I've received great news that the new owners of my first travel trailer, an RTTC Polar Bear--aka the Green Goddess--are enjoying camping with the tiny "standy" trailer and are traveling much more than my wife and I did. As the Rustic Trails Teardrop Campers company and owners have their fourth Gathering this weekend, it is supremely appropriate that I provide an update on the travels of the Green Goddess.
Bought by David and Patti Steuer a year ago, their original purpose for buying the trailer was to provide David with a safe means of traveling during the pandemic from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest so that he could visit and assist family. Now David and Patti are traveling and camping together. They tell their story below with a guest post, mostly written as a text responding to a neighbor who wanted to learn more about the trailer.
RV Park in Twin Falls, Idaho
--by Patti Steurer
Thanks for reaching out to us and asking about the teardrop camper trailer we bought from Tom Kepler. We are now in the state of Washington visiting family. Then we are heading down to Oregon for a few days on the coast. The next step of our trip will be to Tucson, Arizona. Finally we will be returning home the first week of November.
We love the Green Goddess, as Tom called this teardrop trailer. It is comfortable, easy to pull and travel with, and it sets up quickly. We like that it has electricity and an air conditioner. We bought a small heater for it, and that has worked well. We cook using our Instant Pot and rice cooker, and we stay in RV parks and RV campgrounds that have restrooms so we can use the toilet and take showers. We haven't set ourselves up with a composting toilet yet, but we might do that in the future.
Olympic Mountains
Or, we might upgrade. We have found that we really like this lifestyle and want to continue traveling the USA and hopefully Canada in the future, and like Tom we might upgrade. Not sure yet, but thinking of it seriously. We have traveled to Vermont and now out to the Northwest to visit with our family who all live in the state of Washington. And, then to Arizona. We've been using it all this summer, and it has been awesome.
This little teardrop is really easy, fun, and it works. We love the smallness of our camping with this teardrop. It doesn't take much to make it all work. We haven't ventured too far off road, but might in the future. This summer has been about trying it out and visiting family. Sometimes we are using the teardrop, and sometimes we are staying with family in their homes, and for about six weeks we house sat for a friend in Port Townsend, Washington, where my brother lives.
Old growth in the Ft. Warden campground Port Townsend, Washington
You know that Tom has a blog about his camping with the Green Goddess. I hope some of his posts are still up for you to peruse. [Green Goddess Expeditions] He did so much more with it when camping using tents outside the teardrop and really setting up house. We haven't done that yet . . . but we will.
We are loving the teardrop. So easy to travel, work and enjoy the outdoors, camping and seeing the USA. On this trip we have made it a priority to spend time with family in the Northwest. We did some house sitting along the way so we haven't always been in the camper. It does get us from one place to another safely and comfortably. That is the best part in the middle of this pandemic.
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It was fulfilling for me to hear that our first travel trailer is still in loving hands. I also found it interesting that the Steuers' motivation for buying the tiny trailer fit the same reasons that my wife Sandy and I had: fits many camping spots, easy to tow and back, a "safe haven" but still with an emphasis with camping outside. Now that I own a "little" rather than "tiny" trailer, I am still pleased that many of the tiny trailer boxes for enjoying a trailer are still checked. (I wrote about this recently: "Transitioning from a Tiny Trailer to a Little Trailer--My Airstream Basecamp Experience") I should also add that the RTTC builders now emphasize their smaller campers. The Polar Bear is their biggest model and is now sold only as a limited edition model.
To all of my RTTC friends who are gathering this weekend at DeSoto State Park in Alabama, I wish you a wonderful weekend. I couldn't make it this year because my focus is on family right now, but I hope to make the reunion next year. Meanwhile, the Green Goddess glamps on--and, honestly, I'm just a little bit jealous.
It was a simple beginning, a simple and innocent introduction. Seventeen miles from my home in Iowa is Lake Darling State Park. "Why not go on an overnight bicycle camping trip?" I thought to myself, so with a song in my heart and a great tail wind, I found myself one Saturday morning camped next to the lake and talking to two wonderful ladies whom I discovered later to be the Traveling Teardrop Sisters. One of their tiny trailer teardrop campers was a Rustic Trail Teardrop Camper, a Grizzly model. A couple of months later, I owned my own RTTC tiny trailer, a "standy" Polar Bear model, and three years later, I've written a book about the travels and adventures of RTTC tiny trailer owners, RTTC Bears in the Wild.
I write about what I'm doing; I've always done that. I think writing helps me understand and enjoy my life. As the saying goes, we don't just write to explain; we also write to understand. Soon after buying my tiny trailer, I was happily writing about the adventures of the "Green Goddess" in my blog, Green Goddess Glamping; and then I was also writing about the adventures of other tiny trailer owners, profiles and travelogues. Many of those articles for the blog were about RTTC owners because they were my first contacts in the tiny trailer world.
My new book, RTTC Bears in the Wild, is a compilation of articles from Green Goddess Glamping about the exploits of RTTC tiny trailer owners, such as trips to the Canadian Maritime Islands and forays through desert and forest; it's about times with new friends sharing ocean vistas. The book begins with the second article I wrote for Green Goddess Glamping, "Why Such a Tiny Trailer?" It ends with a longer chronicle of my trip to the Carolinas to have my trailer's roof replaced after a limb bashed a hole in it during a storm.
Some of the travels my wife and I shared are included in the book, but my favorite stories are those of other RTTC tiny trailer owners--some just plain fun but also some truly adventurous, such as one travelogue where a woman traveling solo passes through a wildfire. “Without a doubt the most challenging day was driving in California from Trinidad to Lake Tahoe. I chose the forested road, which happened to be having fires. I could barely see, had no cell service, was on a road too tiny to turn around on, and I was ALONE. This is the only day on the entire trip that I doubted I could handle this all by myself, but in fact I was able to, which is pretty cool."
RTTC Bears in the Wild is my first book that includes color photographs. The photos add to the beauty of the book, even if they also triple the printing costs. It's not my first non-fiction book based on blog articles, though. I've also published I Write: Being and Writingand A Day Out with Mom, two books compiled from articles written for my writing blog, Tom Kepler Writing. Those two books were more personal, one about my perspective on writing, and the other about my family. RTTC Bears in the Wild, though is about the tiny trailer community, and not just the RTTC community.
"Kicks on Route 66," one chapter in RTTC Bears in the Wild
Camping in tiny and little trailers is a lifestyle that evokes Conestoga wagons and the Oregon Trail. Truly, the book is about people who launch themselves into a lifestyle of discovery and simple living. It's a book about taking the saying "Less is More" and making it real, making it roll down the road and set up camp at the end of the day, the light of the campfire flickering among the pine trees.
I proud of this book, the most expensive to publish because of its color photographs. Those photos help the stories told come to life, though, about how when it's raining cats and dogs, tiny trailer owners are snug in their campers with their cats and dogs, warm and dry and waiting out the storm. I invite you to read and enjoy these tales of "Bears in the Wild," these stories of people who decided to get out of their houses, away from their TVs, and to get out into the "wild," to travel and get away from it all--or to get to the source of it all by enjoying nature. I hope RTTC Bears in the Wild opens up the world of tiny trailer camping for you, just as the Traveling Teardrop Sisters opened up that world for me. The book can be purchased both as a paper book and as an ebook on Amazon.
The Green Goddess and her proud new owners. Honestly, a bittersweet photo for me to take.
"Good Evening! It looks like your Airstream Basecamp could arrive within the next week or two!" Michael Farland, from the RV One Airstream dealership in Des Moines, emailed my wife and me a week ago, informing us that our January delivery date had been moved up.
Well, that's one unexpected event in 2020 that brought smiles! It's all potential and possible, of course, but before it was the same situation, only with proposed January dates. Perhaps we will collect our new trailer and still have time for December camping. After all, I did some December camping last year!
Sandy and I decided it was time to sell our trailer--and we already had a buyer, probably the easiest sale ever. There was a knock on our door a couple of months back, a woman asking for a peek inside the Green Goddess. There was a mention that the trailer was for sale . . . and bam! sold! We didn't complete the sale right away, though, because we were waiting for verification of our Airstream Basecamp's delivery prior to letting go of the camper. Also, fall camping is the best, so I wanted to get in a last few expeditions.
A local couple living around a mile away are the proud new owners, David and Patti. Patti wrote about their journey to becoming new tiny trailer owners.
The Green Goddess made her way into our lives today. Tom drove her over; he only lives a few blocks away. She’s parked and seems to be anticipating our/her next adventure with us, Patti and David.
It was a hot summer's day in August when I walked by Tom’s house and saw the Green Goddess for the first time. My husband David and I had been talking about purchasing a teardrop camper. I stopped in front of the house to muster up enough nerve to knock on the door and introduce myself. I wanted to ask how they liked the camper.
Tom answered the door, put his mask on (as I stepped back from the porch to give us six feet apart) and came out the door. We had a fun, short and informative discussion about the camper, camping, and his blog. I am not sure why, but before I left I asked if he would let me know if he ever wanted to sell it.
Funnily enough he told me they were thinking of selling it as they had decided to purchase a bigger camper.
It wasn’t long before we had arranged to be the new owners but probably not until the first of the year. Tom wanted to wait until he was sure their new camper would be delivered before giving up the Green Goddess.
Sunday, November 8th, was a stormy day when my husband got a call from his sister letting him know that his 93-year-old dad probably has cancer. When we got off the phone, we wondered if we might ask Tom for the camper sooner than later. That way David could safely drive out to Vancouver, Washington, to see his dad and help his sister. We are in the middle of a pandemic, and being able to drive himself and camp along the way would be the safest way to go.
Just before heading to bed that night I looked at my phone and noticed I'd missed a few messages. One was from Tom saying we could purchase the camper, and he would bring it over on Tuesday.
Fantastic News and Perfect Timing!
My last camp with the trailer, a quick and easy three-night stay
Our last camping trip with the Green Goddess was mid-week before Halloween at our local state park, Lake Darling State Park, only seventeen miles away. I stayed three nights there, and my wife Sandy came to visit and hike on my second day of camping. Little did I know that it would be my last time in the camper! It's been a wonderful three seasons of camping in my Rustic Trail Teardrop Camper (RTTC), a Polar Bear "standy" model. I have nothing negative to say about RTTC and our camper. Our decision to buy an Airstream Basecamp has been based on some personal needs: 1) my wife's needs for her online business, 2) the need of a bit larger space for grandkids, and 3) our desire to extend our camping more into the "shoulder seasons" for longer extended stays. The Basecamp is overall only two feet longer than the Polar Bear, but it will provide more space and amenities (more complexities and a new learning curve, too, but that's another blog post).
An Airstream Basecamp in its natural habitat
We are excited and looking forward to our new adventures with "Moondance," our new 2021 Airstream Basecamp 16 . . . but by golly-gum we sure have some fond memories of our time with the Green Goddess. (Link: Green Goddess Expeditions) Luckily for us all, her proud new owners said they're willing to send me narratives of the continuing adventures of the Green Goddess! I know I'm looking forward to reading about her travels! If you see the Green Goddess on the road, be sure to say hi to David and Patti, the new owners!
Late at night the rain began, tapping out its falling beat on the roof of our tiny standy trailer, rattling its staccato rhythms on the camper's awning. First had come distant thunder, then forewarning sprinkles, and finally a steady rain without wind. It was a pleasing sound, without the wind a restful sound. Dawn was a gradual lightening of night to shadowy tones of gray.
Getting ready to finish my brunch. Surprising how much the toaster oven warmed the shelter.
Even though my wife and I had prepared for the storm before bed, the morning reality was a bit daunting--the prospect of a day in our tiny trailer while my wife worked online with her laptop, extra monitor, cellphone with hotspot, and signal booster . . . and me also fitting somehow into the same space. We had erected the Clam shelter outside but felt it might be too wet to really knuckle down to a day of electronic business. Since my wife Sandy is engaged in ongoing training for her son in the family business, she decided to drive the half hour to work in her office at home. Since I had books, my laptop, and lots of food, I decided to stay in camp and relax.
What to do on a rainy tiny trailer day? Besides read, write, and eat . . . and maybe take a nap.
Slow and easy, I decided . . . maybe even lazy! I wanted to cook a good breakfast that included home fries, but since I was hungry now, I put the cubed potatoes on to bake and ate a quick bowl of cereal to take off the edge. Setting up my tripod, I photographed camp during a break in the rain, enjoying setting the timer and then sprinting for a couple of selfies. Smile!
One-pot brunch
Then I cooked scrambled eggs with fresh tomato and added the potato last, once the eggs were dry enough to not make the potatoes soggy. A 10:30 brunch added wonderfully to my relaxed (lazy?) camp clean-up. Rain was going to begin again, and I wanted to keep camp as tidy and dry as possible.
Cozy for one, really cozy for two
If we don't don't have a "workload" of work, then a rainy day while camping can be a nice break, a call for some rest and quiet. A rainy day can feel cramped in a tiny trailer, especially if it is a "bed on wheels" kind of tiny trailer. We can experience cabin fever, even by ourselves, not to mention sharing a small, small space with another person--or another person and a pet or two.
Tiny trailer full-timer Becky Schade's blog Interstellar Orchard contains one article that lists five things to do to avoid going stir crazy in a teardrop. I'll pass them along, and if you like them, the link provides more detail about how she manages in her Hiker Trailer.
Choose locations with a view.
Have a comfortable space inside to sit and sleep.
Stay active.
Spend time outside.
Go on adventures away from the camper.
I'm not doing too well today spending time being active and adventurous. Oh, well . . . All work and no play may make Jack a dull boy; however, all play and no rest is what makes Tom a dull boy. Sandy and I do have some good future camping news. We received most of our deposit back for the Safari Condo Alto we ordered last September, having cancelled in early July. We also have a buyer for our current tiny camper (a lady just came to our door, knocked, and said she wanted to buy our trailer!). We aren't selling our wonderful camper now, though, and will still be camping this fall, having even reserved the campsite we're currently at for the last two weeks in October. Some late fall camping! I also plan to camp a couple of weeks in September at Iowa's Lake Rathbun, with Sandy coming up to camp on the weekends.
Sometimes it not a question of what you're going to do, even on a rainy day with precipitation limiting options. If it's a quiet, kick-backed day, then why not act in accord with the laws of nature and kick back? We have nothing to lose but our fatigue.
I'm camping because I'm a superhero . . . or is it superhusband? Maybe both, and maybe don't take me too seriously. And don't worry, I'm not wearing spandex!
Last week I camped at an Army Corps of Engineers campground at Lake Rathbun, and from that base I explored another Corps campground on my bicycle--so, bicycle exploring, and reading, writing, napping, and meditating in the hot afternoons in my tiny (air conditioned) camper ("Dances with Lightning Bugs"). It was a fun experience, and I found two new campgrounds that my wife and I can camp at. Both have good cell phone receptivity, so we can camp while my wife continues her business work at "Mobile Office 1."
However, while I was out getting sunshine, fresh air, and exercise in the morning and rest and relaxation in the afternoon, my sweetie was working her derriere off at home with a productive yet long and exhaustive week. This week, however, is great for camping with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s, no rain and low humidity. My wife is training an employee, though, so my solution to her "why am I not camping with Tom even though I'm not retired" blues is to camp locally, and I mean really local--at the local county campground just four miles from our house, across town, at Jefferson County Park.
I camped there about a month ago ("Surfing the Heat Wave") to check out the camping-in-heat experience and to try out some new covid procedures. Now I'm here and giving Sandy a chance to work, train her employee, and camp--all the while being safe and just a skip and a hop from home. It's always an interesting camping experience so close to home because there's always more interaction with home. I might ride my bike home to work in the garden. Sandy might commute home to work in the office rather than at camp. Her employee (her son) might drive out to the park and work there. It's flexible.
Evening relaxation, cool enough for a fire not to be laughable
I've set up our six-person Big Agnes Town House tent for Mobile Office 1, so everyone has many possibilities for daily activity. A big plus for us is that Jefferson County Park has fine hiking trails, so we can weave hikes into the day. In an article I wrote a year ago last spring, I called camping here like having a "dacha just outside of town." We were having our home remodeled, so we just moved for a few days into our tiny trailer here at JCP.
My schedule for the last two days has been mornings and evenings at our "dacha," with the day spent at home working on the garden and Sandy's working downstairs in her office. Our peach tree is full of ripening peaches right now, so for three days, I've cut and frozen enough peaches for five pies. I hope to prep more peaches as they ripen--that in addition to eating fresh peaches with my morning cereal and also having already baked a large peach cobbler and a large peach crisp over the last few days. Yum!
It's great, though, to get away from the house and to enjoy this short respite from the usual summer heat and humidity, which will return again by the weekend. This has been an easy time this week, and our tiny trailer is one main reason it's been so easy. Even if we just get out to the campground in the early evenings, as we have been, we can feel ourselves relax--less headline news and watching TV, more talking to one another and just enjoying a campfire and the setting sun. Local camping has its charms!
Somehow, lightning bugs are getting into my camper at night, just lightning bugs, so for the last two nights I’ve woken up to a beautiful, flickering display of wonder. I don’t know how they’re getting in, but since it’s only lightning bugs, I’m counting my blessings rather than worrying. I catch them and gently shoo them outside.
I'm spending three nights at Buck Creek Campground at Lake Rathbun in SE Iowa. What's been fun so far (it's dawn after my second night here) is that I have no particular agenda for this trip except to scout out a couple of Army Corps campgrounds--Buck Creek Campground and Island View Campground. I rode my bike the five miles to Island View yesterday and will do so again today, which involves a long ride across the Rathbun dam (or dams, there are two, one huge and the other smaller).
It's been hot, so my activity has been mostly in the morning and evening, with afternoon time consisting of reading, writing, napping, and my afternoon TM meditation. In addition to exploring with my bicycle, I've also enjoyed some cooking and playing around with my new portable shower, the Iron Hammer Portable Shower. I'm not endorsing the product yet after using it only three times, but so far it's still pumping water. I warm a couple of five-gallon buckets of water in the sun during the day, and my shower is sitting on the picnic bench in my swim trunks, spraying myself. It takes less than five gallons for this kind of shower.
Site F-3
I'm set up in a nice spot, although I get a good bit of afternoon sun. Luckily the air conditioner handles that. One good plus this camping season is that after three years, the camper insides have finally stopped off-gassing chemicals from the adhesive wallpaper so I can shut up the camper for full ac effect. In prior years, we had to keep windows and ceiling vent cracked to keep the fumes down. RTTC no longer uses the decorative adhesive. Thank you for all owners!
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Here I am on Wednesday afternoon the next day. I've been having a toasted bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, so even though I was hoping to drop a couple of pounds with some bike riding . . . probably not! I did bicycle back to Island View Campground this morning, leaving at 9:10, and it was a bit cooler, I guess. The sun was shining, so I liberally applied sunscreen, especially to my legs. I wore a long-sleeved linen shirt as usual in order to keep the sun at bay on my upper torso. I spent quite a bit of time taking notes on the best campsites--"best" being defined as having shade and hopefully a view of the lake. By afternoon it had warmed up. However, when the clouds blew in and the chance of rain increased, I dropped my awning and generally broke camp. There is an increasing chance of rain through the night and into tomorrow, and since I am heading home tomorrow, I decided to pick up while it was dry.
I've enjoyed this trip. I think that planning my activity with the idea of an afternoon siesta to dodge the heat was a good idea. It's worked well, providing me with morning exercise on my bike while I explored and then some relaxation and camp time.
New habits, or "teaching the old dog new tricks."
Regarding COVID-19 protocols, I have used my own portable toilet and shower this trip. My only interaction with campground facilities has been the electrical connection, the water spigot, and the campground trash bins. I had my alcohol spray handy for all of those necessities. When walking or bike riding outside of camp, I wore my bandanna loose around my neck, cowboy style, ready to cover my face, bandit style, if necessary. No one approached, though, so I felt safe.
Kids interacting, fifteen in this group. The "blue tees" had been to the Des Moines Zoo today.
And then came my last evening. It was scheduled to possibly rain, but because the rain held off, I decided to take one last walk through the campground. The campground has three loops--A, B, and F. Walking up the hill, I started with the farthest from my F-03 campsite and headed for Loop A. At the top of the hill was a large group of fifteen kids, from about four to fifteen years of age. Some were in a large bicycle group, a "pack o' bikes," and the rest were on the playground equipment. A few wore matching blue tee shirts, souvenirs from a couple of families who had traveled to the Des Moines Zoo.
Loop A was almost filled with campers, many of them with kids. The kids were all interacting, and I think the concept of family "bubbles of safety" interacting didn't apply here. I'm observing the great fun the kids and adults are having, all interacting, and I'm thinking, "Polk County and Des Moines is one of Iowa's "hotspots," and maybe twenty folks went to the zoo, half or more kids, and then they've come back here and are interacting with other campers. I haven't seen a single mask worn in the campground." What I saw was a very real, concrete example of why the United States has one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the world. Negotiating my way through the streams of kids, I felt less safe than during the rest of my stay here. The kids were totally innocent and happy, as we want our children to be, but I was the one maintaining my distance from them, not the other way around. And we're a little less than one month when school begins.
I am looking forward to camping this fall and early winter in our local state and county parks. It will be less crowded, safer. I think this will be my reality for quite some time--looking for ways to pursue those activities I enjoy, yet doing so in a manner that keeps me safe. Sometimes I wish each individual novel coronavirus was the size of a Bengal tiger. Then folks would say, "Oh, yeah, better avoid that sucker!" But with this invisible virus continuing to do its thing, and with so many not seeing the danger, I just have to avoid people and enjoy my freedom privately. I have had a chance to talk to three couples during my time here, them in their camp and me in the middle of the road. I enjoyed that, but felt obligated for those folks traveling to be aware of the potential dangers.
Since I've applied for my federal Senior Pass, the next time I camp at an Army Corps facility, the fee will be half price. That's great! These campgrounds open in May and close at the end of September, though, so my time will be short at these federal campgrounds this season. I bought the lifetime pass, though, so look out next year--lifetime pass and new trailer!
Some early and late sun, but mostly shaded during the heat of the day . . . which helps some
The news said heat wave, and I don't doubt it, being outside at my campsite as I write this. It's 88 degrees with 70% humidity. I'm in the shade, though, beneath the awning, a box fan moving the air, so life ain't too bad. The 4th of July crowd has left, leaving a handful of camp rigs. I'm in a pull-through mid-campground parked on the south side of the road, shaded by trees, pines and mulberries, that fringe the site. Jefferson County Park is only four miles from home, so I'm safely and easily ensconced in green peace and quiet. I've signed up for two nights of camping; since this is a drive-in campground without reservations, I can always extend if I find the heat bearable.
Yesterday I settled in. Today has been a more normal camping day, other than some in-town banking business with my wife. It's one o'clock in the afternoon, and the temperature is 90 degrees. After the in-town business with my wife, who drove in and picked me up, upon returning to the campground, I decided to go for a walk. It was ten o'clock in the morning and 82 degrees, so it seemed the earlier the better.
Baby bunny across the road from my campsite as I begin my walk
Yes, it was hot, but I was alone on the trails. I took off my shirt and ambled, soaking in the green-growing and the woody smell of the summer heat. Reaching the trees that shaded the trail, I felt myself begin to relax, my body just settling down. I realized that the extended time away from camping, except for a couple of short romps, reached clear back to last fall. Lasting out the Iowa winter to then be hit by COVID-19, campgrounds closed, and can I even begin to catalog all the behavior changes this pandemic has prompted for our new paradigm of existence? The death toll for the coronavirus is now over 130,000 for the U.S., and the verified infection numbers will reach three million by the end of the week.
Dappled patterns of light and shadow
What I'm saying is walking the trail was a relief, even with the heat and with me every now and then waving my shirt at a real or imaginary insects. It was quiet, my footsteps leaving that soft echo in the silence, muffled by the leaf mulch on the forest floor. And for a while I had nothing to do other than just ambling along--going for a walk and snapping a few photos along the way. I had forgotten about the healing, nurturing power of walking among the trees, those old souls. Even the heat was only a part of a greater wholeness.
A photo from my first night. Note the citronella candles, my first time using them.
Returning to camp, I bathed my upper torso (one of several cooling interactions with a face cloth and cool water that I've been enjoying today). Then I cooked myself a simple meal of packaged Madras lentils with added steamed vegetables, saltine crackers, and macaroni salad. It was past noon, so I ate in the camper. The heat index was ratcheting up, and I had no desire to unnecessarily wilt. I've gone into this trip with the idea that the afternoons would consist of reading, writing, and napping inside the air-conditioned trailer.
I have to say that I am pleased with the Polar Bear's response to the heat. When we first brought her home, the decorative adhesive on the inside walls would warm in the heat and off-gas a strong chemical smell. I'm sure it helps, though, that I have some afternoon shade. The chemical smell, though, seems to have almost entirely disappeared. The air conditioner is working well, set at 68 degrees and with the fan on automatic. I haven't felt too cold or warm.
A perfect trail for an amble
I'm glad I've realized that I can do some camping in the Midwest heat and humidity. I'm only staying these two nights, though. Thunderstorms will be bringing increased heat and humidity later this week. However, early next week will be in the upper 80s to 90 degrees, so I very may well head off for another few days. I can spend a few days pampering the vegetable garden and enjoying the family before heading out again. We'll see. I sure am glad I'm out and about with my little trailer, though. I'm signing off now for an afternoon siesta, a relaxed evening, and an easy crosstown return home tomorrow. I even plan to try out my shower pump sprayer sometime before bed. Until then, I'm sheltering in place, safe from the heat and the coronavirus--and just a hop, skip, and a jump from home.
The weather forecasts are predicting excessive heat and humidity for the next couple of weeks. I should not go camping. I should stay at home and hike in the mornings at our local county park, which is only four miles from home. That's what my wife and I did this morning.
Lake Darling, 2019
I had planned on camping four nights at Lake Darling State Park, which is only seventeen miles away. Had a site reservation and everything. After my walk this morning, I decided, though, to camp instead at Jefferson County Park campground, which will be much closer to home if the ninety degree heat and humidity become too unbearable. I've cancelled the state park reservation and will drive Monday to the county park, which operates on the walk-in system, and find a slot.
Jefferson County Park was beautiful on the walk--very green from all the rains, and the insects weren't too bad. Since this is the 4th of July weekend, about half the campground's sites were filled already at this mid-Friday morning. I'm hoping that most campers will be gone by Monday. I'll drive over Monday morning to check and see. I can always start camping on Tuesday if necessary.
Here are three articles based on my experience of camping in the heat.
"We're just going to head out and deal with the weather!"
Famous last words--because there was a lot of weather to deal with.
Sunday, Late Afternoon
First, the day of our departure was hot and very humid, so the big question was whether we were going to camp or were heading to a spa for a sauna. Wanting to start the trip on a positive note, I started the car up and let the air conditioner do its magic before my wife and I got into the car. That made the twenty-five mile trip to Lacey-Keosauqua State Park a pleasure. We arrived at a little past six, the back-in to our spot was easy, and the site was so level that we didn't even unhook. We figured we'd do that and the put up of our Clam Quick Set shelter in the morning. Keeping the coronavirus epidemic in mind, first I sanitized the electric plug-in and water faucet. Then we put up was our utilitent and toilet so we could be independent of the communal camp bathroom/shower area. I did this while my wife sanitized the camp picnic table.
Ready for the night.
It was a hot, humid night, one of those nights where the air conditioning isn't quite the answer, using the AC as a fan wasn't right, and our little electric fan was just a touch too loud. We went with the slightly-too-loud fan and slept as best we could through the night. Toward dawn the rain came, and we had to close the camper door and shut up the window on my side to keep out the rain. Luckily, our roof vent hood works well, so we had air flow.
Monday Morning
With camp minimally set up, our second move was for my wife to head home to work all day instead of us throwing up the Clam and having her work at camp. Rain was scheduled, and we felt the better decision was for her to work efficiently at home and then to drive back to camp either in the evening or the next morning. One of the benefits of camping close to home!
Afternoon sun, cool and low humidity. Wonderful!
Now here I am at camp alone--with plenty of food, our cozy and dry tiny trailer, and my computer for writing. I've also brought two books, so I intend to take it easy today. Maybe I'll take a bit of a walk if the rain holds off. It's a grey, cloudy day, cool enough to be comfortable even though the humidity is still high. The day feels exactly like it is: moist and ready to rain, but it hasn't quite broken loose yet.
The Green Goddess basking in the sun
And rain it did, all afternoon, so I napped, read, and wrote inside, dry and comfortable. I practiced my Transcendental Meditation technique early because it was supposed to clear in the early evening, and sure enough, it did! It was like the world was reborn--cool and clear, the humidity low, and the sun mellow in the western sky. My wife Sandy is working late at home and will be back the tomorrow morning, so I'm going to walk around a bit to get some exercise and probably take a few photos. Enjoy the moment! Off the electronics and off for a walk!
