YIPPEEEE!!!!!!

We received some happy news today!

The dealership where we purchased our fifth wheel camper called to inform us that our camper is "on the line" and we should expect it to arrive (at the dealership) the Friday after next!!! I'm sooooo excited!! You can see it at http://keystone-mountaineer.com/index.html
Our model is the 345 DBQ



I've already made reservations for Memorial Day weekend. We are going to keep it at the dealership until the weather improves to reduce the amount of salt and road grime on it's maiden trip home. We will do some "camping" in our driveway just for fun and to test the various systems to ensure everything is up and functioning.



It's also suggested that you do a "driveway camp out" session to make sure you have everything needed for a relaxing and enjoyable real camping trip. On a camping group Dan and I belong to, they say to stock your RV with everything you think you'll need, then have a driveway camp out. The object of the driveway camp out is to camp exclusively in your driveway without having to go into your house for anything. If you need to go into the house for something it's o.k., better off close to home instead of miles away! I know the kids will LOVE it (as will this kid too!).



Dan also received good news yesterday. His truck is also on it's way! We weren't really in the market for a new truck, as we just purchased the one we currently have last fall. Our present truck, although it's a super duty, would be at the top end of it's pulling capacity with our camper. Dan didn't want to take any chances having the family in it while pulling an 11,000+ lb camper behind us. The new truck will easily pull the camper and anything we may want to load in it.



We've always been, shall we say, frugal with our money. We are savers instead of spenders. Not really a bad thing, but since having the children in our lives, we decided this would be an exciting and fun learning experience for them and us too, and well worth the money spent.



As a child, my family camped all season long from before Memorial day until they kicked us out of the campgrounds in early fall. They are some of my best memories as a child. My sister and I, along with some other friends that also camped all season, knew the campgrounds like the back of our hands. We knew the grounds better than the campground employees! We had trails all throughout the woods. At one place there was this little creek that we would go and get crayfish and then use them for bass bait. Man... the bass LOVE them! At that same campground, there was an old abandoned Victorian home which it seemed like the occupants left in a hurry. There was furniture, dishes, clothing and many other things including hand carved duck decoys. We would go in and pretend we lived there, played "house" and sat by the unlit fireplace. It was a beautiful home and thinking back now, it's a shame it was just left to sit alone, uninhabited. My parents told us it was probably bought out by the state for the land.

I learned many things during those years like, how to make a fire with tiny twigs and dried grass, you can't fish through a little hole in the dock and expect to pull in a large fish and how quickly hours pass when lying on the ground looking for shapes in the clouds. My hope is that Max and Sonja will have wonderful memories to look back on someday too. We made many friends and went to many locations. My parents would camp at campgrounds close enough to travel to work everyday but far enough away for it it be an extended vacation for them. We always made our yearly trip to Lake George for two weeks too. I also want to do the same thing with our family if possible. Those memories really were some of the best memories of my childhood.

We are planning a trip to maybe Cape Cod, Maine or another place on the east coast. I would love to go to Cape Cod again and bring the kids to Provincetown to go whale watching. It's so beautiful and seeing the enormous whales pass by and watch them breech is breathtaking. I know they would love it. I can hear them now, making whale sounds they learned from watching Dora the Explorer! We'll see where the road takes us! If anyone has a favorite spot on the east coast that the kids would enjoy, drop us a line and tell us about it!
Ta Ta for now ;-)
P.S. I just want to say thank you to those of you who sent words of encouragement, wonderful thoughts and prayers our way! We love you!!!