NEW BOOK IS REVIEWED IN ESCAPEES MAGAZINE - JAN/FEB. 2008
Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the '40s to the Present just received a wonderful review in the latest issue of Escapees Magazine. Since many of the contributors to the book are also Escapees members, and because so many RVers are also boomers whose history the book covers, this magazine was an ideal publication to review the book. As a writer who needs all the publicity the book can garner in order to sell them, I really appreciate their kind words.
For those of you who may not know, Escapees is an organization of RVers that owns several parks around the country and offers discounted camping at hundreds of other RV parks. They produce a magazine that is published every two months and also hold RV rallies called Escapades. The next big one will be in July in Gillette, Wyoming.
Also, copies of both Looking Back and Portable Writing will be on sale at the writer's co-op booth at the upcoming Gypsy Caravan in Casa Grande, Arizona starting Feb. 11, 2008. If you plan to attend, look for them there.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Question: What is the difference between a writer and an author?
A writer is someone who writes with the hope of getting paid for it. An author is someone who gets paid for writing.
PROMOTE YOUR WRITING WITH A BLOG OR WEB SITE
It doesn’t make sense not to start a blog for your book or to promote other writing services and projects that way since they cost nothing but your time. A Website costs very little and some providers even offer free Website hosting.
The difference between a blog and a Website is that a Website stays more or less static, while new messages should be posted on your blog on a regular basis to keep readers interested in coming back. You can promote a book project on either site, and can provide links to purchase your book or get more information from either a blog or a site.
Websites
A list of Website hosts and their rankings are available by googling "Website providers." The first thing to do is compare these providers, then register the domain name you want to use for free. Then register for a site and decide what you want your site to look like, and what information you want to include. I studied the sites of other writers, then sketched out on paper what I wanted to include in mine before I sat down at the computer. You can use software that’s probably already available on your computer, or purchase software to design your Website. Or you can hire someone to design a site for you, but templates in the software make it easy to create a nice site.
Blogs
Blogger (www.blogger.com) offers free blogs, and all you have to do is sign up, then find the layout you like and start posting. You can add your photo, your book’s photo, links to related sites, and information about yourself or your book in a section that stays up permanently. Each post you add is displayed for awhile, although newer posts will be added above it, and eventually they will be pushed off that page. They’ll still be available to readers in the archives. Posts should ideally be 300-600 words, but if you are providing information that requires more words, that's okay, although you might lose some readers who don’t want to take time to read a long post.
I have four blogs currently up and running, two for each book that has been published in the past two years. One is for my newest book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present. That title was too long, especially for those searching the Internet, so one blog is: http://boomersrememberhistory.blogspot.com for those looking for books on the boomer era. The other blog for that book is: http://lookingbackboomersrememberhistory.blogspot.com for those who have heard of the book or read a review and are searching by the title. The book titled: Portable Writing: the Secret to Living Your Dreams with 25 Projects to Fund Your Freedom has one blog titled: http://portablewritingnewsletter.blogspot.com for those who know the title and know that I produce a regular newsletter. The other blog is http://freelancewriter.booklocker.com for Internet users searching for books about freelance writing.
One note about blogs: your blog must include key words that Internet users would look for on search engines. Higher rankings put your blog at the top of the list, but they don’t necessarily keep that same ranking. You need to post regularly to your blog to keep it somewhere near the front of the list so that whenever someone googles a key word in your blog, it pops up near the front of the list.
I believe that my blogs have definitely helped sell books. It’s a way that those who don’t know me can find out a little about me. It is still necessary to publicize my blogs so that people know about them, and know where to look, so each email that goes out includes a signature line that includes my name and the title of my blogs. That way, all of my regular correspondents know about them—and hopefully, help spread the word.
It’s also a good idea to promote your blog and Website on business cards, brochures, and on any other written materials you might regularly hand out to potential clients/customers. Then let the blog and Website do the selling for you.
Blogs and Websites work for you 24-7, promoting your book or writing skills. Make sure you use these cheap and simple tools to further your writing career.
A writer is someone who writes with the hope of getting paid for it. An author is someone who gets paid for writing.
PROMOTE YOUR WRITING WITH A BLOG OR WEB SITE
It doesn’t make sense not to start a blog for your book or to promote other writing services and projects that way since they cost nothing but your time. A Website costs very little and some providers even offer free Website hosting.
The difference between a blog and a Website is that a Website stays more or less static, while new messages should be posted on your blog on a regular basis to keep readers interested in coming back. You can promote a book project on either site, and can provide links to purchase your book or get more information from either a blog or a site.
Websites
A list of Website hosts and their rankings are available by googling "Website providers." The first thing to do is compare these providers, then register the domain name you want to use for free. Then register for a site and decide what you want your site to look like, and what information you want to include. I studied the sites of other writers, then sketched out on paper what I wanted to include in mine before I sat down at the computer. You can use software that’s probably already available on your computer, or purchase software to design your Website. Or you can hire someone to design a site for you, but templates in the software make it easy to create a nice site.
Blogs
Blogger (www.blogger.com) offers free blogs, and all you have to do is sign up, then find the layout you like and start posting. You can add your photo, your book’s photo, links to related sites, and information about yourself or your book in a section that stays up permanently. Each post you add is displayed for awhile, although newer posts will be added above it, and eventually they will be pushed off that page. They’ll still be available to readers in the archives. Posts should ideally be 300-600 words, but if you are providing information that requires more words, that's okay, although you might lose some readers who don’t want to take time to read a long post.
I have four blogs currently up and running, two for each book that has been published in the past two years. One is for my newest book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present. That title was too long, especially for those searching the Internet, so one blog is: http://boomersrememberhistory.blogspot.com for those looking for books on the boomer era. The other blog for that book is: http://lookingbackboomersrememberhistory.blogspot.com for those who have heard of the book or read a review and are searching by the title. The book titled: Portable Writing: the Secret to Living Your Dreams with 25 Projects to Fund Your Freedom has one blog titled: http://portablewritingnewsletter.blogspot.com for those who know the title and know that I produce a regular newsletter. The other blog is http://freelancewriter.booklocker.com for Internet users searching for books about freelance writing.
One note about blogs: your blog must include key words that Internet users would look for on search engines. Higher rankings put your blog at the top of the list, but they don’t necessarily keep that same ranking. You need to post regularly to your blog to keep it somewhere near the front of the list so that whenever someone googles a key word in your blog, it pops up near the front of the list.
I believe that my blogs have definitely helped sell books. It’s a way that those who don’t know me can find out a little about me. It is still necessary to publicize my blogs so that people know about them, and know where to look, so each email that goes out includes a signature line that includes my name and the title of my blogs. That way, all of my regular correspondents know about them—and hopefully, help spread the word.
It’s also a good idea to promote your blog and Website on business cards, brochures, and on any other written materials you might regularly hand out to potential clients/customers. Then let the blog and Website do the selling for you.
Blogs and Websites work for you 24-7, promoting your book or writing skills. Make sure you use these cheap and simple tools to further your writing career.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Finally Debuts at RV Parks
Finally! RV Park activities directors are scheduling music performances that appeal to the Boomer audience. When we first started RVing, I couldn’t get over the music played regularly at RV park events—the same music that used to entertain my parents. Then I looked around and realized that I was one of the younger RVers on the road then. But as the years passed, I couldn’t help wondering if rock ‘n’ roll music would ever be heard in the parks, or would they continue to hire groups that played ‘30s and ‘40s music until the last WWII survivor played no more. The following tells the good news.
"THE CATSKILLS AREN'T DEAD YET—they just moved to RV Parks in Arizona. The Smother Brothers and many other Sixties headliners like Ricky Skaggs, Tanya Tucker, Frankie Avalon and Brenda Lee, are performing now for the Boomer (and older) RVers. Jacque Lamoree,Valley del Oro's activity director, played a pivotal role in launching the talent sea change for Arizona's RV industry. "Our people just go crazy. And our audiences are just like teenagers again. "See who's playing at
http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/1228ev-bignames1229.html."
"Reprinted from "RV Lifestyles" a free ezine featuring tips and resources about the RV lifestyle. Visit http://www.rvhometown.com for subscription information, back issues, and more RV information."
Finally! RV Park activities directors are scheduling music performances that appeal to the Boomer audience. When we first started RVing, I couldn’t get over the music played regularly at RV park events—the same music that used to entertain my parents. Then I looked around and realized that I was one of the younger RVers on the road then. But as the years passed, I couldn’t help wondering if rock ‘n’ roll music would ever be heard in the parks, or would they continue to hire groups that played ‘30s and ‘40s music until the last WWII survivor played no more. The following tells the good news.
"THE CATSKILLS AREN'T DEAD YET—they just moved to RV Parks in Arizona. The Smother Brothers and many other Sixties headliners like Ricky Skaggs, Tanya Tucker, Frankie Avalon and Brenda Lee, are performing now for the Boomer (and older) RVers. Jacque Lamoree,Valley del Oro's activity director, played a pivotal role in launching the talent sea change for Arizona's RV industry. "Our people just go crazy. And our audiences are just like teenagers again. "See who's playing at
http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/1228ev-bignames1229.html."
"Reprinted from "RV Lifestyles" a free ezine featuring tips and resources about the RV lifestyle. Visit http://www.rvhometown.com for subscription information, back issues, and more RV information."
Friday, January 11, 2008
Apparently this small cat feels right at home as our dashboard kitty. Although we've had him checked for a microchip and signs are posted, no one has claimed him yet. Who could not fall for this handsome little guy?
FOUND - ONE SMALL BLACK CAT
This is an unusual notice for this blog, but on the chance that the person who lost a small black male cat at Thousand Trails Verde Valley might be reading this (and I realize the chances are pretty slim), it's now safely in our care.
This little guy has been running around the park for more than a week and was reported to joyously run up and greet anyone walking a dog. He also sauntered up to our neighbors yellow lab and made friends, even though Dixie is many times his size. That's how we finally got possession of him after our neighbor fed him and made friends.
So this is what we know. He must have escaped from his owner's RV, and the owner must have also had one or more dogs. By the time we finally managed to get him into the motorhome, he was quite skinny but appeared otherwise healthy. He's very sweet, and after a few minutes of exploring the motorhome, he headed for the dash and settled in. That makes me think his owner might have driven a motorhome and he was probably a dashboard kitty.
One other thing I know is that he has been declawed. Imagine how scared he must have been as he wandered the park at night trying to stay out of reach of a gray fox, a coyote, and a band of skunks that have been roaming the park recently. He couldn't eat (if he could even find anything, since he obviously didn't have claws to catch his own prey), drink, potty or sleep without constantly watching over his bony little shoulder. He couldn't have defended himself from any type of predator and he couldn't escape up a tree. However, he was healthy looking, his hair was shiny and clean, and other than being a little skittish at sudden noises or movement, he soon settled down to normal.
It's apparent that someone dearly loved this kitty and took great care of him, and somewhere, his family and at least one pooch companion are probably missing him terribly. So if you hear of anyone who has lost a small black cat at the Verde Valley Thousand Trails, please tell them to contact me at portable.writer@yahoo.com and identify the cat's special appearance. Although he has won our hearts, I would love to see him back with his owners again if they want him. And how could they not?
Thursday, January 03, 2008
TOO MANY IDEAS? So what’s the problem?
I have a serious problem! Too many ideas. I always have been able to generate more ideas than I have time to pursue. One of this newsletter’s subscribers wrote a while back saying he has the same problem. A lot of writers would love to have this problem, but I suspect there are many more who also suffer from the same malady.
Having too many ideas is a natural extension of being creative. As writers, we spend our lives in a creative world, coming up with characters, scenarios, and original ideas. The same thought processes that provide us with original ways of telling stories also give us unique perspectives and ideas.
So if you suffer from the malady of “too many ideas” here’s how you can conquer the desire to pursue them all.
First of all, write your latest idea down immediately before you forget it. Keep a small notebook handy where you can record every idea that pops into your head. You might head some pages, “Ideas for writing projects” and “Ideas for articles.” Other pages can hold “random thoughts” which might be an idea for a personality trait for one of your characters, or it could be something you witness that you realize would make a good topic for conservation among your characters. Notes could also lead to new ideas for a book or article topic. I could go on and on here, but you can think up new divisions for your notebook based upon your own thoughts and ideas.
When I first started writing, I made up charts on the computer for “article ideas” and would add a topic each time I thought of one. I would list the magazines that I thought would be appropriate for the articles. Since I was writing mostly travel articles, I would list a place we planned to visit and the idea for a story. Often these topics would become obsolete because we never made it to the place I planned to write about, or once I did get there I discovered an entirely new angle for my article. Still, the list was a road map for my future.
Next, when you have a spare minute or two, go through your notebook and choose a project idea. As you read over the ideas you’ve previously written down, you’ll probably find some that seem silly, foolish, or no longer relevant. Cross those off your list immediately. No need to wade through a long list of irrelevant ideas every time.
Having too many ideas can be as crippling as not having any ideas because they can clutter your mind, which can hold you hostage. You must be able to prioritize your time and projects so that you can always keep busy and can move smoothly from one project to the next. You’ll be well on your way to becoming one of writing’s success stories.
I have a serious problem! Too many ideas. I always have been able to generate more ideas than I have time to pursue. One of this newsletter’s subscribers wrote a while back saying he has the same problem. A lot of writers would love to have this problem, but I suspect there are many more who also suffer from the same malady.
Having too many ideas is a natural extension of being creative. As writers, we spend our lives in a creative world, coming up with characters, scenarios, and original ideas. The same thought processes that provide us with original ways of telling stories also give us unique perspectives and ideas.
So if you suffer from the malady of “too many ideas” here’s how you can conquer the desire to pursue them all.
First of all, write your latest idea down immediately before you forget it. Keep a small notebook handy where you can record every idea that pops into your head. You might head some pages, “Ideas for writing projects” and “Ideas for articles.” Other pages can hold “random thoughts” which might be an idea for a personality trait for one of your characters, or it could be something you witness that you realize would make a good topic for conservation among your characters. Notes could also lead to new ideas for a book or article topic. I could go on and on here, but you can think up new divisions for your notebook based upon your own thoughts and ideas.
When I first started writing, I made up charts on the computer for “article ideas” and would add a topic each time I thought of one. I would list the magazines that I thought would be appropriate for the articles. Since I was writing mostly travel articles, I would list a place we planned to visit and the idea for a story. Often these topics would become obsolete because we never made it to the place I planned to write about, or once I did get there I discovered an entirely new angle for my article. Still, the list was a road map for my future.
Next, when you have a spare minute or two, go through your notebook and choose a project idea. As you read over the ideas you’ve previously written down, you’ll probably find some that seem silly, foolish, or no longer relevant. Cross those off your list immediately. No need to wade through a long list of irrelevant ideas every time.
Having too many ideas can be as crippling as not having any ideas because they can clutter your mind, which can hold you hostage. You must be able to prioritize your time and projects so that you can always keep busy and can move smoothly from one project to the next. You’ll be well on your way to becoming one of writing’s success stories.
NEXT 24-HOUR SHORT STORY CONTEST!
The WritersWeekly.com Winter 2008 24-Hour Short Story Contest is now open for entrants! It is limited to 500 entrants. Contests usually fill up, so don't delay if you want to participate. The contest is tons of fun! You can see the list of 85 prizes (first prize is $300, second is $250 and third is $200 - plus 82 other prizes!), and sign up here: http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.html.
The WritersWeekly.com Winter 2008 24-Hour Short Story Contest is now open for entrants! It is limited to 500 entrants. Contests usually fill up, so don't delay if you want to participate. The contest is tons of fun! You can see the list of 85 prizes (first prize is $300, second is $250 and third is $200 - plus 82 other prizes!), and sign up here: http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.html.
REAL CAMPING!!!
One day while my husband was outside working on something on the motorhome, a young man walked by and started a conversation about RVing. Then as he was walking away he remarked, “We don’t have an RV. We do real camping.”
We had a good laugh over that, because we had at one time also been so-called "real" campers. Too real! But we got over it. We began to reminisce about our early camping experiences.
My first was with my aunt and uncle, and possibly their oldest daughter who would have been about three at the time, my mom, sister, and me. No tent, no amenities of any kind, and the nearest toilet was about a quarter of a mile away. We spread quilts on the ground, and that’s where we slept, lined up side-by-side like toy soldiers.
I was probably about eleven or twelve then and my sister a year younger—that age when we didn’t like each other very much. But we did have one joint concern. Since our mother was all we had, we didn’t want anything to happen to her, so we slept on the outside and made sure she was safely tucked in the middle next to our aunt. Our uncle was on the other end of the lineup. Of course, my sister wiggled her way in next to mother because she was the youngest. I was not happy!
We were in the woods in a State Park, a place where I was certain wild animals roamed, and there I was exposed like raw, fresh bait in a trap, on the edge of the group. I lay awake imagining the humongous bear that would come out of the woods and carry me away. After my sister got to sleep, I tried to climb over her and shove her to the outside edge, but she promptly woke up and screamed her lungs out. Geesh, could she be annoying! That was one long night of sheer terror for me, and one I wouldn’t ever repeat.
Fast forward about ten years and my sister and I are grown and married, and by now we’re also good friends. We decided to go camping at the same State park with our mom in a roomy tent loaned to us by my aunt and uncle. My husband wasn’t with us because he was on duty defending our country against commies, but my sister’s husband was along to carry heavy things and protect us from wild varmints.
We arrived in late afternoon when the temperature was around 100 degrees with humidity to match. The Congo jungle couldn’t have been more unbearable. We unloaded the car and started pitching the tent. Now in that heat and humidity, this was no easy chore and required some liquid refreshment. Actually, lots of it! Neither my mother, sister nor I liked beer, but we were desperate to cool down and finish the task at hand before we could eat and go to sleep, so we drank sodas until we reached sugar overload, then in desperation tried the beer. Pitching the tent took an incredibly long time!
My brother-in-law had been a big, tough Marine, but obviously he was absent the day they taught tent-pitching. We weren’t having much luck getting it up. We each took a corner and tried to get our side to stay up long enough to stake it, but the tent kept tumbling over. We struggled with it, and giddy by this time from too much cold wet stuff, we kept falling into the center, howling with laughter each time it caved in once again. By the time we finally got the tent to stand on its own, it was late and dark. I’m sure our neighbors were as anxious for us to get the tent up and get in it as we were, but rather than offer to help four obviously camping-deficient folks, they had quietly slipped away to another site.
After eating, we all crawled into the tent and realized there was no way we could sleep there. Four of us huddled together inside that high-humidity, sweaty atmosphere was unbearable! So we crawled back out and made beds on the picnic table and benches. Just then, an army of mosquitoes discovered our fresh, tender flesh and mercilessly began dive bombing us.
We had just managed to adjust to them when we heard thunder and spotted lightning. Within seconds a rip-roaring thunderstorm was on top of us, dumping Arkansas River-loads of rain. It didn’t take much discussion before we grabbed everything and threw it into the tent, which to our amazement was still standing. We crawled back inside, soaked to the bone, and tried to make sleeping nests out of the mess. We just about got settled down again when one of us noticed mud oozing under the edge of the tent.
Okay! This was the moment we knew “Someobody Up There” was trying to get our attention. So even though it was by now close to midnight and we were desperate for sleep, we grabbed everything and chucked it into the trunk of the car to make the two-hour drive to my sister’s home.
I vowed never to go camping again, but a Volkswagen bus would convince me that there were easier ways to camp out. A mattress in the back, a fully stocked ice chest, and we were in tall cotton, as they say in Arkansas. Compared to “real camping,” a Volkswagen bus was heaven!
So would I go “real camping” again? Not on your life, or mine! Not even if I was twenty-two again, or even twelve!
One day while my husband was outside working on something on the motorhome, a young man walked by and started a conversation about RVing. Then as he was walking away he remarked, “We don’t have an RV. We do real camping.”
We had a good laugh over that, because we had at one time also been so-called "real" campers. Too real! But we got over it. We began to reminisce about our early camping experiences.
My first was with my aunt and uncle, and possibly their oldest daughter who would have been about three at the time, my mom, sister, and me. No tent, no amenities of any kind, and the nearest toilet was about a quarter of a mile away. We spread quilts on the ground, and that’s where we slept, lined up side-by-side like toy soldiers.
I was probably about eleven or twelve then and my sister a year younger—that age when we didn’t like each other very much. But we did have one joint concern. Since our mother was all we had, we didn’t want anything to happen to her, so we slept on the outside and made sure she was safely tucked in the middle next to our aunt. Our uncle was on the other end of the lineup. Of course, my sister wiggled her way in next to mother because she was the youngest. I was not happy!
We were in the woods in a State Park, a place where I was certain wild animals roamed, and there I was exposed like raw, fresh bait in a trap, on the edge of the group. I lay awake imagining the humongous bear that would come out of the woods and carry me away. After my sister got to sleep, I tried to climb over her and shove her to the outside edge, but she promptly woke up and screamed her lungs out. Geesh, could she be annoying! That was one long night of sheer terror for me, and one I wouldn’t ever repeat.
Fast forward about ten years and my sister and I are grown and married, and by now we’re also good friends. We decided to go camping at the same State park with our mom in a roomy tent loaned to us by my aunt and uncle. My husband wasn’t with us because he was on duty defending our country against commies, but my sister’s husband was along to carry heavy things and protect us from wild varmints.
We arrived in late afternoon when the temperature was around 100 degrees with humidity to match. The Congo jungle couldn’t have been more unbearable. We unloaded the car and started pitching the tent. Now in that heat and humidity, this was no easy chore and required some liquid refreshment. Actually, lots of it! Neither my mother, sister nor I liked beer, but we were desperate to cool down and finish the task at hand before we could eat and go to sleep, so we drank sodas until we reached sugar overload, then in desperation tried the beer. Pitching the tent took an incredibly long time!
My brother-in-law had been a big, tough Marine, but obviously he was absent the day they taught tent-pitching. We weren’t having much luck getting it up. We each took a corner and tried to get our side to stay up long enough to stake it, but the tent kept tumbling over. We struggled with it, and giddy by this time from too much cold wet stuff, we kept falling into the center, howling with laughter each time it caved in once again. By the time we finally got the tent to stand on its own, it was late and dark. I’m sure our neighbors were as anxious for us to get the tent up and get in it as we were, but rather than offer to help four obviously camping-deficient folks, they had quietly slipped away to another site.
After eating, we all crawled into the tent and realized there was no way we could sleep there. Four of us huddled together inside that high-humidity, sweaty atmosphere was unbearable! So we crawled back out and made beds on the picnic table and benches. Just then, an army of mosquitoes discovered our fresh, tender flesh and mercilessly began dive bombing us.
We had just managed to adjust to them when we heard thunder and spotted lightning. Within seconds a rip-roaring thunderstorm was on top of us, dumping Arkansas River-loads of rain. It didn’t take much discussion before we grabbed everything and threw it into the tent, which to our amazement was still standing. We crawled back inside, soaked to the bone, and tried to make sleeping nests out of the mess. We just about got settled down again when one of us noticed mud oozing under the edge of the tent.
Okay! This was the moment we knew “Someobody Up There” was trying to get our attention. So even though it was by now close to midnight and we were desperate for sleep, we grabbed everything and chucked it into the trunk of the car to make the two-hour drive to my sister’s home.
I vowed never to go camping again, but a Volkswagen bus would convince me that there were easier ways to camp out. A mattress in the back, a fully stocked ice chest, and we were in tall cotton, as they say in Arkansas. Compared to “real camping,” a Volkswagen bus was heaven!
So would I go “real camping” again? Not on your life, or mine! Not even if I was twenty-two again, or even twelve!
Christmas in the RV Park
This Christmas we decided that instead of joining the Christmas rush on the highways to visit friends or family, we would stay in the RV park and enjoy food and festivities with fellow campers. A few days before Christmas it looked as though we might have a very small group on hand for the celebration.
Then a couple of days before Christmas, the rigs started pouring in. The park was nearly full to capacity by the time December 25th rolled around. What could have been a quiet Christmas turned instead into an endless celebration as we met new friends and enjoyed scrumptious meals in the family center.
On Christmas Eve, some of us attended the candlelight service in the park. Then on Christmas day, each family bore a steaming plate of food to the family center, where the park had prepared turkey and ham. So much food, so little time! Everything looked tempting, but we finally settled down to a plate of delicious food followed by delightful delicacies for dessert.
Celebrating didn’t end December 26th. There was New Year’s Eve and a noisy party in the family center with a great band and lots of dancing and reveling. Oh, and I shouldn’t leave out the wonderful food. We shoveled in prime rib and salmon wrapped in pastry plus appetizers, twice-baked potatoes, and again, wonderful desserts. Then on New Year’s Day, we all swarmed back to the family center for a 3-hour breakfast buffet. I mention the time because some people, like hubby, spent the entire 3 hours sampling everything on the buffet line.
In between activities at the family center, we heated up the nights by our fire pit. We have great next-door neighbors in the park with the sweetest, most gorgeous yellow lab we’ve ever seen named Dixie. Our neighbor has been gathering driftwood from down by the river for days, so we placed our fire pit on the grass lawn that separates our rigs, and have so far sat around it twice sharing popcorn and cookies with anyone who wanders by. The last time we had twelve RVers sitting around swapping adventures.
If you’re wondering what will happen when you’re RVing on holidays and can’t make it back home to your family, rest assured that most RV parks offer their own celebrations in the form of wonderful meals and festivities. If they don’t, you can always find some willing fellow campers to share meals and experiences with. There’s never a reason to be alone when you are in your home on the road—no matter how far from “home” you might be.
This Christmas we decided that instead of joining the Christmas rush on the highways to visit friends or family, we would stay in the RV park and enjoy food and festivities with fellow campers. A few days before Christmas it looked as though we might have a very small group on hand for the celebration.
Then a couple of days before Christmas, the rigs started pouring in. The park was nearly full to capacity by the time December 25th rolled around. What could have been a quiet Christmas turned instead into an endless celebration as we met new friends and enjoyed scrumptious meals in the family center.
On Christmas Eve, some of us attended the candlelight service in the park. Then on Christmas day, each family bore a steaming plate of food to the family center, where the park had prepared turkey and ham. So much food, so little time! Everything looked tempting, but we finally settled down to a plate of delicious food followed by delightful delicacies for dessert.
Celebrating didn’t end December 26th. There was New Year’s Eve and a noisy party in the family center with a great band and lots of dancing and reveling. Oh, and I shouldn’t leave out the wonderful food. We shoveled in prime rib and salmon wrapped in pastry plus appetizers, twice-baked potatoes, and again, wonderful desserts. Then on New Year’s Day, we all swarmed back to the family center for a 3-hour breakfast buffet. I mention the time because some people, like hubby, spent the entire 3 hours sampling everything on the buffet line.
In between activities at the family center, we heated up the nights by our fire pit. We have great next-door neighbors in the park with the sweetest, most gorgeous yellow lab we’ve ever seen named Dixie. Our neighbor has been gathering driftwood from down by the river for days, so we placed our fire pit on the grass lawn that separates our rigs, and have so far sat around it twice sharing popcorn and cookies with anyone who wanders by. The last time we had twelve RVers sitting around swapping adventures.
If you’re wondering what will happen when you’re RVing on holidays and can’t make it back home to your family, rest assured that most RV parks offer their own celebrations in the form of wonderful meals and festivities. If they don’t, you can always find some willing fellow campers to share meals and experiences with. There’s never a reason to be alone when you are in your home on the road—no matter how far from “home” you might be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
