Our Shake Down Trip in O’Leno State Park

In January 2023, after my last day at work, we took a short “shake down” trip about two hours away. Before we had even left our driveway we learned a lesson. There are jacks in the front and back of the camper to stabilize it when it is parked. I was watching Aaron pull out of the tight spot beside the house and saw dirt start to come up under the back of the camper. It was like Bugs Bunny was traveling in our yard! Alas, we had left a jack down and bent it all to hell. Aaron, being the smart and resourceful man he is, used the lip of our driveway to bend it back the way it should be. Lesson learned and we hadn’t even left our neighborhood yet! So, a checklist for inside and out was created after we arrived at the campground. Everything else went well, and it was a great way to celebrate the end of my working. Aaron worked and I wandered in the woods behind our site with my new camera. I was enjoying taking pictures of the pond and cypress trees when I heard leaves crashing like something was running right for me. As I looked up, two deer were at a full run, headed right towards me! I think I scared them almost as much as they scared me. Luckily, I was able to get a picture of one of them as they ran by me. After 3 days, we packed up, went home, and got down to the serious business of sorting out our lives and our stuff to go full time on the road.