We're on our way!

We have made it out of Southeast Texas!

And we have hot water!

Someone from my car seat message board (the person who initially shared the link to the trailer we wound up buying) suggested that we see if we have an electronic water heater. Steve poked around a little this morning and didn't see one, but he did realize that we had propane after all. I'm willing to give him a break since he was setting everything up in the dark with rain pouring on him last night.

We left the Houston area this morning and figured we'd see how far we made it. We did have to plan a little bit since the middle of Texas has large expanses of nothingness. I had campgrounds picked out at different intervals, but they were all either too close or too far.

Eventually we decided to stay at one of the "too close" campgrounds. We figured with all the problems we've been having it was better to err on the side of having extra time to set up. Plus Elias had been begging to go swimming, something we hadn't had much of a chance for with everything going crazy.

So we pulled into a Kampground of America camp. We were apprehensive. Steve hadn't had good luck with KOAs in the past and I have an aversion to things that are intentionally misspelled, especially with a K.

But this place is actually really nice. Pricey, but nice. The "playground" is kind of lame, but Elias enjoyed the pool, and the campground is on a lovely river. Anna and I went to hang out there while Steve and Elias swam. We saw several teeny butterflies, some damselflies (I think), and some kind of huge yet elusive jumping bugs. They even have canoes for rent, which I would love to do if we were staying here longer.

For dinner we went to a hole-in-the-wall-inside-a-grocery-store barbeque place and had, possibly, the best meal of our trip. Steve and I were both full half-way through our meals but couldn't stop eating. It was so good I might dedicate another post to it.

We're actually having--dare I say it?--fun! Not that I didn't hope it would be fun, but the trip has been so stressful I had largely given up on it.

I do feel a shift, like the clouds have parted and things are looking up. That statement will be hilarious if we wind up encountering some horrendous problem tomorrow, but I'm sticking with it. I think maybe our luck is finally changing.