APRIL 1, 2008: BEGINNING YEAR 6 OF FULL TIMING

Our last episode of "tornadic activity" was on April 13th, 2007, in Fredericksburg, Texas. We were camped at Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park, just outside of town. With our neighbors, on a warm, humid, completely calm afternoon, we watched a huge "wall" cloud blot out the blue sky as it advanced towards us. When the wind started to blow, all us campers (and of course we had Luna, in her carrier) jumped in our cars or trucks and made for the various, very solid seeming, limestone restrooms scattered throughout the park.

In the dark, we listened to our weather radios and heard that the tornados went both north and south of Fredericksburg. Just recently I heard from our friends JoAnn and Doug that they had extensive damage to their 5th wheel and truck on that same day last year, at Parkview Riverside RV Park in Concan/Rio Frio - the park we just left!

This is on my mind now because we are back at Lady Bird Johnson Park, one of our favorites (read our campground review here). We have a huge site on the edge of the little municipal airport, where we can watch small planes come and go throughout the day. Even better, our friends Jackie and Buddy Bartee, Texans we met three years ago in Salida, Colorado, are camped just a couple miles from us.

Their proximity is particularly welcome because yesterday, April 1, is our anniversary. Five years ago, April 1, 2003, we pulled Scoopy out of our driveway in West Sacramento and took off on what has now been five years of adventure. For us, it is an anniversary worth celebrating - and much more fun with friends.

The last time we went out for a meal with the Bartees was in Portland, Oregon, when we introduced them to Dim Sum. This time, we celebrated our anniversary over dinner at the Bejas Grill and Cantina in Fredericksburg - not quite as unusual a menu, but delicious food. So, happy anniversary to us... we'll keep on rollin'.