Thanks for complaining. Oh, and the RV was great!

I must admit: I am flattered by all the complaining.

Last year, I heard that blogging was right out. The new trend: Facebook, Twitter, and other character limiting media (pun intended...) So, being the social media guru that I am, I bagged the blog.

But then, unexpectedly, I began to hear all this complaining. And it had nothing to do with baskets and baskets of unfolded (but clean!) laundry. Apparently, there were a few people (more than six but less than... eight) who actually read my blog. Who knew?  So, being that I have laundry to fold and I am desperately looking for a diversion - I decided to blog again. (But just this once... I'm kind of a day-to-day sort of gal. Too much commitment scares me right off.)

The unofficial title of my newest blog:

RV Camping: My Favorite Oxymoron

This past week we rented an RV and took the family camping. Well, we took most of the family camping. The first night we picked up the RV at 5:00pm, and after we loaded it with all our kids and our stuff, it was too late to go anywhere too far. So we just drove up Snow Canyon and camped overnight. It was a great trial run and it gave us time to determine a few things we forgot to do: like drop April off at Grandma's house.

Apparently, two year olds do not sleep in RV's. They wander. The open the cupboards. They open the shower. They crawl up to the driver's seat and turn all the switches. They climb into Mommy's bed and kick her all night. By 9:00am we were on our way back down the canyon to deposit April in Grandma's patient arms. (Thank goodness for Grandmas.)

The next two days we went to Palisades State Park just outside of Manti, Utah. As a whole, I would rate this camping area exceptional. There were warm showers, clean bathrooms, paved roads, a nice lake, a golf course, a park, and even a restaurant. 

The lake was cold, but fun. 

There are no motorized vehicles allowed which keeps it quiet. 

There is a nice grassy area by the dock with large trees for shade,
or if you are Chelsea: for climbing.  

Oh, and plenty of frogs.
A must for any little boy lake experience.

 

We went golfing the first night. Driving the golf cart was hands-down the highlight of the trip. Maybe it's because that course is very hilly and since I didn't pay to play, I just drove in circles on the grass. That's about my limit for recreational off-roading. 

 Snake on hole 15.
Putt this. I dare ya. 

 View from hole 17. Gorgeous! 

 Munchkin in my bed. 

 Breakfast in the RV. 

 A look toward the driver. 

 Main cabin. 

A look backward. 

 The lodge by the lake. 

All in all, I'd say this was a positive experience. The RV made camping seem like . . . not camping. Although we had a toilet and a shower, we tried to use the campground bathrooms and showers as much as possible. The RV had a microwave, so we made popcorn and hot dogs. We also cooked up some chicken, some chili and made nachos. There was even a TV that the kids watched when it rained a little. 

One big annoyance were the mosquitoes, which we had been warned about but somehow still managed to penetrate the multiple levels of OFF Carter swore he sprayed on himself. (Apparently, he has very sweet blood.) 

The only other thing I didn't anticipate was the noise while driving. I had envisioned the kids being able to play card games on the way there. (Seat belted of course.) Or maybe eat some lunch or something. But really, being in the back of a moving RV is like being in an earthquake. The microwave rattled so bad that we stuffed it full of paper towels and bags of chips to limit the noise.  I forbade the kids from walking around because at any bump they could get knocked over and hurt themselves. And taking a quiet nap in the back? Out of the question unless you are space-trained in not getting motion sickness. But when we were parked it was fantastic. I loved playing house in my own little kitchen; sweeping the floor, cleaning up and putting everything away in it's own little cupboard. There was something very cozy about the whole thing. Reminds me of my childhood when we lived in a boxcar. (Reference: "The Boxcar Children" by Gertrude Warner. Love it!)

Overall, I would rate this RV trip as one of my favorite family experiences. And hopefully something we will be able to do again.