travel

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Moving in!

Before I start this post I will say our moving in was not without its challenges, but I also think it is interesting that transitioning out of the RV was as difficult in its own way as moving in. It felt a bit like the lifestyle didn’t want to let go of us, which may sound silly but was the way I felt.

It started with the fact that our truck stopped running the night before the closing. For about 2 years we have had a DEF sensor malfunctioning, but we always fix it by turning the truck on and off a few times after we fill the DEF. We never fixed it because it is super pricey to replace, and the workaround was fine for us. Unfortunately, this time the workaround was not effective and the truck actually locked us out so we could only run at idle speed.

This situation gave us a list of choices. We could stay at the RV park (we had two weeks left) and make trips back and forth to the house (a solid 30 min drive each way). Other choices were to rent a truck for the weekend and move our stuff or try and find someone to move the RV for us. All the choices frankly were really pricey especially paying someone to move the RV. Ultimately, we decided to pay to have the truck towed to a local Ford dealer and I went in and explained the situation and begged them to at least take a look.

Thankfully the people at the dealer were extremely nice and they not only squeezed the truck in but had the sensor reset by 6pm on Friday. That was amazing (although somewhat costly) but we were all set to move the RV on Saturday. There were certain things we felt we needed to be in the house on Saturday which was absolutely necessary because we only had access to 15 amp in the spot we put the RV and that’s not enough for AC. It was also really hot that weekend so we really had to get all the basics in one day.

Thankfully moving the RV itself and getting it in place was relatively straightforward and this is where we put it. We stretched an extension cord to keep the fridge running and then jumped in the truck to run to Lee’s parents house. The only piece of furniture I kept from when we went on the road was our bed.

Denny and Dede have a group of tubs in their basement with photos albums and some mementos but what we really wanted was our bed. Back in 1994 we bought a $400 four poster solid oak bed which was a HUGE purchase for us and equaled our rent at the time. I just couldn’t give it up when we went on the road, so it went from storage to their basement, and it was the first thing we wanted to get. Unfortunately, we no longer had the box spring (mattress has been in the RV with us) so we also needed to go to a store near them and get one. We also wanted to see what they had in the way of cheapie “throwaway” furniture we could use while we took our time looking for real stuff, and we scored with a couple of tables, a chair for Lee and a killer Ethan Allen desk for me. By the time we headed back to the house our truck was full and we were ready to start and set up.

$50 chair SUper comfortable
$25 desk
Our bed too big for the room but who cares. It’s a solid piece of furniture

Oh and one last thing, I really needed a shower curtain for that first night and thankfully DeDe had a brand new one waiting for me. It was great because it pointed me in a direction for bathroom colors which I am really struggling with. Some people may love a blank slate, but I struggle, so mainly I am sticking for neutrals for right now until something speaks to me. The shower curtain was an awesome start though!

It is great taking as long of a shower as I want!!

The next day was Father’s Day and I went to church and breakfast with my Dad before bringing him back to the house. He was our first visitor and he really liked it and as a farm owner had lots of great advice.

After he left, we started the many, many trips back and forth between the RV and the house with the understanding we wouldn’t bring things over until we had a place for them. We also decided to get a new fridge which wasn’t coming until Wednesday, so we kept all the food in the RV. Every time we walked over, we grabbed multiple bags of stuff and then would spend time finding a home for it. This activity was further complicated by the fact I wanted to clean and line the cabinets before stocking them so Lee set up a folding table in the pantry. We also used the shelves in the two car detached garage as a staging area.

This stuff is great

I also wanted to run everything through our dishwasher which initially was amazing but got a little tiring after the 10th load. Still everything came out nice and clean and went into my cleaned cabinets. I’ll admit I was a little giddy after that first load and I am still super grateful to have one after 10 years of handwashing dishes.

One thing we didn’t think about was lamps. Only a few rooms have overhead lighting so the first night was pretty funny. Lee went to see his step-dad on Father’s Day and they went to the thrift store again and bought a couple of cheap lamps. It’s the little things 🙂 We also never received a trash can and the trash was piling up but after Lee made a call they dropped the bin off on Monday and our first pickup was Tuesday!

The other thing we didn’t expect was how much Jack freaked out. He hated the wood floors and hated not being able to see us all the time so he basically follows us from room to room. He loves the back yard but preferred the RV to the house every time. Eventually we stopped taking him to the RV and once I brought his toys over and added a dog bed in every room he seemed to settle a bit. Still for such a chill RV dog I was surprised he had such a hard time adjusting and we have had to give him lots of extra attention.

The other thing was the critters. He flushed a huge racoon one night which surprised us and one morning I found a large mouse drowned in the spare bathroom toilet. The first was super scary (Jack wasn’t hurt thankfully) and the second was really gross but it’s all part of farm living. Our plan is to eventually get a cat and a second larger dog, but we want to give Jack time to adjust first.

Sorry but this is what I saw scared a scream out of me!

We also had some time pressure to get the internet/cable working prior to Monday when I started back at work and I had to get my desk setup. I really like my office and since it has the rug from the RV and a new bed for Jack he really likes hanging out in there with me. The internet speed is pretty good but the cable part of it was a pain in the ass. Lee bought the lowest package which doesn’t come with standard channels of ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS. We were pretty mad about that and it was $40 more just to get the basic channels. Lee and I both spent time on the phone with them but ultimately they had us over a barrel and now we are paying $110 for both plus internet. It’s still cheaper than the $165 for Starlink and I havent had a conference call interrupted yet from poor service.

$10 Amazon curtains are awesome
$37 dollar Amazon Light
$40 stress relief dog bed
$100 Facebook MArketplace bookshelf

The next week was a whirlwind. Lee was off all week but I was working and in between conference calls I was scrubbing cabinets (took me all week) and making trips from the RV. Because it was so hot in the RV we could only do small groups at a time although this got easier once Lee bought a wagon. He also made multiple trips to Home Depot and I ordered a TON of stuff on Amazon. Little bit by little bit things started to come together but we were definitely living in two places through Wednesday.

I should probably take a moment and talk about my experience with FB Marketplace, Craig’s List, estate sales versus garage sales. I could write a whole post on just this but in short most of the things we have bought have been on Facebook Marketplace. It has its challenges for sure, but you can look at a particular item and with some questions hopefully get more detail if you need it. Since we were looking for specific items estate sales and garage sales haven’t been the best choice for us at this point and although I love the farm stuff on Craig’s List people are really slow at getting back to you. The great thing about Marketplace is the instant response the bad thing is the good items go fast so you have to jump in them. The other downside is you have to go to the people and coordinate with their schedules which again can be a real pain. Still we have gotten several good items including a temporary dining room table and three chairs for $50.

It’s a small space and I really wanted a pedestal table for its great for now

Most of the things were just easier to get from Amazon and on Weds and Thursday we had huge deliveries. We also got our refrigerator, a deep freezer, washer dryer, and lawn mower which was a super pricey day but really important things. We then moved over all the food, clothes, and Lee mowed the front lawn for the first time which was much needed.

It took Lee several evening to go from this
to this!

At this point we had all the basics moved into the house and I wanted to point out something odd. First of all our things looked really weird in the house since we had less than the space needed, but conversely as reader Mark commented there was waaay more in that RV than we even realized. Even with all this space we needed storage areas so a trip to the Container Store and buying some storage made a big difference. Otherwise everything would have been sitting on the floor. For example I didn’t have enough standard hangars but those we got with no problem. Those little things do add up though and I am glad we had plenty of money set aside.

Had to buy towel hangrrs
so many spices with nowhere to go
Needed shelves
Trashcans for every room
All new bathroom accessories
Curtains everywhere
The house had no ceiling fans so I bought two
So pretty

The list is crazy long and honestly by the end I was tired of shopping. Every purchase was made with thought and care so it took a couple of weeks to get it all. While we were doing all this we also had a variety of contractors come to the house for bigger items but I am going to leave that until the next post. Let me just leave you with this one last picture of my work clothes hanging in a closet that lets you know how strange this can be sometimes. These are all the work clothes I could fit in the RV.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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The Columbus Zoo

We have been to Zoo’s all over the country, but my all- time favorite is the Columbus Zoo which I grew up with. The Columbus Zoo objectively is in the top five in the country, but for sheer size and variety for me it’s the best. So, when we moved back to town it was high on our list but got bumped to the top when Lee learned they had a Red Panda Experience. Neither one of us knew what to expect from that but we knew the Zoo was a sure thing so we headed out bright and early on a Sunday and got there when it opened. Oh I should also mention that Jack Hanna ran this Zoo for many years. His contribution to putting the Zoo on the map is unparalleled and he is a local hero for what he managed to do. I’ve met him a few times and he is exactly like he is on TV !!

For those of you who don’t go to Zoo’s often I think morning is the best time. Sometimes you catch the feedings, and the animals are more active with the cooler weather. Turns out we had an absolutely gorgeous day with temps reaching 68 degrees, bright sunshine and a slight breeze.

WE had some time until the Red Panda experience, so we started walking the Zoo. By the end of the day we had over 10,000 steps and didn’t even cover it all. It’s a BIG place. First up was Africa and the lions were in fine form. One male in particular was super vocal and we watched him for a long time.

Next was Asia with awesome Asian elephants and a super chill sun bear.

They have multiple buildings also for different biomes which I enjoy particularly because for the nocturnal animals they keep them in the dark which is cool. They also had an area where you could go in and feed parrots which was super cool.

One of my favorites is a GIANT manatee tank which the Zoo uses to help rehabilitate manatees that are hurt in Florida. It was a giant project to build and funded by local businesses (many of the exhibits are) which to my mind is a great collaboration between the zoo and businesses.

Look at that smiley face

Two of my other favorite exhibits bring me back to my childhood. The giant tortoises have been there since I was small child and the first Gorilla born in captivity was born at the Columbus Zoo and I spent many visits in the gorilla area which was fantastically innovative. Now almost all Gorilla habitats are like this but at the time it was revolutionary and privately funded by a local woman who loved gorillas.

By far though the highlight of the day was the Red Panda experience. Our guide explained to us that during Covid the staff was trying to figure out a way to raise extra money and the experience was born. By design it was a very small group of 4 people, our volunteer guide, and the handler. We received a short orientation and then were taken into their habitat!! That was totally unexpected, and it was cool how fast they came over to us. That’s because we were each given a small number of treats to feed them and wow was that special. We weren’t allowed to pet them perse but when feeding them they brushed against our hands and were super soft. Lee was like a little kid with joy, and I am so glad we did this. Amazing!

We were allowed to ask any question we wanted to and we learned that Red Pandas can overheat in temps higher than 68 degrees. These guys actually have dens with ac units they can go into on hot days and few zoos in the south have them. Everyone was really nice and it truly was a once in a lifetime experience. They have more experiences available and next time I think I would like to wash an elephant!!

This picture says it all

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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What’s Been Going On

I have almost written this post several times but then things keep changing so I held off. I think this is a good time to catch everybody up, so here goes.

We came into Tuscon with the intention of looking for a “home base” and spent several weeks doing just that. We tried out a 55+ community and looked at multiple pieces of land . Although I love the activities and convienences of a 55+ community the $8K per year rental fee for the very tiny lot space is just too steep for me for in a place we wouldn’t live year round. And honestly even if we did live here year round the closeness of neighbors and yearly rent hikes turned me off. There was a section where you owned the land and just paid an HOA fee, but the list of rules was a mile long and again ddn’t feel like us. That being said if I ever found a 55+ community that had larger plots and less rules I would definitely consider it. I do love having all the conviences and facilities right where I am staying. And I really like the people and sense of community.

Simultaneously we were looking at land and overall we probably saw 50 different plots. Finding affordable land out here isnt the problem but rather finding land that meets our requirements. We are looking for a piece of property that we can put an RV on and eventually a barndo/mobile home. We wanted at least 1/2 an acre which pushed us more rural. That isn’t a problem for either of us but finding land with access to electric and water in the more rural areas was a challenge. We wouldn’t mind running electric from the road, but we absolutely don’t want to be part of a well share after learning that well shares can’t guarantee you will get your fair share of the water.

Also the roads are often not maintained in the rural unincorporated areas and without four wheel drive there were pieces of property we couldn’t do. I tried a real estate agent but he was pretty worthless so I spent hours researching and visiting properties so we saw alot of duds. The other thing that I struggled with was the “vibe” in most of those places. Scary dogs, vehicles on blocks, and KEEP OUT signs abounded which made me worry about the safety of the property when we weren’t there. The whole point is to have a place where we can store some stuff and I need to feel reasonably sure my things will be safe.

Also I have to say the views largely sucked in those more remote places. I would really like a nice view and no developer has snagged those sites for a reason. The closest we came was a really old community with large lots and little rules. Every property had a 1970’s trailer or house on it but they were priced right, had services and the views were amazing. They would require tons of sweat equity to remove or completely refurbish what was already there but we were up for the challenge and one place in particular we got close to pulling the trigger on. Turns out though that until I am 59 1/2 (I am 58) I can only take 50K out of my 401K tax free and no way could we get a traditional loan on one of these properties.

It was a great learning experience though and I am going to carry the criteria we established with us on our travels. I like Tucson a lot, but I think both of us could use a little more green in our lives. I would really like to live at about 4,000 feet for a variety of reasons, and lots of places meet that requirement. If you think we have too many requirements, you aren’t wrong, but keep in mind we don’t HAVE to buy anything and Lee isn’t that keen on a home base to begin with because it will slow down our traveling.

Speaking of traveling, Lee has put together a basic route for the year and we start on 3/8. If all goes well, we will see Big Bend, the Black Hills, Upper Michigan, and the Florida keys, all places we struggled to go to because of concerns with cell coverage. We have Starlink now and it is working exactly as we need it to, although we will see when we get out of the city. The coverage is more important than ever because I just started a new job at a new company! (Buried the lead, didn’t I?)

I don’t change companies very often but a couple of months ago a friend reached out to see if I knew someone with my skillset who was looking and I said “what about me”? My previous company was pushing folks back into offices and there was an extreme bias towards people living in Milwaukee where the main office is, to the point where I asked Lee if he would be willing to move there. Thankfully he said no and then my friend reached out and I am now working for the first time as a Director in a company that truly doesn’t care if it’s workers are remote. Every single person I told I lived in an RV thought that it was very cool and since the executives are spread all over the country, no one cares where I am. BUT I have to have solid video conference level internet, but I have met numerous working travelers here who say Starlink worked great for them. Hope so!

So, that’s where things stand. With two vehicles (which we still love) not working on travel days, so it will be short hops on the weekend and then 1-2 week stays in each location, or more if there’s lots to see or we really like it. We are both excited about “Travel 2.0” and the next phase of our journey, and as always I will let you know how things go. Thanks for following along!

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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The Mini Time Machine Museum

We love small, local museums and go to them whenever we can but I have to say the Miniature Museum in Tucson really stands out in that category. The experience starts right when you approach the entrance, with architectural elements that suggest you are getting smaller and smaller as you walk towards the doors. The door is massive, and the entire door can be opened if you have the strength to do it. Luckily, there’s a “regular” size door cut into it, so you can just open that smaller door if you’re not strong enough to open the big boy door. Super cool and the best entrance to any museum I have ever seen.

When you walk inside there is a nice service desk with a small gift shop and then you can go in multiple directions. We took tons of pictures (the best ones are Lee) but it would be impossible to truly show everything we saw. I will try and give you a flavor of the experience though and this is a must see if you are ever in Tucson so you can experience it for yourself. Frankly we both were worried it might be boring but it was the opposite of that!

My favorite room had a giant tree that had small vignettes in glass in its roots. It was also grouped by season with a large halloween section and an even larger Christmas section. Don’t forget to look at the trees face as you walk around because it changes with each season. VERY well done.

The winter section
A village in glass in the floor. VERY neat

Along with the seasonal groupings they also had entire collections of miniatures including tiny dolls, Kewpies, and my favorite the Pocket Dragons. These collections were all grouped together in really cool ways and behind glass so they were protected. Most of the museum is behind glass so taking pictures was a little challenging for me, but Lee is really great at that and got some good shots.

I also loved the Raggedy Ann and Andy collection

Everywhere you looked there were tons of different kinds of miniatures including some examples from around the world. My big takeaway was miniatures are universal.

Noahs Ark

Throughout the exhibits they talked about the different artists who made the vignettes and we learned that there are specialists in different types of miniatures. Some people make mini dinner plates, pottery, glasswork etc. Makes sense as there are craftsmen who specialize in the large version of these items and I can tell you from my experience in trying pottery in the miniature it is not easier than the large version. The best examples of these different mediums were in the huge houses we saw and the detail was incredible. Again this is just a little taste. There was so much more than this to see. Couldn’t capture it all.

This gorgeous full size dresser had a doll house inside. Absolutely beautiful.
Hand carved mini wood furniture
Lee loved this crate of tiny toy soldiers, each of them is less than 1/4″ tall.

Along with the houses there were tiny shops, some that were reproductions of actual places. The level of detail in the goods on the shelves was extraordinary.

Every little book had an actual title on it
This apothecary shop was so cool. There were little pills in all the bottles

My favorites though of the entire museum were little vignettes inside something else. There were teapots, a walnut, a sewing machine and best of all a gorgeous violin that had a violin shop on the inside.

Loved, loved this

Probably the most impressive examples were carvings on the top of a pencil. So very tiny.

Finally they had a special exhibit of miniatures from movies and we saw some models from Beetlejuice. We also got to sit on the couch from Beetlejuice (fun but super hard) which was really great and capped off a lovely visit.

Total bargain for $15 and again its a don’t miss for me. Next up we get back to nature a bit as I have been missing green in all this desert.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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First Time in an Air BnB

We wanted to visit our daughter and her family in South Carolina but instead of driving the RV across country we decided to try and rent an Air BnB for all of us and fly out instead. It certainly seems like that would cost more than driving but if you factor in the time it takes to get cross country especially since we have a second car now and I can’t drive during the work day it seemed over all like a better deal.

To be honest I was pretty hesitant about the whole Air BnB thing despite the fact that many people I know have successfully done it. I have been 100% hotels in my travels until now, but when you look at the cost for two hotel rooms an Air BnB can actually be a better deal. That being said I didn’t really know what I was doing so I wanted to share the experience with you.

Rather than looking for a specific place I instead looked for criteria. I wanted a house with separate sleeping areas for both couples and I needed to make sure there was stuff for my 5 year old grandson to do. It also needed to be within a few hours of Charleston and be dog friendly so my daughter could bring her dog. That would keep the costs down for everyone although I will say the extra dog charge was just as much as it would have cost to get a dog sitter. In the end not sure that was worth it.

The communication with the host is all done via the Air BnB website and email and that actually went very well. There was a code on the door and when we arrived we gained easy access. The main house was actually huge and could have slept 10 people with three bedrooms and pull out sofas. Unfortunately the guest bungalow that was a major reason I chose it had a really unusual smell and both my husband and my daughter refused to stay in it. There was plenty of room in the house for all of us but I felt like I spent extra for something I couldn’t use.

The kitchen was actually really great and well stocked (which is sometimes and issue) but one thing I didn’t like was all the tables were glass. Frankly that is on me for not thinking about it, but we spent a lot of time telling a five year old to stay off the glass table and coffee table. My favorite part was actually the large back yard which included a fire pit (which we used once) and a hot tub (which we used almost every day).

Th bungalow with the weird smell. Shame because it looked nice
Nice screened in porch

Aside from the bungalow the biggest disappointment was the proximity to the beach. I knew it would be chilly so my idea was we would go to the beach and wander around when Oliver got antsy. Unfortunately the ad for the Air Bnb was extremely misleading and the “short stroll” to the beach with private access was actually a 1/3 mile walk across 2 somewhat busy streets. That really ticked me off especially because the owner was putting on the hard press from the minute we walked in the door for us to give him a five star review. Like Uber the host rates you and you rate them but its done blind initially so you don’t influence each other. I gave him a three which I thought was more than fair but he sent me a private message later saying I had hurt his business and his family, and really pressuring me to change my honest and fair review to a 5 star. Let me just say that it is very different from the hotel experience and all things being equal I would choose a hotel every time. But in all fairness there are things you can get from an AirBnB that you can’t from a hotel.

Walk to the beach
Oliver didn’t mind the cold and went right into the water
Based on the description I thought I had rented something more like these houses but thats on me. Next time I will be much more careful and ask questions!

Thankfully even without the beach we had a good time. Lee stopped and bought a bunch of old school games on the way which were really fun. And he gave Oliver a bunch of his childhood matchbox cars which was a really great moment.

They’ve improved Light Bright!

We also opened some Hanukkah gifts and I made cookies with Oliver which we probably couldn’t have done in a regular hotel to be fair.

My favorite thing though was when Jeremy and I took Oliver to a Children’s Museum which was small but packed full of things for an active 5 year old.

Giant Light Bright
We loved this it showed different topographies and when you moved the sand things happened like volcanoes erupting. Super cool

The best part of the Children’s Museum was a piece of a Jet donated by Net Jets which has an office in Hilton head. That was really fun.

Overall we had a really great time and I would definitely do it again BUT I would be extra careful about what I was getting. That being said it is definitely an alternative for multiple families getting together and I am so grateful that we got to try it.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune

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Saguaro National Park (East)

The Saguaro National Park is a bit unusual because it is actually divided into two sections. I was pretty curious as to how this happened and after some research discovered that the west area was made into a National Monument in 1933 and was changed to a National Park in 1994. In 1994 the East section was added to the National Park through generous land donations.

Although you can see both in one day, we chose to visit them on separate days and that is how I will write the posts. We chose to visit the Rincon Mountain portion of the park first (for no better reason than it was closer to where we were staying) which is commonly referred to as the East section.

We decided to take Jack in the hope he could get some exercise and I was pleasantly surprised at how dog friendly this portion of the park is. As always we started with the visitors center and got a hiking map from the rangers. We are not big hikers in general but I always like to see the hikes available. The visitors center was on the small side but had a great gift shop and I really like the display about what the inside of a Saguaro looks like. Plus it’s amazing to see how old the tall ones are.

This park has a nice paved 8 mile road, which doesn’t sound like a lot but we drove slow and stopped along the way so it took us a couple of hours to complete. I also highly recommend going down any side roads you can in these smaller parks because those areas are more dog friendly and give additional opportunities to get out and walk around. Jack was on high alert every time we took a little walk and it was obvious he was smelling lots of critters.

Saguaros are frankly amazing and seeing a forest of them was really impressive, especially when you realize they only exist in the Sonoran desert, The Mexican state of Sonora, the Whipple Mountains, and Imperial County, CA. They are finicky growers and rarely go above 4,000 feet but also need water to grow. They don’t actually get their first arm until around 75 years old and commonly live to be 150. I absolutely love them and my personal favorite are the kids with arms around the middle. Every single one is completely unique though and it’s easy to see that in the National Park. Here are a couple of my favorites I saw.

My absolute favorite part of the whole park though is at the very end of the road. The javelina rocks are a gorgeous rock formation and there is a place to park and walk around. The combination of rocks and cacti is very beautiful to me and I really loved this area.

It was a really beautiful day and Jack didn’t get one sticker in his paw the entire time. And best of all although it was busy, it rarely felt crowded and we really got to commune with nature. Next up the West side.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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First Time in Bodie State Historic Park

If you are lucky enough to have a friend like Deb it always pays to take her recommendations on places to see when you are in an area. Seriously, she has told us about the coolest places, and whenever I “cheat off her paper” I always have a a great time. She recommended Bodie since it is an extremely well preserved ghost town and even though it was a bit of a hike Lee and I got up early and drove North!

As we traveled further north and the elevation climbed we started to see more snow. We also got to see a grizzly bear gaurding the restroom door at a gas station which was a first for me.

Made me pause for a second!

Finally we made it to the road leading to Bodie State Historic park. The road was dirt and had some snow on it, but we did fine as we climbed to over 8,000 feet, The views were absolutely gorgeous along the way and it really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. Which we kind of were.

As the town finally comes into view I was struck by how large it was. The town was a real gold mining town and at one point had 2,000 buildings and over 8,000 people. The elements were no joke up here though and many people died from exposure or starvation suring the bad winters. In 1881 the mines dried up leading to a mass exodus and two fires in 1892 and 1932 destoyed 90% of the buildings. The 10% that is left though was pretty cool and although we couldn’t walk into any of the buildings the park staff were clearly living in several of them.

It is one of those places that you can’t take a bad picture and despite the snow on the ground (which Jack loved rolling in) once we were out of the wind it wasn’t really that cold. It was really fun walking around and looking at the old buildings and I have added a few black and whites to show you what I thought it should really look like. It was a step back in time for sure.

The church was gorgeous

Although you couldn’t walk into the buildings (which Lee was pretty bummed about) you could peek in and see some and they had lots of artifacts from the original buildings. The schoolhouse in particular was pretty cool. Lee also was fascinated by the sawmill and had me take lots of closeup pictures of all the machinery that was still in place. Personally I liked the bank which still had the old safe in it.

Our friend Deb who has seen more ghost towns than anyone I know says it is the most intact she has ever seen, and I will say it is definitely worth the drive.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes
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Ten Things I Learned from 10 Years Full timing

Our ten year anniversary of full timing is Nov 14th, and I thought it would be a good time to take a step back and really think about what we have learned. This lifestyle is great, but certainly not without challenges, and my perspective has definitely changed from ten years ago. I thought I would pass along my thoughts but as always your mileage will certainly vary.

The full timing lifestyle can look very different for different people – When we first started out we had a very specific idea of what the lifestyle would look like for us. This was largely based on some very influential blogs, and although I still find those lifestyles very aspirational, for us it has looked different over the years. The simplest criteria (living fulltime in an RV) we have done consistently but all other facets have varied. We have traveled frequently and stayed in one place for months on end, and even thought we were close to finding a permanent home. As we have traveled we have seen every type of full timing scenario you could imagine and it has reinforced the idea that there is no “one true way”.

Money really does matter – Our initial thought was if we were debt free we could find enough work along the way to support our lifestyle. This was absolutely proven to us, but it requires significant compromises in the way we travel. Becoming debt free and staying that way is still one of the best decisions we have ever made, but it requires that we live within our means, which vary depending on what type of work we are doing. Even those people who have retirement have a budget, and one thing that remains true is moving costs more than staying in place.

This lifestyle has an impact on relationships – I was pretty naïve about the impact our traveling would have on our family and personal relationships, thinking that the life would give us the opportunity to see our dispersed family more frequently. To some extent that was true but we also learned that people weren’t going to drop everything when we came to town. It was also much harder than I thought to bring people to us, since our living quarters aren’t great for guests and the expense of air travel and lodgings reduced the amount of times people came to visit us. The traveling also made it much harder to maintain relationships with people that stayed still. On the plus side we have made many wonderful friends who also travel that we wouldn’t have otherwise, but there definitely was an impact. Becoming grandparents has made for some really hard choices for all of us who travel and although we would probably have some of those anyways not having a stable place to host the holidays can sometimes be tough.

Not having a permanent “real” address is a pain in the ass – This country isn’t very friendly to people without a permanent address of some kind, and over the years we have had several issues with trying to navigate not having one. We actually have a great mail service which really helps, but we can’t always get mail or packages in places we stay. Voting, jury duty, and credit cards have all been issues throughout the years, and although we have always found solutions in the moment it has been more stressful than I would have liked. Many things I never thought of like insurance rates, available therapists, driver’s license renewals, and healthcare plans are tied to your address, and although I was vaguely aware of these factors I didn’t think it would be as big a deal as it has been. It is really frustrating that there is no way to just be “generic” but you really have to work within the system and figure it out. One last thing I will say here is that if you choose to use a relative’s address keep in mind when they move, you are moving also. Without your own little piece of dirt you are at the whim of others and government regulations.

Stuff matters less – One of the hardest parts of becoming full timers is letting go of a lot of your stuff. Like many others we maintained a storage unit for several years, but little by little we let things go. We also pick things up in our travels and let these things go much easier than I thought we would and overall the lesser importance of personal possessions has been freeing. I can clearly remember hyperventilating in our library at home when we were letting go of all of our books and although I have new books stuffed in every nook and cranny of our RV I am much better about picking things up and then donating them back than I ever was in a sticks and bricks house.

The “lack of permanence” feeling never goes away – It’s a weird transition going from a solid house to one on wheels, and although I do view this RV as my home, it’s more my home for the moment. Part of that is RV’s aren’t built to last for 30+ years, so even if we do this until we die it is likely we would need to replace our RV at some point. If we were parked on our own piece of land I think part of this feeling would go away, but always “renting” someone else’s space without even the basic protections of being a tenant leads to the feeling. The other issue for me at least is a loss of community. It is much harder than I thought it would be to jump into new communities and often around the time I start to feel settled we are moving on. This feeling bothers some people much more than others but in all fairness it is always there to some extent even when we stay in a place for an extended period of time. I always feel like I am just visiting.

Work kamping jobs are hard – A major part of our strategy was to work work kamping jobs to keep our costs down, and by and large those jobs were much more difficult than we thought they would be. The physical requirements could be very strenuous at times certainly compared to a desk job. Even with the RV site factored in the pay is pretty low especially if the job is your sole source of income rather than a supplement. That being said, some of those jobs have given us very unique experiences we wouldn’t have had any other way, but the lack of permanence in that seasonal work was always an issue for me. It’s hard to work your way into any kind of meaningful work when the employer knows you may not come back the following year, and for me at least I missed the mental stimulation and fulfillment a “permanent” job brings. I would love to say there is less stress with seasonal positions, but my experience is that people are people, and the politics are just as bad in a low paying position.

There is no perfect place – I really thought as we traveled we would find the “perfect place” for us and just stop and what I have discovered is truly there is no perfect place. Some places are too expensive, others are too remote, and none of them (we can afford) have year round perfect weather. The beautiful views (a main factor of mine) definitely cost more or require tradeoffs I have not been willing to. Plus I have to wonder after all these years of spectacular views if any one view could fit the bill. It is supremely cool going from deserts to mountains to oceans and it’s unlikely one view could provide everything. And since my family is spread across multiple states there is no central location that really makes sense for us. That being said going forward I want to get serious about finding at least one home base. The snowbird concept is very appealing to me and we are spending this winter really looking into what our winter options could be.

The lifestyle is sustainable – I would have bet a ton of money when we first started out we wouldn’t make it more than three years, yet here we are ten years later. I thought family, health issues, or simply not liking it would take us off the road, but so far that hasn’t been the case. To be clear we have other options and we could stop at any time, but the grass hasn’t been greener, at least not yet, and we are still getting more out of the lifestyle than any other we could imagine, so we keep going. That might be be the biggest surprise for me of all. One of the interesting things is this becomes your life and over time so many things that were difficult become the new norm. Human beings are amazingly flexible that way.

This country is a vast wonder – As a person who grew up in the Midwest, and had only traveled to major cities, I had no idea how amazing this country actually was. At this point we have been to most places (and every major city except Chicago) and I am surprised by how much I remember from those travels. My memory is a beautiful album of pictures and videos that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Looking at a picture or seeing a movie is NOT the same is standing in that space and smelling the smells and hearing the sounds.

It may sound after reading this that I am discouraging the lifestyle, but truly I am not. I am just sharing the things I didn’t know coming in, which maybe was for the best because it was a tough sell for me in the beginning. To be clear I wouldn’t do anything for ten years that I didn’t want to do, and Lee certainly wouldn’t either. This lifestyle on balance has worked for us in so many ways and continues to provide more than it requires.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes
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First Time at Santa Barbara Zoo

About a year ago Lee became absolutely obsessed with Red Pandas. I think it started with You Tube videos, but whatever the reason he talks about Red Pandas all the time and is constantly sending me videos of them.

Not our photo, but a pretty good representation of how adorable they are. When they feel afraid or threatened, they stand up and put their paws up high to try to be larger, and intimidating and scary. They’re not.

So because I try to be a good wife I started looking for a zoo where we could see one in person and it turned out the Santa Barbara Zoo has one. We had also heard about this zoo from our friend Georgia so it was on our list and once the 100 degree weather broke we headed out to see the zoo.

I really wanted to get there right when they opened on Sunday and I am so glad we did. Not only were all of the animals very activem, but we also got to see quite a lot of them being fed which led to increased enjoyment. It’s a smaller zoo but absolutely beautiful and they had their Halloween displays up which was an extra treat.

Our first stop was the Red Panda and wow was that great. It was being fed and was super active and man are they super cute. I think Lee could have stayed there all day but eventually I got him to move on.

They really make the most of the space that they have and the zoo has a large events field and even a daycare on the premises which is pretty neat. The signage is good as well with lots of interesting kid friendly facts.

The daycare / camp area is fenced in
Don’t worry there was glass here. IT was really clean which was nice

Lee’s second favorite stop was the gorillas. He spent a ton of time there but as the sign above says it was a little smelly and I wandered off to look at the California condors. This was the closest I have seen them and their sheer size is really impressive. I couldn’t get any good pictures of them but I watched them for a long time.

Had to do it !!

The two disappointing areas were the poor lions who had a relatively small space and the Australian walkabout. It’s a neat idea getting to walk inside the kangaroo pen but they just laid there and it was pretty boring.

I did like how close we could get

The giraffe area was VERY nice and they even had a feeding opportunity for kids for an additional cost.

Feeding platform

There were lots of really good small areas, like the turtles and the penguins, It only takes a couple of hours to go through the park but it was fun because we got to see so many animals eating.

My absolute favorite though was the otters. They had a large play area with a platform that was high on one side and then a glassed in swimming area. I stayed there for a long time because they were so fun to watch.

Seriously how stinking cute

We made a stop at the gift store (buying some Red Panda tote bags of course) and then headed home. It was a lovely drive and a great walk and I am really glad we came. Can’t stress enough though it’s worth getting there right when they open because that really added to the fun.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes
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Solvang and Nojoqui Falls

The absolute best parts of our long weekend in the Santa Ynez Valley were our visits to Solvang and the Nojoqui Fall. Solvang is this really great Danish town that was settled in 1911 by Danish immigrants. It is a very popular tourist destination with over 1 million people visiting each year. It certainly had its fair share of people when we went even though it was offseason and somewhat rainy that day.

It’s not hard to understand why people would want to visit. The combination of Danish bakeries, wineries, Danish architecture was really fantastic. Plus they had some really unique shops that had items I had never seen before. That’s a pretty rare thing since we have traveled so much. Let’s start with the architecture first. I loved the buildings and the multiple windmills along the main streets were really cool.

And of course the bakeries. I did really good in not going overboard but I did have a yummy pretzel and barely escaped from getting an eclair that actually made my mouth water. Every shop (and there were several) had it’s own brand of Danish cookies and plenty of fresh made Danishes were on display. I also liked the animatronic bakers a couple of shops had in their windows. Really cute.

Seriously look at these eclairs. The only way I could resist is because I knew they would put me in a sugar coma lol

Surprisingly my favorite thing was the little shops. Most small towns have very similar stores but we saw some cool ones here with unique items I had never seen. There was a honey store that had honey from around the world (tempting but pricey), a shop that recycled wine barrels and made beautiful items, and a couple of cuckoo clock stores. My grandparents had a cuckoo clock when I was a kid and I have always loved them, but they aren’t really an RV friendly item. Lee tried to talk me into getting one but I stated that would have to wait until we were permanently settled. I didn’t really buy very much at all until we hit a knife store on a tucked away corner. I love knives and couldn’t resist a new steak knife set as ours are very old. The Messermeister set was $60 but fairly priced in my opinion.

We also had a fun lunch at

We also had a fun lunch at the Solvang restaurant which features a Danish menu and Ebelskivers a Danish pastry. Lee has a really good Rueben and I had a sampler plate which was fun because it had samples of lots of foods I had never tasted. This restaurant was also featured in the movie Sideways and we got to see the front booth where they all sat. Eating local is part of the experience and it was a nice experience.

It’s a really nice little town and I highly recommend a stop if you are in the area.

That being said my absolute favorite part of the entire trip was the Nojoqui Falls. It’s been over a year since I have seen a waterfall and this one was a beauty. Unfortunately the trail was closed do to a couple of downed trees but when we saw others on the path we ignored the warnings. I will say this is something we rarely do but Jack was having a blast and I really wanted to see those falls. I am glad I wore my hiking boots though because the trail was slippery in a few places.

The trees were really beautiful and the falls were incredibly tall and you could walk right to them. It was wonderfully immersive experience and we were lucky enough that out time at the falls themselves was uninterrupted by other people. LOVED IT!

Tree down right in the middle of the path
This picture says it all

As much of a pain as it is to have to move every six months I am so grateful to have an excuse to get out of LA for a bit. To be honest it was really hard for me to come back as it was a reminder of what we are giving up by being in LA, but as I keep telling myself these beautiful places aren’t going anywhere. If you are in the area don’t forget the falls though. They are kind of tucked out of the way in a small county park so you need to go find them but the walk isn’t that long (1/2 mile) and totally worth it!

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes