Post-RV Life at its best

Hello family! It's been a long time since I last blogged. In fact, it was over a year ago on Day 3 of our journey home from Ohio in the RV trip of a lifetime! That's what makes it so appropriate for me to blog on what our life is like now, post-RV. It's different. At times, I'm not going to lie, I really miss the RV. I miss waking up in the forest on Saturday morning. I miss setting up the satellite dish and bragging that I nailed it the first time, in < 15 seconds. I miss putting fresh sheets on the bed. I miss putting ice from a bag into the ice maker. I miss laying out the rugs and putting out the solar lights. I miss leveling the RV (not). And I really miss the friends that we enjoyed while we RV'd. We had a ton of fun in every RV that we owned, from the travel trailer to the fifth wheel to the gas RV to the Fleetwood diesel pusher. And it saddens me that the friends we loved the most while RV'ing have moved on to a different stage of their lives, and we aren't able to spend time with them any more.

But what I don't miss is maintenance. What a dirty word! The risk of cancelling trips because of some problem that came up when we picked the RV up from storage increased with each year beyond the manufacturer's warranty. And with just over a year left on the extended warranty at the time we traded it in, this was starting to really become concerning. I don't miss the payment every other week (my payday). I don't miss the huge yearly payment for plates and a month later, for insurance. I don't miss the $1,000 oil change or the risk that if we had tire problems, we were looking at a minimum of $450 for each tire (the coach had 6). I don't miss the risk of our Jeep losing a tire or breaking loose at 60-70-80 miles per hour. And I REALLY don't miss how rude and inconsiderate other drivers were of the fact that we weighed 30,000 pounds and could NOT stop on a dime if they decided to cut in front of us and slam on the brakes.

We've been fortunate that we had what I could consider a "mild" summer this year. We didn't have constant 110+ degree days. We were still over 100 the whole summer, but it didn't seem oppressive. We were fortunate to be able to visit the Rapps cabin in Munds Park several times more than previous years. And we were very fortunate to rediscover our love for tent camping. There's nothing like spending a small fortune to live like a homeless person! We had a great time doing this, and look forward to doing it again Friday.

As I sit here at home on Saturday, with Dennis already in bed, my wine bottle empty and my water bottle half-full, I reflect on this new life post-RV. It's calmer, cheaper and more predictable. The dogs don't love us any less. We spend more money on our local economy, eating out and buying good wine. We spend more precious time with Patrick & Lisa and Lyn & Dan. We work later on Fridays. And the only rush to get home after work on Friday is to open a bottle of wine and unwind from the week. It's different. It's relaxing. But we like it. Life is good.

We are still adjusting, but it's getting easier. I no longer look at new RV floor plans. I no longer browse the inventory at local RV dealerships looking for the small, cheap, perfect RV. We are far enough out that I'm over it! It's been 4 1/2 months and we have never looked back! Thank you all for your support and love. And we look forward to whatever the next chapter in our lives brings.

Lots of love to all of you! Thanks for listening to what's in my head tonight. I hope the canoe trip is successful tomorrow. All the best to the canoers! We look forward to seeing you all soon.

We love you!

Rodney & Dennis

Day 3

We are on day 3 of our journey home. It's been a little more eventful than the trip to Ohio. Yesterday was a long day. We left Effingham, IL at 10am and arrived at the KOA in Calumet, OK about 9pm. We only stopped once in Tulsa to fuel up. It was our most expensive yet as we put in almost 73 gallons. Funny, we have a 100 gallon talk and the low fuel light comes on when you use 70 gallons. Right after we got parked at KOA, a wicked storm blew in kicking up wind and ugly skies. I don't believe it rained but it sure was nasty!  I'm really glad we weren't on the road when it hit.

We pulled out of KOA about 9 and we gain an hour today. Our destination is Enchanted Trails RV park outside of Albuquerque. We should arrive there late afternoon. Happy Trails!!

Heading home!

Our journey West has begun. We left Maumee around 1pm Eastern Time and stopped in Napoleon to top off the fuel tank. We hit a bad storm South of Ft. Wayne and pulled into a rest area to wait it out. The winds were a little scary and we put safety first.  We made sandwiches while we waited. After getting back on the road we got a "water in fuel" warning on the dash. The engine was running fine, so we kept on motoring. After 30 or so miles, it went off. We just passed Indianapolis and are on I70 West heading for Effingham, IL to overnight. Tomorrow we hope to make it past Oklahoma City so that we can avoid workday traffic.  I need to find a place for us to spend the night.  I'll work on that when we get situated tonight.

Our visit was a lot of fun and it was great for our dogs to be with us and get to meet all of our family members.  Not sure how soon, but we will definitely do another trip to Ohio in the future!  I'll blog more on our whereabouts later. Happy Trails!!

Sunday and gloomy

We are about 85 miles into Missouri on I-44 heading towards St.Louis. Todays target is Effingham, IL. After filling up at Flying J, we are spending the night at Camp Lakewood off of exit 160.  It's cloudy in MO so far. It looks like there might be sun ahead. We have avoided rain so far. Happy Trails!

Long day!

It's 7:30pm Central and we have been on the road since just before 9am Mountain.  Dennis has battled high winds and bumpy roads but he's been a trooper!  He's been jamming to music on his MP3 player and sitting in the driver's seat all day.  We spotted a Flying J truck stop just before we got on the last leg of our planned journey for today, so we ducked in and filled up.  When we got out of the RV, it was HORRIBLY humid.  We all agree, sleeping with no A/C in a Walmart parking lot is not going to cut it tonight.  I found an RV park 1/2 mile down the road from Walmart on Route 66 and I gave them a call.  They have 1 full-hook up spot left and the guy is waiting for us!  Based on the rates posted on their web site, it looks cheap, too.  I don't care if it's $100/night, it's worth it!  A/C and a hot shower tonight sounds AWESOME!! 

We also are stunned by the iron-rich dirt here in Oklahoma.  All of the dirt that's exposed from greenery is RED just like the red rocks of Sedona!  It's quite beautiful with all of the green grass, trees, etc.  Who knew?!  We sure didn't!

We are almost to the RV Park.  We traveled farther today than we planned so if we can do the same tomorrow and get deep into Illinois, it will make Monday a breeze!  Happy Trails!!

Heading towards Texas

I-40 is pretty. Pretty boring! The excitement of the morning was seeing a semi on its side in the medium.  It didn't look burned or anything, which is a very good thing, but it was a site to see. I'm sure it won't be the last one we see. The winds are strong on this highway. We just passed a sign that said 150 miles to Amarillo, TX. We are making progress. So far, Dennis has done all of then driving.  Control freak. :)  Sheryl beat me 2 games to one at Sequence. I'll get my revenge later.  Happy Trails!!

Wal-Mart parking lot #1

After re-evaluating our first destination, we breezed past Gallup and went straight for Albuquerque. We intended to stop after getting through Albuquerque but Dennis was getting tired so I found one on the way into Albuquerque. It's kind of in the ghetto, I hope nothing gets stolen and we don't get shot. Dennis and I walked inside to see if they had anything we need. We bought a new rug than matches the ones we already have.  I'm about ready to go to bed. We are running the generator to cool the place down and charge the batteries. We have a fuel stop tomorrow with an ultimate goal of reaching Yukon, OK. I'll update on progress tomorrow.