D.V. Stone
  • D. V. Stone Author
  • The Mortar & Pestle Series
  • The Shield-Mates Fantasy Series.
  • Lake Unami Stories
  • Impact Series Contemporary Romantic Suspense.
  • Agent Sam Carter Mid-Grade Paranormal Mysteries
  • Around the Fire Blog
  • Insider Looks
  • D. V.'s Reviews
  • D. V. Stone Author
  • The Mortar & Pestle Series
  • The Shield-Mates Fantasy Series.
  • Lake Unami Stories
  • Impact Series Contemporary Romantic Suspense.
  • Agent Sam Carter Mid-Grade Paranormal Mysteries
  • Around the Fire Blog
  • Insider Looks
  • D. V.'s Reviews

Welcome to the Campfire

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Join the Campfire Crew
​Light a campfire and everyone’s a storyteller.
~John Geddes~

One of my favorite things to do is sit around the campfire with friends. Each week at my virtual fire I'll bring new and old friend to chat about life, books, and writing. So now that you're here, kick back, relax, and join the conversation. Use the comment box to ask questions or leave a bit of wisdom. We'd love to hear from you.

Saturday Adventures with D. V. Stone

5/8/2019

 
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Join me for one Saturday each month sharing photos and stories from my travels and occasional guest posts.

Scenes from Vermont

      These pictures are from one of our first long distance trips. Vermont is a beautiful place, and we had a wonderful time with our friends and our RV. Cooking over an open fire, sharing stories and talks, with good people is priceless. My hope is you will join me here to relax and get away for a few minutes. Enjoy some pictures and tales of my life. It's not all balloons and bows, but I promise it will be entertaining.
 
     Peter, my husband, looks forward to an early retirement next year. After a serious fall on ice on Valentine's Day 2018, we dealt with surgery and months of physical therapy. You want to talk about research and inspiration for writing. In my upcoming book Rock House Grill, Aden takes much of the same journey as Peter did.
 
     One of the things we'd always dreamed of, is traveling. Not to beat down on airlines, but we hate to fly. Did we want to commit to a house in Florida for the winter? How would that impact our travel dream? It wasn't hard to come up with a solution. During the warmer months in New Jersey, most of our time is spent out on the patio around a chiminea. It wasn't a far stretch to decide finally on a camper.
 
      Becoming Snowbirds, changed from talking, to action. My dearly beloved of 25 years and I, purchased an RV. It's called a 5th Wheel to be exact. We looked at nearly one-hundred trailers before settling on the one pictured above. After searching far and wide, including several RV shows, our dream rig was hiding close to home. Thanks to Garrick RV in Oak Ridge, NJ, we settled on our Jayco Eagle.

     Our rig, 2Hoots, as we call her, has taken some getting used to. She’s a big girl. Forty-one and a half feet long and thirteen-two high. You can’t imagine some of the situations as a new RVer, a person can get into.
 
     The first trip we booked was Cape May, NJ. We wanted to stay closer to home and a familiar area. Beachcombers   is a lovely place to stay, but we needed a few things before we arrived. Off to the big box store, it was. Plenty of room to maneuver—not. Saturday + Superstore + Construction = Stuck. By the time we realize the problem, too late, we were in. I looked at Pete. He looked at me. I said, “Bye, going shopping while you figure it out.”
 
     I know, I know. Trust me, he thinks better without me. Of course, I was right. By the time I came out, he had a plan. My job was to block traffic in a Walmart Superstore on a congested Saturday morning. Go ahead and laugh. I can laugh now too.
 
     Once free from the gridlock we’d caused, to the campground full-speed ahead. Now, remember this was our first trip. Poor Pete had to back into the site. Trees and fences on each site made for some tight maneuvering and our first experience with helpful veteran campers. When asked how he did, “We slipped some Spanx on the big girl and slid right in.”

​     Fast forward to today. We have several trips under our belts. And several planned for this year. Our next is heading to Jamestown, NY and the Lucille Ball Museum. You can check it out on the link below. I hope to bring home some stories and pictures to brighten your day.
 
Recommended Movies 
  1. The Long, Long Trailer with Lucy and Desi
      2.  RV with Robin Williams
Garrick RV
Beachcombers
I love Lucy too
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All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
J.R.R. Tolkien


Kerry Blaisdell link
5/18/2019 10:34:24 am

Great stories! Congrats on becoming a Veteran RV-er - sounds like it was a hard-won battle, but worth it. I was already grinning when I got to the end of your post, and then I saw the Tolkien quote, and you had me all over again. ;)

Charlotte link
5/18/2019 10:38:14 am

Hi Donna. Love this story. When you RV how long is each trip? I hate flying too. My dream is a long trip driving down the eastern seaboard stopping at all the beach towns along the way.

Donna
5/18/2019 10:46:46 am

Thank you glad you enjoyed it.

The length varies Charlotte. Two weeks ago it was only Saturday and Sunday. We have a 4 day coming up. When hubby retires we're going to do a coast to coast part of the way on Route 66.

Another plan is similar to yours only ours is going to be an East Coast Light House trip

Donna
5/18/2019 10:43:37 am

Thanks Kerry it was definitely an adventure.

Mary Morgan
5/18/2019 11:29:39 am

Wow, Donna! I'm impressed! My husband and I are the opposite. We love to fly and fear managing an RV. :) Enjoyed reading about your travels and pictures. Looking forward to more!

Donna
5/18/2019 11:49:14 am

Thank you, Mary. I understand your fear it's quite intimidating.

My dear husband has a CDL and used to drive fire engines. I learned to drive a stick shift in a dump truck many years ago. I've also pulled horse trailers in the past. That said, I only drive this one in the forward direction.

Donna Simonetta
5/19/2019 11:19:25 am

What a fun post, Donna! I enjoyed the description of getting stuck in the WalMart parking lot...very funny! Although, I suppose it wasn't at the time. Best of luck with your new blog--you're off to a great start!

Donna link
5/19/2019 01:14:34 pm

Hi Donna,

Thanks for stopping by. Yep, it was funny and probably should be a things that happen at Walmart meme. Luckily my husband and I have a quirky sense of humor. We laughe our way out of the parking lot.

Sandra Dailey
5/21/2019 08:46:54 am

You'll be handling that RV like a pro before you know it! I can't wait to see pictures and hear about the Lucy museum. If you get to Florida, let me know. Don't forget to keep us posted on what's going on with the book as well.

D.V. link
5/21/2019 12:37:20 pm

Thanks for stopping by Sandra. We were on Pine Island near Fort Meyers in March. Hali enjoyed the dog beach near Bonita Springs. Love the area-hate the no-see-ums. We plan on wintering there when DH retires.


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    Welcome to the Campfire

    Welcome to the Campfire is a weekly Saturday blog by D. V. Stone, author of Sweet, Contemporary and Fantasy Romance. Most genres are welcome including non-fiction. I would also love to interview editors, agents, cover artists, marketing gurus, and publishers. If you have a specialty such as English teacher, cowboy, or First Responder, etc.

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