FYI -- Adjustments and Observations

 

These are a few of the adjustments we’ve had to make since moving from a fixed “sticks and bricks” home to living on the road.

- Mail…All of our mail goes to a mail forwarding service in South Dakota.  When we are in one spot for awhile, at least a week, we contact the good folks in South Dakota and they forward our mail.  We get mail 2 or 3 times a month and that’s plenty.

- Laundry…We expected this to be a tough adjustment and we were right!  The time spent in laundry facilities and the cost have been a little more than expected.  If we are lucky, it only costs $3 to wash and dry a load of laundry, but it’s usually $4-$5 for each load.  Multiply that by 2 loads and it costs $6-$10 each time.  My solution to this…wear clothes until they are funky!  Don’t worry.  If we visit you, we’ll only wear a set of clothes 2 days instead of 3 or 4!  And we’d be very grateful to use your washer and dryer!  I harass Arleen when she considers a set of clothes dirty after just one day!

Doing laundry in Gold Beach, OR in driving rain and 50mph winds

- Brand named stuff…We know we can find preferred brands at chain stores.  Though we enjoy the local flavor of mom and pop stores, sometimes they don’t have exactly what we want.  Examples:  laundry soap, drink mix, cereals, tea, etc.  We have learned to be flexible and adventurous when we shop.

- Space…Our living area is roughly 300 square feet.  We are together nearly 24/7.  Thankfully we really like each other!  Also, we’ve condensed everything from the house into the trailer and truck.  The limited space forced us to scale down and pack only necessary stuff.  It’s very liberating to be free of all the stuff that we thought we needed!  The adjustment has been easier for us than it has been for friends and family.  We don’t have space for gifts!

- Conservation…We have a robust solar kit and batteries so our electric needs are minimal.  The capacity of our water and waste tanks limit our stays.  Running out of water or filling the waste tanks can force us to pack up and leave.  Conserving water can lead to an additional day or two camped in a sweet spot.  We use much less resources now than we ever did while living in a house.  However, being in “conserve mode” gets old fairly quick.  After five or six days, we are ready for a campground with full hook-ups! 

- The shower…There is much less room, weak water pressure, and limited hot water.  Long drawn out showers and blasting hot water are a thing of the past.  We’ll miss them, but we gladly make this sacrifice.  Besides, a couple of times a year we’ll treat ourselves to a good hotel or bed and breakfast and use the heck out of their shower!

- Cleaning and maintaining…It takes about two hours to thoroughly clean the trailer inside and out.  And we no longer have a yard to maintain.  All of that time we spent maintaining the old house and yard is now used to enjoy the great outdoors.

- Having one bedroom…Arleen has nowhere to escape when I snore!

- We miss a dishwasher and garbage disposal!

- Walking our 4-legged friend…If he has to go outside, we have to take him.  Each time we have to walk him in nasty weather or when he has “issues” in the middle of the night, we miss the yard!

- Temporary neighbors…Sometimes we like ‘em and sometimes we don’t!  Whether they move or we move, it’s always temporary.

- Unruly dogs…First off, we love dogs!  However, there are a whole bunch of unruly dogs in campgrounds.  More often than not, they are yappie little dogs that appear to have very little training.  It wouldn’t be so bad if we heard more owners at least make an attempt to quiet their dog or keep them under control.  Somebody actually said this to us:  “My dog only barks when he sees people he doesn’t know or around other dogs.”  Hmmmm…how often do you think that happens in a campground?!?  And of course, that person never told their dog to be quiet while we tried to have a conversation.  And another thing…There is way too much dog poop laying around!  Just like many things in life, the few inconsiderate folks screw it up for the rest of us.

- Shoulder and off-seasons…Memorial Day to Labor Day can be crazy.  We like peace and quiet and we like wilderness that feels like wilderness.  Spring, fall, and winter are glorious times in the outdoors and our favorite time of year. 

Too many people and too many noisy toys!

- “See ya sucker Sunday”…our favorite holiday!  As the campground empties each Sunday during the summer, we say “see ya sucker!” every time another RV pulls out. 

- Culture shock…After spending months in the wilderness and itty bitty towns, it’s tough to “come out of the hills”.  Dealing with busy traffic is especially stressful and we like courteous rural folks that wave as we drive by or actually strike up pleasant conversations in the town’s only grocery store.

- Service on the trailer…When the trailer requires service that may take a few days, we have to stay in a hotel.  That’s ok as long as the hotel is reasonably priced, clean, secure, quiet, and has unlimited hot water and a good shower!

Getting service in Bakersfield CA

- Health care…Hmmmm…We had our first experience with dental care in Petaluma CA and our first clinic visit in Ivanhoe CA.  We have two major challenges in being seen:  1.  Finding someone who is accepting new patients; 2.  Finding someone who will see a one-time patient.  This means lots of phone calls and lots of rejections.  We have to make sure we maintain electronic copies of our records and that we always get the doctor’s/dentist’s contact info.  We enrolled in the VA system and they have taken good care of us.  The VA struggles with our nomadic lifestyle, and as with all government agencies, things take longer and are much more complicated than they should be.  Until we settle down, this will continue to be a challenge and source of frustration.

- Freedom and free time…We are on our own schedule and doing our own thing.  We still go to bed and get up fairly early.  It’s amazing how the first two hours of each morning blow by while we putter around the trailer.

A couple of other observations…

- People have one of two reactions when we tell them that we live on the road:  1.  “You’re crazy” (the minority) or 2.  “I’m envious” (the majority).

- Quite a few people think we must be rich to afford living on the road.  Our usual response:  “No kids and no debt!”.  We couldn’t do this if we had any debt.

- We have a hard time telling people where we are from.  First we say that we live on the road, which usually prompts a “huh?” response.  Sometimes we start from scratch:  “I grew up in New Mexico.  Arleen grew up in Montana.  For the past 20 years we lived all over the world wherever the military moved us.  Now we live on the road in a travel trailer.”  Most folks have a hard time with this and it ends up being awkward for both of us.  Surprisingly, it often seems to be a conversation stopper, not a starter.

- Camping is different things to different people.  One group thinks it’s a bonfire and beer.  Another group thinks it’s a family reunion.  And yet another, just lounges in the sun and relaxes.  Some camp to fish or hike or hunt and others choose spots with good shopping, theater and arts. We had one neighbor that lived just 30 miles from the campground, set up on the river, and watched movies outside with a few friends each night.  That was his version of camping and he looked forward to each trip.  We don’t consider ourselves to be camping.  The campground is the base that we use to explore the area.

- Each campground is our temporary home.  Because we live in our trailer, we prefer to have all amenities.  We want full hook-ups, a good cell phone signal, internet, television reception, and convenient access to supplies and washers and dryers…i.e. the same things that you want at your house.  We can go without these things for about a week each month, but any more reminds us too much of our military deployments.  We aren’t camping or deployed…we are living! 

- Choosing campgrounds…We rely heavily on campground reviews but take them with a grain of salt.  Some people are never satisfied and nitpick campgrounds to death.  We sift through a year or two of reviews and look for trends.  In our experience, after weeding out the “noise”, the campground reviews prove helpful.  Once we have narrowed it down to a campground or two, we like to compare the campground map to Google satellite to look for the prime spots.  We start this process around Thanksgiving and have a plan by Christmas.  Shortly after, we make reservations for the busy summer holidays.  We take extra caution to clarify and document cancelation policies in case something changes months down the road.

       

Click the pictures for better detail

- Campground resources…There is no single source that lists ALL campgrounds.  In spite of checking 4 or 5 sources, we always see a surprise campground or two when we get there.

- We rarely know what day of the week it is!  We have to look at a watch or a phone to remind us.  A holiday or two has snuck up on us.

- We get to each place and have to figure everything out again.  Where do we do laundry?  Where do we get diesel?  Where do we get propane?  Where is the post office?  What are the best restaurants?  Where should we buy groceries?  This is part of the adventure and we enjoy it more often than not.  It seems that just when we have it all figured out, we move again!

- “Tourist Mode”.  Believe it or not, being in “tourist mode” can be tiring!  We often have to take a day or two off to relax and tackle responsibilities.  This is hard when we are somewhere for only a few days.  Then we have to make full use of our time and we go and go and go.  We slow down when we stay put for awhile.

- We like sharing our adventures through the blog and we love getting feedback!  We’ve been on the road about 18 months and it’s nearly impossible to keep our adventures straight.  A quick look at the blog reminds us of what we experienced and where.  As time goes on, the blog will be an invaluable trigger for our memories.

So after living this way for 18 months, we wouldn’t trade if for anything.  We have made rough plans through 2015 and look forward to every day.  There is so much to see and do in our great country, it would take a few lifetimes to experience it all!

That’s it for now.  If we think of more, we’ll post a part 2.  Stay tuned…

Check out these cools places we have visited:

   

First trip:  Columbia River Gorge and Ainsworth State Park OR, April 2011

   

                    Mayfield Lake WA, May 2011                                             Sprague Lake WA, June 2011

    

                       Alberton MT, June 2011                                                 Paradise Valley MT, June 2011

   

               Canyon Ferry MT, July 2011                                             Yaak River MT, July 2011

   

Lake Quinault WA, Aug 2011                                      Cape Disappointment WA, Sep 2011

   

                       Oakridge OR, Nov 2011                                                 Petaluma CA, Dec 2011

   

                 Three Rivers CA, Jan 2012                                                 Quartzite AZ, Jan 2012

   

                         Lake Mead NV, Jan 2012                                                          Prescott AZ, Feb 2012

   

                       Sedona AZ, Mar 2012                                                      Grand Canyon AZ, Apr 2012

   

                       Lake Powell AZ, Apr 2012                                          Navajo State Park NM, Apr 2012

   

                       Eleven Mile State Park CO, Jun 2012                                        Westcliffe CO, Jun 2012

   

                    Cottonwood Pass, CO Jul 2012                              Curecanti National Recreation Area CO, Jul 2012

   

                          Lake City CO, Jul 2012                                                 Slumgullion Pass CO, Aug 2012

   

       Creede CO, Aug 2012                                                            Creede CO, Sep 2012

   

                    Conejos River CO, Sep 2012                                       Eleven Mile State Park CO, Oct 2012

   

                        Nathrop CO, Nov 2012                                                      Nathrop CO, Dec 2012

Nathrop CO, Dec 2012

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