Meet the Happy Campers

Only 32 days until we leave and the past month has been very busy for all of us. We went to Lazy Days Rally Park in Tampa for a wonderful weekend of camping with eighteen members of our Happy Campers Club and enjoyed a Taste of Tampa.

A tour of Ybor City and many fun days and nights with the club and many other RV'ers from all over the country was organized by Lazy Days, which is the largest RV dealer in the nation and which was held at their own campground adjacent to their huge faciity.

Seven of our lady Happy Campers took the co pilot driving course and found themselves behind the wheel of a 36 foot, $300,000 diesel pusher motor home. They took a two hour class and then had an opportunity to drive the RV around the campground with their instructor at their side.

I can't imagine what courage it took to do that. I was, as you guessed, not one of the seven but now they can take over on the road should something happen to their spouses while driving.

We also had three members of our group buy new RV's from Lazy Days and picked them up while there.

Two of the group going out West bought new motorhomes from Lazy Days and all the owners took the course, so our rigs will be new and ready for our big adventure.

Who is going?
I don't think I have said who our Westward Ho adventurers are, so here goes.

One couple, Mary and Ken, from New York are old campers from way back. They have a new 36 foot, class A and have traveled the Eastern coast many times, but have never been as far West as we are planning to explore. They have five children and many grandchildren and Mary is an excellent cook and organizer.

The second rig is driven by Helen , a widow and new RV owner, having only started camping during the last year, first with a tent, then with a new 21 ft. class C, and now with a 31 ft. class C. She decided she loved camping and moved up quickly.

She is quite a free spirit. The type of woman who never meets a problem, always an opportunity. She is brave and determined and will be the spark we all need to get over that next mountain.

We call her Martha Stewart, because she can produce a full dinner for 10 people, from
a couple of cans and a loaf of bread. She already has menus planned for us all and teams to cook them. We will eat well during the three months we are on the road with Martha, I mean Helen.

Then there are Helen's passengers, Tom and Joan, who will traveling with her and doing some of the driving for her. They are veteran campers having owned many rigs, but who have been out of it for a few years. But the call of the road is strong and they are ready to go on this new adventure.

We have a 36 ft. class A and have been RVing since 2000 and this is our third rig, a 2004 Pace Arrow and a beauty.

So those are our Happy Campers and we are getting more excited with each passing day.