As the spring rains green the desert, I am filled with the absolute joy of camping again. The nights and mornings are cool but the sun warms everything, including a weary heart. It’s not that we haven’t traveled—in January/February we drove more than 3,200 miles to get repairs done on our motorhome. But, we drove the motorhome. Actually, my husband drove the motorhome and I navigated. Driving a motorhome from point A to point B as quickly as possible is a lot different than camping.
This is camping!
And this is camping. The patio rug is out, the chairs are rocking. The wood is ready for our first campfire of the season. I can smell the sweet scent of other campers’ fires. We’ve unfurled the awnings and opened the windows. A tablecloth is secured on the picnic table. This is the time I wait for, the time I dream of!
Dream built with imagination
What are chores in a house are no longer chores out here. As I was scrubbing dishes, and conserving as much water as possible, I realized our RV is not a lot different from the childhood playhouse of my dreams, albeit upscaled with water and heat. I am still fitting tiny dishes into tiny cubbyholes. My real playhouse had a cardboard kitchen and plastic walls thrown over a card table. It was a place of imagination. Camping in an RV has always been a dream built with imagination and anticipation.
Sitting in the sun overlooking desert wildflowers in bloom, I have decided that the joy of camping can override the most crowded campground, noisy neighbors, dog messes and kids walking through our site. It can override the costs and irritations. Override the frustration of spending days on the phone making reservations or being caught short with nowhere to stay. It can even override breakdowns and bad weather.
Joy mixed with gratitude. What better way to spend the first real camping trip of the season?
Related:
50 days of traveling like the ‘old days’: No reservations, no itinerary
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