12/23/12

Blog+Travel=Change

Seventy days!  That's how long it's been since we took out the Casita for a trip, no wonder things do not feel right in my world!

But all of that is going to change within the next few days as we are heading south (and, hopefully, into warmth) sometime after Christmas.  Our plans are to join a small group of egg campers in the panhandle, celebrate New Years, and then decide where to spend the next few weeks before heading down to south FL.

Don't know why I drag my feet about writing a post...and when I delay, there are so many topics to discuss.  There has been the winter solstice, always very important to me, and the end of the world that did not happen.  I am one of those who want to believe that we are starting a new civilization, one of heart, love and peace, like the age of Aquarius we sang about in the sixties.  Also there is Christmas and my coping skills to just get through it, the end of the year review, the history of this blog and the life changing experience of camping in the southwest last winter.

So where do I want to start this?  
Twelve months ago, I started blogging, a big deal for someone who has never had the courage to share thoughts and feelings in print, did not realize that my life was changing. The blog was started to keep me off of Facebook while traveling the southwest.
The winter trip to Arizona was wonderful, blissful, spiritual, peaceful and exciting at the same time. We would be heading back this week if there was not another western trip on the horizon for spring.

So a year ago we were excited and scared, 2000 miles is a long way from home and anything could happen.  But everything that happened, we handled.  
I quit writing as soon as we returned...after all, there was only a handful of people following us.  But in July the blog got resurrected by adding "in the Mountains" to the title while we were camped up on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
This is when the blog started changing.  Sharon,(http://www.tinycamper.wordpress.com), sent me an email asking campground questions and we started emailing. Through her encouragement, I kept writing.  Thank you, Sharon.

And I want to thank all of my readers including my special blog friends...you know who you are...for being there.  Merry Christmas and may your new year be full of wonderful, exciting travel adventures!

2012 had the Chatta-Egg going out every month but two, March and August.  Thought it might be fun to document the year in pictures.


January and February



This rock towered over our campsite at Tortilla in the Tonto National Forest.  I climbed it!



View of Canyon Lake and our campground from the top of the above rock.



Our favorite campsite of the whole trip...12 days in January and 10 days in February.  At Tortilla Flatts.

April


Bald River Falls in Cherokee Forest
Tellico Plains, TN

May

Cumberland Falls, KY

June

Little River, Elkmont Campground, Smokies

July
Davidson River Campground 
Brevard, NC



Blue Ridge Parkway view
Turks Cap Lily

September

Farnum Creek gathering


Milford Lake, KS

October


Happy Holiday RV park, Cherokee gathering

Thanks, again, for stopping by and allowing me to share our year with you.







12 comments:

  1. MERRY CHRISTMAS! So glad you have shared your travels with so many of us. I've taken away courage and excitement as we make our preparations. As I love the desert and yearn for it, I'm sure going to enjoy your Florida stories too! Keep up the sweet blogging...catch you after the New Year!

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    1. Merry Christmas to you, too.

      Glad that you understand that special connection with the desert; if you are yearning for it, I know you understand its pull.

      Hope to see you on the road sometime in 2013!

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  2. Lynne, so glad to see you gearing up for another trip. Hope it's warm and that you make some lasting good memories down there.

    I never told you, but I am actually scared to travel out west. Maybe I read too many adventure books about people dying in the desert when I was a kid. It seems like such a foreign, unforgiving place!

    And yet I am so envious of the people who do it--like you and RVSue. Maybe someday we'll get our budget and our courage together and make it out there, too.

    Thanks for the kind words, but if I hadn't bugged you about blogging, I'm sure someone else would have eventually. Maybe Glenda? :D

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    1. What a revelation! But fear is a very natural response to the unknown and it is basically a good thing that keeps us safe. When I am afraid I talk to myself to figure it out. One of my biggest fears is of being cold, so I just do everything I can to keep it from happening.

      That desert in the movies and TV is not the desert that I fell in love with. My attraction is more to a high desert that is full of plants, saguaros, rocks and canyons. While there I learned the names of many plants, so different from our southern flora.

      Hope you get out west this year, at least to Texas so you can visit with the sister.

      Do the thing that you fear and you become fearless!
      Love ya, Merry Christmas!

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  3. Lynne, Lynne, you and tinycamper are my eastern bloggers and keep me "still hoping" of exploring that part of our country again. For me, there is still sooooo much to see in this beautiful country, sooooo many intriguing folks in all the nooks and crannies around the country and sooooo many wonderful qualities about us that need to be shared by those who blog for others to read.

    As I led off my last posting: May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through.

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    1. Hey, your eastern bloggers are here waiting for you! Maybe not waiting, but would be excited to see you again. Hope you are able to make a get-away in 2013.

      Love the peace blessing....let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

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  4. Merry Christmas to you and your family. What grand adventures you have had this past year. Blessings for a joyful 2013 where lots of beautiful memories are made.

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  5. Thank you and I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve.

    There's a book that I have not read, yet, called Writing to Change the World. I would put your blog in that category, always sharing from your heart.

    Happy 2013!

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  6. Looks like a pretty good year:-). Merry Christmas!! We'll see ya in a couple of days. Be safe, traveling...jc

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  7. Hold onto your hat tomorrow and be careful when you get on the road!

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  8. Great Recap and SUPER photo's...from seeing your photo's, I now have at least two more places to go this coming year...Blue Ridge Parkway and Milford lake Ks....Have a VERY Merry Christmas and may the New Year bring you Good Health, Happiness and all the Adventures you can handle!!!...Horst

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  9. Thank you. Love the way you ended with..."all the Adventures you can handle!" Noticing that our adventure tolerance level is decreasing with age.

    Yes, the BRP is a must! Our favorite campground is Mt Pisgah, about 20 miles south of Asheville, NC, especially wonderful in the summer with cool temps and magnificent wildflowers.

    Happy New Year!

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