Picture a Saturday afternoon in early fall. It is a gorgeous day. The sun is shining and the oppressive heat of the summer has faded away. It’s not hot; not cool, either; just pleasant. Leaves are beginning to slip from the branches and stack up under the dogwood trees in the front yard. What a glorious time of year it is, this subtle transition from summer to fall here in south Alabama.

Sighing, I close my eyes and think how nice it would be to cruise down the highway in our RV, enjoying the scenery as it gives way to beautiful fall colors. For several years we attended a fall dulcimer festival at a Mobile campground. I always enjoyed it and anticipated those annual visits. It is no longer held, but I tend to get itchy feet around the same time every fall.

After lingering over memories of those good times for a while, I picture myself on other trips to one of our favorite state parks. I consider it the ultimate luxury to stretch out in my favorite lounge chair under our awning, sip a cold cola, chat with friends or read a book. As I relax, a squirrel dashes up a tree near me and a titmouse swoops down and snatches a crumb, then retreats to a nearby limb to enjoy the treat. I can almost hear those campground ducks that amble along, quacking and begging for a handout.

The weather, memories of that festival and other RV trips, plus an e-mail from my delightful Arizona friend, Billie, put me in this dreamy mood. Billie is a senior citizen who bravely sets out alone in her 23-foot Class B RV numerous times during the year. It was her typical “I’m back from my trip” e-mail to friends and family. She had enjoyed another journey that took her to Kerrville, Texas, where she said she had a great time even though it just kept raining, raining, raining.

Always game for a little more entertainment and good fellowship, she accepted an invitation from some Good Sam RV Club friends to follow them along to Bandera, Texas. There they had no rain at all. She wrote that they ate out two or three times a day, and spent a lot of time playing games. They were such a witty bunch that she laughed so much tears rolled down her face.

“That’s my kind of group, eat and play,” she declared. Also along her way, she stopped in Lubbock, Texas, to visit family, “just so they wouldn’t forget me,” she quipped.

Billie’s closing comment struck a chord with me: “Looking forward to the next outing so I can again run away from home.” While we can’t run away from home every time the mood strikes, most can spare a few moments to look back at some pleasant moments with which life has provided us.