And they're off!

Our tour has officially begun, and (amazingly, barely) on the day we were actually scheduled to go!  Packing for almost 6 weeks (that's how long the tour is, not how long it took to pack, although it was close...) took more time, effort and space than we'd bargained for, and almost prevented our scheduled departure.  But we persevered, and crammed stuff, kids, and ourselves into the van and made it all the way to...Blythe Island Campground.

For anyone who might not be familiar with this delightful park, it's a whopping 10 miles (stretching it...) from our house.  No, it's not far, but at least we got out of the house.  That's something, anyway. 

And it's good that we were close, because of course we forgot some important stuff.  And packed waaaaaaay too much non-essential stuff (no kids, we do NOT need to bring ALL those books!).  So after a slightly rough first night (cuz we set up in the dark, and not very well, but that's another story) we went back home, exchanged some big heavy things (books, books, and more books) for some small things (our very expensive tickets to the quartet convention) and made it back out on the road again.

This time we made it all the way to Little Ocmulgee State Park.  Set up in the dark (again!), but did it right this time.  Cooked/ate dinner in the dark (again!), but ultimately made ourselves very comfortable.

Camping in the new millenium (I s'pose I should stop calling it that, since it's not so new anymore) is much easier than when I was younger (back in the Pleistocene Era, apparently).  We stay nice and cool all night in the pop-up, thanks to the A/C.  The kids can go on a nature hike and check in with me via cell phone.  My laptop lets me write (and edit) to my heart's content, and the Wi-Fi (in the very comfy Little Ocmulgee Lodge) allows me to post my blog, check my email, and figure out the next leg of the trip with maps and info about interesting sites along our path.

The kids are convinced this is roughing it.  I want to laugh and tell them about tents and poles and sleeping bags on the ground and all that, but I'm scared to death they'll think it sounds cool and want us to do it, and frankly, I like all the new mod cons.  I have friends who got the heebie jeebies when I told them we were planning to go out with a pop-up, which they consider totally primitive.  Roughing it for them is going some place without room service 24/7.  I'm perfectly fine with it, but I'm not going backwards any either.

And all our modern conveniences allow us to do what we came for - we gave our first concert tonight!  We set up our gear (which is packed with us in the van and the pop-up.  Yes, it's quite a tight fit) and sang and played for an hour.  Got lots of smiles, waves, and nods, and even got some folks dancing at their campsites.  And our neighbors from the campsite next door came over and introduced themselves and bought a CD.  Plus they gave us some info about a great campsite in Chattanooga, where we'll be next week, so that's an extra bonus. 

So that's days 1, 2 and 3.  Tomorrow we're off to Atlanta.  Sunday morning we have our first church concert, at the South Cherokee Baptist Church, a small church in Woodstock, GA.  We're excited about it, been talking to God a lot about it. Can't wait to see what He's got in store for us next.  I'll keep you posted.  You keep us in your prayers, if you would, please.  We're doing the same for you!