Driveway camping in the Aliner at Gail’s house in December 2010.
We were trying to be conservative with our travel budget this year due to the new roof and other unexpected expenses.
However, the government shutdown with its loss of affordable camping for us gave us a priority check. Since another shutdown looms February 7, we decided we’d better get out and enjoy camping while we can.
So we are planning to visit my sister Gail in East Texas for Christmas. It’s been three years since we’ve been there. The photo shows us driveway camping at their house in December 2010. Since the Casita is the same length as the Aliner Expedition’s frame was (17′) we know we will fit.
Of course, Gail didn’t have her van back then, so we might have to do some creative parking!
We will take our time getting there, camping a couple of days here and there along the way.
At the Stephen Foster State Park Festival of Lights in December 2011.
We will probably head to North Florida after we leave Texas. We would like to meet up with Peggy for a couple of days at Stephen Foster State Park.
The last time we were at Stephen Foster was right before Christmas in December 2011 to enjoy their Festival of Lights.
It is turning cold here. Friday night it is supposed to get down to 28 degrees. Since I’m a fair weather camper, our upcoming trips will probably be pretty cold for me.
But the alternative is staying home, and I just can’t bear to do that!
I am going to have the Casita furnace repaired so we won’t have to rely on the little one pound propane canisters if we are without hookups. I’ve got a guy coming out to look at the furnace Wednesday. Then, as soon as he can order the parts and get it fixed, we want to head out to meet up with Cozygirl for a couple days camping in Alabama in early November.
I notice that WordPress is inserting ads now. While I love their free blog service, I, very selfishly, don’t want their ads on mine! So I am thinking of moving my blog to my own domain. It’s just a case of gearing up to do the switch.
Tinycamper's Blog 
Kim
/ October 21, 2013Sounds like a good plan! I know you are looking forward to getting out!
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tinycamper
/ October 21, 2013I’m to the “get out or bust!” stage. 🙂
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cozybegone
/ October 21, 2013I missed the ads? Oh don’t leave us! Excited for AL…I’m ready!
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tinycamper
/ October 21, 2013They don’t appear on every post, but they are starting to pop them in now and again. I think it depends on how many visitors you have.
I am so ready to get out camping and can’t WAIT to see you and Jerry!!!!
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cozybegone
/ October 21, 2013ME TOO!
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Lois
/ October 21, 2013I started my blog at wordpress.com and migrated it to .org because I wanted more control over… well, everything! It was a fairly easy and pain-free process. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
The lights at Stephen Foster look amazing! Have fun!
— Lois
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tinycamper
/ October 21, 2013I’ve had the tinycamper.net domain for a while now. So it should be an easy move once I get around to it. Thanks for the good wishes!
Those lights were amazing. I felt like I was in a wonderland. Wish I could have captured the magical aura of the place better with my camera.
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Lois
/ October 22, 2013YES! Askimet can go with you to dot org… I use it and it’s awesome, isn’t it?! I rarely have anything that escapes it. I used a plug-in to move everything including my followers who all came along without a hitch 🙂
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tinycamper
/ October 22, 2013Thank you for letting me know! Yes, Akismet is the best ever! So glad I can keep it!
Also, I was worried about losing my followers and people not being able to find me at the new URL. So glad it takes care of that, too!
Who is your web host? I have my domain at FatCow, but I don’t like the way their email is set up. I get fraud warnings from Thunderbird about it all the time because it is not the normal setup. So I want to move my domain, too.
I used GoDaddy when I did web design. They are great, but are so big. I’d like someplace good, but small enough for personal customer service.
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Lois
/ October 22, 2013Currently I’m hosted on my son’s own server and I don’t know who I would use if I had to host my domains somewhere else. I’ve used dotster.com as my registrar for maybe 10 years and have had absolutely no issues with them; however, in doing a google search on them, I see that lots of people have had lots of issues with their hosting services.
There were things I didn’t like about godaddy so the one domain I had there years ago, I transferred out as soon as I could (they had a sale on registrations – that’s why I tried them). Funny thing, in googling godaddy, there are lots of people who don’t like them either, including a whole webpage set up just for that reason called antigodaddy.com – ha!
1and1.com gets horrible reviews, as well – I have no experience with them and don’t know anyone who has.
I also tried networksolutions.com and hated them – transferred away from them as soon as possible (they had a sale, too).
When my son is available this evening, I can ask him if he has a company he would recommend for hosting services , if you’d like (I know he uses dotster.com as registrar, also).
Seems like this hosting thing can be an issue! I’m very lucky, and grateful to my son for hosting my domains 🙂
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tinycamper
/ October 22, 2013Lois, I used networksolutions many years ago. I have experience with several. None were terrible, but godaddy was definitely declining when I left them.
Now I am out of the loop and have to rely on reviews. FatCow got great reviews when I was looking, but no one mentioned the email issue.
I would LOVE to get recommendations from your son!
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Lois
/ October 22, 2013So I just asked him – his answer is dreamhost.com. He has used them a lot and says good servers, good pricing, live chat for customer service with decent customer service, decent prices for hosting (I just checked google and it says $2.95/mo right now)… that about covers it! It’s who I would use if I had to host somewhere! He also said that dreamhost has a system set up just for WordPress users called dreampress – I haven’t checked them out yet but maybe that’s the way to go…
Hope this helps!
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tinycamper
/ October 22, 2013Thank you, Lois! And tell your son thanks for me, too.
Dreamhost it will be!
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Lois
/ October 22, 2013Cool! I hope they turn out to be everything you need and more!
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Wayne Scott
/ October 21, 2013Sounds like fun. I agree about the ADs, If they are going to be there I should be rewarded, I too will be migrating to something like HostGator when I have the time to figure out the ins and outs.
Have fun & stay warm.
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tinycamper
/ October 21, 2013Well, the “have fun” part should be easy. Not so sure about the “stay warm” part. 🙂
But I have an impressive collection of warm layers for camping, so should be okay!
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Wayne Scott
/ October 22, 2013Sounds like a plan.
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Bradford
/ October 22, 2013Good morning! It’s 28 in Iowa this morning, too! Brrrr… a few weeks ago we were unseasonably warm.
Like you, I’m also cutting down on the camping budget a little. Driveway camping sounds like fun and I might have to ask a few friends to let me do that! The price is sure right!
I am running WordPress on its own domain using GoDaddy.com So far it has been a very easy process, other than getting the Captcha to work with the chosen page theme. I think if you do move the page, you will be happy with the results. Take care! VT
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tinycamper
/ October 22, 2013Driveway camping is my favorite way to visit relatives. We have all the time together we want, but we both have our own space, too. We can do our own breakfasts and lunches and just get together for dinner, so we don’t overdo the togetherness. And, as you said, the price is unbeatable! 🙂
Glad to hear of your experience of moving your WordPress blog. I do so well with WordPress’s Akismet spam filter that I don’t run a Capcha. Very rarely, I’ll have to delete a spam. I hope Akismet can go with me when I move!
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Judy Crankshaw
/ October 22, 2013So glad that you are going to hit the road. It’s hard to beat the COE campgrounds, isn’t it? Sad that we don’t have any here in Michigan, but always happy to find them on the road. Have a great trip. Looking forward to your posts, already!
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tinycamper
/ October 22, 2013The COEs usually combine the best of everything we love about camping. Always waterfront. Sometimes gorgeous hills. And the ones we have been at do not tolerate drunkenness or rowdiness. So we feel safe there, too. At a couple we have been to, they provided free firewood due to tree maintenance they had been doing.
Once in a long time, we get tired of camping so remotely all the time, so long for a place closer to a small town with lots of historical interest with art and craft shops/museums. But after we camp in one of those places, we are raring to get back to the COE boonies! 🙂
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Judy Crankshaw
/ October 23, 2013Bad camping is still (usually) preferable to no camping . Fortunately, it’s usually short-lived.
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Gerri Jones
/ October 22, 2013I just told Mike we need to make a reservation during the holidays and visit Stephen Foster SP and see those lights!! So pretty!!
I didn’t know the temps were going down that low.,.wow! Perhaps we should head further south???
Looking forward to following along on your next travel/camping journey!!
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tinycamper
/ October 22, 2013Gerri, north Florida can feel brutally cold in winter. I’d definitely go to Stephen Foster to see the lights. But if you want to camp warm, you’ll need to head to Central Florida.
I grew up in north Florida, and the weather is so unpredictable there. I remember fat icicles hanging off pine needles when I was a kid. I also remember hanging out at a pool with my cousin from Pennsylvania in 80 degree temperatures one Christmas Eve. And I also read that Gainesville got down to 10 degrees last winter.
Check out Salt Springs in the Ocala National Forest (with full hookups) while you are down there. And there are several NF campgrounds without hookups there that offer an inexpensive place to bask in the sun.
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MarciaGB
/ October 22, 2013Yay! So glad to hear you are getting out and able to get the heater fixed. Those holiday lights look so pretty! I’ve noticed the ads on several WP blogs I follow but I’m trying to ignore them.
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tinycamper
/ October 22, 2013I feel like a new person. A couple of weeks ago I was depressed and not well and was wondering if my camping days were over. Now I am raring to go!!!
Getting the furnace fixed will make us boondock-ready so we can stay anywhere we want to, hookups or not.
Those lights are GORGEOUS. One of those things that inspire the awe and wonder of Christmas that I felt when I was a child.
I love WordPress. They have been so good to me. Their support has helped me with every question I ever had. So I understand their need to make their operation pay off. I do like Blogger’s link section better. I asked WordPress why we couldn’t have a blogroll that automatically rearranged according to last post like theirs. WordPress said that their blogroll was vulnerable to hacking and it was a lot safer doing it this way. Less bling, more stable. 🙂
I guess it’s just time for me to be a nomad and move to my own places again. 🙂
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Horst
/ October 22, 2013Glad to see you gearing up for some Bonding with Mother Nature…..this time of year is always a favorite of mine to go out with Ms. Casita….Enjoy and keep us posted with you Blog….and Photos…Horst sends
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tinycamper
/ October 22, 2013Nature restores my soul! And I dearly love sharing the photos I take of the beauty I find there.
BTW, I am so enjoying the photo “Mother Nature’s Chorus.” I think I am going to frame it, too. 🙂
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Jo
/ October 23, 2013So happy to hear of you upcoming camping plans. I am itching to get going myself. Really happy your are feeling so much better.
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tinycamper
/ October 23, 2013Thanks, Jo. I can’t believe how great I feel!!!
I am looking forward to your next camping trip, too. Hope it’s a lot warmer than the last one! 🙂
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