In a wooded area of northern Michigan, on a hill, overlooking Rose Lake,  lives a couple by the names  Tony and Pam.  Sometimes they have more adventure in them then  sense, so even though Tony is blind, and Pam doesn't have much of a sense of direction, in July 2008 they sold the 2 foot motor home they had and bought a little 18 foot camping trailer called a "t@da."  They named it Firefly.  (yep, that's me) Did I mention that both of them are "mechanically challenged" and that Pam is still learning to back Firefly up?  

Here are a few things they have already learned;

It is good to have friends and relatives to help with the learning curve of hooking up Firefly.

It is good for Pam to have some (much needed) instruction on backing up Firefly.

The steep driveway that is perched on top of their hill is not an easy place to turn a trailer around and get it parked.

If Firefly is pinned against the car and left that way for a long time, the frame can bend.  This can mean a trip back to the factory to get a new frame.

Progressive Insurance is good, $500.00 deductible is not so good.

Not all camping spots are level.

Progressive Insurance premiums on Firefly did not increase when a claim was filed. 

It's easier to get Firefly lined up to the hitch for hook up when using a set of magnetic  trailer alignment kit (yellow balls on sticks.)  When the balls line up, so does the trailer tongue and the hitch.  (most of the time) 

An audience seems to gather quickly when a blind man is trying to direct someone into a camping site. 

Someone in the audience finally takes pity on Pam and offers to direct her in.  

It can take many tries to get into a camping site and to get Firefly level.

When taking Firefly out of storage, if the storage door slips down a little bit, the roof vent can easily be torn lose from the top of the trailer.

It is good to have the storage place for Firefly right down the road from the RV service

center where Pam and Tony do business.

It is better yet when the person who owns the center has also torn a roof vent off of trailer, it can make the bill a little less.  

It is good that the brand new door at the storage place could be bent back into shape and does not need to be replaced.

Camping with Grand Kids (2 at a time)  is fun and has become a tradition all involved look forward to.

A campground with a heated pool is great.

An 18 foot trailer is very tight quarters for 4 people, especially in the rain.  

It is not very restful to sleep in the Firefly when it is not level.

It can take Tony 2 days to figure out how to get it level.

Please join us as we start on a new chapter of adventures with Firefly.  We are leaving July 10, 2009 for a 4 week trip from Michigan to Bellingham WA.  Our trip will take us to South Dakota to visit our niece,  then onto the Black Hills, from there we will go to Vancouver Island and connect with our daughter Holli and her family for a week.  (I'm a bit nervous about getting Firefly on and off of the ferry.)  While on Vancouver Island we will be helping out with childcare while Holli is completing the last week of her Waldorf teacher training.  After our time on the  island we will spend a week with Hollis' family at their home and then start back to MI.  We hope to go to Yellowstone, then stop in North Dakota to visit family and head home from there.  We have a saying at our house, "the entertainment is free,"   and there is usually plenty of it to go around.   I am going to try and figure out how to post pictures on this blog as well.  (there could be lots of entertainment in that.)