Autumn Begins...

So the past few months have been sweet. Meeting new RVrs, making new friends, spending time with the kids and grand's. The summer camping season has nearly ended, for us anyway. We're headed south to Virginia, the Carolina's and Georgia for the winter months. There are no grand babies arriving this year so we can take our time returning to Pennsylvania in the Spring. We'll be home for Christmas for a couple weeks in December then back south after the New Year begins.

As sweet as the summer months have been, leaving is always bittersweet. Saying goodbye to the little ones is the hardest thing. Kids grow up and become adults. Lives are full and time is scarce but the time we've had with each one has been precious.

Plans include a stop in Gordonsville, VA to houseclean and wash and wax the motor home. A few weeks in the Blue Ridge Mountains then on to Mt. Airy, NC for Mayberry Days where we'll meet up with my sister, her husband and their granddaughter for a few days where we'll step back in time with Barney and the gang. Soon after we'll find ourselves in Greenville, VA to tool along the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park before heading to Williamsburg, VA for a couple of weeks of colonial bliss. Finally we'll rest in Jackson Springs.

I find it increasingly more difficult to leave what we familiarly called 'home' for nearly 30 years. The kids and the little ones, they are seemingly growing apart from each other and from us as well. I suppose it's just the progression of life. Everyone grows up and grows apart...not what I thought would happen when we planned to have a large family but I accept the reality of it all. We don't have children anymore, even though they have separate lives they continue to love each other and spend time together when they can and for that I am grateful.

This week has been hard. So many milestones we've missed, relationships begun, birthdays missed, new homes bought, first words spoken... and one crisis of some sort or another. Sometimes I can't control the tears. So the life of a full timer has it's ups and downs as any lifestyle does. We push through, keep our eyes on God, pray each other through and tomorrow is always a brighter day.

Washed and waxed the 'house', housecleaned, laundry finished and another Labor Day weekend has indeed come to an end. Looking forward to a day in the Shenandoah National Park before heading down to the North Carolina mountains to gaze upon God's creation from my favorite mountaintop in the Blue Ridge foothills, and so Autumn begins...