Bucket Light

When you go camping, you see a lot of cool things people do to be resourceful. It’s fun to see camping hacks that cost little to nothing to make. You also see neat survival techniques and ways to save space. I get fascinated.

I have seen several different ways to light up your camping space but one that I just had to make was a bucket light. It was easy to make and this one only costed me a dollar for the light and a dollar for the batteries at the dollar tree.

You can get three to five gallon buckets from a hardware store for a few dollars but I knew where I could find a smaller bucket for free. When I used to work at Belks, they would have buckets of hand sanitizer wipes placed at the registers for employees. They would throw them away once they become empty. I got my hands on one before it hit the trash can. 

Optionally, you can add a picture or saying on the side. I asked my Sister to make me a vinyl decal to put on mine. She did a good job and I love it. We took it with us to the beach and hung it in the center of our picnic shelter. It was a great light. Since It has a battery operated light in it, I could use it inside if the power went out or carry it down to the ocean at night for some romantic lighting. A five gallon bucket light would make a nice lighted seat during a night of fishing.

 

To get the different colors I just placed colored solo cups over the little battery light on the inside. Most people purchase better lighting with larger lights that have a remote control for on and off and color changing. I didn’t want to get all that fancy. I just wanted a little light and it’s perfect. 

Tried Something New

We were able to get a couple days off work last week so we made a four day weekend. Of course we headed down to our camper at the beach. 

Our four hour drive was a wet one. We drove through rain 90 percent of the way. Once we got to our camper, it was cloudy but no rain. 

We unpacked the car and I made the beds and set up the inside of the camper while Nick hooked everything up on the outside. It takes us about 45 minutes to get settled in.

I clicked on the campground app and seen where they now have paddle boats, kayaks and paddle board rentals on Saturday. 

I got all giddy because I have always wanted to try stand up paddle boarding. He was not happy about it. He said, “I do not think it’s a good idea. You can’t swim”. I was not worried because I knew they would make me wear a life jacket. “What if you fall off?” He questioned. “I will just get back on”. I was determined to do it. I like adventure and trying new things. The fear of getting old and not being able to do things bother me.

The lake at the campground will sometimes have an alligator visit. It is also full of fish, turtles, and families of ducks. 

But this was my chance. We walked to the kayak shack as soon as it opened and they helped me to a life vest and a paddle board. 

I told them I have never done it before, so they suggested I start out on my knees and when I feel comfortable, I can stand up. I slipped off my shoes and got onto the board. With a tiny push, I was in the deep waters of the lake. 

(Note: the alligator was in the lake just last week but I did not know that until a friend told me later that she saw him).

It was not a wide paddle board as I expected. I tried several times to stand up but I was afraid I would loose my balance so I headed back to the shore so I could bottom it out and stand up. Another little push and I was back out on the water. 

This time I was standing. My legs were shaking and I was a little wobbly, but I was paddle boarding for the first time and I was so excited. Nick took videos and snap shots of my little adventure. He was so afraid for me. He was relieved when I told him I was finished. I only stayed out for about 20 minutes. It felt like I got a nice little workout. My legs got tired easily and I didn’t want to be dinner for the alligator. 

Afterwards, we ate lunch and headed out to the beach. It was cloudy and raining most of the time with little peeks of sunshine. We enjoyed our stay regardless of the weather. But don’t ask Nick. On our last day, He had to tear down the camper so it could go back into storage. It was pouring rain and he was drenched. Here is a picture of him standing on the picnic table trying not to get wet but he finally gave up. We had to be out by noon. 

Now Back to work.

Pebbles On The Beach

Here it is the middle of April. We usually have already been to the beach but with us both having new jobs, our vacation time is limited. Fortunately, I work for an accountant so he set aside April the 16th as a tax holiday and gave us girls the day off. Nick was able to get off too so we jump at the opportunity to head down to the camper. 

Once we unloaded the car, and got everything set up and in order, we headed out for a walk on the beach. It was rather chilly with the temperatures in only the 60s. The wind made it even cooler. We walked about three miles. During our walk, I kept seeing these little burlap bags washed up on the sand. They were tied tight, but curious me had to see what was inside. 

Inside each bag were little rocks or pebbles. They seemed to have been in the water for a while as they were covered in sand that had settled into the bags  over time. 

I didn’t keep them. I put the pebbles back into the bags and returned them to the sand for someone else to find. I did not see any on our way back so they must of either washed back out into the ocean or someone else came alone and scooped them up. 

I just wonder what the intentions were or if they were just washed away from someone on accident. 

We ended the day with dinner at Hamburger Joes and a trip to Walmart for a some camper needs and few snacks.

Now we are back at the camper. We have had our showers and now relaxing a bit before we call it a day.

I can’t wait to see the sun tomorrow and enjoy all day on the beach. This will be our only full day as we will head back home on Sunday. I do not get a real vacation until August. That is just too long to wait. I plan to ask for a couple days off in June. I do not know how well that will go but it’s worth a shot.

A Toad and a Storm

Nick went out for a walk and I decided to stay in and clean the camper a little. Well, really, I simply did not feel like putting on shoes. We hung around the camper the rest of the morning and headed out to the ocean after lunch. We decided not to take the umbrella and use our old chairs today. We could see a storm brewing in the distance and it would be easier to make a run for it if we had too. Our camper is sitting about 100 feet from the beach.

We grabbed our old chairs that had been sitting out all night and our beach bag and headed out. 

Once we got to the spot on the sand that we wanted to spend the day, we flung open our chairs and plopped them down. When I opened my chair, a big toad fell out. He looked up at me with a grumpy look on his face. I just messed up his day. 

I grabbed the little fella and took him back over the dunes to a grassy area and let him go. The anxiety of carrying a toad was high as I have not touched a toad since I was probably nine years old. Eeeek. But I knew he would not survive sitting out with us all day in the baking sun. 

As we sat on the beach we enjoyed watching the rain bands sweep across the ocean in the distance. It looked near but in reality it was miles away. People were still enjoying the water and bathing in the sun. 

The skies got darker and we could actually see the storm in the distance as the sun was still bright on the coast. It was beautiful and I love storms.

It was nice sitting on mother natures porch watching the storms pass by.  

It has rained all around us all week but never came to where we are. 

It has been so nice here that we have decided to extend or stay a couple more days. 

Exgoose Me?

Every time I am at the campground, I will take a few pieces of stale bread or fish/duck pellets up to the lake and feed the turtles and ducks. Sometimes there will even be a set of ducks waiting on me at the camper door in the mornings. But not this time. 

Before our morning walk I headed to the lake to feed the ducks. This day, they were not hungry, turned their heads up and swam away. I was about ready to throw the bread in the trash when I seen two geese with three little baby geese coming toward me. As they approached, I got the feed ready to hand out.

They both were hissing and flapping their wings. In my animal baby voice I said, “hey little guys, do you want something to eat? Here, you can have this bread, the fellow ducks didn't want it”. They continued to hiss but would settle down long enough to take the bread from my hand. I thought they were so sweet and very friendly.

Once the bread was gone, their wings started flapping again and the hissing continued. I just walked aways as usual. I figured this was their way of begging for more or thanking me. 

Later one people would say “I can’t believe they let you get that close to them”, or “I can’t believe they didn’t hiss at you”. Uh um, well they did hiss. A lot! I thought they were being friendly and that was just what Geese do. I had no idea I was interfering in their territory. 

So Mr. and Mrs. Goose, “exgoose me!” 

It’s Different Here

We packed the Ford Escape (aka Betty) and headed to the beach. Before we got out of the drive way, a little bird was flapping around the hood of the car in a frantic. Nick said “I bet she has a nest under the hood”. Sure enough, she did.

We hated to do it, but we destroyed the eggless nest and went on our way.

We got wind that the county would be making everyone stay home, so we got out while we could. We wanted to stay at our “other home” since it had a better view. We still practiced our safe distancing. We carefully filled the tank with gas not to touch the grip bare handed. We have kept our hands washed and make sure to sanitize our hands constantly.

We were able to stop at our half way point near Darlington got take a pit stop. They have clean restrooms. We also grabbed some fresh veggies and some Angel food cake. 

The roads were clear with only minimal traffic. That was nice. Once we go to our camper and set everything up, we headed out for a walk. It was quite.

It felt odd and strange.

I get up every morning and have breakfast then walk out to the beach for some quiet time with Jesus and coffee. 

(This cute cup was a surprise gift from Jean at “bjsweetnothings” blog)

There are usually lots of people out, but not this time. It’s just so different here. Sort of a weird vibe. This is normally a busy time of the year. Everyone is behaving, minding there own business and keeping their distance. I’m not complaining though. I actually like it. Throwing up a hand wave and a smile with everyone is fine with me. 

We have been able to get curb side or carry out food from our favorite restaurants and have a stock of food in the camper to get us by for a while. The grocery stores are still open but we are trying to avoid going. We can smell the grills cooking all around the campground. We will be doing some grilling out too. 

We did a lot of walking and tomorrow morning I will be running a 5k...Alone. This is an event I registered and paid for in my home town, but it got cancelled due to this crazy pandemic. They ask that we all do it on our own and turn in our times. What a better place to do it than here at the beach. 

I’ll let you all know how I did in my next post. Wish me luck. I’m not really prepared for running and I’m still sore from a workout I did at home last week.

Let’s Talk About Camping

It’s that time of year again where I start getting excited about the beach and camping. We will head down to the coast sometime in March to Summer-ize our camper. We will hook it up, flush the lines and stock it with linens. We usually wait until after we move our clocks up an hour so we can enjoy more daylight in the afternoons.

Right now we have a 34 ft Puma Camper with a large slide, two bedrooms and full bath. We love it but we are thinking about selling it for something else. I want a front kitchen with stand alone table and chairs and he wants a back bathroom and two recliners instead of a single sofa like we have now. 

We plan to stay within 28 to 34 ft. depending on the layout. But all this will not happen until at least after this year. 

We keep our camper down at the beach because we love the campground we stay at and do not want the hassle of pulling it with down there and back several times a year. We are 200 miles away. 

BUT I WANT...a small camper to keep at home to use for a weekender at other campgrounds around here or the mountains a time or two. Then I start selfishly thinking about myself and what I like. I like small cozy places, so when I think of tiny campers, I start dreaming of one. I mean, if it’s pretty outside, we never say inside the camper anyway except to sleep. We set up chairs outside to enjoy our day. Nick would do a pop up camper but he is not interested in hearing my other ideas. Below are a few for example. But again they are just some of the fun dreams in my head. 

I love these little Scamps.

I have never been Tent Camping but if I did, I would want it to be like this.

(Source)

However, I do have a SUV so this would work perfect for me.
I would love to get all the cozy figured out.

(Souce)

And to be on the safe side incase of bad weather, is always a way to combine both the suv and tent.

(Source)

The.first thing people start thinking about when you mention camping in tents, cars or mini campers is “where do you use the bathroom?”. Well, I’m only thinking as far a just a night stay somewhere and I know how to squat in the woods, but in all seriousness, they do make porta potties.

(Source)

But if you really want to rough it...There are always the DIY way.

So see, I’m easy to please.

All my husband has to do is say “let’s go camping outdoors” and I could come up with some cheap ideas.

Don’t get me wrong though. I like luxury, but I’m also poor.

Oh wait.... I just thought of something...

I have one of these screen house tents in my attic right now. 

(Source) 

Maybe I can get Nick to do some back yard camping this summer.
Just maybe. 

Halloween at the Campground

We are spending some time at the beach. The weather has been nice. The sun has been shining bright each day with temperatures ranging from 75 to 85 degrees. I have done a lot of walking along with lots of relaxing. The crowd at the beach this time of year is at a minimum and that makes it nice when we go out.

The campground was pretty full this past weekend. People flocked in with their RVs and campers to enjoy the Halloween festivities here. On Friday night, the campground hosted a pet costume contest along with food and drinks by the new Tiki bar. We walked up to see the pet costumes and met a couple new friends. The funnel cake stand was a hit as well. 

Saturday was also a big night at the clubs around the area with costume contest and drink specials. We are not big fans of the club life so we opt to stay in the campground for the night. There was a kids costume contest, trick or treating, special music, and judging of the best decorated camp site. 

We did not decorate our campsite other than a little pumpkin on my picnic table. 

We walked around viewing all the campers decked out for Halloween and tricks for the kids. I’m gonna end the post with a few photos of some of my favorites from Halloween at the campground. Enjoy.

Hope everyone has a safe an happy Halloween!

Beach With a Chance of Rain

We enjoyed another long weekend at the beach. The forecast called for rain and storms everyday.
When we arrived on our campsite it was cloudy skies and misty rain.

I started as usual of hanging the close line, putting out the mats and chairs while Nick levels out the camper. Then I get the thumbs up to let out the slide.

Oops, the slide did not come out. We just looked at each other and rolled our eyes. If you have a camper, you know there is always a chance of something going wrong. Nick pulls out the tool bag and crawls underneath to investigate.

He took the slide motor off for a closer look. It seemed to be ok, so he put the motor back in place and the slide finally came out. We think the motor could be weak or just some debris was keeping it from turning. We have a new motor on hand just in case. I love that he thinks ahead like that and is always ready for the unexpected.

We did have rain every day but only in the afternoons. Each morning we woke up to sunshine and blue skies. Nick would go ahead of me on his walks then I would meet up with him after I tidyed up.

Then.....I always make a run for the ocean.

I found some really cool shells. I put them back after I snapped a photo. A couple of them still had hermit crabs inside so I let them live.

I'm really excited to have found a piece of drift wood along the coast. Driftwood is a rare find on these beaches. 

This is pretty much the view each afternoon. It was almost perfect. We did not let the clouds dampen our beach vibes. I love the cool storm breezes. We would sit and watch the black skies move in as long as we could. 

"Life is always better at the beach".

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