We drove just a couple of hours to an RV park in Arkansas. Any farther was just too tiring! In a few days we're meeting up with some friends in the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg Tennesee. Right now we're resting....
John and Cindy's adventures while full-timing in an RV.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Last Day and First Day
Today was our last day at our house and our first day in our RV. It's been a difficult and tiring time storing our stuff and preparing for this trip. Our incredibly nice neighbors loaned us their pickup truck, a trailer, and plenty of help to move everything to the local storage unit. Unfortunately, John's leg hasn't really had a chance to heal with all the work. I'm tired from the work, but how he lifted and carried all this is amazing.
We found out that putting things into storage is a bit like tetris, but with heavier blocks. You want to use the space as efficiently as possible. So we put things up all the way to the ceiling in much of the two units.
We drove just a couple of hours to an RV park in Arkansas. Any farther was just too tiring! In a few days we're meeting up with some friends in the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg Tennesee. Right now we're resting....
We drove just a couple of hours to an RV park in Arkansas. Any farther was just too tiring! In a few days we're meeting up with some friends in the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg Tennesee. Right now we're resting....
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Preparing for full-timing
At this point I've caught up with today on these blogs. We returned home with a long list of items to fix or add to our RV. Some were small (where do you put the wet sponge from the sink?) and some were larger (several pieces of wood trim fell off due to vibrations, the generator didn't work, etc.). I even found out that I can't quite reach the accelerator in the RV. Plus, we just found a buyer for our house and needed to finish up some repairs, pack, store our 'stuff', and prepare for full-timing.
We have certain things we still want to keep. These include most of John's tools, the furniture that John made by hand, many of my books, plus family pictures and such. One thing I really love is the Kindle. This thing is great since it means I can still enjoy reading while in a small RV. I've been able to download over 1000 books for free plus it also reads pdf files. I've made several files with critical information like medical histories that I can pull up anywhere.
Over the last 4 years I've had 4 garage sales while trying to simplify our life. I am shocked at the amount of 'stuff' we've accumulated over the years. Even then, I've been selling things on ebay and craigslist. It's a unique point-of-view in trying to reduce your 'stuff' to a minimum.
Even storage is a new thing for us. Neither of us have stored anything before. Our experience is strictly through "Storage Wars" (and no, we don't want to have our units sold at auction!). We need to pack a lot of things in a small space.
We also have found a place to do mail forwarding for us. Full-timers have several options. Even though you are on the road, you need to have an address for legal/tax purposes and a method to forward mail to campgrounds or post offices on the way. Relatives can be used, but this tends to be a major hassle for them. South Dakota, Florida, and Texas are good states with forwarding services plus low taxes. After a look at the fees to get new drivers license and plates, we found it simpler to just remain with an Arkansas address. More taxes but fewer fees given our plans to only be on the road a year or two.
In the midst of all of this, John strained and tore a leg muscle! Now he is wearing a temporary cast-like shoe that restricts his movement to allow the muscle to heal. At the same time we need to move our furniture. Plus, I'm hoping he heals in time to drive the RV! Did I mention that I can't reach the accelerator? I guess it's time to add some pillows to my seat.
Cute story...after the emergency room, John was pretty bummed out about hurting his leg. But we had to go sign the papers to sell our house. So he clumsily gets out of the car for his first time in the cast to walk into the title office. A little girl sees him and runs across the parking lot and gives him a hug! Thank you, little girl, for lifting his spirits.
We have certain things we still want to keep. These include most of John's tools, the furniture that John made by hand, many of my books, plus family pictures and such. One thing I really love is the Kindle. This thing is great since it means I can still enjoy reading while in a small RV. I've been able to download over 1000 books for free plus it also reads pdf files. I've made several files with critical information like medical histories that I can pull up anywhere.
Over the last 4 years I've had 4 garage sales while trying to simplify our life. I am shocked at the amount of 'stuff' we've accumulated over the years. Even then, I've been selling things on ebay and craigslist. It's a unique point-of-view in trying to reduce your 'stuff' to a minimum.
Even storage is a new thing for us. Neither of us have stored anything before. Our experience is strictly through "Storage Wars" (and no, we don't want to have our units sold at auction!). We need to pack a lot of things in a small space.
We also have found a place to do mail forwarding for us. Full-timers have several options. Even though you are on the road, you need to have an address for legal/tax purposes and a method to forward mail to campgrounds or post offices on the way. Relatives can be used, but this tends to be a major hassle for them. South Dakota, Florida, and Texas are good states with forwarding services plus low taxes. After a look at the fees to get new drivers license and plates, we found it simpler to just remain with an Arkansas address. More taxes but fewer fees given our plans to only be on the road a year or two.
In the midst of all of this, John strained and tore a leg muscle! Now he is wearing a temporary cast-like shoe that restricts his movement to allow the muscle to heal. At the same time we need to move our furniture. Plus, I'm hoping he heals in time to drive the RV! Did I mention that I can't reach the accelerator? I guess it's time to add some pillows to my seat.
Cute story...after the emergency room, John was pretty bummed out about hurting his leg. But we had to go sign the papers to sell our house. So he clumsily gets out of the car for his first time in the cast to walk into the title office. A little girl sees him and runs across the parking lot and gives him a hug! Thank you, little girl, for lifting his spirits.
More comments and stories
The RV we purchased was used with only a few thousand miles on it. Unfortunately it was several years old. It turns out that while the tires weren't worn, they had dry rotted. First we had one tire blow. It made a sound that seemed to come from right below the refrigerator. None of us could figure out what the noise was, but it seemed to disappear after awhile. At our next stop, John noticed that the tire treads were loose from the tire itself. We tried to change to our spare, but the nuts were stuck. Using our GPS, we found a tire shop and called to make sure they had our tire. They had to use air tools to loosen the nuts but we were soon back on the road.
Two days later John realized that two more tires were damaged. Three days and three flat tires!! We ended up finding a tire shop with reasonable prices and replaced all our tires. John called home soon after to talk to our neighbor. Our wonderful neighbor mowed our lawn for us while we were away. But he mentioned that our mower at home got a flat tire. That's just weird!
The rest of our trip to Washington and back was mostly driving. Each night we stayed at a new campground. We found that national or state parks are much less expensive ($10-20 with the senior pass), better views, and larger parking spaces. Private RV parks were more expensive ($20-50) and had better connections (electricity, water, sewer, and internet connections). We joined Good Sams club before our trip. That reduced the price at most of the private parks by a bit.
Our last night out was interesting. The RV park was a few miles off the main road and we stopped on Labor Day. There was no office to pay however several people were camping and told us just to find a spot we liked and set up. After awhile, the campers packed up and left from their long weekend while we remained. It turned out we were the only campers in the whole park! Plus, the camp hosts didn't show up until after dark to collect fees. There was a point where I was remembering those stories and movies about campers on their own when the killer attacks! Otherwise it was a quiet night and a good campground.
Two days later John realized that two more tires were damaged. Three days and three flat tires!! We ended up finding a tire shop with reasonable prices and replaced all our tires. John called home soon after to talk to our neighbor. Our wonderful neighbor mowed our lawn for us while we were away. But he mentioned that our mower at home got a flat tire. That's just weird!
The rest of our trip to Washington and back was mostly driving. Each night we stayed at a new campground. We found that national or state parks are much less expensive ($10-20 with the senior pass), better views, and larger parking spaces. Private RV parks were more expensive ($20-50) and had better connections (electricity, water, sewer, and internet connections). We joined Good Sams club before our trip. That reduced the price at most of the private parks by a bit.
Our last night out was interesting. The RV park was a few miles off the main road and we stopped on Labor Day. There was no office to pay however several people were camping and told us just to find a spot we liked and set up. After awhile, the campers packed up and left from their long weekend while we remained. It turned out we were the only campers in the whole park! Plus, the camp hosts didn't show up until after dark to collect fees. There was a point where I was remembering those stories and movies about campers on their own when the killer attacks! Otherwise it was a quiet night and a good campground.
Large attractions
Everyone needs to see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse one time in your life. We traveled in late August. This turns out to be a good time since most kids have already started school for the fall. Any earlier would be too busy and later meant that some things closed after Labor Day.
Having seen it so many times in movies and pictures, Mount Rushmore is neat to see plus get the story behind all the work. There is a nice path to get different views of the monument plus a good musuem with a movie.
Crazy Horse is a bit different. The fees are higher, but it is to support making the monument. This is not a national monument but a family that is doing the work to honor Native Americans. We could see some of the work being done through binoculars. The visitors center includes a nice film plus a museum of Native American items. I like thinking that I got to see this in progress. I wonder how many years it will take to finish since there still seems to be an extensive amount of work to do.
We also went to Wind Cave in the same area. I like cave tours. They are cool (literally), I enjoy the walk, plus the geology is so interesting. Wind Cave has boxwork formations which are unusual.
Our final major stop was Devil's Tower in Wyoming. This was made famous by the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Of course the movie and real life are very different. The movie had the main characters climb a difficult path to get to the other remote side where the aliens landed. The reality is that there is a very nice 1.3 mile path that takes you around this volcanic monolith. It was particularly interesting to watch technical climbers with all their gear start out and climb the sheer walls of the tower. Several climbers could be seen at different places and stages.
 |
| Mount Rushmore |
 |
| Crazy Hourse |
 |
| Cave Boxwork - Wind Cave |
 |
| Devil's Tower |
Washington Trip - Continued
On our trip up to Washington, we stopped at several places. As we told David, this was our last chance to 'torture' him with a family trip so he had to see the sights instead of playing video games all the time.
In South Dakota, you are barraged with bill boards about Wall Drug and their free ice water. Being the compliant tourists we are, we stopped to see the store. Yes, it is a tourist trap. But is is an interesting way to stretch, see some kitschy displays (a dinosaur that roars, a jack-o-lope, etc.) and have a free water (no ice to be seen).
More interesting was a Minuteman Missile Site. First we got lost for a bit and had to stop for directions. Turns out the place we stopped had a prairie dog colony. While you could buy food to feed the prairie dogs, there was no fee to just watch and photograph them.
In some ways the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site was disappointing. Apparently the park is new, so the visitor's center was poorly signed. Then, it turns out that the tours are limited in size. To get on a tour they recommend getting there early in the morning but your tour may be later in the day. However they gave us directions to a missile site without any tour or fee. The directions took us back on a dirt road that heavily shook our RV. But the site was cool. No one else was there, so you just walk back and examine a missile site and silo. Weird, frightening to think about, but cool.
We stayed overnight at the Badlands National Park. This gave us a chance to see the badlands at sunset, sunrise, and during the day. A very beautiful place with interesting geology. People visiting the badlands were very friendly. One story...we've noticed that many of the visitors to national parks are not Americans but are European, particularly German. At one overlook, I was a little off the main path and ended up speaking to a German couple about this fact. I mentioned that Americans tend to stay to the main paths and the extra walking to this point meant that you were more likely to be German. At that moment another couple walked past us. To check my theory, I asked where the 2nd couple where they were from....Germany. Two couples that didn't know each other, but both from Germany on the same path!
At sunrise I decided to walk a little away from the campground to get better pictures of sunrise. I met another couple also out to take pictures. We shared a hill that provided an excellent view while discussing life. A nice quiet morning.
In South Dakota, you are barraged with bill boards about Wall Drug and their free ice water. Being the compliant tourists we are, we stopped to see the store. Yes, it is a tourist trap. But is is an interesting way to stretch, see some kitschy displays (a dinosaur that roars, a jack-o-lope, etc.) and have a free water (no ice to be seen). |
| Prairie Dog |
 |
| Minuteman Missile National Historic Site |
 |
| Badlands National Park |
 |
| Badlands National Park |
At sunrise I decided to walk a little away from the campground to get better pictures of sunrise. I met another couple also out to take pictures. We shared a hill that provided an excellent view while discussing life. A nice quiet morning.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
First long trip - To Washington
After repairing leaks and packing everything as tightly as possible, John, David, and I took off for Seattle Washington where our son David was starting his freshman year in college. We purposely purchased a smaller RV (26' long) so that we can camp in National Parks. Many of these parks have limits of 30' or so. Three people is basically the limit with a 26', as we proved on the trip up. It works, but doesn't leave much space for moving around and forget personal space!
Our first lesson in RV'ing in a motorhome is that yelling is acceptable while driving. There is a lot of noise from the road or rattles in an RV so talking quietly is pretty much impossible. David was very good helping us find the sources of various rattles or repositioning items that fell on turns. We learned where to put towels to prevent rattles, what doors have to be pushed closed, etc.
We drove through parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Kansas and Nebraska were full of LARGE farms. I (Cindy) grew up on a small farm of 72 acres. These farms were thousands of acres! While we plan to enjoy our National Parks, one of the things we hope to do is spend time at the small, unique, or unexpected attractions along the way. Nebraska had one of the coolest rest areas I ever saw on a lake full of pelicans (20+). I thought this was only an ocean bird, but apparently American White Pelicans are regulars in some Nebraska lakes.
In Mitchell South Dakota we visited the Corn Palace. It's a building that is decorated each year with different designs using corn or other grains. The part I enjoyed most was seeing pictures starting from 1892 of the building and the tourists. I liked seeing the different clothes and hats from the early 1900's. While interesting, it wasn't a major thrill. But it was free and on our route.
We really enjoyed the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village and Archaeodome. This is an actual archaeological site where you can see where archaeologists are working in uncovering a 1000 year old village. Highlight for us was a station where you can throw a spear using a atlatl (a tool to increase the speed and distance). David was the best at this but I had fun trying!
Our first lesson in RV'ing in a motorhome is that yelling is acceptable while driving. There is a lot of noise from the road or rattles in an RV so talking quietly is pretty much impossible. David was very good helping us find the sources of various rattles or repositioning items that fell on turns. We learned where to put towels to prevent rattles, what doors have to be pushed closed, etc.
We drove through parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Kansas and Nebraska were full of LARGE farms. I (Cindy) grew up on a small farm of 72 acres. These farms were thousands of acres! While we plan to enjoy our National Parks, one of the things we hope to do is spend time at the small, unique, or unexpected attractions along the way. Nebraska had one of the coolest rest areas I ever saw on a lake full of pelicans (20+). I thought this was only an ocean bird, but apparently American White Pelicans are regulars in some Nebraska lakes.  |
| Corn Palace |
 |
| Corn Palace Mural |
We really enjoyed the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village and Archaeodome. This is an actual archaeological site where you can see where archaeologists are working in uncovering a 1000 year old village. Highlight for us was a station where you can throw a spear using a atlatl (a tool to increase the speed and distance). David was the best at this but I had fun trying!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Our first weekend trip
This first blog is written after the fact, but our first trip to try out our RV was to a local US Army Corp campground. We went to Lost Bridge North camp grounds on Beaver Lake. The camp grounds were very relaxing. We were steps away from an area to swim. There was a pretty good hiking trail nearby.
Unfortunately, it rained most of the time. AND we found out our RV leaked in a major way. Our towels were soon soaked collecting the water.
However, we still enjoyed our time. When it didn't rain, we swam in the lake and visited Pea Ridge National Military Park. A couple of years ago, John was able to get a Senior Pass for national parks. This works at national parks and national monuments plus has some other benefits like reduced fees. Pea Ridge was free for us plus camping was half off. This card has been a major savings for us!
 |
| Lost Bridge North Camp |
Unfortunately, it rained most of the time. AND we found out our RV leaked in a major way. Our towels were soon soaked collecting the water.
However, we still enjoyed our time. When it didn't rain, we swam in the lake and visited Pea Ridge National Military Park. A couple of years ago, John was able to get a Senior Pass for national parks. This works at national parks and national monuments plus has some other benefits like reduced fees. Pea Ridge was free for us plus camping was half off. This card has been a major savings for us!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)