Finding Joy in the Detours: Campground Adventures in Letting Go

Jenny Jump Campground, Hope, NJ

The biggest lesson I’m learning on this cross-country camping thing I am doing is MY plans are not my own and my life truly is not my own. And it’s so much better that way!!

Each day, I have a plan…a todo list…some sort of schedule that never happens the way I think it should. Yes, in this instance, I feel confident using the word “never” which I almost never do.

For almost 2 months, I have watched God take my plans and say, “Nope! Here’s what you’ll be doing today. I have something better in mind.”

I have had a blast just rolling with it and getting to meet some of the most wonderful people with some incredible stories…stories too intimate to post here, as they are not my own. However, I have heard stories of gut-wrenching heartbreak that was turned into beacons of hope for others.

I have been so blessed to be led down paths I “never” would have taken on my own and here’s a story I CAN tell. I recently had the pleasure of camping at Jenny Jump Campground in Hope, NJ (Hope!) after my friend in Hoboken suggested it…

(See the rest of the story below the video…)

“Maybe I can do some work for trade here.” I thought. I really did not want to have to pay for the campsite I had stayed at the night before, after misunderstanding the review that called Jenny Jump Forest Camping “Truly primitive camping.”

In wandering camper language, “Primitive Camping” in a State Forest means “free.” Jenny Jump was not free.

So, the morning after planting myself and my tent on a camp site, I wandered past the blossoming wildflowers in the pristine, lush forest and made my way down to my over-packed Mustang. I drove down to the campground office to see how much the damage was. As I drove, I noticed the humanized part of the forest was so beautifully well-manicured that I found it highly unlikely they would need any worker help.

Just outside the office, Judy confirmed this after she approached my car to see if she could assist me. She did inform me “The nice one is in the office today and will be able to help you out.”

She was so right!!!

I walked into the office and was greeted by several displays of what the forest had to offer…including a life-like woodland scene with foxes, trees, and other critters at play.

I very quickly heard an almost musical, “Helloooooo!” from the back room. I replied in kind, but less musically, and walked into the more official, officy-looking part of the building.

Behind the counter with the big, semi-see through, plastic barrier/reminder-of-how-stupid-2020-was, there was Dale. A giant teddy-bear of a man with poofy, brown hair poking out from under a green, State Forest, baseball cap, wearing a huge, welcoming smile.

Dale is probably one of the nicest, friendliest, most enthusiastically helpful people I have ever met. I ended up spending two hours of my day just taking in stories of his rock band days, the history of the campground, stories of his explosive plant job, and best of all how he’s transforming a lot of personal stories into educational children’s books. (Look for Dwighty Boy to come out soon! I can’t wait!)

Dale also listened to (and later read) my stories of Gonzo with an empathetic ear and held no judgement for the uncontrollable tears that broke free from my heart, burst out of my eyes, and embarrassingly escaped into public view.

After hearing Gonzo’s story, Dale strongly pushed me to write a Gonzo Children’s Book, as some of you also have. His words of encouragement felt more like a directive, but without being demanding. It was inspiring and always so great to hear how Gonzo captivated more hearts than just mine.

(Disclaimer: I don’t feel ready for writing that quite yet. I still cry at the drop of a hat…or the sight of a picture…or hearing a forgotten recording of me talking to Gonzo.)

“How did two hours of my day go by so quickly?” I wondered as I left the campground office.

I had so thoroughly enjoyed Dale’s stories and was captivated by his enthusiasm for the Forest and its history. More importantly, Dale had a gift for encouragement and a love for life! He was so excited for his new LLC “LoveWord” and all the plans he has for marketing Dwighty Boy - a happy little raccoon getting through the trials and tribulations of life with his friends and companion.

Dale’s enthusiasm was infectious! Who wouldn’t want to be around so much happiness and positivity? OF COURSE those two hours would have flown by.

Spending two hours in a campground office was not MY plan for the day. I was going to write…work…hike…do laundry…. Instead, God had decided I needed some positivity, enthusiasm, and encouragement in my life and He poured it into me through a stranger…at a campground that I did not mean to visit.

His plan was so much more fun and more interesting and more fulfilling than mine!

So if you find your day going completely awry, embrace it! You might be walking down a path that leads you to a much brighter one, filled with happy, encouraging people, and humorous, fictional woodland creatures…or maybe something even better.

As for the next unplanned stops that just came up? It looks like I will be heading through Roanoake and on to Nashville for a few days…