Introducing The Mark Twain

Four weeks!  We have four weeks left until we head out.  So much to do and this morning...well, I have ambition but not as much energy as I would like.  My avoidance tactic is going to be writing a new blog entry while I drink coffee and enjoy the quiet stillness in my home.

It's nearly impossible to wrap my brain around the fact that in a handful of weeks this will no longer be my home. “Home” is such a strange word, loaded with meaning and images that go so far beyond such a simple word.  Once I walk out of our house for the last time with my husband, my son and my dogs, this will become a house again and home will be the mobile group of love found in my family.  That IS home.  The people you love being close to you and sharing in taking care of each other.

And close we will be as we make our cross country trip.  It's time to introduce The Mark Twain.

Yes, he's back as a pop-up camper :)  Ha.  Just kidding.  Shortly before buying our new home on wheels Andrew and I had been watching a Ken Burns special about Mark Twain.  We were both even more inspired by this literary giant than we had been before, but not so much for his contribution to the written word as by his adventurous spirit.  One of the commentators on the documentary said that Mark Twain wanted to visit all the places he had been to in order to do something others would or could not do, to see and share the wonders around the world and to live a life less ordinary and more extraordinary.  With that thought in our heads we named the camper The Mark Twain. 

When our four weeks are up we will be on the  road for roughly three months.  There are so many places we want to see and experience and we will have this cozy space to live in while we do so.  It may not seem like a lot of room to put three people and two dogs but considering our family mostly occupies one room in our house and the kitchen, I think we will be ok.  There is plenty of room for us and the dogs inside the camper as well as an awning that pulls out to create a lovely, shaded outdoor space for us to hang out in. I can't wait! We may be separated from the real Mark Twain by time but we are joined to his spirit of adventure just the same.  

Energy is kicking in and it's time to get some things going!  Much love to all! And to wrap things up, how about a few more pictures of the camper?