Thursday June 28…the first run. We’re only going up the road to Bishop Lake for a couple of nights, but I’ve packed as if we’re leaving for the grand adventure. All except the electronics and my knitting! Outfitting the camper was far more of an undertaking than I imagined and the past couple days of not knowing when we’d leave (and our home microwave being dead), it was a comedy of hauling things in & out of the house for meals, toiletries, clothes, etc…

I’ve been to so many stores over the past few weeks, hunting for just the right size containers only to find they don’t fit and returning many things. I’ve carried photos and measurements of every nook & cranny of the camper and carry a tape measure in my purse. I have tried to think of every little thing we’d need and in the process have gone through my entire house sorting and purging along the way. It will be nice to return to a clean & more organized home!

Of course, we couldn’t find one of the cats before we left the house and it’s a scorcher outside, but we made it to the campground in one piece and found our spot. All was fairly uneventful getting unhooked and set up so I’m thankful for that. The kids had a blast tooling around on their bikes around, which is a treat for kids who live on a somewhat busy dirt road. It was too late to hit the lake, but I’ll be happy to take a dip tomorrow!

We have no water hookup, and though we had run water through the tank at home, we also emptied it out so there were lots of trips to the campground bathrooms. After we were settled in for the night, I drove home to put Oswald inside. Also to grab powdered coffee and a teddy bear! Back at camp, I enjoyed the can of wine my friend Kelly gifted me, which I was saving for this occasion!

Driving back to camp, I thought about how everything today seemed foreign, from Andy being off work, to the Suburban being outfitted for towing, to the camper being our “home” though we’ve been in and out of it a thousand times over the past few weeks as we made it our own and loaded it with our belongings.

I expect that this is how the next month will play out…with everything being foreign other than ourselves. We’ll have a borrowed tow rig. The sights and experiences will be new. We have no set route, plans or obligations and that alone is a foreign feeling! As I sat with Andy, I realized I don’t know how to be still anymore and that is something I’ll work to overcome in the coming weeks.