I hate to admit this but... neither Hubby nor I relish camping. I understand, that for all you camping enthusiasts, you may not understand where we are coming from; however, I'll mention just a few reasons why camping is not high on our priority list.
My biggest issue with camping is the lack of showers... that less-than-clean feeling that comes from the few sprinkles in the camper shower or even worse, the mostly cold (and hairy) public showers, leaves me longing for the comforts of home. Maybe if we camped more often, we would grow to enjoy it. Maybe if we had a more updated camper that would help. And perhaps if our home didn't feel as though we live at a cottage seven days a week that would make a difference too. Our home is a little piece of heaven on earth; it is surrounded by numerous trees, rolling hills and melodious birds where we enjoy the sights and sounds of water rippling over the waterfall of our pond that is flanked by a brick patio. We camp at home day in, day out.
Needless to say, we've decided to take a trip to Grasslands National Park this fall; that said... Hubby and I are still a bit gun shy. You see, the last time we had the ol' girl off the place, we ran into a few glitches. The biggest glitch was the utter embarrassment and frustration we experienced when we filled our onboard water holding tank at the campground water tap. Two hours from home... in a strange campground... set to camp for three days... to discover our water heater had a large hole in it! The first clue? Water was pouring out the side of our motorhome. Another glitch was that we didn't have a working fridge. Now that's gotta put a crimp in the cook's world! It was a lot of work to make it a pleasant experience, needless to say, we made do as well as we could but let's just say the issues put a little "damper" on things.
Our excursion to Rowan's Ravine hasn't been the only escapade. What about our maiden voyage several years ago? We had spent quite a few hours prepping the ol' girl for her first trip. We ripped out the original orange shag carpet (I'm pretty sure germs from 1985 were still trapped in those fibers!) and laid a vinyl plank floor. Hubby gave it a good mechanical check and I disinfected it from top to bottom. I spent several hours packing all the necessities in order to be ready to pull out the next day. We were headed to a ranch roping clinic in which Hubby and Big Sweet Pea were participating. We were excited.
The excitement soon diminished when we loaded up the next morning to head out. There was no mistaking! Mice had found a fresh new home to make their nests in. I was certainly not impressed, to put it lightly, and went into a cleaning frenzy, disinfecting top to bottom (again!). Three hours later, I was exhausted but we were on the way with a clean home on wheels. As we lay our heads on the pillows that night, all tucked into our freshly renovated (and disinfected) home away from home, we soon realized we had unwelcome squatters. Wouldn't you know it?! The mice had come along for the ride!
I hope in days to come, we can make some good memories in the ol' girl. Wish me all the best. I'm hoping our camping shenanigans take a turn for the better!
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
