Heading home

   Our last night was in a campground just west of Des Moines.  We have stayed in this area many times before. It has been cloudy most of the day and looks like a storm.  We aren't going to detach the car tonight so we found a campground with long pull-through sites.  Unfortunately in this campground some of these are "side by side" sites which means that two RV's are pulled in close to a single set of electric, sewer and water connections so that with our slide out we are about 4 feet from our neighbor.
   This KOA has been purchased by new owners.  They are trying hard to come up with fun ideas to attract families in the area to camp for the weekend, use the swimming pool and playground, and participate in activities. Good business for the campground, but it put large groups of people on small sites.  In several sites a tent trailer, a tent and two cars were crammed into a small space.  One family set their tent up almost on the road.  Last year two small kids were killed when their tent was hit by a car so this looked to me like an accident waiting to happen.  Most campgrounds work to keep the tents very securely away from drivers.  We sat outside and watched the group next to us.   A couple of 8 year old girls coached a 5 year old boy into throwing rocks on top of the tent trailer and eating a chocolate bar that was laying on the ground.  Little devils.
   Suddenly the rain came up and everyone ran inside their tents.  Fortunately for the families spending the weekend, it stopped after an hour.  We opened our awning to get it to dry out before we store the camper for a couple weeks.
  This was another short trip for us.  I am not really ready to go home.  I had a great time with Mark and Joyce in the Black Hills.  It was so much fun to share the joys of RVing with them.  We loved camping in the national park campground.  It is just the reason that we bought this smaller RV.  I am already looking at other national parks that we can go to and spend time camping in the park.
   I never regret the time we spend traveling.  I miss my family when we are gone and I am unhappy when we have no phone service so that I can talk to them all, but I always enjoy the time in the outdoors.  I am almost always optimistic.  I like to plan for the next trip as we finish the one we are on.  However, I also know that circumstances can change things in an instant and so I sort of savor each trip as though it is the last one.
   I am thinking about returning to the Olympic Peninsula and the Cascades or perhaps back to Yellowstone without 28 Boy Scouts.  Once again I invite you to come along - in person or through the blog.  We love company.