Travel Journaling

I’ve never been a journal writer. It’s not that I haven’t tried. I have. My memories of journaling go back as far as high school.  My pattern would be something like this:

• I get inspired to start a journal

• I buy a new notebook

• I start writing

• About two to three days later, my interest in daily logging wanes and I give up

• I have another nearly-new notebook that I will never use again because it’s tarnished (admittedly, that’s a me-problem)

In my adulthood, two things broke my long line of journal failures:

1. Ryder Carroll developed Bullet Journaling, which has replaced my years-long use of planners for daily productivity

2. In 2014, when we purchased our travel trailer, I thought it might be good to start a camping journal.

I did start travel journaling in 2014 and have kept up through the years since. I am now in our fourth one. I’m sure they will add up more quickly when I retire in a year or so.

So far, I have labeled them “Camping Journal,” but since our travels aren’t always camping, I’ve prepared the next one to be a “Travel Journal.”

We have been aware of the various things that people collect while on the road. Travel collections come in many varieties: t-shirts, magnets, maps, attraction brochures, pins or patches, to name a few.

We settled on collecting stickers from the various places we visit. Why stickers? Well, last fall we traded our travel trailer in on a new Class B motorhome, a.k.a. camper van; a Coachmen Nova 20C. We have realized the necessity to downsize everything we take along, to accommodate the small space of a van. Stickers seemed like the obvious choice for us to collect. As I write in our journal, I can include a sticker from the various places we visit (oh, why didn’t I pick up a Buc-ee’s sticker when we stopped at the Jacksonville location in December? …LOL).

Cara at Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park, Jacksonville, FL

As I write, we are nearing the end of March and are anxious to get out there on our first full summer season with Cara (that’s what we named our van).

We hope our children, grandchildren and beyond will find our journals entertaining in the years to come.

Please leave a comment to let us know what you collect when you travel.

We’ll see you out there!

Blessings,

Randy

March 22, 2022 0

Spring… Finally!

It has been a while since The Traveling Kites have traveled, but spring is finally here. You may be quick to remind me that spring actually arrived a month ago, but we live in western Pennsylvania so trust me; spring has finally arrived!

We made an appointment several weeks ago to pick up our camper today from its winter storage home in the mine at Brady’s Bend, PA. Since the temperature in the mine is in the 50’s year-round, I don’t winterize before we take it there. Instead, we try to time it to get the camper put away before the sub-freezing temperatures set in and pick it up when we no longer have to fear freezing our pipes. Our timing today was impeccable! Last night, the temperature dipped into the upper 20’s, but beginning tonight, our low temps are to be above freezing.

We invited our two granddaughters over for a girls weekend at our house. Addison and Aly are cousins and are a little more than a month apart in age. Both are the only girl in their family, so they really enjoy getting together at our house.

Our appointment was for 8:50 AM at the mine, but we had a one hour, twenty minute drive to get there, so we left early. We arrived in good time; about five minutes before our appointment. We went into the office to settle our prorated balance and secure our place for this fall, then we went on, into the mine. One of the escorts met us and led the way to our camper. It is good that they guide you in because it’s like a maze in there and one could easily get lost.When we got to the Hideout, our escort assisted in directing us back toward the tongue of the trailer. It is rather dark in the mine, so this bit of help is appreciated. After hooking up, our guide led us back out, pausing occasionally to instruct me on how to negotiate a blind turn. It could be a bit nerve-wracking, maneuvering through such tight turns, but we have done this a few years now, so we are getting more comfortable.

We stopped in the parking area just outside the mine so I could put on our sway bars and do a walk-around to make sure everything looked good. Then, we were on our way.

I wasn’t sure how the granddaughters would feel about these dark catacombs, but it didn’t phase them a bit and Aly said she was going to tell her teacher all about it!

We stopped for a late breakfast at Bob Evans restaurant on the way home, then backed the Hideout into its place in our yard.

I spent a few hours in the afternoon doing a little maintenance to get ready for our first trip. We are excited to get this new season under-way.

“The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever” ~Psalm 121:7-8 (NIV). We have certainly felt God’s protection throughout our lives and, though our future is uncertain, we do not fear anything that is to come.

Here’s wishing you a great summer!

April 21, 2018 2

Winter Storage

We were up early yesterday to shower and get ready to depart at 6:40 AM for our trek to Bradys Bend. With sub-freezing nighttime temperatures imminent, we were at the decision point to either have to winterize for home storage or move the Hideout to a warmer location. We opted for the latter and so we made the trip to the mine for our third winter there.

Since we had such an early departure time, I hooked the camper up the evening before. So, it was sitting there ready to hop in and go. All I had to do was plug in the power cord to the truck and turn on the battery. I had previously moved the propane

tanks into our shed because they are not allowed in the mine.

In a car, I could easily make the drive from home to Bradys Bend in a little over an hour. However, the combination of the extra 7,500 pounds in tow and the hilly, winding roads that get more challenging the further you go, makes for a drive of about an hour, thirty five minutes.

Upon arrival at the mine, the process is to first check in at the office building, where you sign the lease and pay for five months of storage. Then, when the escorts are ready, you follow a truck into the mine. When you get to the areas where the corners are tight, one of the men in the escort truck gets out and follows on foot behind the camper. His purpose is to watch the tail swing of the camper when we make the sharp corners, to give a yell if I am about to scrape the wall. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

When we got to the location they had ready for us, we followed the direction of the two men, flashlights in hand, as they guided us back into our space. Their help is a good thing to have because of the combination of darkness and damp mirrors.

After we unhooked, the escorts guided us out of the mine and we were on our way.

We went cross-country toward Harrisville to have breakfast at Family Traditions Restaurant. They have a breakfast buffet on Saturdays and Sundays that is quite good.

And so ends our 2017 camping season. Bring on spring!

October 22, 2017 1

Weekend at Virginia’s Beach, PA

First off, that’s Virginia’s Beach, not Virginia Beach. Virginia’s Beach Campground is on Lake Erie, not the Atlantic Ocean. Our weekend spot was at North Springfield, PA; west of Erie and east of the Ohio state line. Now that we’ve established that…

On Friday evening, September 29, we set out for our next adventure; a Friday through Sunday getaway. The drive took about one hour, twenty minutes (due to the 7,500 pound land yacht that was tailing us) and we were able to watch the sunset during our set-up. It was quite beautiful.

There was a significant amount of wind coming off the lake, so we did not extend our awning. The wind, combined with the cool temperatures, made it feel rather cold.

Sharon made us a delicious spaghetti squash dinner, then we put together a puzzle. I’m not much of a puzzler, but I really enjoyed it this time. I think it was because we were together, away from the busyness of the work week we had just left behind. We had a nice evening and went to bed around 9:30.

On Saturday morning, we had a delicious breakfast of waffles, topped with apple and cranberry pie filling, along with some of Sharon’s warm pumpkin drink. We were discussing what it should be called. I noted that we shouldn’t call it a pumpkin latte, because that would mislead someone like me into thinking it had coffee in it. I also didn’t think we should call it a pumpkin steamer, because that would suggest the inclusion of steamed milk. She said that she has a recipe at home and will look up the actual name of the drink.

After breakfast and showers, we took a nice walk around and outside the campground. There is a neighboring camp called Camp Judson that had a really cool-looking silo with a cross on top. We talked to a man from the camp that just happened to be walking by. He said they call it the tower. If you walk up the bank on either side, there is a doorway around back, half-way up that enters into a prayer room with an altar and Bible.

We took a ride over to Fairview to visit a little cafe that I’ve been noticing when I work in the area: Main Street Cakery Cafe. It was getting on toward lunchtime, so we indulged in some treats. I had a caramel latte and blueberry scone. Sharon had a green tea and blackberry scone. By then, it had warmed up enough that we sat at their outdoor tables.

We noticed that there was an antique store a couple of doors down, so we went to check it out. Main Street Antiques is in an old house and has two floors of treasures from the past. We didn’t see anything we just had to buy (practicing our future minimalism skills), but really enjoyed the reminiscing.

Back at Virginia’s Beach, Binx, the camping cat, was enjoying the sun coming in the window of our slide-out dinette. We had stacked some pillows on the seat to allow him a comfortable place to lay and gaze out.

We took another walk in the late afternoon, which included a trek down a long, straight ever-narrowing road in the woods. Then we walked along the lakefront where we found some nice, flat rocks and I found some more photos just waiting to be captured.

A motorhome from Michigan pulled in beside us on Saturday afternoon. It was towing an old Citroen car on a dolly behind. The car had the shape of a VW Beetle and Sharon mistook it for a “bug.” It was in very good shape. The owners had a cat and dog with them. Binx and the neighbor cat sat in opposing windows, watching each other.

Sharon got out another puzzle Saturday evening, but I just wasn’t into it for a second night in a row. I half-heartedly helped, while processing photos and uploading them to Instagram (@thetravelingkites, should you wish to follow us there). Each photo upload was an event because there was not much of a cell signal. I had to push the button, then set my phone against the window for a minute while the bits flew off through the air.

We enjoy going to church on Sunday morning when we are camping. It’s always interesting, visiting a new church. This time, we did not get out and there were no services offered at the campground. But we did enjoy a morning walk around camp and down the woods trail. We really felt God’s presence in the beauty of His creation.

The Michigan motorhome pulled out in the morning. They must have just used this as a stop for the night while passing through either to or from a car event.

While breaking down our camp, we spent some time talking to our neighbors on the other side who also had a Class A motorhome. They were from the Pittsburgh area and seemed nice. They were going to go to the Erie KOA on their next outing.

Our drive home was good. The sun was shining and Binx was happy. We arrived home around 1:30 after having another great weekend.

We have an appointment for October 21 to take the Hideout to Bradys Bend for winter storage, so this may have been our last camping trip of the 2017 season. We shall see.

October 6, 2017 0

Weekend at Bear Run

Last month, as we booked our mid-September weekend at Bear Run Campground in western Pennsylvania, we had no way of knowing what the weather would be like five weeks later. It can be a bit unpredictable this time of year. As it turned out, we chose the perfect weekend! The weather was stunningly beautiful; sunny days, cool evenings… perfect. It was a windows-open, fresh air-flowing kind of weekend.

We set out after work on Friday, camper in tow, Binx the camping cat in the center front seat, toward our destination near Portersville, PA. We had stayed at Bear Run on Memorial weekend 2016 and really liked what they had to offer. This campground is clean with paved RVsites. The campground is nicely appointed with a beautiful camp store, western town feel and family-friendly atmosphere. The stay was all-the-sweeter as we enjoyed the luxury of paying with a gift certificate that our son’s family gave us for Christmas.

You may remember the challenges of the drive to the campground on our last trip two weeks earlier when Binx made things… let’s just say… interesting. This time out, we placed him inside his screen-sided carrier atop a towel on the front seat between us. He seemed to enjoy the security of his carrier as we drove. He is getting used to camping now. This was his third camping trip and he didn’t even cry when Sharon carried him from the house to the truck.

Our son and his daughter met us shortly after we arrived. We set up camp, then spent some evening time making pizza mountain pies and roasting marshmallows. It was a really nice evening together.

On Saturday, Sharon and I took a morning walk around the campground. This is a large campground that is spread out pretty well. There are seasonal RV sites up over the hill, then a path down past a horse pasture to a road lined with electric and water sites on one side and cabins on the other. Another fork leads down a narrow road that winds through the woods in a large tenting section, including some walk-in-only sites. There are quite a number of cabins available for rent throughout the entire campground. This truly is a beautiful place.

Sharon made a special lunch of zucchini that was spiral cut with alfredo sauce. It was delicious. We took some afternoon time just to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. We did some reading and some talking and took an afternoon off. It felt great to not have anything to do.

We had an ice cream cone for pre-dinner (you can make up meals when camping… it’s OK) from the camp store, then took a one-mile round-trip walk to Lake Arthur. I was able to capture some nice photographs along the scenic dirt road.

We got back, just in time to hop on a wagon behind a tractor for a wagon ride to the lake, along the same road we had just walked. The man who introduced the ride and explained the safety precautions was quite humorous and everyone enjoyed the ride.

We arrived back at the campground just in time for the evening activities; a mountain pie contest and bluegrass music concert. We only visited there for a few minutes before returning to our campsite for a campfire.

On Sunday morning, our son’s whole family came over for a visit. We had another campfire and enjoyed watching our granddaughter sifting for gemstones across from the store.

We are in need of replacing our washing machine at home, so we took advantage of the campground’s coin-operated laundry to clean our clothes before departing.

We packed things up after lunch and headed for home. This was another great time to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

The weekend was topped off at home by our getting together with friends at a local ice cream shop. It doesn’t get much better than that.

September 21, 2017 0

Labor Day Weekend in Waterford, PA

Instagram

Our decision to camp this weekend was on relatively short notice; certainly not within the advanced reservation timeline that I am accustomed to. However, we were able to land a full-hook site at Sparrow Pond Family Campground near Waterford, PA for the long weekend. Because of our late decision, we were not able to get a site under trees with some nice shade. The weather this weekend was cool with a good amount of light rain, so baking in the hot sun was definitely not a concern. We didn’t turn on the air conditioner at all, but we did run some heat a few times.

Binx, the camping cat, went along for his second trip with us. The hour-long ride to the campground was quite an adventure with him. About 20 minutes up the road, he got sick and threw up on the truck’s front seat between us. Thankfully, I had the forethought of placing a towel on the seat for him to sit on.

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After rolling up the towel, we continued on, stopping for ice cream about half-way there. Shortly after leaving Dave’s Place, Binx got down on the floor under my feet. I thought he was just wanting a change of scenery, but he had other things on his mind. He did both #1 and #2 on the floor. The #1 got on my left foot and flip flop. We had quite a stink in the truck for a while until we found a place to pull over. Sharon got some bags from the camper and bagged it up. That took care of the smell, but not my wet foot! Thankfully again, the mess was all on the floor mat, which we were able to remove from the truck.

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We adapted to the cooler weather conditions and had an enjoyable weekend of shopping, walking, cooking over the fire and inside the camper, playing cards and enjoying church at Sparrow Fellowship, which meets at the campground. It all makes me wonder if there could ever be such a thing as a bad weekend of camping. Binx seemed to enjoy himself too, as he followed us around the camper (he stays inside).

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The ride home was great! Binx was relaxed and had no… ahem… incidents.

So, that’s it for this trip. Next time out, we head to Bear Run Campground near Portersville, PA.

See more photos on Instagram.

September 4, 2017 2

Meet The Traveling Kites

Hello world! We are Randy & Sharon; decades-long married couple and long-time campers and travelers. Our adventures have taken us from camping trips around our home region (oftentimes with our family) to journeys across this great country and around the world. We have slept in tents at the world’s largest Christian music festival (Creation Festival) and have slept on the cement floor of a horse stable in Tijuana, Mexico as we spent a week on mission, building houses for the poor. We’ve walked the streets of Athens, Greece and stood at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

More recently, we have enjoyed local camping in the comforts of a 2012 Keystone Hideout camping trailer (model 25RKS) that we bought used from a lovely elderly couple in 2015.

Although we are not yet retirement age, we are starting to dream about what retirement should look like for us. We do not intend to stay at home, but rather look to expand our American travels to hike, photograph and write about our great country.

We have considered all modes of camping transportation, from a small pull-behind teardrop camper to a large, tour bus-sized Class A motorhome and have settled our hearts (at least as of this writing) on a Class B camper van. We would love the freedom of not having to hook and unhook a camper or “toad” (towed-behind vehicle on a Class A or C). We are definitely past the desire to tent or crank a roof up and down. Believe me, we’ve paid our dues on that!

Our plans and timing for a camper van purchase are as foggy as a fall western PA morning right now, but we have been spending a lot of time virtually walking through many, thanks to the efforts of those who produce YouTube videos, and have even had the opportunity to set foot in a small number of Winnebago Era, Travato and Paseo vans at a semi-local dealership.

Our dream is to live in our home region during the warm months, then set out to travel the warmer climates when things get cold and snowy in the north. Unlike the snowbirds that travel to Florida from our region for the winter, we seek to have a constantly changing scenery before us.

So, join us as we work our way toward the next chapter of our life. Then, when we get there, perhaps we will see you on the road!

Please follow us here and share your own story. We would love to hear from you and learn from your experience.

Here we go!…

September 4, 2017 3