Our “camping” style gradually changed from relatively short trips to that of extended stays for escaping the heat and humidity in the summer and the cold and dampness in the winter.

And then after 10 years, we sort of burned out! We began taking more international trips, fly and drive domestic trips, and car treks. But after a year or so, we both missed the glory days of RVing, and spent this past January and February in Arizona, and parts of July and August in North Carolina.

And now, COVID-19 has changed our world again such that neither of us feels safe eating out or overnighting in a hotel room when car trekking and many of the wild places offering photo opportunities are remote, and actually beyond the motorhome’s capability. Besides, I just plain miss primitive camping and being off the grid, at least occasionally. As a result, a few months ago, I rekindled a longtime interest in vans and began watching vlogs related to van life; I was so envious, having always had a nomadic tendency. It was out of the question to have both a motorhome and a van, and the motorhome is very comfortable for staying a month or longer! And then, a vlog called Dome Life showed up on YouTube featuring a young couple from central Arkansas camping weekends and vacations in wild and scenic places in a tent. Wow, did this bring back memories, and yearnings. I decided to give it another whirl—a few more years of tent/car camping is still left in this old fella. After inventorying camping gear, we had most of the required items (though Kay’s days of tent camping are over) and the foul weather brought on by Hurricane and then Tropical Storm Laura provided an opportunity to assemble and consolidate all this gear. A sleeping bag and tent were missing, but soon ordered—the sleeping bag has arrived—and now all that remains to be acquired is an auxiliary, portable power source for the CPAP.  So, that is largely how we/I spent Wednesday and today.

To end the day, Thursday, August 27, Kay made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and bought Yarnell’s plain vanilla ice cream to celebrate my 71st birthday. Pat and Dan Olson hosted us for dinner, and despite Tropical Storm Laura dumping lots of rain and wind, we had a great evening and a super birthday, marking an end to bad weather for a few days.