100 Days until Launch! Camp Cordray Prepares to Hatch into a New Era of Nomadic Life

Plus, a Bonus Bucket List Check and an Arty Party!

We Cordrays celebrated a milestone on Wednesday with a mere 100 days between us and the freedom of the open road!

With that, we were also gifted a 2-week cushion after the end of Dan’s work contract to complete the pack and stack in this apartment together, a true blessing. With Dan working full time and weather as foul as it has been over the past month, we have been delayed on a few projects and deeply entrenched in others. Dan is finishing up installation of the solar system (I am sure that is not accurate terminology, but I like the way it sounds) that will power our big ol’ fridge, air conditioner, and other luxuries in our new travel trailer.

I am busy outfitting the storage spaces and personalizing the interiors, although I don’t have pics to share just yet. Every Saturday we ride over to the storage place and do a bit more. We are getting there, and we are getting excited!

The Mississippi River at Memphis is still in flood stage but dropping steadily. We have had rain and storms every weekend for more weekends that I can count. We can include this coming weekend in that tally, if all goes as forecasted. The sidewalk and the road just beyond it on the left in this picture are just across the street from where we currently live. The tree line on the right is the usual bank line, so we have had some concerns.

By the lack of panic and the crowds strolling casually along the riverwalk daily, we have come to realize that seasonal flooding is just a Memphis thing. Today the river is close to below flood stage, so hopefully this next batch of rain won't change that.

I strolled down to the river in the pre-daylight hours on a morning when I felt panicky and made peace with the Big Muddy. It's a crazy feeling to usually be able to move locations when the weather becomes dicey, but we can't do that right now. I will state for the record that we are counting our blessings that we didn’t go ahead and launch out of this apartment early and spend our last few months in the campground along the river at West Memphis, Arkansas, one of our plan B ideas. This was the road in to Tom Sawyer Campground last weekend. Ol’ Man River is a moody soul who doesn’t color within the lines with his soggy brown crayon. Still, what an honor it has been to witness the risings and fallings firsthand of this most important of waterways.

My Dad’s family hails from two hours upriver (well, the Current River, which is a Mississippi River tributary) at Doniphan, Missouri. Since Dan and I had been pretty much everywhere by the time we were married in 2018, we settled on a honeymoon in quaint little Doniphan. It didn’t exactly go as planned. You can read about our Hammock Hangin’ Honeymoon here. I will fling that one back out there since we will be celebrating our seventh wedding anniversary on Cinco de Mayo! Y’all have a glass or mug of your favorite beverage on that day as a toast to the cup of coffee that started it all for Mr. and Mrs. Cordray. Cheers from Camp Cordray!

In other news, while attending the live music night I spoke of in my last post at The Memphis Art Salon, we were invited to Hernado High School’s prom, happening simultaneously at Minglewood Hall. Principal Rebecca Hay warmly invited us in and made sure we felt welcome when she saw us milling around in the hallway, early to the art salon event. We loved the experience of actually attending a prom together, as we met later in life, but the music was not for us. We munched a few cookies and bolted, hand in hand. I hate to admit that we didn’t stay for the live music at the salon as they were late setting up and we were getting the sleepies. Still, we will count going to prom together as an unintentional bucket list check.

To celebrate our remaining 100 days (plus a few), on Wednesday, we went to a collage-making arty party hosted by Zach Orsborn of Like Really Creative at The Ugly Art Company. The Like Really Creative Collage Party drew 60 last month, and 101 creative souls that night. Even with the size of the crowd there was plenty of room to spread out and create, and plenty of materials to share and inspirational available with art hanging around us on every wall. What a perfect venue for such a gathering!

Like Really Creative Collage Party at The Ugly Art Co. hosted by Zach Orsborn

Dan and I each made a collage and really enjoyed the music, tasty snacks, and the comradery of a room full of people with scissors managing to get along and be at peace with each other. It happens, gratefully. What a blast!

It seemed a travesty to cut up National Geographic magazines and hold-in-your-hand books, but others had been there before us so we dove right in. I could spend 8 (or 80) hours in those piles happily clipping pics and words for the piles of backgrounds I have ready for such embellishment. I will post some closeup photos of our works of art, along with these pictures of the cool building, and the crowd of like-minded souls on my Facebook art page, ramblindesertrose. I can’t seem to get everyone from there over here, dang it. A huge thank you to those who have made the leap.

One more thing: Zach is also part of the Art Speaks: Visual Poetry Exhibition at The Memphis Art Salon. If you would like to check out the exhibition, the gallery hours are listed below.

Weekly Open Hours (Starting 4/29 – Ending 5/28):

Tuesday-Thursday: 5 PM – 7:30 PM

Saturday 5/10: 2 PM – 5 PM

Saturday, 5/17: 2 PM – 5 PM

Ok, back to the pack and stack!

While we are outfitting our new ride, we are thinking back fondly on the days of travel in our first shared transport, Erik Van Home. I can't tell you how many times I have said “van” instead of “travel trailer”. Oh, the adjustments.

We are wondering what the pups will think, since they have not been inside the travel trailer and are still couch puppies when they aren’t insisting on food, recreation, or a scritchy-scratch.

As for us two-legged road dawgs, we just want more hours in each other’s presence.

We miss the 24/7’s, the slow-moseys, the coffee by the campfire mornings, and the sharing of the fun with all of you. Who knows, maybe I will latch on to the power of the Mighty Mississip and finish, then float a great many backlogged drafts that long to be posts. I am working towards that goal, and several others. Wish me luck.

Spring has sprung, and I am the girl who could coax roots and vines from a broomstick, or so my husband says. If I can't be out in it, I must grow it. Three tomato slices laid on soil and lightly covered with dirt produced 63 tomato plant seedlings.

My oregano plant from last spring is still seasoning our meals, and a few new herbs and savories have landed in pots, plus a few flowers for butterflies and bees. I can’t help it. We will enjoy them until August. Along with the pothos cuttings that became houseplants, they will be eaten, dried, or gifted to neighbors when the whole country becomes our backyard once again.

In the meantime, keep it on the sunny side, folks, and make someone happy every chance you get.

Lavender and lollipops, and a swing that won't fling ya,

Brenda Cordray

The Desert Rose