Anne Shirley's Apprentice: Growing up

Friday, August 28, 2009

Growing up

Above: The Harbor Master's thrifty tip. Reuse the same Ziploc Bag for four years.
Below: The Stowaway prefers to dig out lost baggies of quarters.

Sunday, the college girls are leaving for college. The day after tomorrow the Harbor Master and the Stowaway are departing for the sunny tropics of south Florida. The house will be quieter. I will have an uncontested right to the front seat in the car. My dog will be able to eat without the Stowaway fussing that she's in the way. Their belongings, which have threatened to completely smother the house since the day they came home will be packed into the Harbor Master's little car and drive away. The girls have driven me crazy for three months. Not a day has passed that I couldn't find some reason to complain about them. Now, with only a single day left I know that I'll miss them.

This, to me, marks the end of the summer more definitely than fall ever could. It is an end to middle-of-the-night-no-boys-allowed (excepting, of course, the Harbor Master's fiance) movies. It's the end of sitting up half the night joking about how crazy Mom can be or how loopy Dad is getting in his old age. It's the end of the summer do-you-remembers and time for the fall split up. The last one. The next time the girls come home, the Harbor Master will get married. So this year it isn't just the end of summer, it's the end of all of us being kids. It's good bye to pretending that being grown up is a long way away. It's hello to Oh My Gosh I'm Going to Be Twenty in SIX MONTHS. Which, I guess is the reason that this parting is at as hard as the first time they left.
Fortunately, tomorrow is the Stowaway's birthday, so we'll have a reason to party. Ha! Take that back to school!

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Where We've Been

July 5- The Vineyards Campground, Grapevine, TX. Nice campground with a lake in the back yard and a marina full of yachts to watch.
Feb 26-March 5, 2010. Pueblo West Campground and Arena, Pueblo West, CO. This park has essentially no rules, and therefore has all of the perks and disadvantages of a park with no rules.
Feb 25-26, 2010. High Plains RV Park, Oakley, KS. This park is advertised as an overnight campground with resort like amenities. It delivers that as well. We did have some power issues, as there was not enough power to run lights and heat to everything that had to be kept warm, but we worked it out and had a fine time.
Feb 24-25, 2010 Lazy Days RV Park, Montgomery City, MO. This was an extremely pleasant place to stay, even in the middle of winter and with everything closed. Absolutely no complaints.
Feb 18-24, 2010 Firehouse Campgrounds, Jefferson, PA. We chose this park because, well, because there weren't many options. It serves as a resting place mainly for construction workers waiting for thier jobs to pick up in the spring. The quarters are rather cramped, but the campground does have decent restrooms and a laundry room. The roads through the campground, however, are really bad, covered in ice and snow, and, now, half melted goop.
Feb 14-17, 2010 Homestead Campground, Green Lane, PA. I can't say enough in favor of this place. There are no shower houses, etc. but this is the second time we have stayed here. The first time we were away overnight during a snowstorm and we returned to find not only plowed roads, but also Tallulah shoveled out and even her steps swept off. That just about covers what staying here has been like for us.
Feb 13, 2010, Wiltshire Motel, Breezewood, PA. Although this little motel doesn't look like much, (I am not sure I would exactly recommend it for a person actually looking for a hotel) it is a very accomodating place, and the only one that will allow you to plug your RV into your hotel room. There is also a convenient crack underneath the door, through which an extension cord fits perfectly. LOL.
Feb 12, 2010.Heartland Resort, Greenfield, IN. We thought this place would be fairly nice as it was large and the website makes it sound up to date and pleasant. The most annoying thing was that the electricity was at the front end of the camper, and the cord is located in the back. Other than that, the Heartland Resort is nothing more than a last resort for us. However, we did see a weasel hunting birds as we were packing to leave, and that was very cool.
Feb 4 - Now Whispering Oaks Campground. At first we thought this place was a little creepy, but actually, it is a fairly convenient place to be snowed in. Propane for the heater is available on site, the owner plows the roads daily, and there is a giant hill behind our camper.
Feb 1- Feb 3, 2010 Crossroads RV park, Mount Pleasant, IA. A decent place, but the laundry room and restrooms are closed for the winter.
Jan 29-Feb 1, 2010 Indian Hills Inn, Albia, IA. We knew when we looked at the website and saw the indoor pool that this place was going to be great. We were right. From the people who came out into the sub-zero wind chill weather to help us set up to the heated pool, this place was terrific.
Jan 28, 2010 Quality Times, Mount Vernon, IL. A nice place to stay for a night. Very nice persons in charge. We heard rumors of terrible mud, but had no trouble with that because everything was frozen solid.