As we entered our second year of empty nest life, my love for travel didn’t diminish. If you don’t follow me on YouTube, https://youtu.be/G_K_R1EE1Yk (you should! 🙂 you may have missed our complete camper gutting and transformation into “Dolly, the glamper.” She was a beauty-but alas she swerved all over the road garnering lots of waves and honking, and not because they recognized me from Tiktok! It was more like National Lampoons Vacation, and Randy described his southern orifice as being “tight” while he drove with beads of sweat pouring from his death grip on the steering. After our first large major voyage in the Appalachians, we turned her keys over to a local house flipper, who loved her from her yard. After just a couple months of again being recreation vehicle lacking, I told Randy, “I have an idea!” His response was, “Another one!?” I was not deterred as I explained my new plan to my frightened looking spouse!
“I think a Sprinter van would be perfect for its conciseness and ease in driving, but the prices have shot through the roof. Why don’t we convert ‘Chester,’ into a glamper van and get a Sprinter later if we like it!?” You may be wondering, “WHO is Chester?” Chester is our 2006 Ford Econoline van that in its hay day, was a van to be admired. Having bought it from Randy’s parents, who ordered it new from the factory, we knew it was in great shape and thought it would be the perfect vehicle to pull Dolly. Alas, aerodynamics are a thing, and it did in fact NOT turn out to be good for pulling Dolly. Though it was in immaculate shape, it resembled more of a church van or the molester looking vans one refrains from parking next to in a public lot. After convincing Randy of my plan with a power point, fervor and a smile, “Chester the Molester,” evolved into “Clara Bell,” the most beautiful camper van on the inside. She may still look like the church van or molester van from the exterior, but, it’s the inside that matters, right?
We soon took off on our, (my) dream, out-west vacation with the intent to disperse camp atop a mountain in Utah for most of the 14 days! (Disperse camping-camping self efficient with no amenities, often on free land.) It was the most memorable trip of my life and if you are interested in hearing how Mrs. Illinois Earth did with composting toilets and a make-shift van shower, let me know in the comments and I might whip up a Youtube video! After making our way to Utah in a three day road trip, we settled on top of the most beautiful mountain for gorgeous views and free camping. It was as fun as when I was an eight year old little girl in the basement “camping” on my home made boat made from blankets and boxes on a cold concrete floor… with the world and pirate adventures ahead of me, but Randy evidently never had that boat or dream. We awoke on day two to rain, freezing temperatures and the forecast of storms coming. To my disappointment, he asked what I thought about diverting to Vegas for the weekend instead. Weighing my options between the red mud quickly contaminating my Barbie-van , or a swanky hotel for our first Vegas trip, I caved. I am no dummy, haha.
Waking up in Vegas! Well, let me back up. My next biggest concern as I told Randy was, “I don’t have Vegas clothes?” A wise man he is, and promptly smiled and said, “you let me get us off this muddy red mountain, and I will buy you some.” Sold! And as we drove to an oil change location, I spyed with my little eye a TJMaxx. Score! What follows is some of the collection I bought for our weekend in Vegas, and let me tell you, I hit jackpot! In literally a 20 minute shopping trip, I was Vegas ready and here is the proof! If you like my outfits, I just recently became a Like to Know It (LTK) influencer, (EEK! SQUEAL!!!) https://www.shopltk.com/explore/Thatssotrishy and everything is linked or similar! First up is my TikTok where I swooned to Barry Manilow in the cute royal blue jumpsuit! I hope you enjoy and let me know if you want the red muddy details about our trip and a van tour of Clara Belle! Empty Nest life rocks!!!!
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