Turns out I DO have the camping gene

I confess I wasn’t really looking forward to The RV Trip.  It’s not that I didn’t want to spend time with family – I love that.  But for me, prone to motion sickness and a complete lack of the ‘camping gene’, the idea of 6 hours in a large moving bus to go to a campground was not enticing.  Even knowing how much my husband was looking forward to it, and how much fun he and his son would have jacking with every knob, lever, switch and handle on the unfamiliar rented vehicle the size of Delaware, and the lure of hiking in good weather (which I do enjoy) was not enough to overcome my reluctance. 

My last RV experience was nearly 30 years ago.  It too was across state lines, and the only significant memory I have of that trip was how nauseated I was and how sick I was for the entire trip.  And there was the teeny tiny detail that neither Paul nor his son Chris had ever driven anything approaching 40’ long.  Like I said, I’m not camper – my idea of camping is “which hotel are we staying in”.  The only saving grace was that I’d be with kids and grandkids, so I decided to try not to worry about motion sickness.

We arrived in Plano Thursday night to the sight of a large RV in Chris’ cul-de-sac.  An ear-splitting horn sounded as soon as we parked, and even in the rain Paul couldn’t wait to go check this thing out.  I was happy with just taking our things to the room and getting ready for bed.

The next morning the RV looked bigger – much bigger than it had in the dark and in the rain.  I began to feel hopeful about not being sick on this trip as we loaded up the food, gear and baggage.  Tyler kept running in every few minutes saying, “We’re leaving in 15 minutes!”  “We’re leaving in only 1 hour!”  “We are leaving in 30 minutes!”   Eventually we were all aboard and the leaving horn sounded.  Dawn and the kids and I found places in the back while Captain Chris was in the driver’s seat with Grandpa riding shotgun.

Grandpa was in “jack with it” heaven.  Seriously.  He had a checklist and busied himself with checking all the latches, jacking with the window blinds, and scoping out the instrument panel.  Took him a while to get into the navigator role, as we took our first wrong turn after only 30 minutes.  But we got righted, and Grandpa continued with his checklist:  “Generator - On!   Inverter - On!  Battery – oops!!”  Those sounds along with other noises that can’t be described in this blog serenaded us in the back.

Meanwhile, behind the driver area we were having our own adventures.  Dawn in particular had exceptional timing each time she went to the kitchen area to make a snack for the kids.  Almost as if timed, as soon as she was at the counter opening or spreading or slicing she would get slung around from a sharp turn by the RV.  I’d glance over to see her clinging to the counter for dear life, jelly caps and apple parts flying.   But she was a great sport about it, and it was the source of some good laughs for us.   We had a great sandwich lunch on the road and as we got close to the campsite Tyler and I played I Spy.

A gas stop was needed before we arrived so we picked a place with diesel and lumbered in.  It took so long to fill up I was beginning to get worried we’d make it before nightfall.  Later I realized a good chunk of that time was spent figuring out how to open the gas cap….

At the campsite we spotted our reserved site – a beautiful spot on the water with a great view.  Captain and Navigator had quite the discussion about heading in v. backing in and finally decided to head in so that when we were inside we’d still have the great view.  Carefully the RV was maneuvered into place, the jacks were lowered, and there we were with our gorgeous view.  We had noticed that every other RV had backed into their spot, and soon it became clear why:  the water and sewer hookups were on the other side.   Fortunately one of our neighbors noticed our predicament and came to the rescue with an extra, long-enough hose.  Now we were set. 

It turns out DO have a camping gene!  All it takes to activate it is the right amount of motion sickness pills and the most luxurious RV known to civilized man.  In our case, the 35’ Discovery Fleetwood – 10 tons of fully automatic, fully equipped living space designed for comfort and ease.   Once I realized I was not getting sick to my stomach, I could turn my attention to notice all the amenities.   Plenty of seating for those of us not driving or navigating; fully stocked refrigerator and snack cabinets; 4 burner gas stove and microwave; coffee maker; working bathroom (including shower) while you were rolling down the road; built-in inverter so you can stay plugged in to charge and power cell phones, laptops, I pads, and whatever else needs power; ample storage space; and if you really want to relax you can go take a nap in the bedroom on the sleep number bed.  Now this was camping even I could do!!

While we were camped in Lake Ouachita State Park we had many adventures.  We took several hikes, some in the day time where we saw the beauty of God’s handiwork, and one at night guided by Laura the Park Ranger where we learned why owls aren’t afraid of skunks (they can’t smell them) and got to see and touch lots of animal pelts.  One afternoon we had a boat excursion where we delighted in following two eagles trying to get duck for dinner – what a majestic sight that was!  Our meals were fabulous – bacon, sausage, eggs and fruit in the morning with good coffee; barbecued chicken or burgers with all the fixings at night.   Dinner was always followed by roasted marshmallows over the open campfire enjoying the cool night air and even the kids went to sleep easily after the day’s activities.  For all our fishing we did catch one catfish, although it was too small to keep.

Sunday morning we had time for one last hike on the Dogwood Trail, then it was pack up and get ready to hit the road.  We hadn’t been out on the street very long when we had to stop for something called a “dump stop”, which apparently involved disposing of our wastewater.  I tried not to look or know what they were doing as I was already battling some motion sickness.  I hadn’t considered the fact that leaving for the trip we started out on flat straight roads, for the most part, but coming home we started on winding, curving, hilly roads.  But it was manageable, and fortunately I was able to read so a good book made the trip go by fast. 

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to our kids and grandkids, and finish the trip with our last 4 hours on the road.  Hugs and kisses all around, and as we drove off I was still marveling – I DO have the camping gene!!