My life has taken an amazing turn the past few weeks. I have been on 3 road trips in the last 30 days. The last one spent in the comfort of our new RV the OverlandTrail Campground & RV Park in Fort Davis, Texas. Yes gentle readers, BB is now an RV camper convert. It was spending several days and nights in the comfort of Moonie's Dutchman travel trailer while attending the 2009 Chili Cook Off in Terlingua that made me a convert to the RV way of life. By the time I returned home, I had already started discussing us getting a travel trailer in my twice daily phone calls to Larry.
Once Larry gave the go ahead for me to start looking for an RV for us, I began to search the internet for a good deal on one. He figured I wouldn't be able to find one to suit us anytime soon at the price I wanted to pay. But, thanks to Mike Spencer at Fun Time RV, I found the perfect RV for us, at a really great price. Our lovely new home away from home is new 29' Keystone 2008 Summerland 2670BH pull type travel travel with 1 slide out. It has a fully functional kitchen, and bathroom, a roomy dinette, and a couch so comfortable Larry nearly dozed off watching tv on it one evening. The front master bedroom has a queen size bed in it. Storage space is something I certainly don't lack. Besides having a carpeted through and trough at the front of the trailer, and a good size "toy box" compartment at the back, there is storage space under our queen size bed, the couch, and dinette bench seats. There is also a set of bunk beds I have utilized as storage space. Basically, I have a lot more storage space than stuff at the moment, but I'm working on evening that situation out.
Fun Time RV is great about showing new campers the ropes. We did a full walk through and systems check in the trailer, then went through the hitch and unhitch process. After that it was off to the Fun Time RV accessories section to get a starter kit that included a fresh water hose, sewer hose, mirror extensions, and a few other necessary odds and ends. By the time we pulled out with our new travel trailer in tow, I was reasonably sure I could handle hitching and unhitching her, as well as hooking her up to all the amenities. It took Larry a bit to get used to the electric brakes on her, but once we got back on I 20, he relaxed and the drive home went well.
Our first camping trip went beautifully. Moonie and family were parked beside us, so for the first time in all these years we have known each other, we were temporarily next door neighbors. Wednesday night's temperature were predicted to be below freezing. Moonie and I earned our eskimo camping spurs when we had to put some back up water in our fresh water tanks, then disconnect the water hose from the faucet and drain it so our fresh water hoses wouldn't freeze during the night. Thanks to the fact my 50 ft water hose easily reached the fresh water fill valve on her trailer, we were able to accomplish this task quickly and easily.
The water hoses may have been in danger of freezing if we hadn't disconnected them, but we sure weren't. Though we have a good furnace in the camper, I also brought along one of our little electric fireplaces. Between the furnace and little electric fireplace, we stayed comfortably warm no matter how cold and frightful it got outside. Larry had also insisted on us getting a heated mattress pad for the camper, so our bed was toasty warm when we slid between the sheets that first chilly night. And by turning the tv around, we were able to watch it from the comfort of that warm snuggly bed.
Thursday we all celebrated Thanksgiving with a potluck feast that consisted of Cajun turkey breast, Cornish game hens, ham, candied yams, cornbread dressing, gravy, potato salad, and brown and serve rolls. While the men recovered from stuffing themselves by watching football via the cable tv hook up available at the park, Moonie and I worked some calories off by walking around Fort Davis. The courthouse looked gorgeous already decked out for Christmas with garlands of holly and big red bows. Later that evening I enjoyed the lavender bath salts and pomegranate scented soap I bought at Javelinas & Hollyhocks as I took my second bath in our new home away from home.
Friday we took the scenic 75 mile loop drive. As we wound our way through the mountains I let my eyes feast upon the beautiful scenery around me. I also hung out the window and took a few pictures and videos. Mostly though, I simply enjoyed every inch of that drive. Before it was over Larry happily agreed return to this area again in the spring, and take the drive again from the opposite direction. We also agreed it would be wonderful to camp in the Davis Mountains State Park for a few days. This state park has full hook ups, including cable tv, as well as some other scenic drives, which will keep Larry happy. Plenty of hiking trails and viewing areas will keep me happy. And yes, I said hiking. Those fancy fur lined hiking boots I bought for sashaying around the mall in, are about to really go hiking. Hell, I even bought a walking stick during the Terlingua Chili Cook Off trip, and will be putting it to good use in the future on some hiking trails. The hikes will be only be 1 or 2 miles to begin with. But in time, who knows what trail my hiking boot clad feet might venture down some day.
And with our camper in tow, there is no telling what road we may venture down someday. My goal is to see as many different views as I can through the windows of my home away from home. To roll the electric canopy out, sit beneath its shade, and see mountains, rivers, lakes, and other natural wonders. Which is why I am studying the maps of the campgrounds carefully, and making notes about the best spots in them. We had a camping trip planned for Seminole Canyon State Park for December 1-5, but between stumping my toe so badly I fear it is broken, and a nasty turn of cold wet weather, we had to postpone those plans until my toe gets better, and it warms up. I will put that down time to good use adding and reorganizing stuff in the camper so that when we do get to Seminole Canyon, we will have everything we need.
