Guest Blogged by: Katie Foust
Want to hear a secret? I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of camping and being outdoorsy.
The REI catalogue? Oooh, that could be me.
Car commercials where people are trekking through mountains and fording rivers? I could do that.
Pulling a six-pack out of an ice-cold stream? I am pretty thirsty.
Want to know the truth? I like AC and indoor plumbing way-too-much to do any of that nonsense. I attribute this “camping hesitancy” to being super-tasty to mosquitos and allergic to half of everything out there.
But then 2020 happened, and boy did it change my entire outlook on life. Being a mom of two boys (2 and 5) I always had tons of activities for us to do. We would go to the zoo, museums, run around Target, randomly go to (and spend way too much money) at Buc-ee’s, and so on. Looking back, it was nice to know that even the mundane you be a potential adventure.
Then, COVID happened and all the sudden, it wasn’t about where to take my kids, but where could I take my kids.
My kids’ summers were usually full of fun day-camps, but this year most of them were cancelled. Soon, we were forced to cancel our extend-family’s summer vacation. That’s when my husband came up with novel idea of renting a travel trailer. Pre-COVID I would have spit out my corndog and laughed and laughed and laughed some more in response to this idea. I mean, who does this man think he married? Have we met? But I was getting desperate to find fun things for my kids to do. You can only take a walk or watch the Sponge Bob Musical so many times.
That’s when my husband started explaining what the trip would actually look like. Somewhere during a sentimental story about spending time with his grandparents in their travel trailer, I heard these magic words: AC and indoor plumbing. My interest was piqued. He then went on about how it would have a refrigerator, freezer, microwave, shower, and wait for it . . . a TV. I remember thinking, ‘it’s 2020, there are no rules anymore, let’s go on a travel trailer trip.’
When the appointed-day came, he drove our SUV to Fort Worth RV Rental where our home-away-from-home was ready for pick up. As he pulled up to our house with the trailer in-tow, my boys were anxiously waiting. Y’all, their little faces were priceless. They were literally dancing in the street! I mean we could have just camped in front of the house, and it might as well have been Mt. Everest to those boys. They were so happy.
For the first time since COVID hit, we had an honest-to-goodness adventure on our hands.
We loaded up the Trailer and headed off. Our first stop included Glen Rose aka “The Dinosaur Capital of Texas.” Glen Rose is a beautiful little town just an hour west of Fort Worth with a gorgeous state park called Dinosaur Valley. One of the big attractions is Dinosaur World, which includes an outdoor walking trail full of replicas of every dinosaur you could imagine. My boys were literally tripping over themselves with excitement! Imagine Las Vegas, but for a two and five year little kid. Our next stop was in the Hill Country, on the Guadalupe River. Waking up to the river streaming nearby and surrounded by the beautiful hills was exactly what this mama needed. The boys started gathering sticks trying to find their perfect hiking staff. We hiked, we swam, and we just enjoyed the sun. In the evening, we built our fire, made our campfire stew, and ended the day with roasted marshmallows. Our final stop was a seaside side spot in Galveston. At this point, my boys couldn’t tell me what their favorite part of the trip was. They both kept telling me EVERYTHING was the best. Beach, river, hills, dinosaurs? It was an all-way tie for first.
Every night my boys were giddy with excitement. And now they are RV/Travel Trailer obsessed. We never miss a spotting of one on the road. If you met my five year old in the last three months, he would have talked your ear off about his travel trailer trips. Interestingly, this leaves the McDonald’s drive-thru employee very confused as to why this child is yelling about travel trailers from the backseat of the car.
Magical is the word I have used to explain our travel trailer trips thus far. There’s something freeing about getting away and heartwarming about seeing your kids being kids. While COVID disrupted our normalcy, the travel trailer has given us a vehicle for adventure and memories. To be young and carefree while exploring the beautiful world around them is our greatest hope for our children.
Location: Fort Worth RV Rental
To rent our camper ask for the: Forest River Salem 2021
Michelle, aka @fortworthwoman, is a teacher turned counselor turned mommy turned entrepreneur.
Michelle has a passion for connecting, encouraging and informing about the good happening in our city. The good people, events, food, stores, entrepreneurs, and good deeds are her focus. She has created a niche for herself by using social media as a native marketing tool that has created meaningful exposure for local businesses in Fort Worth to a wide but very particular local audience.
