Happy 1 Year Anniversary of being a full time RVer - October 23, 2019

On The Road a Year.

So as of today it has been a year since we sold the house in Cheyenne and been on the road.  So much has happened in this year.  We learned a lot of lessons, visited places we would not have normally, tested ourselves, had a great time, made some changes but loved most of it. 

Actually, I did not think we would have made it this long.  I wanted to do it for a year was hoping for 6 months and felt like it would be around 2 months when we started.  No way did I think we would be going on our second year.  We still have things to work out.  We have places we would like to see, places we would like to return to and areas on our list that were not there before.  Amazing things have happened, we have grown closer, we have talked more, we have explored more and we have grown.  I know our girls will think that is funny as we already so old but you can still grow no matter your age. 

We started out in a pull behind trailer that we loved and then we switched to a Motorhome Class C 31 foot that seems to work better for us at this time.  Who knows maybe down the line we will switch again.  We went from having a ½ ton pick up to a 2 Door Jeep so we could tow behind the Motorhome. 

Some  Great places we visited.

• Big Bend National Park
• Hot Springs National Park
• Took a Swamp Tour
• Toured an Alligator Farm
• Tour a plantation
• Visited some great wineries really to many to mention
• Found some good tea rooms
• Visited Friends
• Saw the destruction of Hurricane Michael
• Explored the Coast of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana
• Chiricahua National Monument
• Big Bear Lake CA
• Jean Lafayette National Historic Park
• St Louis Expansion Memorial

Lessons Learned

• Take winter clothes even if you are heading south for the winter it will still be cold.  We had to buy some long sleeve shirts and pants and jackets.

• Not all campground are created equal.  Check and believe in the Good Sam Ratings.  Even if folks give good recommendations there level may not be the same as yours.  Our 2 worst parks are someone’s best park ever stayed at.  We now look at the Good Sam ratings and make our choice that way.
• Get a RV GPS unit.  We still have not done this but will.  There are many of times that we are going down a road and really wonder if we could turn around if we had to.  Sometimes I even go first to see if it does go to the campground.  Life would be so much easier if I could program my GPS to avoid single lane roads, gravel roads, roads that have narrow bridges etc.  So far we have made all the roads but wonder what the map folks were thinking putting anyone on those roads.
• Every state has different Rest Areas and they may not all be for you. We like the areas where the trucks park at an angle so it is more like a pull through easier to get in and out.  Some states have them parallel park hard with a trailer or a towed vehicle. Some states have a lot of parking spots for trucks, some maybe only 10 – 15 not very many places for us.  Some states have dump stations for RVs  we like those.  Some states maintain their rest areas to cleaner than my house standards other to I would never use that rest room.

• Something will happen roll with it.  Not the first week but close to it I put a hole in our camper,  I was not paying attention and our stabilizer bar had fallen and was leaning on the trailer, we started to put the trailer up to attach it to the truck and the bar went through the outside of the trailer.  Not the end of the world but I felt like it.  Was driving through Chicago in our new to us Motor Home and something flew up and put a hole in one of our storage compartments.  We left the emergency break on while towing the jeep. So many little things now as we look back, not very big now.
• You really won’t get as much exercise as you think.  Yes we try to walk most days but getting 10,000 steps in not all that common.  Hard to do stretching and exercise in the trailer and unless it is warm and you have a nice clear outside surface hard to do them outside.
• It will usually take you 1 and half times longer to get somewhere when you in a trailer.  Yes you can’t go 70 or 80 but it also seems to take a lot longer in general. That is ok stope and enjoy the trip that is what it is there for.  Stop at that winery, visit that park – you may want to camp there one day. Take a nap at the rest area. Enjoy a sit down lunch. Enjoy the colors as you drive. We average 250 – 300 miles when we move sometimes we go more and always find those are the days we don’t enjoy as much.
• Get into a new campground explore not just the campground but the area.  Even if you are there for only 1 night we like to get in early and maybe go for a drive and then walk around the campground.  Ask the folks at the campground what they would recommend, we have found some really nice places that we would not think of, such as all the Wineries in Wilcox AZ just by asking what is there to do.
• Don’t think you can get into all the gas stations.  You may not be able to get out.  No real problems but I am not a good judge at can I make it out so I error on the side of parallel to the store area and space to zip around the entire building if need be.  Do not count on regular cars to know you need more room to maneuver, they will park in the space that was empty and you were counting on to turn into to get out.  They will zip in and park at the pump ahead of you and then go in and chat with the folks inside for 20 minutes before pumping their gas and you will have to wait for them before you can move.  I remember I was the same way one time.

• Weather is weather and it is not always sunshine and blue skies.  Bring rain gear and enjoy a walk in the rain.  We talked about cool temps dress for it.  You will get wet and you will get cold, you will get hot but that is the fun of it.  Though I do have to say sitting for a week in the Hill Country of Texas in the heavy fog and drizzle I was not going out.  Went out one day to drive around and could not see anything so went back to the trailer and made cards.
• Talk to people, we all love to talk and see where you are from.  Compare stories and trailer woes. Only 6 degrees of separation, it is amazing how many folks I have met that we have something in common with, a place we lived, a person we know, a favorite team, a campground we like, a place we visited. 
• Business does not always work out.  I thought I was prepared with my on-line Stampin’ Up! Business but I dropped around $3,000 in sales last year.  I know some of that is that I am not buying as much but also I lost my base of customers from my in person classes.  So it is hard work and I know I spend a lot of time on it, I love to create maybe another outlet for my creativity is calling.
• We have a mail service and it is good and it is amazing how much mail we don’t get.  WE have gone this past month with no mail.  Most of everything we use to get was junk or bills so now we get the bills via e-mail and seldom get mail.
• When a campground advertises that they have internet don’t count on it.  They may have it and you may have to stand in one spot on one leg with your tongue sticking out to get it.  Of course we have run into some places that had the best internet ever, but that was the exception not the rule.  We have AT&T and Verizon and use the hotspots a lot and even then sometimes we max out on the hot spots and we don’t watch movies or videos without the internet. Get an cell phone booster it will help in those marginal areas for your cell phone and hotspots.  I don’t’ know how many times we have run into only 1 or 2 bars even close to a major city and if you are out in the middle of nowhere it is even worse.
• Check and double check before you pull out of a campsite.  We have left things at campgrounds even when we thought we checked.  We have left the dreaded antenna up, not for long more likely it is the vent open. Don’t get upset if your partner checks just after you have it helps if you both do so you don’t leave anything undone or behind. Have your own jobs so you know them and can do them when you have a routine it is easier to make sure they get done.  When I do something on Don’s list or he does something on my list that is the times something doesn’t get done or left behind.
• Do Laundry when you can even if you just done it 2 days ago.  You never know when you will have a washer or drier again.  You only have so many underwear.

• Thank God every day that you are healthy enough to do it and you can still do it.  There are many people who would love to do this but can’t. 
• Give a helping hand.  If you notice someone having a problem or an issue ask if you can help.  I will always remember when it was just the girls and I on a camping trip and I was having a hard time backing into a spot and someone came over and helped out.  OR when Don was gone and I had to do something I was not familiar with and my next door neighbor said he would show me how to do it, something as simple as dumping a black tank. Don’t assume someone will be upset if you ask if you can help they may just be too embarrassed to ask.
• Tell the campground folks if there is a problem, they will appreciate it.  One campground had a dirty restroom and the folks inside didn’t know as they thought someone else was suppose to clean it and it had gone 3 days without cleaning and no one told them.  Another place someone had hit a post and it was broken off they had not seen it and it needed to be fixed.

• Shop and eat local if you can.  If the campground has a store at least stop in and visit and if they have a restaurant stop and try it out, we found a few gems and even a pizza place that was pretty good.  Only 1 dud so checking out the locals is always best.
• Always have cash on hand.  Before we never really carried cash, now we do.  Sometimes places only take cash or you run into tolls or a great deal at a roadside and you will need some real money.
• Take your time and enjoy, if you want to stay longer stay longer,  spend some money, enjoy it.

Those are just a few of the things we have learned. 

Big Events in our lives.

• Meigan is in College
• Kayla Changed jobs and moved from CA to WI, Don helped her move.
• We bought a trailer
• We traded the trailer and bought a motor home
• We traded our ½ ton Dodge Pick up and bought a 2 door Jeep (whole story there, was told we could not ever afford one but I found one we could)
• We moved Meigan out of the dorm and into another for her summer job.
• Packed Meigan up and she went to Australia for a semester of study abroad.
• We looked at many places to have as a home base but bought a condo in East Lansing MI for our home base.  It is right across the street from Michigan State University.
• We moved to our condo in East Lansing, painted put in 1 new floor and had our furniture delivered and then we locked the door and left for our second year on the road.

Where have we been? 

States Visited,

New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Arizona, California, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota,  South Dakota, Illinois.

States we would like to visit

Tennessee, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Virginia, New York Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine.

How long will be doing this?  I don’t know we are now longer than I hoped for and way longer than I thought.  We are both enjoying it and still in good health so who knows.  We will see what this next year brings.