6 months of being homeless by choice.
6 month’s today we sold our house in Cheyenne and choose to
be homeless, or at least in the traditional sense of the word. For the past 6 months our home has been a
Jayco Jay feather 24RL. A year ago I would not have know what that meant and many
of you may not know what that means. It
means we live in a Jayco trailer that is 24 foot living space, 27 if you
measure hitch to rear. RL means Rear Living, our couch is in the back.
6 months ago I was hoping we would be able to do it for 1
month and really hoping for a year. Don
was not comfortable with it and it is a little unsettling not having a place to
go to if something happened to us. Where
would we go if one of us was ill and needed to recoup? A 24 ft trailer does not make a good place to
rest and get better. Don was more concerned about it than I but it
still wears heavily on both of us. But
off we went on a journey of a lifetime.
This is the journey we have been preparing for 2 years but
talking about most of our life together.
That first step was hard. Handing
over the keys to our home and realizing the keys to our new home fit any Jayco
trailer. We rushed in buying a trailer
you know we were only looking for 3 years but had to make a final decision in hours.
We have learned a lot on this journey, even things I didn’t
think I would learn. Yes I knew we would
learn all about living in a trailer, pulling a trailer, traveling, living together
in small spaces, how to continue my job/hobby of Stampin’ Up!, learning about
new areas and places, different campgrounds and a little about ourselves. Some of the things I didn’t think about was
some of Don’s life before me. He is a reluctant
talker especially about earlier times but as we drive around and look at new
places and see new things, he seems to be more talkative and I have learned a
lot about his time in Vietnam and growing up a Forest Service Brat. It is great to learn so much more about him
in turn learning about us. It does put a lot of things in perspective of about
our life together.
Some of the other things we have learned.
- There is so much off the main highways you just have to get off and see it.
- Most people are very friendly, and it is a small world. We find people who have lived in areas we have lived and know places we have been.
- There are a lot of full time RVers out there. 2 types of them 1 those that stay in the same place but live in a trailer, 2 those that pick up and move to see the country. We may stay in an area a month or two in the future but I would not like to have permanent none movable home my trailer, unless it was way bigger and had better insulation for both hear and cold.
- A lot of folks bring their pets, mainly dogs
though I did see a few cats, camping. Those
are also split into 2 groups. Those that
believe their pets should not have to be on leashes because they would never
hurt anyone (even though they think that, no one else knows that about a
strange animal) Then those that believe they should obey the rule of keeping
your pet on a leash any time out of the camper.
In the past I have been bit by dogs, even some that their owner said
wouldn’t hurt anyone, so I am very suspicious and afraid of any dog I see off
leash even if their owner is right there. I only seen a few dogs that would
obey at one word and those were working dogs who unless working are usually on
a lead. I have learned to carry my walking stick when ever out walking the
campgrounds and yes I will use it.
- We learned not all campgrounds are like they are
described in their Website, facebook or descriptions, and to believe the Good
Sam ratings on campgrounds. KOA campgrounds
are usually a known quality they cost but you can usually depend upon a level
of cleanliness. Other campgrounds are
pretty much a well we will see. With
Good Sams you do know if they have a 8.5 or above then they are more reliable
to be good. NEVER ever stay at anything
less than a 5 unless you have to and then don’t rely on it such as clean
bathrooms or even working bathrooms. We
have found a hierarchy of campgrounds – Government campgrounds are usually on top. We have spent time in 2 National Parks will
talk more about those later but the cleanliness is usually up there, State
Parks mainly good ones but have run into a few that did not make the top though
they were no where close to the bottom more on par with a KOA. After Government
are the KOAs – mainly cookie cutter campgrounds but at the top of knowing what
you will be getting. Then we have the RV
Resorts, private campgrounds and others, these are the ones if they have a Good
Sam rating at least you know someone has looked at it sometime. You will notice a lot of these are former KOA
campgrounds, how do you know, check out the office is it an A frame KOA type
building. Yes there is a reasons it has
dropped off the KOA listing. More on the
type of campgrounds we like later.
- Learned that if it rains for 2 or more days have a plan to go somewhere even if you have to drive an hour to find a movie. We have not killed each other but during rainy days it was tough and we did take some long drives in the overcast, rain fog or just miserable conditions.
- Make a list before you do your shopping. We have always known this but it really is something you need to do so you don’t have to drive 20 minutes a second time to pick up what you forgot and really need, like toothpaste or toilet paper.
- Don’t hold on to any hurts, slights, or angry
words, especially when setting up, moving, and breaking down. Learn how to say you are sorry even if you
don’t think you need to. Talk and listen to the other person. Sometimes you may have to listen a few times
and answer the same question a few more times, but you only have each other and
it gets hard if you don’t talk to each other.
- Take time to talk to your neighbors you may be surprised what they are and you may need them. Most we have run into are very friendly and helpful.
- Be prepared if something can go wrong it will and be flexible and try to see the bright side of whatever happens.
- There are reasons why people live in the areas you visit find out why, you may be surprised at the gems you find. We found some great wineries at places we would never have suspected.
- Learn to play games, sometimes places have no TV or internet and it is nice to play a game.
- Winter is the South is not as warm as you think if you are from Wyoming. WE had to buy heavier clothing as we really thought we would be in shorts and T-shirts all the time. I can count on my fingers the number of times I wore shorts.
These are just a few things we have learned
there are so many more things. But I will keep it down.
What
are some of memories in the last 6 months.
Well there are so many but I will touch on a few.
For
me the best place we have been was Big Bend National Park. I worked there in fact it was my first Park
Service job and it was like coming home.
We spent the time at Rio Grand Village RV Campground the concession run
one. Was really not a great campground
in fact we laugh about some of these campground being like parking lots well
this one was a parking lot. 2 parking spaces
per site. The regular Park Service
Campground were closed because of the shut down but they did not have full hook
ups and we knew we needed full hook ups so the parking lot we camped in. IT was not so bad especially as you could
walk around the Rio Grand or take numerous hikes. In fact we only spent 1 day semi in the campground. WE hiked most of my old haunts, didn’t get up
to the South Rim but did do a few Chisos hikes.
Went to Mule Ears, Santa Elena, Boquillas, Hot Springs and more. WE decided even though there was no Wifi
except at the laundry area and no cell phone except a stretch by Panther
Junction we will be heading back. It took
me 38 years to make it back (Don once said he never wanted to go to Texas, so
we didn’t, now he does) we will try for a campground host or some volunteer
position. Such a great place.
Another
National Park we visited was Hot Springs in Arkansas. It was a par campground that actually had
full hook ups which is not very common. They
had some great hiking trails out of the campground and I got to use the a Hot
Bath and massage. I tell you it was
great and will be back if we are anywhere near that place.
In
Gibson Louisiana we had a great time at
the Gator Park and doing a swamp tour.
Best part was meeting up with an old friend and having her show us
around slave quarters, and a plantation.
To say it was a great day was easy, we saw areas we would normally not
have seen. Next time maybe we will kayak
in New Orleans.
Christmas
was spent in one of the bottom rung campgrounds but we did get to spend it with
Kayla and Meigan which was nice. Kayla
has now moved to Madison WI so we may not get to spend Christmas together again
for awhile. Meigan spent here Christmas
and Spring breaks with us and we learned that for 3 people we may need to find
a different trailer or maybe a Motor Home. WE did convince her that she could not come
live with us this summer so she has a job on campus and will be living on
campus this summer, hoping for an international study abroad in Australia this
fall. Wonder if we can get the trailer
over to Australia, I bet they rent them.
Had
fun finding Tea Rooms and Wineries. Never
though of Arizona as wine country but it is.
Almost every state we have been in we have found wineries, well in most
of them they said in Oklahoma that there was a bunch of wineries but out of 3
we were not able to find any of them opened, oh well.
We
have found out about 55+ Active Communities and fell in love with them and have
visited many and think we will settle down in one of those when we do settle
down.
Today
as we were discussing this 6 month anniversary we talked about it. Don had said that he would give it 6 months but
has found it not so bad. I was hoping
for a few months knowing this was way out of his comfort zone and I am pleased we
have had 6 months and we both have said we could do this even longer and if we
don’t find the perfect place yet it is OK that we can do this. Still a little shaky on not having a home
base. Would love to work around having
to go back to Cheyenne for Doctors every 3 months, it is great to see friends,
but the travel is not the best. In fact
our Doctors appointments are Monday and they are predicting snow on Monday
night and Tuesday. We have met many fulltime RVers in our travels
and a lot say they started out not knowing how long they would be doing it but have
now been doing it for years. I am just
glad and happy we have stepped out of the comfort zone and did something like
this instead of talking about it for years more until we could not do it. Talk about taking a big chunk off your bucket
list.
Have
we had problems yes, a hole I put in the trailer wall, someone ran into our
truck, and many other small things but all in all it has been a fun 6 months
and we will continue to do our RVing Full Time for some more times. We have yet to see some of the places we want
to do, such as the Northeast and Central America.
Join
us on the rest of our journey.
Happy
Stamping and Camping
