Happy Campers

Back in October, we spent a weekend camping with Callie & Jordan at Beaver's Bend Park. While it was a vacation wrought with interruptions in the form of new tires for the camper and a full campground, we ultimately had a great time hiking and fishing and just being outdoors. It was fun being there with two little guys who loved being outdoors and didn't want to leave.

Ron and I left late in the afternoon on Sunday and since we'd had to come up separately, I was following him home.  The weather was great and there was a huge harvest moon in the sky.

Just a few miles from home, I saw Ron's truck suddenly begin to swerve with the camper throwing his truck back and forth across the interstate. In horror, I watched as he fought to regain control of his small truck and ultimately land in the ditch on the side of the road with the camper flipped on its side.  Miraculously, he was able to keep the truck upright. As I ran to hug him when he emerged from the cab of the truck, I was flooded with relief that he was okay. I remember him hugging me and telling me he was sorry about the camper.  At that moment, I couldn't have cared less about the camper or anything inside it, even though it was already pretty clear that it was a total loss.

We spent the next few hours with a big-rig tow truck and lots of deputy sheriffs, along with Jordan who had come to help.

Eventually, the camper was separated from the truck and Ron were actually able to drive it home.  We LOVED our camper that we bought from Juliet and were sad to tell it goodbye, but were able to get inside to get most of our belongings out in the following week.  This is what we found . (Notice that the "happy camper" dish towel that is still hanging neatly on the stove, despite the fact that every other part of the stove was thrown throughout the camper)

Yep, that is a biscuit hanging from the ceiling--still in its zip-lock bag.

The end of 2016 also brought about the demise of Ron's truck--possibly accelerated by the wreck, although insurance begs to differ about that.  He brought home his new chariot--a Ford that is big enough to pull a camper and is comfortable for more than 2 people to ride.  He has waited a long time for it and loves it!

Which brings us back to the camper.  Having our little camper for just a year and a half was long enough to let us know how much we love camping and that we really do want to invest a little bit more money in having a new one.  This weekend we went out to the RV show to look around and scout out what kind of model might best suit our needs.

We checked out a variety of models and styles, but likely have a lot of research ahead of us before we figure out exactly what we want and need.

There might be some fussin' and discussin' going on, but I'm confident that eventually we will find the right thing for our family and I can't wait to get back on the road again!