At Home With Dad

I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of the family: our 2011 Jayco 26BH.

We really enjoyed our last trailer (Jayco 23B), but the set up on it was more than we were up for so we looked for simplicity. The 26BH allows us to pull into our camp site attach the water hose and electricity and start camping. Whew…

The 23B was much bigger on the inside so we had to make some trade-offs in that department, but not having to fold out the beds and make them every time we went camping was worth it. Plus, we have real ducted air conditioning now. Woohoo!

The kids have bunk beds now and are enjoying them so far, but the tent is still their favorite. And, Mom and Dad have a real bed. We’ve only had the trailer a couple of weeks and have already taken it out twice. On the horizon is a trip to Galveston and Destin, FL. Gotta get some sand in it, ya know.

The Kelley side of the family decided to get together for a weekend of camping and family fun. So we headed to Jellystone Park in Burleson for a great weekend. This was our first time camping in a “resort” camping facility and we were really impressed!  Full RV hookups, two pools, doggie park, and activities for the kid. Sure beats the state park!

All the Kelleys are doing great and enjoying life. Catching up what everyone is up to was great!

As a bonus, we were able to celebrate Rachel’s Dad’s 60th birthday together.

This past weekend, we headed 30 minutes up the road to Hickory Creek for some camping.

This was our first visit to the campground and overall we were really impressed. Large sites, which provided plenty of room to spread out. The only downside was being so close to the freeway and planes flying overhead. Otherwise, it was beautiful.

We met up with another family and had a great time. The kids played and played and played some more… Our kiddos hadn’t seen their kids for a few months and just loved seeing them again.

From 2009 – Fall

From 2009 – Fall

From 2009 – Fall

Our friends were camping in a tent and the temperatures were a little too cold for them at night. The wife mentioned a few times how she hated camping and didn’t like sleeping outside. So, I’m sure sleeping in a freezing tent was the cherry on the top of her weekend. She was a good sport with it all though…

The kids and I set-up the trailer Friday afternoon so everything was just about ready by the time Rachel got off work and was there. We had a quiet Friday evening and pleasant Saturday morning just to ourselves. After lunch, the other crew arrived and the kiddos were in hog heaven.

By late Sunday morning, we were heading back home, but ready for the next adventure. We love the new camper and the opportunities it opens up for our family to outside and enjoy nature.

The Ritchie’s 2009 Destin trip is complete. This was our first attempt at camping at the beach and, overall, it was a raving success! Camping does have some limitations in the parents-not-having-as-much-privacy-department, but a good time was had by all none the less.

What did we do?  Nothing. Seriously. If it wasn’t walking on the beach, playing in the sand/water, eating or sleeping, we didn’t do it. The kids never grew tired of the sand. And, the parents never grew tired of staring at the water and sky. Those of you considering a trip to Destin need to stop considering and make some plans. It is truly beautiful!

Pictures abound on this trip. Every morning and evening offered up some of God’s best works as the sun rose and set on another day. Just incredible.

Here is a link to all the pictures if you are so inclined. Otherwise, here are our favorites.

Back at our house, Bethany kept the puppies and kitty happy. When we got home, she had even cleaned the house and set our clocks back for daylight savings. She’s incredible! Nice to return home to a clean house.

Now, we have to start planning next year’s trip.

This is the only thing on my mind these days… We’ll be the first site on the left in the picture.

After synching everyone’s calendars, we were able to get some camping in this summer with Nanny and Papaw. Preparing ourselves for high temperatures was a waste of our energy, because the temperature stayed below 90 degrees the whole time. Couple this wonderful weather with a beautiful private beach and we were spoiled rotten.

Nanny and Nicole enjoying the beach

Tony fishing. He caught several fish as well!

Papaw helped the kids make “snakes” using soapy water. They all thought this was the best thing ever.

Faith's snake begins to grow...

Tony starts a good looking snake...

Uncle Matt and cousin Trinity were able to come out and do some camping with us as well. Since they have been in St. Louis for the past couple of years, it was nice to play with them as well.

Matt & Trinity enjoyed the snake making.

Nicole loves the bubbles from the snake.

He likes it... He really likes it!

Tony brought his guitar and had some fun playing with Papaw. More inspiration was drawn as Tony continues to love his guitar.

Pickin' and Grinnin' with Papaw

Nicole found these great goggles buried in the sand. Dylan quickly found they fit him as well and the real fun began.

Dylan is going in!

Nanny brought her kayak along with her this trip and all the kids took turns riding around in it. Dylan was the last to give it a whirl after building up a little courage. But, once he was in – he loved it!

Papaw taking Dylan for a ride in the kayak

Tony's sand creation

Everyone had a great time and looks forward to going back to Lake Ray Roberts very soon. There are even more pictures here from the trip.

As a family, we like to put fun treats just a tad in front of us to keep things interesting and to keep us looking forward. Our next treat is Camping On The Gulf.

Camping On The Gulf RV Park sits right on the water in Destin, Florida. Our camper’s wheels will sit in white sand with nothing but the ocean between the back of our camper and the Gulf of Mexico. Crystal blue water. Pristine white sand. Ahhhh….

We’re planning on going near the end of October and it really just can’t get here soon enough. The campground looks amazing. Miles of beach lie right out our back door! The kids can play in the sand while I make dinner just feet away.

We loved going to Galveston and renting a beach house, but after the hurricane’s damage I’m not sure when it will be the same. Destin has always been on the wish list so we decided to give a whirl. Everyone who has visited the area swears that it is just amazing!!

The kids love to play in the sand and Rachel and I just love the ocean. We’re almost there! Anyone else been there? I’d love to hear your suggestions and thoughts on the area.

The trip up to Cornerstone was interesting to say the least. We decided to drive mostly during the day, which proved to be much more difficult than driving at night while the kids rest so quietly in the back of the car.

Around the middle of Oklahoma, we saw our battery on the trailer start to smoke. We quickly pulled over and tried to discern what was going on. Turns out the trailer’s emergency brake wire had shorted itself out by getting pinched. While driving without our emergency brakes wasn’t ideal, it was a much better scenario than we originally had in our heads. Visions of not having any power in the trailer for the duration of the festival had some of us ready to turn back around for home.

The rest of the journey went fairly well with everyone getting pretty excited about getting there. After 18 hours, we arrived near the festival around 1am and slept the night away in a Walmart parking lot. Up early in the morning, we picked up some last minute supplies and we were in the festival grounds by 10am.

We found our RV spot quickly and started setting up camp.

Our camping site before everyone else arrives

The first day had some bands playing including one JPUSA band. JPUSA – or, the Jesus People USA – put on the festival and Christians hippies living in community. Their bands are always interest.

This particular band, Illogical Spoon, was playing a bone at one point in the set. Yep, a bone. Now that’s reusing (from the reduce, reuse, recycle concept) put to good use.

Overall, the bands were great and we all enjoyed our time seeing countless shows during the week. The kid’s program including a VBS type thing and an art tent with countless kid crafts available. The kids loved their time here. They sang… They danced… They had a blast.

Mr Nicky leading the kids - Nicole is stage right

The girls working on bracelets for Alex

Dylan putting the touches on his work of art

Tony making his necklace

Our camping neighbors were a great bunch of folks. One of them became our kiddos favorite person ever. Alex played and talked with them for hours at a time. All our kids talked non-stop about Alex and the wonders are her. The kids made necklaces and bracelets for her before leaving.

The rest of our camping neighbors were a band on a three-week tour. We caught a couple of their shows and loved watching our kids watch our neighbors rocking out. Rachel and I loved talking with a couple of their fathers during the week. Turns out one of them was an electrician, he fixed our emergency trailer brake. Funny how things work out sometimes. Super uys. One of the dads had been on tour with the band for three weeks helping these guys live out their dream.

The weather during the festival was out of this world. Generally, Cornerstone is a bake-fest with the sun beating down on your for the entire week. Not this year! Most days saw highs in the mid-seventies. It was amazing. We were cold watching several evening shows and had to bring blankets along for the ride. The last day was filled with rain, which made getting around the campgrounds pretty perilous to say the least. The last big shows were moved to smaller venues making for a crazy last night at Cornerstone.

Boots were needed for all the mud the last day

Some of the highlights of Cornerstone for me included:

• Meeting a service manager from Michigan who knew Carl Sewell
• Meeting and speaking with a Mennonite Peace Keeper. His stories of using civil disobedience were pretty incredible.
• Learning more about Project AK-47, which helps young boys from becoming child soldiers.
• Learning more about To Write Love on Her Arms, which helps bring awareness about depression and suicide.
• Seeing Stavesacre, MeWithOutYou, Derek Webb, Brian “Head” Welch, Deas Vail, Zach Williams, Underoath, The Fold, Fundamental Elements, La Dispute, Men As Trees Walking, Owl City, Project 86,  The Rocketboys, Secret and Whisper, and Shiny Toy Guns. That is a big list, but is just the short list of the number of bands I saw. Several others were very good, but these were my favorite.
• Our camping neighbors

Our trip home was uneventful. We had learned a lot more about traveling with the trailer on the way up and were able to shave a couple of hours off our time on the way back. We arrived back at our house around 2am after 15 hours on the road.

Interestingly enough, we passed the band Men As Trees Walking on the way back home. They were pulled up on the side of the road and we later read that their bus broke down. We looked at going back to check on them, but were on a tollway with no obvious turn around points for miles. Oh well… Looks like they made it home ok though, just  day later than they had hoped.

Now the question looms… What about next year?

I think so. While most of the music is hardcore or metal, there was just so much more out there. Some bands we’d never heard of were great. Some bands we thought would be great live, well… weren’t. But, meeting folks from all over the country and hanging out with the Jesus People presents such a unique experience. I think the answer is yes. Yes, we’ll probable go again next year. Now, we just need to figure out how to order that weather again.

There was a day when teenagers came to me for the latest, greatest Christian music suggestions. I loved it. I knew all the bands – even the ones I didn’t like.  A couple of times I dragged some of the real die hards to a large corn field in Illinois for a little music festival called Cornerstone. Here all the alternative Christian bands would play a three day Christian Woodstock. It was heaven on earth.

The last year I went to Cornerstone (about 5 years ago or so), I was standing there watching the mayhem with another dude my age. We stated that we would not grow old and leave the music scene. At the time, he put together a weekly radio show (Sound Check) where we got to interview some of the up and coming bands. It was a blast. The future would not overshadow our love for alternative Christian music.

Fast forward a few years and I am determined not to grow old. The calendar says that I’m turning 40 in just a few weeks. (I do have a team investigating the validity of this claim, but I fear their efforts will be futile.) So, I am loading up the family truckster and heading back to Cornerstone with my little ones. Incidentally, my buddy isn’t making the journey.

Seven days of camping. 100′s of bands, most of which I’ve never heard of, but that is half the fun. One of my favorite bands – Stavesacre – will play there last show. The Crucified will play a reunion show as well. I’m pretty jazzed about the whole idea.

The kids are fired up and are listening to the music of several of the bands. Good times lie ahead. And, of course, we have a former CIA agent staying at the house in case you are reading the blog just to figure when we won’t be here. He has the green light to shoot to kill, just so ya know.

The bags are packed. We’re ready to head out despite the looming big 4… 0. I’m testing a theory. Can an old man continue to enjoy a Christian Woodstock? I am taking our AC’ed camper to be honest, but still… Cornerstone – here we come!

Wow! That pretty sums up camping this past weekend. Simply incredible.

One of Rachel’s favorite clients from Sewell invited us out to his ranch and off we went. We didn’t have any idea what to expect, but we never could have imagined the ranch that the Mitchells have put together out there. Stocked lakes with bass, catfish, and perch. A private, sandy beach. And, beautiful Texas hill country. Faith, Tony, and Mama caught fish. Everyone rode their bikes all over the property. I even found three feral hogs that I thought might make a meal of me.

Ten xXx Ranch had full RV set-ups for us next to their prized cattle barn. Faith and Tony pitched their tent and loved every minute of it. Faith jumped off a 20 feet bridge with mama.

The weekend was perfect.