where things are simple

As the summer winds down I realize that the camping trip we will be taking at the end of the month will probably be our last trip of the season. 

This made me reminisce about the many camping trips that I have taken over the years.  

Today I thought I would share pictures of the different campers that our family has owned over my lifetime.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find pictures of the first camper that the Preacher and I had. The camper where our son learned to love the outdoors and looked forward to having adventures.

Kuhn Family Vacation, Wisconsin, 1960's, Franklin Trailer

Kuhn Family Vacation, Lake Superior, late 1960's early 1970's

Lula Kuhn, 1980's, Brookville, Indiana

The Preacher, 2017, Golden, CO

Camping has been in my family for as long as I can remember. 

Thanks Dad and Mom for giving us the love of adventure, the appreciation of the outdoors and sharing the beauty of this country!

I need a break from all the noise.

I want to breathe clean air

   and swim in clean water.

I want to sit on the porch of an old

   cabin and listen to the stillness.

I want to be out where things are

   simple and every breath is

    a reminder that there is beauty

     and magic left in this world.

–Brooke Hampton

a wilder life

The Preacher and I went on a three day camping trip this week. We didn't go to far, just up into the foothills here in Colorado. 

On the second day of our trip we decided to go shopping and we ended up in IKEA. While looking through one of their displays, I found a book called " A Wilder Life, Living Outdoors". And inside on the first page was this:

"A WILDER LIFE. What happens when you open the WINDOW and let in a bit of FRESH AIR? The curtains start to flutter, and the room fills up with movement and wind. A bumble-bee flies in, creating a little PLEASANT CHAOS. Your home BRIGHTENS UP, and that tidiness you've been trying to keep on top of for so long suddenly doesn't seem quite so important. YOU BECOME FREER. YOU FEEL A BIT WILD. And it feels good, It feels fun. You also want more. To go outside more, and stay outside more.   LIVE A SLIGHTLY WILDER LIFE -- OUTDOORS. A life with the city, the forest and the ocean as your neighbor. A life full of fragrances and feelings, of hair tangled by the wind. SIMPLE. FREE. WILD!"

We love our camping trips, living outdoors. Sometimes we camp close to a town and other times the campground is a little farther from a city. Either way, we love being outdoors, feeling the breeze on our faces, watching a river run by. These freer moments help us recharge and recuperate from crazy, busy days.

The Preacher and I highly recommend getting outdoors. See and feel the wonders of His creation. Even if it's for just a day, go out and live a slightly wilder life outdoors!

Love from the Preacher and I

Note: I wanted to list the author and/or publisher of this book. Upon calling IKEA to get the correct name, author, and publisher's information, I learned that this is not one of their books but a book they may have used as a display. I apologize to anyone who may want to look for the book in order to purchase.

Our Maiden Voyage

I have not been as consistent posting here on my little blog as I would like to be, but life has been so hectic and fast paced that it is hard to slow down enough to put pen to paper, or in this case, fingers to a keyboard.

Today I want to share with you some of the exciting things that have been happening in the last couple of months.

You might remember that I posted about our search for a new vehicle and how we decided to keep our Jeep Compass. Well, we ended up trading it in for a new Jeep Cherokee. We decided to go ahead and get something new because the Compass was breaking down and with the miles we put on a vehicle, we knew it was just a matter of time.

Then, just a few weeks after we purchased the new Jeep, the Preacher was searching online and found the cutest A-frame camper. We have been wanting one of these campers for quite some time. The price was right so we purchased our little camper. Now we are happy campers!

Our maiden voyage was a blessing, as it was a trip to a lake in the Rocky Mountains where the Preacher would be baptizing a friend of ours.

Our friend, Ross, came to the Preacher one Sunday and asked if he would baptize him in Lake Granby, because it has a special place in his heart, this is the place his family had many wonderful vacations.

Lake Granby is 4 hours from where we live. It is located on the west side of the Rocky Mountain National Park. We all decided that we would drive up the day before and camp right on the water's edge. So we hitched up the camper and over the mountains we went.

By God's blessing we were able to get a campsite directly on the bank of the lake in the perfect place to have a baptism. It was a beautiful two days. The Lord was good to us! On the day of the baptism the lake was calm and the sun came out and shone bright above us!

What a beautiful way to experience the mountains, the lake, and God's glory!

We also discovered that our Sargy likes the water. Never before did he want to get into water but something about this lake he thoroughly enjoyed.

It was a wonderful first trip in our camper! We enjoyed every minute of it. We already have our next camping adventure planned - we will be traveling south to visit our son next week. We are so excited. And soon I will be posting some of the upgrades we did on the camper, which by the way, the Preacher has decided to call Carolina.

Let me know what your summer plans have been. I would love to hear from  you.

Love from the Preacher and I

The Little Old Lady In the Motor Home

For this Mother's Day weekend, I thought I'd introduce you to my mother, Lula Mae.

I love this picture of her. It says a lot about her. This was taken back in the late '80's or early '90's. This is her 30 foot motor home.

As a kid, our family went camping a lot during the summers. At one time my parents had a camper that they parked in a camp ground next to a lake in Indiana. We traveled out here to Colorado one summer with our camper. My mom and my dad loved to travel and they loved to camp. They belonged to a camping club through Eli Lilly, where my dad worked. They met so many people through camping, some of which remained friends for many years.

In 1981 my father passed away and we all thought that camping would be a thing of the past.

Then my mother called me up one day and said that she had bought this motor home. She missed camping. She missed traveling. My mother was back on the road again.

She would drive all by herself to the east coast of Florida to visit the Preacher and I. She would stay for a month or two and then drive over to the west coast of Florida to visit a friend and then drive back to Indiana. She loved it when the truckers would pass her by, and since she had a CB radio, she could hear them talking about the little old lady driving the motor home. I think she even talked back to them a time or two. She has even driven her camper out here. 

My mother has an independent spirit, to say the least. If you tell her that she can't do something, she will do it just to see if she can. I hope that when I grow up I will be this independent. Not afraid to want something and then to go after it. 

My mother turned 80 this year. She hasn't been able to go camping for about 3 years now due to some health issues. Just the other day she called and said that she's selling her camper. I was glad because I worry about her being out on the road by herself, but yet I was sad for her. I know how much she loves it. I am sad that this time in her life is ending.

She still is active. She plays cards with her friends. She has lunch with her church friends. She even gets together with some ladies that graduated high school with her. 

Like I said, I hope to be this independent at the age of 80!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Love from the Preacher and I