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Longest Camping Trip Yet

We’ve been easing our way into the whole camping thing. When we picked up the RV in Kentucky, we stayed in a campground for one night on the way home. Then, back in September, we spent two nights at Merry Meadows in Maryland, just south of the Pennsylvania state line. Last week, we spent three nights at Pocahontas State Park in Central Virginia.

We would have stayed longer if we could have gotten reservations over the weekend. Fall, however, is a very popular time to camp. For good reason. The weather was perfect. The days were sunny and pleasantly warm and the nights were cool enough to be able to actually enjoy a campfire.

I finally got to ride along in the coach.

We don’t have a car that can be towed along yet. That will come soon. We are hoping to get a cute little convertible that will include a tow kit so we can hook it directly to the back of the coach using a tow bar. Hubby says a car towed along in that fashion is commonly referred to as a “toad.”

Pilot and furry copilot.

Belle is 13 now. I’m happy that she is still with us and able to also enjoy our new adventures.

Entering Pocahontas State Park

Belle actually likes riding in the coach. She has mixed feelings on car travel in general.

Admiring the coach.

 

Beautiful sky view.

 

Fall

Don’t you just love the colors in that leaf image (above)?

Hubby’s bicycle.

 

Reflective interestingness.

 

The street our site was on.

The campground was fabulous. The sites were nice and private. We were sandwiched between two other campers, but they were nicely screened from view by trees.

We had a lovely campsite.

In the above image, you can only sort of see our neighbor.

Our site from a different direction.

 

Campers, chillaxin’.

 

Chillaxin’ indoors.

 

Lake view.

We could not see the lake from our site. I captured that photo when we went on a bicycle ride.

Belle loves being outdoors with her people.

 

Another view of our street.

 

Stitching in the sunshine.

It won’t take me long at all to get used to retired life.

I LOVE campfire hotdogs.

 

We reserved our site in advance.

 

Artsy capture.

 

We checked in on Mike’s birthday.

All in all, it was a great trip. The park is located about 25 miles west of Richmond. It only took us about two hours to drive there, which was nice.

The park is a lot hillier than I expected, which is fine except when bicycling. I am quite out of shape, unfortunately, so didn’t enjoy riding as much as I could have. One day…

I’d love to go back to Pocahontas, but there are a lot more state parks to discover. I have no idea where we will go next, but hopefully we’ll get to stay longer.

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Merry Meadows Revisited

We were in Maryland this past weekend for our first official camping trip. And Mike planned it all, which is kind of a big deal. I am usually the travel planner, but when he made a great trip suggestion a couple of weeks back, I told him to go for it and he did. We even had a couple of guests.

Mike, Mom, Belle, and Zephyr

Back when my father-in-law, Murph, was still living, the in-laws bought an RV and started camping. After a few years going to various campgrounds, they settled on a place in northern Baltimore County, Maryland. The campground was called Morris Meadows at the time, but it’s now known as Merry Meadows. It was closer to home and they could keep their RV parked on a permanent site. Mom even stayed there after Murph passed. In all, she was a camper there for over ten years! They were always very active residents, made a bunch of friends, and have very fond memories of their time as residents.

We arrived a bit later than anticipated on Friday as I wasn’t feeling well. When we finally got there and were checking in, Lois, one of the campground’s owners, was quite happy to see Mom’s name on the registration sheet.

I drove down to pick Mom up on Saturday morning. She even brought one of her photo albums along so she could visit with Lois later in the day to reminisce.

Mike and Mom (Take 1)
Mike and Mom (Take 2)
Mike and Mom (Take 3)

I think it’s safe to say that the weekend was a smashing success.

The weather was perfect for camping, too. Cool days and crisp, cold nights. There was even a little frost on the ground when I went out early Sunday morning.

Belle and Zephyr at the dog park.

It’s hard to see our friend, Zephyr, in that photo. He’s a miniature Australian Shepherd that belongs to a friend who is off visiting her Mom in Arizona.

Mom and Zephyr on couch.

I took a bunch of pics to share with y’all, but it’s hard to fit everything in when indoors in a somewhat-confined space. If you want to see larger versions, click on the image and then use your browser’s back button to return to the blog post.

From kitchen, looking toward front of coach.

 

From bedroom, looking toward front of coach.

 

From kitchen, looking into bedroom.

Not pictured are the half bath (to my right) and full bath (in rear-end of coach).

King-size bed, covered with the first bed quilt I ever made.

 

Main living area.

 

Sofa (seats 4) and kitchen.

 

Belle enjoying the fireplace (can use for heat or ambiance).

 

Belle’s favorite spot under dining table.

 

Me walking Zephyr and Belle.

 

Sunset on Saturday.

So there you have it. Overall, it was a great weekend. The campground was pretty full, but it’s a quiet, well-run place. We didn’t need to use the bathhouses since our RV has everything we need. And we got to test the systems we hadn’t used, like the shower, dishwasher, and heat.

We are both looking forward to more camping trips so we can continue familiarizing ourselves with our new camper. Most people call big rigs like this “coaches,” but I prefer camper. I think that’s mainly because we did lots of camping when I was a kid and that’s what we always called RVs.

I’m sure there will soon be a few more grand adventures to share. We need to familiarize ourselves with how this camper works, figure out what supplies we need, and get used to smaller-scale living. Retirement for Mike is not that far off.