2015: Camping Trip 1

This past weekend we pulled out the trusty pop up camper and took off to Marion, North Carolina.

Our destination was Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park (Campground).

This was our first visit to this family oriented campground.

It was a lot of fun and totally memorable.

The first memory made?

Getting there.

My husband's Explorer couldn't do the job it did last year.  It nearly laid down on us.  Thank goodness that was long before we left the county lines of home.  Thanks to my dad we could borrow one of his trucks and head on up I40.

I didn't know what to expect.  It took us about an hour and a half to get to the campground.  It was pretty welcoming when we did get there.

Can I just take a second to tell you how incredibly kind the staff of this campground is?  Wow.  Most of the workers are college aged and they are just extremely nice.  Take Chic Fil A Service and move it into a campground and BOOM you got it.

We got our little pop up set up.  A minor setback....the electrical fuse was messed up.  Luckily, my mechanically minded husband fixed it and we had power.  I know, camping.  I'm not in a tent ya'll.

The kids always get a kick out of the first night in the camper.  Its like a free for all for a few minutes.

There is a nice little playground for kids across the lake and behind Ranger Smith's.  The kids loved the boat play place and the sand pit.

The big pull was the "lake" which reminds me more of a large pond.  My daughter loves to fish!  She caught her first large mouth bass while we were there and that kid was hooked on fishing from that point on.  She wanted to fish at night, in the morning, instead of eating....you get it.

Even though this campground offers events and activities every 30 minutes (just about) for kids to enjoy; you could not pull our girl away from the water!

Unless it was to check out the arcade.

One thing we love about camping is meeting new people (aka neighbors).  We were so lucky this trip to have great neighbors on either side!  One family was from Sylva, NC and their girls became fast friends with our daughter and our son.  The other family was from Hickory, NC and of course we did the six degrees of separation!  She used to work with our local personal banker.  Crazy, right?

Another perk of this campground was a nature trail to walk.  We enjoyed it....even with a 2 year old.

Sunday morning all we could talk about was how much we enjoyed the weekend and the campground.  After we got our pop up popped down we had a special visitor come by....

We're ready to go back to Jellystone in Marion, NC again soon!

Visit their website and tell them you read all about them on A Brownie World Blog!

May Goals

Another month is gone.  I will refrain from saying anything about how quickly the year is going or questioning what time does with itself.

You're welcome.

Let's revisit those April Goals:

1  Finish the inside painting Did that.  Boo yow.
2  Pound more pavement  Did not do that.  Unfortunate but will change this month.
3  Craft up something because the bug isn't going to go away  The bug did leave.
4  Clean the camper  Did that.
5  Actually finalize the vacation  Did that.
6  Get our yard going (as far as growth is considered)  Did that.  We even have grass now!
7  Pack away the winter  Packed yes.  Moved to storage?  No.
8  Get volunteering  Failed.


I will give myself an B for getting 50% completed.  I know technically that's like a D but um...we curve this thing ya'll.



1  Get my kid registered for Summer Camp.
2  Make a me day once a week
3  Have some girl time with my closest girls
4  Buy vodka and tonic water
5  Fish more
6  Camp more
7  Get our little event planned (you like vague?)
8  Attack the laundry room and upstairs closet
9  Pound more pavement or dirt or mountains
10  Have a 24 hour, kid free, time.
11 Decide on and begin (if going to) camper renovation


You got goals?  I wanna hear 'em (and cheer you on).

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I Think Stuff & Things

So I was thinking....

*Last night a friend posted on FB she was suffering from Baby Fever.  After the afternoon I had with my first baby (now 7) and not being able to sleep a full night thanks to second baby (now 2) I decided she is insane.  She needs my two for a weekend.  Yes, Heather, I'm talking to you.

*I took a mental health day.  It involved Starbucks and the book I just finished and a two hour Target trip.  Go on with your baby fever.  When you enjoy Target for two hours because you realize you're alone and can actually LOOK at stuff and TRY STUFF ON it is an amazing day.

*My friend Keileigh is about to pop with her third child.  God bless her.  But she's so freakin' cute pregnant.  I'm going shopping for her this weekend.  What aisle can I find sanity pops and margaritas for the mommy?

*Seriously, kids are wonderful....before they develop habits that prevent you from sleeping and enjoying life.  And after they have graduated college.  That's a big window of, in between, making antidepressant commercials or AA posters.

*I did not partake in the Lilly at Target madness.  I was excited but on Sunday I as blah.

*Currently, booking our first camping trip of the year.  I'm a small bit excited.

*Yesterday I spent an hour as a pest exterminator.  It is amazing what a role of tin foil and masking tape can do.  If you read my Monday post then you know what I am referring to.

*Yes, the blog looks different.  Yes, I failed to do a Tasty Tuesday Post.  Yes, I'm in some type of limbo with what I'm going to do with the blog.  I want to learn more about making my blog something new.  I've been doing this for like 2.5 years solely because I love to write and share.  Maybe one day I'll figure out exactly how to take it to the next level.

*My grandma is dying.  It sucks.  OK so yes she's been dying for a while since you know she's an 88 year old and well they aren't really in the whole gonna get another 25 years.  Her struggle with Alzheimer's has been overwhelming and a passion of mine is education and getting science the money needed to make progress in getting rid of this evil disease.  You see this in my Mini Posts on Alzheimer's (post 1, post 2, post 3).  I'm building a team for The Walk To End Alzheimer's on October 31st, 2015.  I'll have more info up soon but if you're in NC I have a spot for you.  If you're out of NC you can sponsor us.  The truth is every person reading this blog has been, is being, or will be affected by Alzheimer's and that's just not acceptable.

*And finally, you're smile is so pretty.  I think I need to make you do it again:

Joey

Meghan

  

Getting Into The Great Outdoors (or something like that)

Warning!  I am divulging some "new" information in this post.

Post 1:  Meet my new little property tax.

At the beginning of July I became the proud new owner of a pop-up camper.  I would like to make this tidbit of information so much more golden than it is.  Unfortunately, the sugar coating machine is clogged.

All kidding aside I have a pop-up camper now.  In May, the hubby and I began asking the age old question of whether we should get a boat or a camper.  

What?  

You weren't aware of that age old question?  

Well that's how us high class folk roll ya know!  Get a boat or get a house on wheels by gah!

The camper won by a landslide due to many factors.  

OK really two contributing factors.  

The first was that our friends who had boats quickly shot down the boat idea.  They let us know that boats were not economical, required too much maintenance, were too expensive to use, and finally a waste of money.  We also noted that nearly all our friends who had boats had sold them in the last couple of months.

The second, and major, contributing factor was that a camper kind of sort of fell in my lap.  OUCH!  Ok not literally but to make a long story short my dad had one he wasn't going to use so I got it for a great deal.

So what is a "pop-up" camper?  

Well for those of you who are travel trailer virgins let me put the ball in the hitch.  

Ugh that was um gross.

A pop up camper is that thing you see behind cars, trucks, SUVs, and minivans that is sandwiched down to look like a piece of metal with a doggy door on it.  

You get a place to "set it up" at and you literally pop the thing up.  I am not kidding you.  You manually pull the sides out (beds) and then you take a crank and crank that bad boy open.  KABOOM a camper.

High rollin' I tell you.

Ours has many amenities on it including:  

Electrical hook up

Water hook up

Gas hook up (which scares the bajeezus out of me)

Sink

Fridge (wait or is that a cabinet...?)

Stove  (never will I use it, that is just too confined of a space baby dolls)

And if you are going, "Is this really camping?"

It is because we do not have a shower, toilet, or air conditioning.

Go ahead, roll your eyes with me.

A pop up is a glorified tent.  

It has a bit of structure to it thanks to some vinyl, metal, and wood.  It also allows you to see at night thanks to the power hook up for the four interior lights.  Other than that you're pretty much in a tent.  

The beds are not Serta or Sleep Number.  They are pieces of over-sized foam in furniture upholstery.  I know that sounds very plush to you, gentle reader, but really.

When I was in high school my parents purchased a pop up camper.  I can say I never stayed one night in that thing.  I always made my way home at bed time.  Ok...wait there was one time I stayed in it.  It just wasn't my thing.

Now that I'm just a bit older I realize they aren't the worst form of "vacationing".  {Let me just confide to you I have slept in a couple places where the mice shared the mattress with me.  Don't judge, college was fun!}

Pop-ups are pretty economical too.  The maintenance is minimal.  You just have to be a bit of a neat freak and keep them clean.  My husband already did an outside check to keep the thing waterproof.  I guess if you have lived in a single wide trailer, ok any trailer not wanting to discriminate, you know the basic care a camper needs...they're like cousins guys.  Also since part of the structure is basically tent canvas you have to keep it in good condition as well.  This means cleaning and waterproofing it.  Really its not hard work.  

Pop Up Help on Pinterest!

We can go away for a weekend for roughly $50 with our little pop up.  The rate includes our electric and water.  I wish I could stay at the condos and hotels I prefer for $50 a night in the summer!  Since we live on a budget and make sure we know where each penny goes; cheap get- a-ways are a total must for us.  Campgrounds offer many fun activities for families.  From putt-putt to traditional canoeing to craft activities and movie nights there are tons going on you just have to find the best campground fit for your family and budget.  This topic will pop back up in another post.

Click here to visit Robslink for this camping NC map!

Then there's the whole purpose of camping.  Camping means you get out and unplug.  You enjoy what is outside - hiking, swimming, boating, fishing, tubing, etc.  With a pop up you get to do all that and have something a tad bit more stable than a tent to hang out in when the rain comes down.

However, when the thunder rolls and lightning strikes go to safer shelter.

This has been post one on my newest addition.  This week and in the future there will be more posts on camping.  I'm learning as I go and cannot wait to play around with organization, recipes, and places and things to do when you're out and about with your tent, camper, or even RV.