Without understanding what she would become for us, we picked the perfect RV name.
Realization hit like a slap
We let The Burrow go today. It was time. I did not want to sell her but knew that it was the best thing. We have been in our new, still un-named coach, for three months. I wanted to find someone capable of appreciating The Burrow and how much she still has to offer. I feel like we found that person and he is now her new owner. But I was not prepared for the realization and emotion I felt as I followed Ken while he drove The Burrow to her new home. The realization and emotion her sale invoked made me realize we had given her the perfect RV name.
Our Beginning
When Ken and I started our journey in The Burrow, I was both mentally and physically broken by chemo and radiation. It was a slow process to trust her. Post-traumatic stress disorder manifests in odd ways. For me, every mile was an expectation that something terrible would happen. I had no mental strength and a complete inability to advocate or defend myself. Anxiety was a constant companion in our early travels.
Things did go wrong. Like the tire debacle or our Walmart parking ordeal. These, and other events, were more than we expected. I can laugh now but when happening, it was overwhelming. Ken, ever my rock, managed it all and I helped when I could. As we added the miles, it gradually became okay. I could muster the energy to manage two hundred-forty square feet of living space. I could make it three hundred miles down the road, albeit slowly, without becoming a panicked, babbling mess.
I improved physically too. Early attempts at hiking were arduous. We would repeatedly stop to rest because I did not have the strength to walk a half mile. Ken was so patient with me while I struggled to be normal again. But each difficult hike ended with a cozy night, safe and comfortable in our Burrow.
A refuge for healing
The Burrow provided an opportunity to stay engaged in new sights and sounds. To breath in and heal in awe inspiring nature. I saw ancient trees, painted deserts, volcanos, pristine caves, waterfalls, wildlife, beaches, and sunsets. She gave me the opportunity to forget the dreaded diagnosis of stage IV cancer and to marvel at what I could have missed.
Goodbye
The Burrow has been my security blanket for five years. And today I am giving her up. My sentiment may be silly to others, but she has played a key role in allowing me to heal. I will always treasure the memories we made with her and the sense of safety she gave me until I could achieve a better mental and physical place in my life. What a perfect RV name we gave her.
The Burrow was the perfect RV name Art Credit Jessica Boehman
The Aura frame sits silently, automatically changing the view every five seconds. First, a wildflower strewn meadow and flowing creek … flip … a thunderous and glittering waterfall …flip … giants called Sequoia trees that smell like life and command reverence … flip … acres as far as the eye can see of washed reds, pinks, blues, and greens in the Painted Desert … flip … a fog shrouded art deco bridge along the rocky Oregon coast … flip … acres of flowers pop with color in an Iris Garden … flip …
Were we really there?
Memories of RV Life
Our RV life became surreal. The only proof is in our memories and the digitally shifting pictures on the Aura frame. There was a modern day journal too. Armadillo Tails, a blog page, shared when filled with gratefulness of life still lived and enthusiasm to share our travels.
perched on her bedroll throne
Our little Reef Fish
Ken and I were back-country canoe campers in the early years of our relationship. Most weekends would find us somewhere on a river or at least looking for a new one to paddle. The memories are fading as well as the old pictures printed from 110 film cartridges. He remembers some events, I remember others. The pictures are harder and harder to find. Then we had another daughter. The canoe was too small so we purchased a sailboat and continued making memories with both our girls. My wish is we had kept a journal of those wonderful canoe and sailboat trips. It would be a reminder for our oldest daughter, who as a three-year-old perched on her throne of bedrolls, made memories of rope swings and alligators, clear tannin-stained rivers, and large-mouthed bass. And for our second daughter, of being rocked to sleep by the gentle lap of waves on the boat hull at night and days in the sun, skin turning golden while she snorkeled the reefs of the colorful Florida Keys.
Our Country in Chaos
By mid-March of 2020, along with the rest of the country, our lives became chaotic when Covid halted us at Medina Lake RV Campground in Texas. Here we must give a shout-out and thank you to Thousand Trails. Other full-timers struggled to find an RV park amid closures and varying state laws. Thousand Trails members, currently in place, were able to stay.
Pandemic information and state rules changed weekly, so after three months, we made safety plans and with our small but mighty tribe, left Texas to continue traveling.
Armadillo at Lake Medina
Hard Decisions
Life was brewing chaos for Ken. His doctor said he needed to return to South Florida for surgery. We made arrangements and returned in October of 2020, spent the holidays with family then moved back into our stick and brick to prepare for Ken’s surgery in January of 2021.
A piano, RV life, and goodbye
Did I mention we moved back into our stick and brick home? A Piano, RV Life and Goodbye was posted to the blog as we prepared for Ken’s convalescence. The decision to move back into our home was a good call. He could have never come back to the Bigfoot (our class C RV) for a recovery that required the first month in an assisted-lift recliner. His recovery continues as I write this post. New full-time nomads often ask, “What about medical care while you travel?”. Our answer, you need to plan and prepare for all contingencies because life can quickly go sideways.
Joey, older but still playing
The housing market was on fire, and it was a good time to make repairs and put the house up for sale. In addition, we were anticipating the birth of a new grandbaby and knew continued travel would require a larger coach for an aging pet and his parents. With plans made, we felt good about how all these happy events would play out. And they did. Albeit not as easily or happily as we anticipated and not on the projected timeline.
RV Life Became Surreal
Even in the best of times, these life events would be challenges. Add that life is one big curve ball to plans and expectations, throw in a little Covid lockdown, and it explains our current state of wonder about how RV life became surreal and the explanation for why we are still in Florida, sitting in our new coach, looking at amazing pictures flip past on a digital screen.
Were we there?
Yes, we were there!
Armadillo Tails’ blog is there to re-read and remind us of the feelings and emotions, the mouthwatering restaurants, stunning views, and the experiences we had while traveling our big, beautiful country. I am happy to have chronicled the journey. And sorry to have stopped.
Going Forward
Ken and I will remain in Florida for the rest of this year and polish off the details of the major changes to our lives. We are learning about our new coach, spending precious time with grandbabies, healing, and organizing for retirement. The plan is to travel again. But we want to start with peace of mind about our health, our new to us Newmar diesel pusher, our family, and our future life plan.
❤️️❤️️
❤️️❤️️Precious granddaughters
There hasn’t been much time to write throughout all this chaos and change. Maybe that is an excuse, maybe not. Our memories will start remembering less. But digital photographs, with newer technology, will help us. It seems important to start again.
We look forward to marking off a few from the bucket list, as Armadillo Tails explores our fabulous home state of Florida and readies for further travels. Until the next post…we are…
Always grateful 👫
Edit. Bitsy and Butter, our feline fur babies, both suffered a fatal cancer diagnosis and are no longer with us. We miss them both.💔
“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done” Anonymous
I love our RV life. I really, really do. But that darn piano is making me cry. A piano, RV life and goodbye.
Let me explain
Many years ago, when our relationship was still new, on my birthday, Ken gifted me something incredibly special. He purchased an old (1800’s) piano. He stripped it, refinished it, shined the brass and polished the wood until the piano sparkled like the great beauty she was, and then he gave it to me. I had expressed an interest in learning to play.
I knew then that I was in love with the man who could do something so thoughtful. It was one of the most meaningful and loving gifts Ken ever gave to me. I have treasured my piano for many years.
So, why the crying?
It has come time to let go of our house. When we started RVing, we hauled away boxes and boxes of things. Things to be distributed among our grown girls or put for sale on a Salvation Army store shelf. Diligently we combed through our belongings and purged. It was tough, the letting go.
But there were some things, some things like my piano, that got to stay. Because our daughter would be residing in the house while we galavanted around the country in an RV, we got a reprieve. Our reprieve is over now. The kids have moved on to their new home and it is time to sell our old one.
My daughter has found a buyer for the piano. Now I have to let go. The new owner will be coming on Saturday to take it away. She wants the piano so her two young children can take lessons and learn to play.
The empty wall
Will the new owner appreciate what we are letting her have? Will she appreciate the beautiful tone that the aged wood has acquired? The original ivory keys, all intact? That only a skilled artisan can make replacement hammer arms should one get broken? That I love the piano? That it is the hardest thing from our previous life I have had to let go of?
The key word I keep trying to remember is that my piano is a thing. It is, to me, a beautiful thing but is too large to be tucked away for sentimentality. It won’t fit in the storage space filled with trinkets that we place so much significance on. There is no room in the smaller footprint we press into this earth. Help for this change in our lives came from Becoming Minimalist.
I’m trying
I’m trying to keep it all in perspective. I still have the handsome, thoughtful man who gave me the piano, to say “I love you” to. He and I are living a rewarding life filled with new sights, fabulous experiences and have reconnected with old friends and made new ones. I value our new lifestyle and enjoy sharing on Armadillo Tails webpage.
But while we rush to experience the Fall season of our life together, the final chapters of Spring and Summer are coming to a close. That is what the piano represents. I need to have a good cry and say goodbye. It is hard to accept life will not go backwards and I will no longer have the piano as representation of Ken’s love for me and mine for him.
I am going to take one last picture of Ken and myself in front of the piano. Then I will let her go to a new home. It will be a treasured photograph to tuck away with our other trinkets. I will bring it out some day and remember how beautiful the piano was and how special I felt when Ken gave it to me. I’ll try to remember what is important is not the “thing” itself but the feelings it has given me. I hope her new home loves her as much as I did. I hope they create memories to savor with that piano.
No one ever said change or RV Life would be easy.
A piano, RV life and goodbye.
Always grateful. 👫
We have been spending our time while home in Florida enjoying smooches and hugs from our two year old granddaughter, visiting family and going to what seems like endless doctor appointments. We are hoping to have some big changes in 2021 so stay tuned.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and and Happy New Year!
The devastation in the Pacific Northwest from wildfires encourages introspection into what is important in our lives.
The wind has a snap of cold now and sadly we make our plans to head south and east. I say sadly because this year, as in our first year of travel, the west is burning and a portion of the south has been destroyed by hurricane Laura. We need to make travel arrangements in an increasingly dangerous and changing environment. We are heading home through fire…again.
California 2018
In 2018 we were trapped between the California Ferguson and Carr fires. Interstate 5 was closed to traffic. We waited while the Smoke Jumpers and Fire Fighters valiantly fought to contain the raging flames and protect lives and property. It was a scary situation. Waiting. Keeping tabs on the fire and making plans to get out safely when the green light was given.
Smokey valley
We did make it out safely but the carnage was heartbreaking to drive through. The dead and dying wildlife that had tried to run for their lives. The beautiful forests, reduced to char on either side of the road. Saved homes appeared like islands within the black. These visions remain in our heads to this day. And when we passed through the same section of Interstate 5 the following year, were distressed to see how slowly recovery is taking place. Old growth forest takes more than one of our lifetimes to come back.
Route Home Through Fire
It is with a very heavy heart that this year we find ourselves in the same situation. So we cancel reservations. Take a longer route around. Hope that the fire doesn’t reach us on the new roads chosen. Hope that we make it to our next stop along the way home.
Smoke covers the coast at Long Beach, Washington
We have never been privileged to visit one of the forests that is burning. Our Google map is full of pins along the ribbon of highway that runs through it. Of things to do and see. Hot springs, hikes, waterfalls and noteworthy landscape. All places we had hoped to get to one day.
Lost Forever
All this destruction makes me think about how fleeting our lives are. My childhood playgrounds are gone. The Cedar Key sand spit, swimming in Lake Catherine on a hot summer day, pastures and woods that I played in are lost to construction and growth. And I have a medical condition that still threatens, though the threat is softer now. After all this destruction, caused by Mother Nature, human carelessness, there will be more that no one — but especially our beautiful granddaughter, Harper — will ever see and experience again in this lifetime.
Helicopter uses water to quench the flames
It is true that you never know what is just around the corner of your life. Too much can change in a heartbeat. So, my friends, drink life up. Quit worrying about how nice your car is or how big your house, whether you have designer clothes or a fancy boat, or a purebred pet. These ‘things’ are not what matter to happiness. Experience everything you can, now. Use every opportunity you have to experience life. Be kind because we all need it. Consider how your actions may be affecting the environment we all need to survive and how your words may be affecting someone you love.
Armadillo exploring in previously fire-devasted mountains while smoke from another gathers.
Too soon, what you would like to do, meant to do, dreamed about doing, but didn’t, can all go up in flames. There won’t be a home through fire.
Till next week…..
Always Grateful 👫
Post Script. I wrote this blog post before we left the PNW while making our plans to get out and home. We have since safely made it to Las Vegas where the smoke from those awful fires clouds the air. The sentiment expressed in this post was further solidified as we made our way through some very awful sights and yet another hurricane has devastated the South. Thank you to all the firefighters and first responders who keep us safe and everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers.
The difference may be keeping you from the experience of a lifetime
Ken and I started considering RV life with the idea we would be camping in our RV. Exploring the great outdoors and enjoying wildlife and forests. And that is great. We love camping. On Armadillo Tail’s about-page we mention our extensive outdoor experience. Camping in some form has always been an important part of our lives and has provided many lasting family memories. In our dreaming and planning conversations, Camping and Traveling were both used synonymously.
Camping or traveling
So, we are pleasantly surprised to discover we are enjoying traveling. Not camping. The term Explorean seems to fit better. No sitting by the fire every night, no grilling all our meals, no showers in the bathhouse, or sand in our bed. Have we done some of those things? Yes. But camping is not what we spend most of our time doing. If I could impress one thing on anyone who is considering a travel trailer or RV, is the difference between camping or traveling. Deciding what you want to do with your RV is important.
Make a list
Making a list of your ideas should be the first place you start. This list can help you discover if you are a camper, a traveler, or a combination of the two. Some things you may want to list are:
Where do I want to go? Do you want to visit every National Park in the country? What about spending time alone, gazing at a starry sky in a pristine forest? Or maybe you love wooden roller coasters and want to ride every one in every amusement park in America. Put your dreams on paper. Make your bucket list.
How much time do I have to do this? If you live in a stick-n-brick home, then your time may be limited to vacations and weekends. Time and location may limit what activities you can do. Those limitations could also allow you to dip your toes into the RV lifestyle.
Will I bring children along? Camping can provide lasting memories for a young family. Campfires and room to run-and-play are the stuff children live for. And alternatively, there are amusement parks, ski-and-snowboard slopes, and museums like the Smithsonian in Washington or the Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
With your list complete, the lens will become clearer whether you are camping or traveling. But they are not exclusive to each other. Industry terms, like “campground”, has perpetuated the myth you must like the outdoors, woods, fires with s’mores and showers in the bathhouse, or none at all. (I will admit that I did, for the first time in my life, take a pay-shower. I kept asking Ken for more quarters. Seems my pay shower ended-up being very expensive.)
Traveling in an RV is far from that myth
Travel trailers and RVs have all the amenities of a home. If you don’t want to sacrifice any amenities, you do not have to. If you can drive, you can find the right rig for you. Don’t limit your life because you don’t like camping. Be a traveler who stays in campgrounds.
Using the RV to explore our world has been an eye-opening experience these last two and a half years. Our eyes have been opened to a different, more flexible way of living — an enjoyable, inspiring, and relatively safe way of life. If you would like to travel with others who share your interests, there is a group for that. Women can travel alone and feel safe with an accompanying support group. Budget-conscious seniors have Facebook groups, YouTube videos, and web blogs to help you keep your expenses to a minimum. RVing is a great way for someone who has medical issues or a handicap, to get out, go places, and do it safely and comfortably.
Can you tell we love traveling? I hope you have been convinced this may be a way to work on your bucket list. Where will you go?
Has it really been two and a half years of nomadic life? It was an amusing reminder the other day when a young man approached us and asked what was the routine at Jefferson County Fairgrounds Campground. He was either new to RVing or had never before ventured from the pricey, pristine campgrounds that make RV life sooooo simple. But for a steep price. Everyone can use a few extra dollars in their pocket. Here are a few places that we use for Thrifty RV Camping.
7 Cedars Casino
Our list will include places like fairgrounds and casinos that are free or inexpensive, listed by state. These are the good ones folks. The places that Ken and I would return to and that we felt safe. Safety is always important. Read why we won’t be using Walmart anymore.
Traveling within a small budget requires you to look a little further than the fancy places that are catering to a vacation style camping experience. We have found a few of those places and continue to add them to our list. My Google map is starting to look like one solid 📌 I need a list and the perfect place to keep it is here in our website so you can take advantage of these places too.
Site information is not guaranteed but will try to keep it updated and accurate. We would love to read your favorites too. Please comment with places that you feel fit the criteria for this list. If you tried any of these, tell us what you thought. You can reach us at janetandken@armadillotails.com or post in Facebook comment section.
Perfect days or moments pop up in tiny towns throughout our travels.
On Our Road to Bliss
Dipping our toes in the chilly water of Deloris River
Cottonwood seeds float on a gentle breeze as the waters of the Deloris River ripple past. It’s a balmy 72 degrees and the sun is shining. You hear young girls laughing in the distance. You see them next, braving the chilly waters as they ride their raft downriver on a swift current. This is where we currently are on our Road to Bliss.
Birds flit through dappled shade, off to tend newly feathered fledglings. Deer step to the waters’ edge for a cool drink. The day is crystal clear. Perfect. I want to hug it close and never let go.
Unexpected Surprises
Ken and I feel privileged to spend time in some awe inspiring places. National Parks that portray the majesty of our country. State Parks and forests that protect some of our country’s greatest treasures. But perfect days, those come unexpectedly. Those are the days you want to bottle like fireflies. To tuck away for safekeeping until they can be savored again in the winter years of life.
Perfect days or moments pop up in tiny towns throughout our travels. These small towns struggle valiantly to get you to see them. They beg you to stop and experience the town through their eyes. They beckon with natural resources, creativity, and sometimes even with a little bit of gonzo and flair. The results can often be more perfect than they know.
A Delightful Carousel
A special day could be at the historic 1909 carousel in Albany, Oregon where children and adults ride wooden, hand carved zebra, bison, a giant frog, or other fantastical menagerie. Where the community has come together as volunteers to create this one special, beautiful thing that everyone and anyone can enjoy because the last ride of the day is always free.
Dining
Other times, we find these moments in an outstanding restaurant like Little Brown Hen in Florence, Oregon or Little Gretel in Boerne, Texas. Many come to mind. Places where the chef/owners take pride and pleasure in serving mouthwatering and memorable food.
Flower Farms & Festivals
There are flower farms like Schreiner’s Iris in Salem, Oregon or Purple Haze Lavender in Sequim, Washington that work all year to open their businesses to offer you a day of meandering garden delight. Imagine musicians playing and flowers perfuming the air as you sip wine and stroll acres of floral beauty.
Hot springs, ghost towns, festivals, historic hotels, market days, swan boats or a simple meal by the campfire. You never know where your perfect moment will happen.
Conveyance for Finding Your Bliss
This is what traveling in an RV is. It is the conveyance for finding your bliss. Your perfect moment. Your perfect day. If you slow down and look, it is there in offerings from small towns across the country. Towns that may never have been discovered if you flew over them on your way to that other, fabulous destination.
There is an RV for every age, ability, price and comfort level. Have you ever dreamed about what it would be like? Would RVing be hard? Expensive? Can I (we) do it? It is worth exploring as an option. Everyone deserves to find their bliss and to tuck away some perfect moments. Maybe yours can be found in the destinations you uncover while traveling in an RV.
Shelter in place is over but how do we move around the country safely? How to navigate covid and summer RV travel.
Quarantine at Thousand Trails Medina Lake has been pleasant. We have enjoyed the wildlife, trails, and atmosphere. Temperatures are rising lately and people are becoming frustrated with distancing rules. Face masks are second thoughts if at all.
Deer at rest in Thousand Trails Medina Lake
Get Ready for covid and summer RV Travel
It’s time for a change. Time to get rolling and start living our traveling lifestyle again. We started talking about leaving quarantine safety and realized traveling using our typical routine was not going to work. The four of us, traveling as a tribe in two RVs, put our heads together and came up with a safe traveling plan. Here are our tips for a safer Covid and Summer RV Travel.
Plan your destinations
We love dining out, visiting historical buildings, museums, and enjoying all types of city attractions. This year, we are avoiding indoor activities and focusing on hiking and canoeing. With that in mind, we looked closely at the available outdoor activities in the areas that interested us. We needed answers for these and other questions.
Armadillo ready for new adventures
Are the state parks open for visiting? Camping?
What is open to do in the National Parks in these area?
What about Bureau of Land Management (BLM) areas and State forests?
Are dump stations open?
Many answers can be found on the state websites with jurisdiction for that park. A great starting point is Wikipedia. The Wikipedia site provides information on State Parks in each individual state. It includes an interactive map and is a good first stop in your planning research. State Park List
For National Parks and Monuments, the National Parks System provides you options by State. Choose a state from a drop down list. A list of all National Parks and Monuments for that state will open. Some National Parks even have apps available for download to your smartphone. National Parks & Monuments
To learn about the many varied activities available on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, the Bureau provides listings by state. Bureau of Land Management
If your decision is to be a little bolder, you may want to try restaurants, bars and other more crowded venues. A quick call will verify the business is open and ready to serve you; most restaurants are now offering curbside pickup, delivery, and dine-in. We are trying to find restaurants with outdoor patios.
Plan Your Route
Planning the first leg of our journey
After the destination has been decided, it is time to plan your route. This year takes a little more consideration. Here are a few examples of the type of questions you may want to ask.
Are quarantine rules in place for arrival from a different state?
Will restaurants and non-essential services be open?
Is the RV park you would like to go to taking new reservations?
This link will tell you how each state is currently handling the Covid19 pandemic and what services are partially or fully open. Covid19 Guidelines by State
After determining state guidelines, you can decide to stay or not. Please be sure to follow each state’s safety guidelines – or yours if they are more stringent.
Plan your expected activities
Some people enjoy sitting by the campfire or stargazing. Some enjoy dining out at new places. Other people love a strenuous hike or bike ride. Whatever comes to mind as perfect camping for you, make sure, through research, you will be able to do it and what special requirements you need to follow.
By making advance arrangements, we were able to enjoy a lovely dinner of Tafel Spitz prepared by chef/owner Denise at our favorite restaurant, Little Gretel in Boerne, Texas. It was a wonderful evening with great food, great friends, and in a lovely outdoor patio setting. If you are in the Austin/San Antonio area, be certain not to miss this restaurant.
An enjoyable evening with special dinner at Little Gretel
Plan and make your reservations
We are living in different times. Ken and I don’t usually bother with reservations. Now, reservations and confirmations are necessary for each leg of your journey. Here are a few tips.
Call the campground to make your reservation. You can ask if there are any special operating procedures and what amenities may be open or closed. Some campgrounds are using a remote check-in process similar to a late arrival check-in.
Note whom you speak with and get a confirmation number. Get a backup email confirmation.
Keep copies of all pertinent information and payments regarding your reservation.
Pay as little down for a deposit as you can. Stay flexible.
ReserveAmerica is the booking agent for most state parks. Be careful. A closed park does not mean an automatic refund from the park, or their agent.
Plan for your safety
Costco shopping in my safety gear
Follow all safety measures designated by the state you are in. It is your responsibility to know.
Stick to your own devised safety procedures. It is easy to get tired or complacent and let down your guard. Don’t do it.
Review your insurance policies and be aware of their requirements should you need medical attention.
Review all state Covid19 statistics. The numbers can be used as a guideline for determining where a little extra caution may be necessary.
My portable washing machine is coming in handy. It keeps me out of small cramped laundry rooms and saves considerable money. Read about this rugged little machine in The Laundry Experiement .
Covid and Summer RV Travel
Let’s get rolling. Ken and I are anxious and excited to start our Covid and Summer RV Travel. There are new states and parks planned and, our long-time friends, Kaye and Tim are traveling with us again. The lineup is full of great new adventures. Don’t be discouraged about what you cannot do. Be inspired by what you can.
April was our last blog post as The Burrow shivered her way north to Bend, Oregon. The posts have been pushed to the back burner as we grasp every spare moment to explore our new surroundings.
Nomadic life is our new normal. We relocate our RV “home” every three weeks or so and it seems to be the travel schedule that works best. Two weeks is too little but after three weeks, it’s time to go.
Home
Armadillo & The Burrow at rest
With two years on the road under our wheels, our RV truly feels like home. The kinks are mostly worked out and the past year has allowed us to relax and enjoy the ride. “La Dolce Vita” is a phrase we embrace.
We met up with longtime friends in Port Townsend, WA, who have embarked on a nomadic lifestyle too. Our tribe is small but mighty and it has been truly fun to share these experiences with friends. I will admit though, traveling with three engineers can be challenging at times and the squirrels are still running rampant.
Where have we been since the last blog?
“I’ve been everywhere, man I’ve been everywhere, man ‘Cross the deserts bare, man I’ve breathed the mountain air, man Of travel, I’ve had my share, man I’ve been everywhere. “
The Burrow is sporting a brand-new refrigerator and all the orchids have set spikes (they love their skylight). The animals are doing well although Bitsy is now wearing diapers. She decided that urinating on the floor was a good way to indicate unhappiness. As with most of the animal issues since moving aboard, diapering a cat was surprisingly easier than expected.
Upcoming Content Focus
I think I’ll tease these destinations out a few at a time. Maybe try to give my readers an idea what is
there to see or what may be remarkable in the area. As my friend said, “how many times can you
say beautiful and awesome?”. Everyone has
different ideas about the perfect travel destination so maybe we can offer you some
planning ideas.
Going forward, Ken and I would like to review the Thousand Trails campgrounds that we stay in. Membership in Thousand Trails can help stretch your camping budget and we are happy to be affiliated.
New ideas are perking and plans are being made for 2020. This need for new challenge, sights and experiences isn’t leaving us. The past two years have fed our wanderlust and the nomadic life is our new normal.
We are back in Las Vegas. When our friends say “goodbye” and head back to Austin for their holidays and we travel to Florida for ours, the tribe will be dismantled. We’re snowbirds now, enjoying the best weather and destinations. But stay tuned. There is so much more to experience as we share with you how nomadic life is our new normal.
Are you considering the full time RV travel life? The research and preparation can be overwhelming. Read below for ten things to know before you go RVing. Maybe you will find a pointer or some advice to make the transition a little easier, or what to expect when you get there.
1. You need a hobby
Bitsy models crochet
And it has got to be one that doesn’t take up any
space. We arrived in Oregon earlier this
year than last, which has been great! We
got to do some playing in the snow that Ken and I had never done before. But what we did not know is that between the
snow melting and the sunshine starting, it is cold rain. Lots of cold rain. When we started out, I envisioned constant
motion, hiking, kayaking, sightseeing. I
did not envision being stuck in this teeny, tiny RV for one week solid. With bad tv service. And worse internet service.
I am rediscovering crochet now.
2. You will gain weight
Okay. Obviously, some
of you will be better about this than we are. But Ken and I can’t resist a good restaurant
and we are always on the lookout for our next awesome meal. Staying on budget helps but unless you cook
every meal at home, it’s difficult to stay on a healthy, well-balanced,
diet. There is just sooooo much good
food out there. Even the farmer’s market
sparks my inner Julia Child.
This is a tough one for us and if you have any coping
strategies, please comment and share.
3. The festival will be the week before or the week after you are there
We have the freedom to move and go wherever we would
like. But there is much to consider when
you move on to a new location. It takes
research. You research the roads,
weather conditions, where you will stay, what is there to do, and last but not
least, where will you resupply. Oh! And budget considerations too.
Oregon State Fair
It is great when a festival or fair, an event or celebration coincides with your visit. But basing your travels on these events is difficult at best. Most towns don’t do a very good job of marketing their events. So, a search doesn’t necessarily bring them to your attention. We have just missed tickets for events that we would have loved to attend, have been unable to get RV park reservations for a nearby event, or just didn’t know in time to make changes to our schedule.
We keep an event calendar of things we have stumbled upon
and may want to return for in the following year. There have been a few festivals that occurred
while we were there. But it isn’t easy.
Is there is something you have your heart set on? My advice is to plan, plan, and plan well in
advance.
4. You won’t have your favorite brand unless you stockpile it.
This is a tough one.
We do not like doing without our favorite products. And we have discovered even more of them
while living on the road. But you will not always find your favorites. Thank goodness it is Walmart that stocks the
best RV toilet paper on the market, as they are everywhere.
While we don’t have room to carry everything, we do add a
little extra in some cases. It makes me
sad at times, frustrated at other times, but is a small price to pay for all we
have gained.
If you must have it, make a place for plenty of it.
5. Cooking takes more organization in a tiny house
I used to love organizing the week’s meals in my stick-and-brick
house. In love with my refrigerator, my
world was good when the vegies were prepped and ready to go on its
shelves. The pantry overflowed with any
dry good or spice needed to express myself through cooking or trying a new
recipe.
Farm to Table Steak Salad & Hard Cider
Not so much anymore.
Each prep step is performed in a small space and must be cleaned before
I can move on to the next step. Each
ingredient has been established to be a crucial item if placed onboard. Each meal is planned and crafted for
ingredients and time. The meal planning
and organization skills that I honed when living in a stick-and-brick are
coming in handy. It used to be a feeling
of satisfaction, but now it is crucial to getting us fed a healthy, well-balanced
meal.
If you are planning to move into a tiny home, start by
putting away your pots and pans, your dishes and utensils, now. Learn how to cook with less and how to
organize more. It will be great
training.
6. You won’t need half the things you think you will
Releasing your possessions to move into a tiny home is
hard. If you have a vision about what
your new life will be like, that is a good thing. You need the visualization of your new life
to help you through the process of letting go.
But be aware that what you visualized may not be what it’s like (see
first item You need a hobby). So, bring that blender along because you will
be drinking margarita’s every night, take those fishing poles that you have
never had time to use. And tools, don’t
forget all the tools you will need. You
know, to fix things and build things.
We still laugh about a few of the items that we brought
along with us and continue to let go.
I’m not saying don’t bring them but be aware that you will have to
figure out how to get rid of unwanted stuff on the road.
7. Everything you need will be in the outside storage
Ken in the basement
Do you need pet meds?
They are in the outside storage, below.
Need those other boots? Also,
down below. Extra fruit that won’t fit
in the fridge, it is down below. See
what I mean?
This problem is directly proportional to the size of your RV,
but I’m sure it is universal. We just
don’t have all the space that we would like.
It happened in our stick-and-brick home and it happens here. All I can say is, try to remember what you
need before ten ‘o’clock at night.
8. Personal standards will slip
I can hear you now, denying that you will let things start
slipping. But most of you will.
RV Socks
I cannot count the number of women in RV parks who have decided to quit covering their grey. A particularly scary sight was a woman pumping gas into her RV wearing pink fuzzy slippers and what looked to be a housecoat. Shaving every night gets a little difficult when you have a tiny shower and limited hot water. Personally, I am still trying to decide where loungewear is acceptable in public. It is very comfortable in the RV, and I don’t want to take it off.
How about mealtime? I
hate paper plates but have been sorely tempted to use them just to make my
cleanup a little easier. And fresh is
best, but I find I am using more dried
herbs because there just is not enough room to have it all.
But my biggest surprise… getting your hair done. You are never in the same location. So,
unless the plan is to keep coming back to your stylist every six to eight
weeks, you are at the mercy of someone new.
I have had a couple of questionable stylists, which is why, I think, so
many women in RV parks have given up and are letting their grey grow out.
9. People living in RV’s are strange
You will be the only normal ones. But be
prepared to meet some of the nicest people around. Ken is an introvert and even he has come home
with information or help gleaned from the other campers. It’s a great group of people and most
everyone loves to share what they know.
We have learned of great places to visit, to stay, and even had fresh
trout given to us by a fellow camper who had extra.
Keep an open mind and remember that you too chose this
lifestyle, so maybe normal is relative.
10. One cellphone provider will not be enough
This point is simple enough. One provider is not enough. It does not matter if you have Verizon. Or AT&T, or T-mobile, or, fill-in-the-blank. Ken and I have different phone providers, and a third hot-spot provider. Even then, we sometimes have no service and must go to Starbucks, or McDonald’s, or other establishment offering wifi.
Research this one thoroughly, as it can have a huge impact
on your budget.
You’ve got this
These are the ten things you should know before you go rving. We understand it is hard to process, figuring everything out before you move onto your RV. But relax, give yourself plenty of time to make the transition, and do not worry too much. There is always a store to buy it in, always a friendly person to help you, businesses that are catering to this lifestyle and, if all else fails, the internet to help you figure it out. And the reward is worth it.
