After a lovely church service this morning and an afternoon of enjoying Center Harbor on Lake Winnepausakie, we're sitting cozily in our trusty little pop-up, enjoying the sound of rain on the roof. We're feeling a little nostalgic because this is our last night camping in this wonderful little camper.
When we first bought this Jayco Baja 10Z brand-new in the fall of 2005 in Boise, Idaho, I intended to keep a notebook on board to record all our outings in it. Somehow, that never happened. So tonight we sat at the table after dinner and made a list of all the places we could remember where we camped and enjoyed this cozy shelter.
In Idaho we enjoyed many campsites on and near the Salmon River, in and around Stanley, McCall, Cascade, Yellow Pine. Bergdorff Hot Springs, and Ponderosa State Park. During some of those trips we shared the pop-up with friends: John and Nancy Hanna, Kevin and Nan Kelley, and Mike and Marge Van Dyk. We also used the pop-up,as a "guest room" sometimes when our grown kids or adventurous friends came to visit.
From Idaho we took several extended trips. In the summers of 2006 and 2007 we traveled to Estes Park, Colorado. The first summer I attended Gospel Music Week at YMCA of the Rockies Camp. While I attended music workshops, Curt enjoyed the company of his former Montana State University student and our good friend James Healy, who camped out with us with his sweet dog Sadie. (Sadie was originally our dog back in the early 90's, but I was dealing with allergies at the time, and was allergic to her. So James took her, and the two of them had some amazing extreme outdoor adventures together!...skiing, mountaineering, backpacking, whitewater trips, etc. Sadie did it all!)
The second summer Curt and I both attended Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp. I took lessons in Celtic harp and fiddle, and Curt worked on the upright bass. The pop-up was the container of MANY squeaking, squawking notes as I learned the fiddle!
After we hauled it to Texas when we moved there in 2008, we spent many weekends camping in nearby State Parks: Lost Maples and Garner near Leakey, and South Llano near Junction. We towed it west to Fort Davis,Texas and Ruidoso, New Mexico.
We camped in it in the fall of 2012 at the Wintercreek Reunion Dulcimer Festival in Bennington, Oklahoma. The rainstorm at that festival was unbelievable. While many people were soaked in their trailers or tents, we stayed warm and dry...and more importantly, all our musical instruments did, too!
Just before our current trip, we had the pop-up inspected top to bottom, stem to stern, and every tiny little thing was repaired to perfection. We had an air conditioner installed (should have done that years ago!) and got to use it for a grand total of two nights before we hit cooler weather and no longer needed it!
And now, on this trip, we've spent over 60 nights in it in the following states and provinces: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Hampshire.
Tomorrow after we arrive at Ross and Lorna's house in Massachusetts, we will empty our camper of all its contents. We'll be leaving it at the dealer in Maine on Wednesday as a trade-in when we pick up our new KZ Vision travel trailer. We wish we could keep the Baja and give it to our kids to enjoy... But there's no way to tow two trailers with one truck out to Idaho. So we'll have to remember all the good times we've had.
We're thankful to the Lord for the safety He's provided, for the wonderful people we've met as we've traveled in the pop-up, and for the enjoyment we've had of His marvelous creation. it's our prayer that the new owners will enjoy the same types of experiences and will travel in safety, peace and good fellowship as we've been blessed to do.
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