Camping and Critters

RV clean? Check. Inventory list made? Check. Reservations made? Check. Critters gone? Check.

We are almost ready for our first camping trip of the season. We pulled the RV out of storage and did a little dusting and wiping. I left a bag of nuts in the camper and guess what? A critter found it and went to town! If you read this and know my kids, please DO NOT mention the critters. They may not want to walk into the camper. My kids are finicky like that.

I have no idea how this little critter got into the camper, but this was our first break-in. I think it was a field mouse. No damage was done to the camper. Only empty peanut shells – everywhere. The positive side of this is that we helped one of God’s creatures eat good for the winter! But I know one thing is for sure; it won’t happen again. I’ve made it my personal battle to scour that RV before it’s put on lock-down this fall.

But having to only to do a little prep work makes camping so much easier. Last year, we purchased items for the RV. We only have to pack the food, clothes, and linens.

Speaking of linens, this year I plan to pick up some towels and sleeping bags specifically for the camper. Then, it’s simply wash what’s dirty and throw it back into the RV. Yes. I love camping and look forward to a great season.

Happy camping!

Joining A Camping Club

Have you ever made a decision and then you’re itching to get things moving? Well, that’s how I feel about joining the camping club called The National African American RV Association (NAARVA). What does a girl have to do to be down with the club?

Okay. So it’s been only one day and I need to slow my jet. You see…I’m just excited about being able to connect with some cool campers. I don’t know them, but I have a close friend who has hung out with this group. If she says they’re cool, they must be. Right? Yes. And that’s that. So I’m going to relax and be patient.

This camping club, NAARVA, was formed in 1993. Their first outing consisted of 165 RV’s. Can you imagine? The club is nationwide and broken into four regions. Each region has between 5 and 17 chapters.

I really wanted to avoid an official membership club, but this seems to be the way to go for now. No matter how much my friends hear about me and my family camping, it’s still just ‘us’ out there. So I’m thinking joining this group will support our statements that black people do camp.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress. In the meantime, feel free to check out NAARVA here.

Winterizing….Let’s Do It.

This morning, Will picked up the camper and took it to the dealer to get it winterized. We wanted to do it ourselves, but did not get a chance to purchase an air compressor. Winterizing the camper is the final ending to a camping season. I’ve already starting dreaming of our first trip in 2010.

Once the camper has been pumped through and through with anti-freeze, we’ll bring it home and give it one final cleaning. We need to make sure all the food is out. The last thing we want is to find in the Spring is critters.

We place dryer sheets all over the floor of the camper. We were told that this deters critters. Not sure if it truly works; however, there were no critters this Spring. Also, the camper smelled great.