Home again

Well, the Great RV Road Trip of '08 is officially over. We pulled into the driveway around 2:30 or so this afternoon. Yesterday we drove from Needles to Chowchilla, a distance of around 420 miles. That put us within 3 hours of home. We stayed at a very nice RV "resort" called The Lakes. It's only a couple of years old and had great amenities, including an off-leash pet area, which to me is a huge plus.

I walked in to find a sparkling clean house. My neighbor and her daughter had the key to the house while we were gone and worked their magic on the place. She let me in on it earlier this week so I wouldn't be too freaked out (and also so that I could warn Emily that her room would be clean instead of covered in wall-to-wall stuff). I didn't know whether to cry because she was so sweet, or to cry from embarrassment at her seeing how filthy my house was. Either way, it was the sweetest thing to do. Her daughter told me this afternoon that it was my birthday present. Great present, huh? And really, she did much more than just clean: she used her magic and luck with finding other people's cast-off items to find me a great area rug for the living room, plus some throw rugs for the front and back doors. Plus she put wastebaskets in all the kids' rooms. Her hard work made coming home feel a lot more peaceful.

So with the time I've had, I've managed to wash and fold 2 loads of laundry. A 3rd is in the dryer and a 4th in the wash. I think there are at least 2 more to wash as well. Between clothes, towels, and bedding from the RV, there's a lot to do. Tomorrow we will sweep, vacuum, dust, and polish the RV (and clean the bathroom/shower) so we can put it away all fresh and clean. It's a little after 10 now and I'm really ready for bed. I'll check on the laundry and then head there.