Two weeks from today I'll be flying home for a break. I'll arrive Friday in the early afternoon and Saturday I'll get our camping gear down from the attic so that Cindy and I can drive to Maggie Valley on Sunday for a week of camping in the mountains of North Carolina. I hope it is as relaxing as our last trip there in May was, because I could sure use the down time.
Plus, we just ordered a larger 3-season tent to keep us comfortable and warm in the forecast 30 degree nights. The last time we were in the mountains in October (a few years ago), our small, cheap tent was flooded by ice cold rain and sleet that came in from Tennessee over the
Smokies. Had it not been for Cindy's mom and dad being there with their A-line trailer, we would have had to pack up and head for a hotel or home. The tent we used this past May was more for a backpacker and, when sitting outside in the evening under our canopy, we were exposed to a huge number of myriad kinds of bugs that are attracted to city people when they visit. This new tent has a room for sleeping, a room for dining or storage and a screen room for enjoying the evening without unwanted company. Plus we can sit in chairs inside the tent or screen room and I can even stand inside without hunkering down like Igor. It should be nice.
As of today, I'm expecting to be back here in Iowa on Friday, October 24th but that could change at any point over the next two weeks or even during the 2 weeks while I am home, so we'll see what happens.
I'll be perfectly honest; winter in Iowa does not appeal to me. However, I don't have much of a say in the matter. Of course, I could say "No thanks" but that leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those who assign these trips (or those who request you because you have skills and talent they can put to use) and anyway you are only allowed a certain number of those kind of responses before they decide to ignore your availability.
And I am torn. I enjoy the chance to help those who have experienced disasters and the traveling (not the getting there, but the being there, lol) involved in assisting them, getting to see different parts of the country. I always learn something during my travels about the parts of the country I'm in. But there are lots of things I'm missing that I would also enjoy getting to do and if I were home I could. I missed a certain convention in California in July and one in Orlando that same month and two blog conferences in Orlando this month.
There is
a writer's conference in Orlando I would love to attend in November and a certain convention in Orlando later this month and in November that would be fun. If I'm home, I'll be able to give some attention to those parts of my life that interest me as well. Not to mention, of course, time with my wife and family.
But if the opportunity to work is presented, I just cannot turn it down so, as mentioned above, we'll see what happens. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to that break in a couple of weeks.
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