Brand Spanking New

Welcome to the first ever posting on Writing and Mothering (WAM). I hope to pique your interest with plans for two big adventures that I have planned for this summer. Moms can have adventures too.

Starting July 1st, I'm enrolled in the Prague Summer Program for Creative Nonfiction. I'll have the opportunity to work with Philip Lopate and Patricia Hampl. My plan is to workshop the first two chapters of my memoir about searching for my birth parents and to write as many other chapters as time allows. I promise to offer my impressions of the city, the country and the program, as well as include you on the journey that I take with my work. While I'm in Prague, Chloe and Conor will be enjoying a month-long stay at a summer camp in the Adirondacks. Their dad is excited, because it's the same camp where he spent summers growing up.

Beginning August 5th, the kids and I take off on a cross-country adventure from NY to Seattle and back. We've purchased a T@B travel trailer for the trip and plan to stay at various KOA campgrounds along the way. After being apart for a month some together time with the kids will be a treat. They're interested in sharing their impressions of the National Parks and cities that we visit too.

Trial run

Over Memorial Day weekend our family took a trip to Watkins Glen. We stayed at a KOA campsite and found out what camping with a T@B is really like. Jim made sure that I knew how to hook the camper up to the hitch on my car.

We're still working out some of the kinks. We ordered a screen room, but when we went to set it up we discovered that they had given us a camper cover rather than a tent. We do have the poles, so the dealer just has to send us a new package and we'll send back the cover.

As you can see we set up a regular tent alongside the camper. With an air mattress inside it was quite comfortable, but the T@B with its heat pump was toasty warm in the morning.