Hi Happy Campers: It seems that being stuck at home, in a more relaxed atmosphere than usual, inspires me to think more often of the road. Strange, but true. For the next few months, I am living full-time on our campground at Lake Bruin (come see me - www.shilohrvresorts.com), but I'm not RVing right now. We own the resort here, and for the last few years, we have spent the springs here in our RV, on a beautiful waterfront lot; but not this year. Truth be told, I love RVing for the convenience of taking our family on the road, having all our things in one place, our familiar favorites on board, and our pets and kids comfortable for the entire trip. What I do NOT love is long-term clausterphobia - almost guaranteed by spending five months with two teenagers, one husband, two dogs (Doberman and Daschund), and three parrots (whose cages are larger than any of us)... all crammed into a space the size of my hallway at home. You can imagine for yourself the cabin fever that gets hold of me. It's not pretty. So, this year we moved back into our double-wide camp on the water. It's at the front of our property at Lake Bruin, just a stone's throw from the fish cleaning station, and boasts 1,400 elbow-roomy square feet, of which I am in dire need. Funny how our perspective changes with RVing... it would seem small compared to my "real house," if not for spending the last two years in a 38' motorhome out here. Still, I'm fully entrenched in the RV lifestyle at all times here, and I feel I'm getting the best of both worlds at the moment; room to breathe, but in constant contact with others who love the outdoors, and enjoy RVing. This makes me think of how much I love our web site, for the "window" it gives me into our roaming community. I know that many of you feel the same way... we get to see the whole story. We've seen the Newbies come in to ask questions and stay for a camp fire chat... we've seen the Wannabes become Newbies, jumping up and down as they hit the road for the first time. And we've also seen some inspiring adventures as our more experienced RVers throw caution to the wind and begin a whole new life. It's way better than a movie, and we're all starring in it! With that said, the biggest lesson I have learned about RVing here is that we each do it in our own way. There's no "right" or "wrong" way to RV, and I think we teach each other by example, and we love to share what we know. I remember when we bought our first RV. It was the year our sons, Bobby and Gary, graduated together. 1996. I was mad as hell. I didn't grow up RVing. The only RV I was ever in was my friend's parents' Airstream. They took four of us girls to Flint Creek Water Park, and it rained the whole weekend. We were all stuck inside that small place, playing cards the whole time; we got in trouble for tracking mud in, and went home on Sunday, like we escaped! I decided I never wanted to go camping again. Although my husband was in the RV park business when we met, it never occured to me that I had to participate in the lifestyle in order to make a living at it. I enjoyed the people, thought it was great to wear jeans to work and walk outside to visit with the folks I met; but own an RV? Nope. Not me. You can imagine my surprise when Bob said he wanted to buy one. Boy, was I puzzled. We had just sold our houseboat, because it proved to be, as promised, a "hole in the water you put money into." Wasn't an RV the same thing, but on land? I put my foot down - no way were we buying an RV. That worked like a charm, because the following week, Bob pulled into the driveway in a Class C Holiday Rambler Allumalite, and announced that we were taking the boys to Vegas after graduation. I sulked for three days, and when the RV remained in the driveway, I figured out that he really meant to do this, and the trip was scheduled. We had the best time ever. Not only did we enjoy the casinos, the food, and the western landscape; we had long and cozy conversations with our newly emancipated boys. We sat in the cool quiet of a desert evening, watching them climb "Camel Rock," a rock that, indeed, looked just like a camel. We ate delicious, ulcer-inspiring Eggs Rancheros for breakfast three days in a row. We tasted rattlesnake. We white-knuckled over the Grand Canyon in a helicopter. And to this day, Bobby and Gary, (now with kids of their own), love to pull out the photo album and talk about the best time they ever spent with Mom and Dad - just the two of them. The first picture in that album is of our Class C parked in front of our first night's camp site - you guessed it, a transmission shop. :) I've learned a lot since then. I've learned that bigger is definitely better, (we traded for a larger unit with a slide a few years later), I've learned that the RV itself is not what it's about - it's about the places you can go, and the quality of the journey. It's about kids sitting comfortably on a couch, ignoring you with a Walkman (or now, an Ipod), yet absorbing every cloud that floats above, and thanking you later for the stupid Kenny Rogers album that plays in their memories like a soundtrack of their childhood. It's about mosquito bites and fights about whose turn it is to ride shotgun. It's about backing up to the smooth white beach, and falling asleep to the sound of the ocean. It's about slowing down life to match the rate of your heartbeat. So I was wrong. If you tell my husband, Bob, that I said so, I will deny it all. This is just between us, here at Happy Camper, and I hope that by sharing this, maybe some of the Wannabes who aren't sure what it's really going to be like will take the plunge - get in the RV and find yourself. Find your family, and explore the country AND your own soul. It's a journey worth taking, and you can't climb a rock that looks like a camel at a Holiday Express. :) Anne Pierson President of Happy Camper Club, World's Worst RVer, and Scrappy soon-to-be Apiculturist (yup, that's a fancy word for beekeeper). |
