Roaming Free In An RV

Has it really been six months since we left Seattle? It feels like yesterday we were talking about taking this trip and now here we are six months into it. Time does go by quickly when you are out having fun! The RV lifestyle has given us the opportunity to visit places

we normally wouldn’t go and that is one of the best parts about this adventure. The average person working in the US has two to four weeks of vacation and normally, vacation time is for big trips, not visiting the small and less traveled places. We have had the luxury to visit those small and less traveled places like Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio, Letchworth State Park in New York, Linville Caverns in North Carolina, and Congaree National Park in South Carolina, just to name a few.

Another great aspect of this adventure is seeing family and friends we haven’t seen in a while and making new friends along the way. We saw a friend and his family we hadn’t seen in nine years, had lunch with a friend we hadn’t seen in five years, and we got to hang out with another for a long weekend. Also great is that others, new and old, are reaching out to us to get together, even if it’s for a cup of coffee.

We have learned and done so much that we feel blessed to have started this journey. What does our future hold? Definitely, more traveling. But other than that, we will have to wait and see!

After thirty days on the road, I posted what we had learned so I am going to continue that tradition. Here are thirty new things we have learned in the past six months:

• The start of the trip is chaotic and not organized. It takes about a month to get into the groove and really start relaxing and enjoying the RV life. Give it two months to be organized.

• After being on the road for six months, the items in the “basement” storage area that we couldn’t live without have rarely been used. It makes one wonder how much we really need the stuff we think we need. Now it’s time to organize again.

• It’s ok to not have all the answers. Fellow campground neighbors are helpful and nice and there are always RV forums and owner manuals to offer advice.
• Just like when buying a house, not all updates and decorating can be done right away.
• A RV can be decorated just like a house with area rugs, knickknacks, photos, pillows, curtains, table runner, real plates, and mugs. You get the picture.

 

• Be patient. That includes pulling into tight campsites and trying to figure out why something that worked two days ago isn’t working now. And that leads to . . .

• One day something might not work and then the rest of the time it does

 

• Use the Good Sam Club trip planner because when the RV is thirteen-feet six-inches tall, you do not want to come across a bridge that is ten feet

• When traveling, stop before it gets dark. It’s no fun unhitching in the dark.
• Somedays you wake up and have to really think for a few minutes of where you are.
• There are two tricks to using the RV oven: use two air brakes at all times and flip the pan halfway through cooking.
• Leaving how to use an RV oven is very important as there is nothing better than fresh baked cookies right out of the oven. Even when camping.

• When the weather is nice, the water heater can warm up water for a shower in thirty minutes. Double that for cold weather.
• Women: long twenty minutes showers are in the past. While using the shower, do not wash your hair and shave at the same time unless you want a cold shower at the end.
• Keep the gray tanks open (shower and kitchen sink). That way, you are not running out of the shower with soap in your hair to go outside to open the shower tank because it’s overflowing into the shower. Yes, that happened once.
• The gray tanks can smell just as bad as the black tank. Rinse out the grey tanks with Dawn soap.

• When at a campsite, turn the water faucet up high otherwise when you go to take a shower there is not enough water flow. Use a pressure regulator as it will help prevent the water pressure from getting too high causing pipe damage.
• Due to the small space, we are always cleaning up.
• Can’t use a propane tank exchange due to the large size of RV propane tanks.

 

• When a propane tank is first filled, it makes a scary clicking noise. Not fun driving for twenty minutes listening to it as it sounds like a bomb is going to go off.
• Keep one propane tank opened at a time. If not done that way, they both will be empty and it will be the one night it’s going to be cold out and there is no heat. No, this has never happened to us. Thank goodness.

 

• The Internet can be our friend or enemy.
• E-readers are our friends.
• The friends and family that want to keep in touch with you will.
• RV couples are not known by their first names but by the blogs they write. We’ve heard many times, “Oh, you’re Roaming Free in a RV!”
• The day is not consumed with housework and yardwork. In two hours, all the laundry is done, put away, and the house is clean. Yardwork is done by the campground, so it’s off to play!
• But then again, just like when living anywhere, sometimes one just doesn’t want to do anything but stay inside and relax.

• Comfy clothes are worn a lot.

 
• It doesn’t matter what state we are in or where we are parked. Our RV is always home.
• This is a journey, not a destination. We have learned to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!