Joe Wheeler Camping Trip - July 26, 2014 - Homeward Bound

The last day of camping sucks, for not only is it the last day of the vacation (a bummer in itself), but we have to get the camper ready to roll.

This means washing up the dishes, cleaning the counters, sweeping the floors, and putting away everything that might shift when the camper moves.  It means emptying stinky plumbing tanks, storing the lawn chairs, sweeping and folding and putting away the exterior rugs.  It means retracting awnings and hoses and cords, folding up steps, hitching up the truck, and attaching sway bars and such.

Both The Husband and I are always tired, grumpy, and sopping wet with sweat by the time we're finished.  We pulled out about 10 this morning. and, thankfully, had an uneventful drive home.  The drive took almost 5 hours, with only one quick stop for a potty break. 

And then, once we got home, we had to unhitch the camper, set it back up in its usual spot, and haul everything into the house - dirty laundry, clean laundry, food items, and electronic toys - and put it all away again.  Since I took my sewing machine and a bag of sewing projects, we had even more lugging to do this trip. 

But we have about got this thing down to a science.  In less than thirty minutes after we began backing the camper into the driveway, we'd emptied the camper and were inside the house, resting under the air conditioning.  The washing machine is running with the first load of laundry.  As soon as the sheets and towels come out of the dryer, we'll take them out to the camper, make up the bed, put away the towels, and our rolling motel will be ready to roll again.

One more thing:

I finally got a picture of the "shoe tree."  This tree is on the north side of Hwy. 72, just inside the Alabama state line, around mile marker 4 or 5.  You might not be able to see them very well in this picture (they're more visible when the leaves fall), but the tree is full of shoes.  When I see things like this, I always wonder how they got started.  Who flung the first pair of shoes in that tree, and why?  It's a mystery.  But one of these days, I'm going to try my best to hurl an old pair of my tennis shoes up in that tree when we go by.  ;)