About Me

Hi there!   I'm Kim.  Just Kim.  Not Kimberley.  Sometimes, Kimmy.

 

I'm a long-time camper and nature-lover.  My first memory of camping was when when I was about five years old, and my mom took me on an overnight camping trip to Lake Buchanan near Burnet, Texas.  We didn't have a car, so she got a friend to drop us off.  We didn't have a tent, so we slept on a picnic table.  It was barebones camping, but it was wonderful.  I remember chasing the lightening bugs (fireflies) around the campsite and then lying on the table with her looking up at the stars.  For a period of time, we "camped" quite a bit as our home was a little 12-foot camp trailer! As my mom was a bit nomadic, we traveled all over the state of Texas when I was young. Considering our lifestyle and the size of our home, I spent a lot of time outdoors!

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After I married my high school sweetheart, we carried on the camping tradition in our car and tent.  Our military tours took us to New Mexico and Florida, and we experienced some amazing camping and hiking in those locations.  When our tours of duty ended, we returned to Texas to raise our son and care for our aging parents.  Then, after becoming empty nesters, we took a brief detour from camping for a few years to ride our motorcycles around the Texas Hill Country and New Mexico.  We also spent several amazing non-camping vacations exploring Oregon and Washington State.

 

After some life changes, we traded the motorcycle life for RVing with the purchase of a beautiful vintage Class B Lazy Daze. Then, a couple of years ago, we purchased a larger Class A Winnebago Itasca. Commitments make it impossible for us to go out for very long periods of time or even too far away.  However, we try to get out together at least once a month. We may show up in an RV, but we're still campers at-heart and prefer to spend most of our time outdoors.

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In addition to camping with my husband, I enjoy camping outings with my girl friends.  They're a motley crew that come from all walks of life and locations around Texas to gather in solidarity to celebrate of our love of the outdoors, each other, and wine - perhaps not in that order.  I also solo camp, usually in the Davis Mountains of West Texas or in the Texas Hill Country. In March 2020, I accomplished a long-time dream of owing a little camper of my own when I purchased a 2017 NuCamp T@B CS-S.  It's a nice upgrade from camping in the back of my truck or in a tent.  However, it was a slow start for us.  Unfortunately because of world events, I wasn't able to take her out until June 2020.  I'm in love.

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I'm an avid shutter bug, with nature subjects being my passion.  My friends poke fun at me because I'm the odd one in the group lagging behind on the trails and crawling around taking photos of the local flora and fauna.  They actually point out spiders and bugs on the trail for me now.  A one-hour trail easily turns into three or four hours when hiking with me!  So as you might imagine, I do a fair amount of hiking alone.  

 

I'm an advocate for dark skies as well as for native plants and nature through memberships in the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) and Texas Master Naturalists (TMN). I am a lifetime member of the Friends of Texas BOW, an organization dedicated to supporting the mission of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Becoming An Outdoors-Woman program.  To date, some of my most cherished activities have been accomplished as a volunteer with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at the Guadalupe River State Park. 

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I enjoy skeet shooting, stargazing, gardening, dancing, singing along with 80s artists like Air Supply, Journey, and Fleetwood Mac.  I dabble a bit in genealogy research and celebrate my Celtic roots.  I relocate wayward spiders and other critters outside and dream of having a firefly farm.  I prefer Star Trek to Star Wars, and I enjoy quoting lines from my two most favorite movies, The Princess Bride and The Way.  I'm also fluent in sarcasm. 

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Currently, I share a small home in Central Texas, with my darling husband of 40+ years, Terry; our rescue dog, Maddie; rescue cat, Abby Normal; and various other critters that reside on our property.