Hanging out Today...Headed to Maryland Tomorrow

Today was a day to relax around camp. We're in such a lovely spot that we were reluctant to move. What a delight! A day of reading, swimming, puttering around and organizing, answering emails, writing letters, and driving VERY few miles (8 to be exact, just to get to the nearest post office). This is a KOA Campground where we're staying, and we think we'll do a lot more of them on the trip. Great amenities, wonderfully clean showers and restrooms, and nice shady campsites (at least here!) Tomorrow, and perhaps the next day, we have reservations at a KOA in Maryland, near the Antietam Civil War Battlefield.

Several of you have asked to see some details of our camping set-up, so I'll show you a few photos of how we live. This first picture is looking straight in the door of our pop-up camper. You can see the tiny fridge in the lower left, where we keep mostly condiments and things we don't need to get to while we're on the road. The 2 burner stovetop is above it, but I rarely use that unless it's raining or I need more cooking area. I prefer to cook outdoors. And there's a little sink to the right with a couple little cabinets beneath and a small furnace (which I don't think we'll need for a while!)

Looking to the left is a double bed (where Curt is right now as I type...but I'll show you the photo I took earlier in the day!) Can you tell we're from Texas?

There's a long bench on the left (where our pillows are). The short bench on the right has another one facing it. Originally a table was fixed between the 2 benches, and it could be lowered to make one continuous surface for an additional bed. We removed the base so we have the space between the benches open, and we use the table outside for a food prep surface.

Now looking at the right (front) of the trailer is the queen bed area. The towing hitch is outside under the bed. On shorter camping trips we often sleep at that end. But we need to haul so much stuff for this extended trip that we took out the mattress and we use the hard surface to store clothes, musical instruments, towels and toiletries, supplies, etc. we call it our "crawl-in" closet, and, as you can see, we'd rather cover it up with the curtains and a couple of my quilts than show you what it looks like behind the curtain!

Here's a long shot of the outdoor cooking set-up. We eat either at the picnic table (if the campground has one), or in our little screen room to the left,

it's a little hard to see, but there's an electric frying pan on the table that's attached to the side of the camper. If we're in a place with electrical hookups, that's how I do most of the cooking. On the far bench of the picnic table is the cooler where we carry the fruits, veggies, meats, ice and dairy products we'll be using within the next couple of days. We only shop for 2-3 days at a time.

At the front end of the camper outside (under the crawl-in closet) we carry 2 action-packers (they're like giant Tupperware containers) full of camping gear we may need on the trip. The white thing you see below is a cover over the propane tanks that fuel the cooking element, fridge, and furnace. The small black box in front of the hitch is the battery.

Under the tarp in the back of the pick-up are 3 more action-packers. These are mine. One for clothes (mostly jackets, boots and cold weather gear), and the other 2 for things to keep me busy and happy and out of trouble on the trip...knitting yarn, music books, reading books, art supplies, scrapbooking supplies, etc.)

On top of the tarp rides Curt's action packer for clothes, and his indoor/outdoor instrument, the washtub bass! We're ready for any instrumental "jam" we might encounter.

I think some of you were looking for more detail on how we have the outdoor cooking area set up. It's  pretty slick, so I'll show you that another time when I can get some good photos of how it all works together. 

In the meantime, Curt looks pretty comfortable in that bed (though he has stacked up the pillows against the lights I have on in the camper). I think I'll take pity on him and cut the lights and join him. He's under there somewhere!

Next time you hear from us, we'll be farther north and east in Maryland!