Happy Camper- Get On the Road Series

Tracey Grumbach-Baltimore Area Artist
This digital painting is based off a photograph in the public domain by Karen Arnold.  

I LOVE Airstreams. I think they are adorable. I have a fantasy that when Brian and I retire, we will cruise the United States towing an Airstream trailer, setting up "home" near various National Parks, staying as long as we feel we need to fully explore the area and then moving on to the next. Instead of our children coming to us with the grand kids, we will come to them.

There is only one little problem. Brian isn't digging the Airstream idea. He is not opposed to RVing at all. As a matter of fact, he loves that idea. But he just doesn't like Airstreams. So, in celebration of the idea of freedom, wanderlust, and all things traveling, I've decided to add to several series I am doing right now (including Portrait of a Flower, a Bird Series, and a Hat series-which I have not posted yet), I am also doing a "Get On the Road" series about camping, VW's, Airstreams, and RVs. This is the first one, Happy Camper. And I love it. I may have to blow it up huge on one of may walls and maybe, just maybe, Brian will come around one day to the idea.


Brenna leaves in just 4 days for college. Last night she went to dinner and a movie with three of her closest friends and came home very sad at the realization that life for all of them is changing dramatically and that she will be so far away. As a parent it is difficult to watch these growing pains as she enters adulthood. I wish I could take away the sadness, apprehension, and fear of the unknown so she can only feel the good parts about choosing a college so far away. Transitions in life are never easy and almost never comfortable. I know it is good and healthy for her to feel these growing pains, to be homesick, and to conquer it becoming a stronger and more independent person in the process. Only, as a parent, it is not easy to watch and it breaks my heart when she is hurting.

Anyway, today I am focusing on being a Happy Camper- and will meditate on this digital painting when I feel the urge of wanderlust creeping in. Oh, to be free in a field of wild grass and wild flowers under a blue sky right this minute...

I hope you have a fabulous Tuesday.

xo