The Maiden Voyage

So we've got a night in the RV under our belt now.  We wanted to get in a local campground visit prior to any major journey so that if there were issues, they would be short term because we would be headed home soon enough and/or we would be close enough to home that we could bail if necessary.  On May 21, our plan was to depart after soccer and swimming lessons and lunch - around 1pm - and travel the hour or so to the campground to arrive around the 2pm check-in time.

I have done quite a bit of research now on how to equip and pack an RV.  Maybe at some point I will add a post about the process and what we ended up packing, but let me start by saying that I had a few priorities in the process: 

1. Be minimalist.  (I would rather have not enough and need to add then too much and have to figure out what to get rid of.)

2. Try to pack so that things aren't going to shift around during the drive.  (This involved a small fortune of shelf liner.)

3.  Make sure that there are things for the kids to do.

Here are a few lessons that we learned on our maiden voyage:

Lesson 1: Don't be in a hurry.  Our plan was to leave at 1pm.  We were all loaded up and buckled in at 1:30 - not too far off of schedule.  Then the RV wouldn't start.  Not good.  Being that we were all in the RV already, I told the kids we were just going to pretend we are camping - it was pouring anyway, and we were doing exactly what we would be doing at the campground.  So, John worked on figuring out what was going on and getting the battery charged (with me helping the little that I could) and the kids played.  (Item #1 added to the packing list for the future - a battery charger.)  Two hours later, we pulled out.

My view on our way

Lesson 2: Minimalist works, but not everything is unnecessary.   Like a battery charger (see lesson 1).  And leveling blocks.  Leveling blocks are definitely necessary.  In our first spot, we were tilted front to back and side to side.  Everly unbuckled and took her first step after we parked and promptly fell into the table.  Later, we moved to a spot we thought was more level, but was still tilted side to side.  Fortunately, the tilt was such that we rolled into walls instead of out of bed while sleeping.  Unfortunately, the tilt was away from the shower drain, which meant I had to try to kick the water into the drain the entire time that I was showering.

Lesson 3: Be willing to play in the rain.  And cook in the rain.  We spent some time in the RV building puzzles, coloring and playing games, but we did need to get out and we realized that if we didn't go out in the rain, we wouldn't be going out at all.  We also realized that our rain/mud boots were one of our most valued items.  We played in puddles.  We took walks.  We came back and built a fire (bringing dry fire wood and dryer lint to start the fire was key) and cooked mountain pies for dinner in the rain.  We ate under the awning and then made s'mores.

Lesson 4: Have a positive attitude.  The attitude we took for this trip was that it was all experimental.  We needed to get everything figured out and we knew that we didn't know everything yet and that things were bound to go wrong need improved upon.  Things did go wrong.  Like the battery dying and the sink leaking and the shower water being sub-zero temps 38 seconds into the first shower.  But, we laughed and took care of it and got things figured out.  It rained the entire time (have I mentioned that?) but we had fun despite the rain.  We got the RV to make some memories.  Nothing is perfect, but when we look back on it, the memories can be...problems and all.

The Great Camping Adventure

Last week, Cortlan and Everly were watching a little Sid the Science Kid (don't laugh at our apparent dorkiness - it is a cute show) and in that particular episode, Sid camped out in his backyard with his dad and a buddy.  Cortlan was fascinated by this, and asked me, "Mommy?  Do you think we could camp out in nature someday?"  He wanted to have a fire and s'mores and sleep in a tent - all the things that Sid did.

I was actually pretty excited by Cort's request, because I really enjoy camping and have visions of doing a lot of it as a family as the kids grow up.  We used to camp quite a bit when I was a kid, and since John and I have been together, we have camped several times - including on the beach at Assateague Island with some friends and some hungry wild horses. We have made some great and lasting memories camping. The last time that we went was with friends in May of 2006.  Not long after, I found out that I was pregnant with Cortlan (and actually had been, unknowingly, carrying him along on that trip).  Then, before he was old enough (in my opinion) to go camping, Everly was born.  Now, with Everly a little more than two-years-old, and quite adventurous and pretty much willing to try anything, we figured that the two of them were old enough to attempt an old-fashioned back yard camping experience.  Thus, my answer to Cortlan was an enthusiastic, "Yes!"

The timing of the camp out was perfect.  Our neighbor had some 4th of July fireworks to set off, and to see them, the kids would have to stay up past their bed time.  Since we would already be staying up late, we figured we might as well do it right.  First, we went and got ice cream.  (I got Graham Central Station, which is my new favorite, for sure...mmmmmm!)  When we got home, we set up the tent and got the fire going. 

For dinner: Mountain pies - the pepperoni pizza variety. 

Then, after playing, some s'mores for dessert (in case the ice cream wasn't enough). 

At around 9:30, we went to the neighbor's for a serious fireworks display.  For our purposes, they were just as good as the "real deal."  Actually, they were even better, because we had the best seats in the house, only had to walk down the street a little bit, and had no traffic or parking to deal with. 

We got back home, got in PJ's and climbed into our sleeping bags.  From the start, it seemed as though we were going to have another experience similar to the hotel a couple of weeks ago, but in a much shorter time span, the kids calmed down...probably because it was much later.  They were finally asleep at 11:30 - far later than either of them had ever stayed up.

But with sleeping outside comes an early and noticeable sunrise.  At 5:30 AM, the sun was shining through the thin tent walls, and Everly announced that she had to go potty.  It had been a pretty restless night's sleep (mostly because Everly's feet kept ending up in Cortlan's back, to his vocal dismay), so getting up at 5:30 was the last thing I wanted to do.  But, we went in the house, came right back out, and much to my surprise, the kids fell back asleep until 7:30.

Through this experience, I learned several things: 

• S'mores are just as delicious as they ever have been.
• An air mattress might be a wise investment.
• The morning after a night of camping may not be the optimal time to run nine miles.
• Sleep between the kids instead of having them next to each other.
• Don't ever camp far too away from a restroom.
• We are just about ready to try camping for real...maybe next year!