Rocky Tales – Backyard Camping

Happy hot August! We are still in our back yard, hooked up to the house for water and limited electricity. My daughter is already house-sitting, and we try to intrude as little as possible — sometimes showering in the basement, using the AC in one room of the house as an office, that sort of thing.

We’re happy not to have launched too quickly because there is a lot to learn with a house on wheels. Yesterday, only 7 days from launch, we had a blown hose so no water for a few hours until replaced, and we had a propane leak from one of the two “pigtails.” We found the leak entirely by chance, and I am so thankful we did as it could have been disastrous.

We are also still sorting out what clothing we need for a year, what cooking items to take, and how many bottles of nail polish. Sort of kidding, but I type faster after I’ve painted my nails. 🙂 Answer is three. Maybe four. Everything is a weight issue. Necessity vs. luxury.

To that end, we also took out the heavy couch that unfolded to a bed. We don’t need a spare bed — hoping not to have that big of an argument on the road. And it took up a chunk of “non-flexible use” space. Instead, we brought back the second easy chair and put in Philip’s work station (i.e., plastic table under the big end window), although it will be folded up during travel.

Murray loved that sofa but immediately adjusted to the easy chair. And now, we can bring one of the chairs forward and swivel both to the left where the TV is placed if we want to watch a movie together.

We’ve learned to make pizza on our pizza stone on the grill!! We’ve made french fries on the grill. (As a writer, it was hard not to capitalize “french.” Made me shudder.)  We have steamed spinach on the grill. We’ve made pesto chicken on the grill. We are getting sick of the grill! HAHA

Philip has washed and waxed the Rocky, and he’s sealed some very tiny roof holes. It seems he is as busy on the trailer as he ever was on the house. He has fixed so many little things (learning on the job) that would have become big things once we were on the road. There have been days he’s gone to Home Depot and Lowes multiple times.

Best news: After loads of research, we have set up a superbly cheap hotspot that works better than the internet we had in our house. I can still do research on the road. Philip can still upload his music. We are golden!

I am going to miss our girl, Sabrina, who visits our trailer for love and snacks.

Also, I have a bear photo to show from our week-long maiden voyage in western Massachusetts in early July. This was not captured by me but by the field camera CLOSE to the camper a couple weeks before we were there. We saw two bears when we were there, but they were too fast for a photo.

Meanwhile, I finished the third book in the Diamonds of the First Water series, Adam. And nearly finished a short novella for an anthology called The Wedding Wager. My entry is The Lady Takes All. I am looking forward to writing for fewer hours while on the road.

Winner of Amazon gift card: June P. YES!! We are going to Niagara Falls. Everyone guessed it. I will post when we get there. Next destination will be more difficult for you to guess.

Launch date: 8/10/22!

Update before I can even post: Our new hose just blew overnight. The hose had one job to do!!! Carry water. Granted, it had been in the sunshine for a single day!!!! Another trip to the hardware store.