Welcome
This is an introduction to Paul & Susan's (hopefully excellent!)
adventure into the world of the new homeless and unemployed, sometimes
referred to as “Full Time RVers." The intent is to pass
along some information about living full time in an RV; some of the
places we've been, people we've met, and things
we've seen and done; and generally keep friends, well-wishers and
detractors
apprised of our travels.
It was a dark and stormy night...er, no, that's a different story.
The seed was planted several years ago, perhaps 8 or 10. Susan,
my
wife, hereinafter “Ginger” (childhood nickname which I’ve continued to
use into her adulthood), had mentioned that after retirement it would
be fun to
travel, living full-time in an RV and seeing the country. My
reaction, reactionary that I am, was something along the lines of
“Have fun, dear. Drop me an occasional post card and stop by for
a visit once in a while. Oh, and try to stay out of too much
trouble.”
That seed lay dormant, but not dead. Some time after I’d reacted
so unfavorably, I was in one of our favorite used book stores, and came
across Complete
Guide to Full-Time Rving: Life on the Open Road by Bill
Moeller and Jan Moeller. On a whim, I picked it up, read it cover
to cover…and was hooked.
Possibly it was the sudden realization that living in an RV and
traveling and seeing the
country meant that I didn’t have to maintain a 3000 square foot house,
mow an acre of grass, and get up at zero dark thirty to irrigate the
lawn that I had to mow and trim. Possibly it was the spirit of
a-yonderin’ that had become less intense in my olden years that was
being reawakened.
Whatever…
When do we leave?
We couldn’t, for practical reasons, leave right then. My mother
had retired and was living with us in Avondale (in the Phoenix, AZ
metro area), and Ginger still had several years before she was eligible
to retire. So we talked about it, dreamed about it, but didn’t
really move toward it.
Meanwhile…
We’d camped, in a tent, early in our married life. I’d been
camping since I was a Boy Scout, starting at age 11. And of
course “deer camp” and “elk camp” every year. We’d gotten
away from that, however. Not any decision to stop, we just sort
of drifted away from it.
On a summer afternoon ride through some of Arizona’s piney woods in the
high country near Flagstaff, we’d gotten the urge to do some camping,
so we’d bought tent, stove, lantern, and the other paraphernalia which
goes with tenting. After a few years we acquired an older 5th
wheel trailer. We’d always made a bit of sport of the RV crowd –
that ain’t “camping!” Come to find out, that business of having
instant warm of a cool morning, a dry bed, and a kinda-sorta kitchen in
which to prepare meals sure did cause a change in attitude. We
were still (almost) camping, but had many of the comforts of home
available.
At that time the 5th wheel trailer and pickup truck combination was
outta whack: ½ ton truck and a trailer that weighed too much to
pull with a ½T. Our solution was to store the trailer in
the high country during the summer camping season, and pull it out to
the forest when we could get away
for a week, or weekend in the summer. The old 1/2T truck could
handle that duty. We continued to “camp,” in
the trailer, in the same general area as we’d tent camped, roughly the
area around Clint’s Well and Blue Ridge in the Coconino National
Forest. We
sometimes pulled out into the forest, “boondocking,” and sometimes
stayed at one of the FS campgrounds in the area: Clint’s Well, Blue
Ridge or Rock Crossing. In the process we came to know a number
of the FS campground volunteer hosts, and got to know quite a few of
the “regulars,” folks who stayed at one of the campgrounds or in the
area regularly, year after year. Many were full-timers, or
retired
folks who spent a significant portion of the year in their RVs,
escaping the heat of the lower deserts. Some became good friends,
many were enjoyable camping companions, most were interesting.
All of that fueled the itch…
Wife and I are of an age – older boomers – that folks we know are
starting
to head out to the great campground in the sky. Seeing friends
and neighbors pass, and the passing of my mother in early ’03, caused
us to re-evaluate our priorities.
The old 5er went, replaced by one not-quite-so-old, in which (mostly!)
everything worked. The 1/2T Chevy, getting a bit long in the
tooth anyway, and due for replacement or serious upgrading, was
replaced by a more capable and newer 3/4T Dodge.
Ginger did some serious looking at her retirement options, and we
figured various budget scenarios…well, she did. I was ready: the
details will be dealt with as necessary (my wife is the adult in this
marriage). In any event, we came to the conclusion that in
some respects it might be a bit tight and we’d have to budget
carefully, but the full-timing option did, and does, appear to be
tenable.
She’s put in her papers to retire at the end of school year 2004-5, we
intend to head out the first of June. Getting the house ready to
put on the market, painting and fixing…
Last month we found what appears to be a decent deal on a newer-to-us
5th wheel trailer, in which we’ll start our adventure. A
bit newer and larger than the last 5er, which served us very well for
two vacation seasons and several weekend getaways. It’s still a
tad smaller and older than we’d really prefer, but we can live with
this one until the “right” trailer comes along. We’ll just keep
our eyes peeled as we travel about, and upgrade if and when the
opportunity presents itself.
So that’s where we sit, end of summer 2004. With an
ever-expanding to-do list!
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