Beauty is sometimes so obvious and surprising it takes your breath away. And sometimes beauty resides quietly in the eye of the beholder. We experienced both on our first day out. We woke up early and drove away by the light of a full moon. The clouds illuminated and mysterious, slowly giving way to golden glow and puffy whites. An absolutely beautiful day for a drive. The traffic was easy as was our conversation. We counted our blessings and named all those people who helped us reach this moment of departure. All of the friends and family who helped finish projects, love our sweet pup BooBoo and laughed, cried and pondered with us. Each one wishing us grand adventure and safe return.
Just 45 minutes from our destination plans changed and we found ourselves scrambling to find a place to stay. Not sure exactly where we’d be headed the next morning. So we just looked for “camping near me” and chose the closest one. Lighthouse Landing, 1.2 miles away. Not much to look at from the road. Not much to look at period. But the host greeted us with enthusiasm and said, “I have the cutest spot for you.” Indeed, we followed the golf cart to a tuck away canopy of green. To either side were ancient rv’s, string lights and questionable yard art. We took in the sights as we walked a short distance to the river. The sun was settling as we returned to our “cute little spot”. Surrounded by trees and birds and wildflowers we received the cool night air and a much needed nights sleep.
And from Steve
Our camper is 4‘ x 8‘ and our car is a 2005 Toyota Corolla.
Imagine a house that is 32 ft.² and only 3 feet high. Everything must have its place. The most important feature of our camper home is the bed. It must be soft enough but not too soft. The covers must be layered so that we can take them off or put them on. Two blankets are at the bottom of our bed which is 4‘ x 6‘.
The remaining 2 feet are the kitchen. A hatchback exposes our tiny gas burner and sink and countertop. The sink doesn’t work, we never could figure out how to use it. A gallon water jug is sufficient.
Every morning we go out into our living room, full of trees, grass, and birds singing. If we are lucky the sun might be warming us. Our living room has two camp chairs. Our butts sit only 6 inches off the ground but our seats are beveled up so that our knees and legs are comfortable. The car is our closet. Towels cooler suitcases tool bag snack bag and electronics bag.
On movie night we watch on an iPad hung on a short bungee cord between two cabinet knobs in our bedroom. We can communicate by cell phone all over the world, or at least in the US,Canada and Mexico. Downsizing from our home at 1500 ft.² to 32 ft.² takes a little bit of adjusting. It encourages us to live simply. Our imagination can be large when our living space is small.
Steve & Debbie’s Grand Adventure 