We are home! amid laundry and 2 weeks of mail and 100 other things that need to be done. There are some things that crossed my mind driving through Nebraska and Iowa. The long boring drive was broken up with a wonderful visit with Ben, Lindsay and Bea. I could play with my Granddaughter for hours. She is such a delight, and so very busy. So…here are some of my observations in no particular order.
1) I know there is some beauty in the Plains. But after spending time in the mountains ablaze with yellow aspen, Nebraska and Iowa are long, boring states to drive through.

2) I have spent a lot of time using Vault toilets, and early on decided to use a rating system. Determining that no vault toilet can have a higher rating than 3 stars. Odor, toilet paper and ventilation are all factors in evaluating. Five stars is the highest, but they much flush to even be considered to be a five. I came across 2, three star vault toilets, and one was along the side of a road, and it didn’t have a door, or a roof! The picture will follow this post, but it was in Utah, along a sand/dirt roads.

3) I am a camping snob. I don’t like the parking lot type campgrounds. I want distance and trees between us, and if could be along a rushing mountain stream, that makes it even better. We use a book called Best In Tent Camping, which offers books for many of the states. If is is down a gravel bumpy road, that is even better.

4) Mark is a wood hoarder, or maybe it is his hunter, gatherer instincts kicking in? We purchased a bundle of wood within the first couple of days. But instead of burning it, we carried it with us throughout the trip. Instead he “gathered” scrap wood in every campground, saving the nice, dry bundled wood for ?? We still have it!!

5) Camping in cooler weather is soooo much nicer in a truck camper than a tent. In the morning, flipped on the heater (from the comfort of my bed), and waited for the water to heat up for my warm shower. It rained a couple of days, and it was so nice to be snuggled in the camper.

6) I like blogging, it is kind of fun. I don’t know if I will have anything exciting to blog about, but I am going to try and continue at least once a week. And I promise to figure out the picture situation.
But thanks for reading!