Thanks, Abby!

 

Well, if all goes according to plan, we will be heading home today from our final camping trip of the 2021 season. I'm freshly reminded this week of the fragility of life and plans. Someone we know from back in our home area headed home from work Friday afternoon with plans in place to leave for Florida on Saturday to enjoy a week of fall break with her husband and extended family. But before Friday ended, her husband died suddenly from a heart issue, and the week they planned never happened. Our hearts are broken for her, and we are reminded anew to hold tightly to each other and appreciate each opportunity we are given. 

We sailed into this final trip a bit by the seat of our pants. I had to giggle at Type-A-Planner-Girl Bekah, who had the first trip planned out something like six weeks ahead of schedule, because I made the packing list for this trip literally the night before we left. I think I started working on it at 11:00 p.m.

I would have loved to have started earlier on that planning, but there simply wasn't time. Fortunately this is our first time ever to return to a place we've already been, so I did a little copy/paste from our previous list and hoped for the best. 

We took a total of six trips this first season of RV ownership. It feels a little strange to see "only" six trips, because it feels like we should have been gone a lot more after making an investment like this! But do keep in mind that one of those "only" six trips lasted nearly two weeks!

We took our first trip in early April and headed to a state park in Ohio. We were gone for three days and two nights that first time. It was a bit of a working vacation, because I was speaking at a women's retreat, but it still counts as our first outing! We didn't get to do any of the state park sorts of things because the weather was awful, but this is where we officially experienced love at first sight with RV camping. It was perfection for me as a speaker to have my very own "home" to return to after each session and to not have to spend any of the weekend unpacking into a hotel room or packing back up to leave. 

We left at the tail end of May and returned almost two weeks into June from our big trip of the year. We were gone thirteen days that time, although there were a few nights in the middle of that trip when we slept at my sister's house and didn't actually stay in Abby. It was during this trip that we realized we really could live a full-time travel life, if we could only afford it. We trekked through seven states and logged over 2000 miles. Coming home felt strange, because we'd been home the entire time we were gone! 

We went to Chain o Lakes State Park in the middle of July and were gone for three days and two nights. This was the first time we found ourselves completely off the grid for a trip. Not an ounce of phone or internet reception to be had in that campground!! (We didn't realize that ahead of time, so I was late to the blogging game!) We had terrible weather and the mosquitoes were ravenous, but the time away was such a sweet respite. Literally the day before we left for that trip, we had a really difficult situation take place at WillowBridge, and our hearts needed the rest that can only be found in leaving the building entirely. Though we learned we do like to be able to text and check the radar, we loved our time COMPLETELY away.

We went to Batesville, Indiana in late August, for another three day, two night getaway at a KOA campground. There wasn't a ton to do at that campground (no trails to hike, and the lake was too far for us to get our kayak to) but we enjoyed having so much space to ourselves and the opportunity to try new recipes over the campfire! 

Just a week later, in early September, we went to a KOA not far from us, on a little lake, and took Phoebe along for the ride. We arrived on Labor Day, after the crowds left, and the whole place was so very peaceful for the three days and two nights we were there. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, our chance to kayak and bike, and having a dog with us made it extra fun!

And so here we are, in October, back at Chain o Lakes. We've hopefully finished out kayaking challenge that we started last time, and we also hope we've gotten to hike without mosquitoes hitching a ride!

This first season has been a joy for us. We have begun to find a rhythm with Miss Abby. We've learned how to pack efficiently. We've learned how to set up and tear down our campsites. We've learned the beauty of resting - both on and off the grid. We've appreciated the conveniences of air, heat, plumbing, and a full kitchen. 

We've learned what we would want to have differently in a future RV (it's not much!) and what we love about this one (most everything!). We've learned what things we hope to one day have full time in Abby so packing to leave is a much shorter endeavor than it is right now. 

We are both so glad to have her and so sad this season has come to an end. (I did get a great question last time I posted about our last trip of the season coming up, so let me address it here in case you're wondering, too! The question was...why stop now? In our part of the country, we have to winterize RVs and campers because it gets so cold over the winter months. Some of the newer models are made to withstand colder temperatures and still offer working plumbing, but Abby is older and we don't want to risk it. If we lived in the south or in other warmer parts of the country, we absolutely could use her year-round, but not in Indiana. We could still use her for sitting or sleeping, but not the bathroom or kitchen because of the plumbing. So if you were wondering, now you know!)

Can't wait to tell you about the adventures of the last few days!