Pix of My Van and Trailer

"Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together." ~Thomas Dekker

July 23: Tonight I am too tired to blog. Every day of this trip is a wonderful party waiting to happen.

Yesterday some lovely people made dinner for me and two other guests. This morning the same lovely people made a waffle breakfast, then I hung out in the brewery and worked on some photos and my last blog post. Then we visited another brewery. Then I drove a long way. Then some other lovely people took me out to dinner with another guest. Then I checked emails and worked on some more photos.

Today I visited people and breweries in Channahon Illinois, Flossmoor Illinois, Munster Indiana, and Holland Michigan. I think I forgot to get gas so I must be almost empty. And I miss my husband. But I am not complaining! I'm just tired.

I thought you'd want to see photos of my home on wheels: A 1996 Chevy Astro pulling a 2007 Fun Finder X139. In the photos below the bunk is up, but I always have it down because that's where I sleep. Have a good night and I'll blog soon.

Same Stream, Different Horse

"Never change horses in midstream." ~Abraham Lincoln

Wow! We got a new trailer and I won't be taking my teardrop after all. Luckily I changed horses before I started on the trip.

I've been thinking hard about the logistics of this trip. Teardrops are great for camping in the woods, because if you've got to pee in the middle of the night, you're already in the woods. That's not too practical for city camping: parking in front of friends' houses or in brewery parking lots. I'm depending on the kindness of strangers (all future friends), but their kindness may stop short of handing me the keys so I can relieve myself at 1:00 am, and again at 4:00 am.

This little guy is only 1 foot 9 inches longer than our teardrop, but it has so many features that make it the ideal portable hotel room for city camping: A toilet, a 2-burner gas stove, a fridge (no more buying ice every other day, plus the mayonnaise jar gets to keep its label on), an indoor table that turns into a bed, and a fold-down bunk above that. It sleeps four people if two of them are children. We pick it up tonight.

It's called a Fun Finder X139. It comes with an awning, CD/DVD player, clock, microwave and gas BBQ grill. It has more storage than the teardrop, and weighs more, but in such a small package it has more than I need, but everything I want (like a toilet and a hot cup of tea). I'll still need access to hot showers, so I'm hoping my hosts will share theirs. We named it "Big Buddy." (As opposed to "Little Buddy," our teardrop camper.)

I still plan to leave in about a week... see you soon!