely never keep to. We didn’t have a traditional adventure last year, opting for a week at Fort Wilderness Campground in Disney, instead of a road-trip adventure. Camping at the the Most Magical Place on Earth definitely had its perks, but we didn’t spend a ton of time at the campground. Thank goodness for the low-key accommodations because this whole Genie+ system is B-A-N-A-N-A-S. It’s been a year and it still gives me anxiety thinking about setting my alarm for 6:00 to get ready to e-grapple for Virtual Queues (twitch, twitch). Oh, and then Rob had a stroke during the Father’s Day camping trip in June which sort of put the kibosh on our summer travel. Fortunately, he has made a great recovery and we were able to cap off the 2023 camping season with a late-season, Columbus Day trip to the White Mountains. He has promised not to have another major health crisis this year, so fingers crossed.
Getting ready for that first trip of the season is exciting. With your planned itinerary, you start thinking about music playlists, traveling menus, fun pit stops along the travel route, new games you’ll play in the evenings, all the delicious road-trip snacks! All these very important things are what make these road trips exciting! But then you open the door to the camper, which has been dark for months and it looks like this:
It’s freezing cold. There’s dirt on the floor. There’s a basket of linens. All the beds are stripped. The fridge and freezer are empty. There’s that weird closed-up-for-the-winter camper smell. And you realize the amount of work that has to be done before hopping in on your amazing road trip. Whomp, whomp. This is when you gently close the door, backing out slowly and you return to the coziness of your home and make… THE LIST.
If you know me, you know I love a good list; the more itemized and specific, the better. Then, crossing items off the list absolutely makes my heart soar. Make fun of my lists if you will, but no one is laughing when they ask for tweezers, Scotch tape, or a rain poncho and I pull them out without missing a beat.
This is my camping book for this season.
I will make my lists, jot down notes or memories so I write about them later and tape in fun souvenirs like ticket stubs or stickers that we want to be able to find later. As much fun as it has historically been to shove these items into an empty cupholder and then try to remember where we got them later, I think this system will ultimately prove to be more successful. All these little memories will fill a shadowbox that commemorates this trip on our camping wall of fame.
This is our first big trip of the year and Kevin got the royal treatment. Rob and I cleaned out her bays, removing all the old toys we didn’t need anymore and retiring our camping stove. We upgraded to a Weber grill which is lighter and easier to pack – although I’m not convinced we will be able to make the quantity of pancakes we will need as easily. Time will tell. She also got a bath to remove the algae from her roof, and the mud and grime from her grill and sides. Rob bought a new lithium battery, but didn’t have a chance to install it yet. Also coming soon… SOLAR! We will never have to worry about boondocking ever again! Also, I redid our camper chalkboard for the 2024 season, just in time for our premiere voyage.
If you are new to this blog and expected some sort of survivalist camping adventures, you will undoubtedly be disappointed. Kevin is decked out with all the creature comforts of home packed into a teeny weenie living space. Yes, we have a fridge, a gas range, two televisions, indoor plumbing and shower with HOT water, and a microwave. Let’s face it, I’m a better person when I am clean, fed, caffeinated, and have well-rested. While this is certainly not “roughing it”, it is still a lot of work, especially with kids and pets. I reserve the right to still call this camping.
So, where are we going and what are we doing? As luck would have it, the Great American Solar Eclipse coincides nicely with our April break. So, we are heading down to somewhere around Kentucky/Indiana/Ohio along the path of totality to see the eclipse on Monday, April 8th. Between KOA campgrounds and Harvest Host sites, we will make our way to the general vicinity and plan to follow the sun to where there is the least amount of cloud coverage and the best viewing of this event. From there, we head south to Pigeon Forge to the Smokey Mountains.
Join us on our adventure. We ride at dawn.
Wandering, But Not Lost 