We get asked this question a lot, and the answer isn’t usually a direct one. Sure, Miranda can name a few of her favorite places right off the bat. But, I think she would agree with me, that there is more to her favorite places than the actual location.
My answer is generally along the lines of “We’ve visited really unique places, experienced amazing adventures, and seen beautiful sites. But, it’s quite often the people we meet that make a location memorable.”
Dismal Place, Great People
Chesapeake Campground, the park we stayed in last weekend, is a perfect example of the people making the location. The actual campground was quite dismal (much more so than The Great Dismal Swamp that we visited while staying there).
From the 45 minute check-in process to the bent exit gate arm, it was quite the dump of a place. Yet, there was one shining light—the people camping in site 2.
Meet the Crumrines
A couple was in line before me when I was checking in. They were not having a very good experience either. When we were at our site waiting for the park maintenance man to fix the electrical pole at our site, the couple encouraged us to turn back and move on down the road to another park. We decided to stick it out and are so glad we did.
The Crumrines, (the couple, their 3 teens, and their 7 year old daughter) were at the campground celebrating Sukkot with a larger Messianic group. We were invited to join the group for a potluck, worship/singing, and a time of teaching and testimony.
After the time with the large group, Mike and I joined the Crumrimes at their campfire while the teens all piled into our kids’ room to play a game (after they enjoyed the obligatory s’mores). We stayed up way to late talking and getting to know each other.
A Dinner Invite
The next morning, the Crumrines began packing up their gear, but also spent some time visiting with us again. While the kids took a final walk/hike, Randi and I checked our calendars and set a date to join them at their home for dinner a couple of nights later.
I’m glad we had plans to visit The Great Dismal Swamp after they left—otherwise we would have been stuck in the dismal campground without them. :)
Overnighting in the Suburbs
Tuesday evening we parked our home in a church lot just down the street from the Crumrines (Randi made arrangements for us ahead of time). We joined the family at their home for a wonderful dinner followed by lots of talking, game playing (the kids) and singing (the kids). It was another really late night hanging our together.
It was a bit difficult saying goodbye the next morning.
I love hearing the answer to that question, but agree it’s a tough one. Ours is usually remote boondocking spots that have good cell service!
People usually make the memories.
However the other thing we love finding are unique spots that aren’t over-commercialized, aren’t well-known, and aren’t visited by every other traveling family we follow. Some of those are my favorite places because they are fun to talk about, especially when you get to tell a local about this cool thing in their backyard they didn’t know about.
Some examples would be the ‘Ringing Rocks’ of PA, our recent Great Dismal Swamp visit and Border Field State Park in CA.