Getting excited for the 2011 camping season

Early today, the sun was out, so I decided it was time to take Sadie out for some exercise. She fired right up; although, I am embarrassed to say, it has been since October 23rd that her engine last ran. There has just been so much to do, getting into our new home, that Sadie has been a bit neglected. She sits, cozy, in her garage; no need for winterizing, because the garage is insulated.

Part of my motivation was that we received a ten cents a gallon discount coupon for gas at Safeway. With Gas currently at $3.119 per gallon, ten cents off seemed like a good time to fill up. We disconnected Sadie's various umbilici, gingerly drove her out of the garage and down the hill to fill up. It turns out the discount is only good for the first 30 gallons, which means we saved $3.00; not a fortune, but enough for a caramel machiato, one of these days.

The gas station attendants were very kind and washed Sadie's dirty windshield while we were there. When we were finished (40.7 gallons later), we headed for the countryside to give the old girl some exercise. We had a lovely drive out to Perrydale, a little farming community a bit north of Dallas. The countryside was gorgeous, Sadie purred, and Jill and I reveled in being on the road. In fact, we determined it is time to plan the first camping trip of 2011.

While we were on the road, I started the Onan generator for a little exercise and ran the electric heater in the coach. It ran like a top...the generator, that is...well, the heater did fine, too. We returned home, parked our venerable lady and went in to have lunch.

That's when the snow began to fall. I felt pretty smug. I got Sadie gassed up at a discount, gave her some exercise, enjoyed a drive in the country with my best girl, and got home before the snow began to fall.

It is odd how a particular day or occurrence affects one's soul. I told Jill after we got home that, somehow, taking Sadie out for a drive made me feel that we are finally settled at home in Dallas. She told me that, whenever she is feeling grumpy or having cravings, all I need to do is take her for a ride in Sadie...or give her some chocolate...or, ahem.