Not All Campgrounds are Created Equal

Jill's Journal: We left Louisville, eager to hit our first new town. Here we are, officially on the road, and our first weekend is the Fourth of July (which means everything everywhere is completely booked)! Not the best planning on our part, but sometimes you just can’t anticipate these things. We of course thought we’d have a month of this under our belts by now.

My Old Kentucky Home State Park in Bardstown had a cancellation for two nights and we snapped it up a few days ago. We are not yet schooled in campgrounds, but I think today was a huge lesson. The Horse Park was palatial compared to this! I had no idea. This is very rustic and tiny, which is fine and charming all on its own, but the spot we were assigned to is meant for pop-up campers and tents, not a 42’+ fifth wheel. It’s surrounded by trees and odd angles and when we saw it, I was certain there was no way to back our home into it. It would take an act of God to fit…or at least Rob’s amazing driving skills. Somehow he, with the direction of our new neighbor Johnny (who drives truck for a living), backed this thing into that crazy space. I think all 38 of our new neighbors came out to watch and I’m certain several bets were placed on whether it was even possible. But Rob did it!

We have woods right behind us and trees so close we can touch them out windows and are on such a grade that it feels like we’re going to topple right over, although Rob assures me we won’t. Our new neighbors are the friendliest things in the world. This must be what camping is all about – everyone is instant best friends. There are campfires everywhere tonight and the 65+-year-olds are the biggest and noisiest partiers out there! Hilarious.

We did meet another full-time RVing, homeschooling family, which was awesome. I spoke to both the mother and to the now 21-year-old daughter, who is now settled down with her own family but has grown up doing this. Both raved about it. The mother told me we’d never want to stop and settle down and the daughter told me it was the most fabulous childhood imaginable. She said she loved it. Very encouraging.