Well, it’s me again Margaret..writing.

Some of you may recall last years big outwest adventure, CLICK HERE TO GO TO IT, but for now this is a start and we are getting ready for LIFTOFF around 11 today.  We spent the day yesterday, cleaning. You have NO idea what things need to be cleaned until you get ready to be gone for 9 days.  And the kids did some most excellent tasks as well..I was very proud of them and their initiative to prep for this trip:

Dad: “Clean the toilet and shampoo the carpet or you’ll have to ride to Florida in the back of the truck”.

Kids: “yaaaaaa, I love to clean toilets, here..can I use my toothbrush?”

Dad: “your a good kid.”

Well, that’s not ACTUALLY how it all happened, but somewhat.

On this trip, we are actually VACATIONING…some down time. Last summer was awesome fun but very very busy. And since then we have a new trailer and it’s wonderful. True, we have only camped 4 times in it and 2 of em were in the front yard. LOL.

First nite we are only going 2 hours and that is to Tupelo, Miss. I realize that sounds pretty stupid to only go 2 hours, but when we camp and travel, we are not in that big of a hurry. The family has a strong focus on ENJOYING a shorter trip than RUSHING to get to the destination. Our grocery shopping for the trip will actually be in Tupelo. We’ll take some things, but we just want to have a good liftoff and runaway. We’ll tend to the necessities as we go. That’s one of the beauties of camping. The freedom. Freedom to hit the road, do as you want.

Second nite is Meridian, Mississippi, then two nites in Destin Florida at Camping on the gulf (campground RIGHT ON THE BEACH!) and then 5 nites in Gulf shores. All are very nice campgrounds with full hookups/cable/wifi. YES>>>THAT IS CAMPING, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

And yes, I know what diesel prices are, but here is our logic:
We like it.

it’s fun.

You live once.

The truck gets 13.5 mpg when towing and that’s pretty durn good for a phat truck like that one and phat trailer like our North Trail. (phat, for you so not in the know..means pretty hot and tasty)

And outside of the expensive two nites on the beach, our family can stay at the beach and along the way, for $30.00 a nite! AND in a nice trailer that has convection microwaves, HUGE bed, flat panel DVD and XM RADIO YES>>>THAT IS CAMPING, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!, and we know everyone who has pottied in our camper. 😉

Well,it’s time to get the masses ready to hit the the road. I’ll post some more later.

We hope that your family is enjoying the long weekend and have a safe and happy one.

God bless!!

Mark and family