A New Discovery

We found a great gem this weekend, only 3 hours away. A few month ago, we purchased a diesel engine truck with the hopes it would one day pull our future full-time home. You know we still have that dream! At the beginning of January, we finally found a camper like we had been looking for, for a price we were willing to pay. SO, our traveling set-up looks a little different now. Here we are, all loaded to go for our weekend trip:

One of the advantages of going this way, is easy access to free camping! When on longer trips, it is always a headache to set up all the hammocks only to have to take them down the next day. Now, we can just pull in a truck stop or Walmart and sleep for the night. No more camping fees just for a place to sleep. The generator provided us with heat during the 34 degree weather. Johnny has talked for YEARS about how we could sleep this way. I am glad he finally got to see how it worked. We pulled into our spot about 9:30 pm. :) This was a small town about 15 minutes from our destination. 

Camping so close to a store provided an additional added benefit this particular night. Before going to sleep, Johnny had picked up a small bottle of milk to drink. Later that night, the empty bottle turned out to be a useful restroom. He said he should have bought the larger bottle so he would not of had to worry if it was going to overfill! (We didn't have water in our tank for the bathroom in the camper because we have all the pipes winterized to keep them from busting.)

The next morning, we drove to our destination, Horse Pens 40 in Steele, Al. We were greeted by Mike. The boys were immediately hooked when they saw the "cowboy" pistol strapped to Mike. He told us a lot about the park and how his family operates the place. Turns out, they homeschool, live debt free, and share lot of the same philosophy on life as we do.  One of my favorite parts of traveling is just listening to people's stories. I think it would be fun to just write and tell their stories. Here is Mike.

The park is known in the United States for bouldering. It was neat to watch some of the people scale these boulders. It would look impossible to do, but they usually conquered the task. There were tags from all over the U.S. I saw tags from New York, Florida, Kentucky. I was shocked. It is really out in the middle of a very rural area. 

Our boys had a great time climbing, imagining, and acting out all kinds of scenes. As a matter of fact, their imaginations were so ignited, we didn't even get to go to the back of the park on Saturday because they kept wanting to explore all the rock caves and rocks. Here are some pictures of our play. The pictures definitely do not do the place justice. The exploration is definitely a work-out!

Being in the outdoors is so refreshing. I really think it is so good for our physical and mental health. Our friends and family who stay sick the most are the ones who spend most of their time locked up indoors. Get outside, it can be good for your health in so many ways!

 I am sure we will be visiting Horse Pens 40 again. It was indeed, another great find!

I intended to go and chat with this guy to hear his story. Mike had told us he has traveled the world in his little camper. But, we ran out of time. Maybe we will see him down the road another time.

Now, if we could only get the income part figured out, this could be our life for a while...

Live a Meaningful Life