Movin on up!

We are moving into a new trailer!  

Today was packing day and it's kind of funny to me

When I finally wrestled the basket out of the cabinet, I found four hundred and fifty three forks.  Did I anticipate a fork shortage last summer?  Did I anticipate four hundred and fifty three dinner guests at the campground?  I wouldn't have been able to get them out of the cabinet in short order so no matter what the emergency, fork response would have been slow

This was our movie selection for one camping trips in Michigan.  We put the younger kids to bed and had scary movie night with the teenagers.  Now, when I was a kid, these movies scared the daylights out of me.  I thought these would be perfect to watch with teenagers to scare them.  Turns out, the most memorable part of these movies was the soft core porn...memorable for the teenagers of course, embarrassing for me.  They haven't let me forget it either, "inappropriate" is their adjective of choice.

One of my favorite trips of the year, and usually the last, is Halloween.  So when I walked in the camper this was spread out on our bed, apparently, exactly where I left it last October.  It's one of those window covers, you see the spider from the outside at night when the lights inside are on.  I guess I wasn't concerned about cleaning the camper up after that trip?!?  It was cold, I kind of remember thinking I could just deal with it in the spring.  Probably the same temperature it is today but in March that is a lot warmer than it is in October.

It's funny how moving out of a camper is kind of like moving out of a house.  The "stuff" reminds you of experiences and the rooms hold memories.  It also proves true that it doesn't matter how much space you have, you will find something to put in it!

Spring Break

I've had a brain freeze and haven't been able to post anything.  We're finally thawing in the Midwest.  We had spring break this week.  The teenager made his high school baseball team so our spring break went out the window for the most part, but we did get a long weekend, four days, so we made the best of it.  We visited family in Mid-Missouri and brought along an extra teenager.  We're fortunate enough to have a farm in the family that provides endless entertainment.

Space is limited when we visit so we have to be creative, especially when we have extra kids.  Thankfully, my family are campers as well! 

This is how we do the guest house Missouri style:

Whatever works!  The kids like it.  They have their own quarters.  They did run out of propane the last night so it got chilly.  Two of the three came over to the house in the early morning hours but the third one stuck it out in the cold trailer.  I think he was happy to finally have it to himself!

It was cold while we were there and the wind was terrible!  I didn't spend a lot of time outside (or any), I only went outside when I absolutely had too but the kids still managed to have fun. 

We got a spring snow storm on Sunday

I couldn't believe it!  We hardly ever get snow like that in Missouri and it was the end of March on our spring break.  We headed home to Northern Illinois on Monday.  We didn't get any snow up here.  We must have passed 15 campers on the highway.  I wonder where they were headed?  Picking up their campers for the season or were they headed South to warmer weather?

This all left me longing for our first camping trip and warmer weather.  May 31st is the first trip for us, it seems like a lifetime away.  I'm trying to work one in earlier in May, Mother's Day maybe?  I don't think the baseball schedule will allow for it but time will tell. 

Table Rock State Park

I heard the birds singing yesterday, it was music to my ears!  We're also in the midst of the largest snow storm of the season for Northern Illinois.  Oh well...camping season will eventually arrive.

I recently read an article on www.campingroadtrip.com about the Ozarks so I thought I would post something about our families favorite camping spot in that area, Table Rock State Park.  I grew up in the Ozarks, I've spent time on many of the lakes in the region and time in many of the parks.  My hands down favorite is Table Rock Lake and Table Rock State Park.  We vacation there every summer.  The lake is so pretty and blue, because the bottom is rock instead of dirt, the water is clean and clear!

Table Rock State Park has two campgrounds available to campers.  We prefer campground #2.  The campsites are all relatively flat and the campground is clean and well maintained.  There are laundry facilities available for a longer stay.  There is a bike path around the park and lake access from other points besides just the marina.  The campsites are spacious so there is room for all of the gear that comes along with a camping/lake vacation.  There are family campsites, which are bigger than normal also.  We never use those, I find the regular campsites adequate for us but it is an option available for larger families.

We usually check in on a Sunday and boat Monday through Thursday.  The lake isn't as crowded during the week, making it safer for tubing, wakeboarding and skiing.  We rent our boat right there at the marina and when we have the same boat for multiple days, they allow us to store our gear right on the boat.  The campground is a 30 second drive from the marina.  We usually are dragging coolers and towels, etc. so we drive but you really could walk right from the campground to the marina.  Cliff jumping is a favorite activity for my boys when we're boating, especially the TEENAGER.  We hang out in the boat in the cove around the cliffs while they swim off and climb up the side of the cliffs and JUMP.  That usually provides a few hours of entertainment, at least as long as we're willing to sit and watch.

When we get off the lake towards the end of the week, nearby Branson provides endless entertainment.  Go Karts are usually a must do attraction.  There are some faster tracks for the older set that provide some friendly competition.  The amusement park, Silver Dollar City, and water park, White Water are lots of fun.  They are small, but just big enough for us.  There is always the bike path at the park.  You can rent bikes right there at the park if you aren't interested in transporting yours.  The anglers in the family spend a day, sometimes two, out with a guide fishing Taneycomo.  There are many guides in the area and I think they just about all pick up right there at the Park in their fishing boat.

This is always on our list of summer camping spots!  We have created so many great memories at Table Rock Lake.  It is the highlight of our summer camping and my favorite vacation spot.