RVing

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Serendipity

When I started to seriously research RVing, one of the things I was anxious to know was how do real people live in an RV? I couldn’t find many people who met my demographic of single and working age or at least keen on spending a lot of time behind a computer desk.

I looked at a lot of RVs and had no idea how I could fit an office into them. And then I came across the blog of a single guy full-timing in a class C motorhome with an office in the back bedroom and I went HA HA. I literally found Miranda less than a month later. This fellow is Andy Baird.

Over the years, we became online friends. Andy was an incredible mentor and teacher for me during my travels. He’s been mostly based in New Mexico, so when I started to plot my route to Mexico this fall, I decided that I really wanted to meet up with him if we could get our itineraries to match up.

After playing with maps, I decided that I was definitely going to Zion National Park and that I would do a detour to meet Andy if he was in western New Mexico. I fired off an email asking him about his travel plans for late October. To my immense shock, he was heading for Zion, too!

This afternoon, after receiving coordinates from Andy, I headed up route 9 towards Zion to meet him at his boondocking spot 20 minutes from where I’m staying in Hurricane!

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Skylark in person!

Like all the online friends I’ve met over the years, Andy was exactly who I expected him to be, as was his lovely cat Alix. We had a nice chat and then a friend he’s been traveling with, Jan, joined us. Jan has been reading my blog, so I got to meet two online friends!

We shared stories of nightmares on the road (Andy, you have to write about the trip up that snowy hill!) and other adventures, easily wiling away a couple of  hours.

They are parked in an amazing location that makes me miss boondocking. I really don’t think I’m done RVing. 🙂

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Why You Should Take An RV Trip At Least Once In Your Life

I took the ultimate RV trip, five years of full-timing in a comfortable unit traveling to the far corners of North America. From Alaska to Florida, Vancouver to Montreal, RVing allowed me to see more of the continent than I could have ever dreamed.

Regardless of how you might choose to RV, I think you should take an RV trip at least once in your life.

One of the best parts of RVing is traveling at your own pace with your bed, kitchen, and bathroom. You can keep your surroundings familiar while changing the view outside your window. You can visit large cities and quiet forests without having to pack and unpack. RVing is like going cruising on land.

RVing is also a great way to travel if you have pets. I traveled with two cats that adapted well to the lifestyle. Their perches never changed, but the view outside the window did, and I was able to give them enough routine to keep them happy and stress-free.

You will be surprised by the friendships you make RVing. The more you travel, the more you will find yourself meeting up with the same people. From happy hour to community potlucks, there’s always an excuse to socialize in the RVing world. You will find yourself sharing stories of the places you’ve been, your worst disasters emptying holding tanks, and tips on how to find those magical out of the way places you can’t find in travel guides.

Traveling in an RVing can be very economical. If you choose to make the jump to full-timing, you’ll learn that the cost of maintaining an RV is less than the cost of maintaining a residence. Even if you’re just traveling part-time, you can make most of your meals yourself, cutting down on the cost of eating out. Fuel costs can be intimidating, but are less terrifying when other costs are so low. For example, accommodation doesn’t have to be five-star resort-type parks because there are so many free or nearly free parking locations available, from Walmarts for one-night stays to beautiful beaches for an extended vacation.

If you’re unsure about RVing and just want to try it out for a bit, consider renting a unit. You can rent from large companies or from private owners through a service like RV Share. These owners recoup some of the cost of ownership by renting out their RVs when not using them.

Renting an RV is a great way to try out a variety of units before making a decision to buy. The most common rental unit seen on the road is the class C type, with the overhang over the cab. By renting directly through the owner by way of a service like RV Share, you can get the opportunity to try out a larger class A motorhome or even a towable like a bumper pull trailer, fifth wheel, or tent trailer, which are rare in the commercial RV rental markets.

RVing is a wonderful and affordable way to travel, offering all the conveniences of home on the road. Whether you choose to buy or rent an RV, I really do think you should take an RV trip at least once in your life.

(this is a sponsored post)

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More Packing and Cleaning

I’ve somehow managed to fill two of the three days the postal delay forced on me. A good chunk of the time has been spent organizing and cleaning Miranda. A super deep clean didn’t make sense to me last week, not when it would have to be done again in the spring. But now that I had three days to kill, why not?

The back bed is loaded with more bags that need to go out of the truck and my laundry basket, sitting on the desk, is coming, too. IMG_0216 I have a similar staging area in the living room for kitchen things.

It looks like quite a lot, especially with what’s already in the truck, but I shouldn’t have any trouble fitting it all in. It’s rather like packing for an evacuation. What can I absolutely live without? I don’t need everything I’m bringing, obviously, and not everything I’m leaving behind can be replaced. This picture shows three things that I would miss and which are irreplaceable; my framed Egyptian papyrus, my soapstone mule, and my aquarium glass paperweight. But do they need to come to Mexico with me? Absolutely not.

I’ve made my peace with leaving for what will now be closer to seven rather than eight months, but still the better part of a year. What I come back to is what I come back to. It is just stuff even though this RV is the only real home I’ve ever had and I would be devastated if I came back to find it inhabitable. I always knew that this day would come. While I’m still reeling from the shock of it happening at 35 rather than 40, the day is here (or almost) and I am marching forward!

I am so excited about what lies ahead. The US portion of the trip down will be considerably shorter now and I have made the decision to tighten up the budget considerably in case next month’s cheque is late, too. But Zion National Park beacons and that is more than enough for right now. I should be there in ten days or so, maybe a little more if I get the work I want for this coming week. It will be a wonderful place to stretch my legs for a bit.

And then, Mexico… I am so mentally prepared to go that I’m not even nervous about the border crossing hoops anymore! I have my paperwork and the necessary funds and plenty of tips for the Nogales crossing. Come what may! I can already see myself at the restaurant in San Carlos Croft told me to visit on my first night, sipping a cold beer and eating fresh seafood, with a freshly stamped 180-day tourist visa and a shiny holographic sticker on my truck windshield proving its legal temporary import status. This is how real my adventure has become in my mind. I’ve been talking about it for many months, but it’s only in the last ten days or so that I’ve gone from disbelief that I am really doing this to this being an absolute inevitability.

I do wish I was in Billings or points south right now, especially since we’ve had a few warm nights that would have been perfect for sleeping in the truck. But it’s also nice to have had these last few quiet days at home to make sure it’s shut down properly and to enjoy the peaceful evenings listening to the mad band of coyotes out there in them hills. I know that this delay happened for a reason, whatever that reason is, but enough! I’m ready to roll out of here by noon Tuesday at the absolute latest!

 

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Use Your RV Ladder to Drain Water Hoses

For two summers now, I have gotten water at Haven from a public hydrant some 300′ away. That makes for what looks like miles of garden hose between the faucet and my RV! I just leave the hose hooked up all summer and fill my holding tank every day (I like long showers and water isn’t metred!).

Today, it was finally time to get the water hoses packed away after filling my holding tank one last time for the season. It’s important to drain your water hoses before storing them for the winter, otherwise they can burst.

My hose sections are really long, about 100′ each. The best way I’ve found to drain them is to use my RV ladder. Simply pass the hose over a high rung and gently pull it through. Any water in the hose will run back and drain.

IMG_0215When you’re done, coil up the hose and screw the two ends together to keep the inside clean. This is especially important for your white drinking water hoses!

You can use the same principle for your sewer hose, but make sure it’s well rinsed first!

I am waiting till Tuesday morning to winterize my water system. There’s no point on doing so until I am firmly ready to leave and I have a sinking suspicion I’ll be here till Wednesday. We shall see…

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Town Run

One cheque I’ve been expecting was here today, but not the one I was hoping for. The one I got was for 198USD from Amazon (thank you again to everyone who uses my affiliate link!). I wanted to buy 200USD, so I thought I could just get the 198US straight up. Nope! I had to convert the cheque to CAD and then back to USD. I lost 15CAD in the exchanges. Based on my banking history, I was advised that I should open up a USD account. I’ll investigate that next year.

I then went to the SaskTel dealer to unlock my cell phone and was told that I needed to call the toll free number to do that. I informed the clerk that the toll free number had told me to do it in person and was haughtily told, “Yes, I can do it for you, but you still have to pay the $50.” Nowhere in the exchange we had previous to that did I even mention the $50 unlock fee, much less that I had any issue with it (for things like that, choose to just accept rather than fight). So now the phone is supposed to be unlocked, or at least it will be once I go through some steps to reset it.

I was also told that I can call SaskTel on Friday, or whenever I’m ready to leave, and they will suspend my account for three months. My monthly fee is $70 plus tax and I was resigned to paying that for eight months, so I’m glad to save the three months!

I had some bottles and cans to return and got $11.40 from that. Lunch at the buffet in town is $11.45 with the tip, so I took that as a sign to go have lunch even though I hadn’t planned on it! As I’ve been posting on Facebook, I’ve been keeping myself rather creatively fed as I work through my stores, but I’m really due for a ‘proper’ meal. So lunch was rather appreciated, especially since they had baked ham as a special item (no extra charge) and it was cooked and seasoned exactly the way I like it. Yum!

I also stopped at Peavey Mart to buy a good quality tarp to cover the front part of Miranda’s roof. I haven’t had a leak in several rainy days, so I’m thinking the caulking I put up there finally cured, but I don’t want to take a chance with the snow melt in the spring. I have no idea yet how I’m going to secure the tarp, but I’ll figure something out. 🙂 While at Peavey, I also bought a better, weatherproof, lock for my breaker box. The one I’ve been using is incredibly stiff and no amount of lubricant is helping.

Gas was ‘only’ $1.23 today, so I filled up, not being certain of how soon after the border I’ll hit a gas station. I hoped to find a map book or at least a map of Montana at the gas station, but there was nothing. I’ll pick something up in Billings because I like to have the paper as a backup. I’m also going to buy a new GPS. I’ve been using an app on my phone that isn’t bad, but it’s just not as user friendly as a dedicated GPS. I also need to have some work done on the truck (oil change and possibly the brakes), so I might end up in Billings for a few days.

I should be done with my work by tomorrow night and then I can spend Friday morning getting the property closed up. So I’m guessing I’ll be on the road by early afternoon Friday, as long as the cheque is here by then. I’m going to ask about when it was sent if it’s not here tomorrow.

Driving my truck into town today, I couldn’t help but be eager to take her out for a long stretch. My Moya’s happiest on the long hauls. We’re a good match. 🙂