RV Life

I haven’t been writing in a while, and I apologize. We didn’t have internet access about 75% of the time last year and I just got out of the habit of writing. I’m making an effort to get back into it. Last year we bought an RV. A 36 foot fifth wheel. I loved it. It was like taking your home with you when you moved. I loved the fact that I didn’t have to pack everything up in a suitcase and boxes every time we had to move. It has an island kitchen with plenty of storage and plenty of room to cook full meals. I even baked bread and made desserts. It boasts a large living area, a dining area, and a bedroom with a queen size bed, a vanity dresser, a clothing closet and a utility closet. It also featured a decent sized shower, sink, and separate toilet. This came in handy on a few occasions travelling down the road and couldn’t find a gas station or McDonald’s. We even had a satellite system with an automatic search. We did not however have our own internet access. Some RV parks do offer free wi-fi, but most of them you have to be in range of the modem. At one RV Park in Indiana we had to walk all the way up to the office, and sit in the rec center to get access. I usually did this on days I did laundry. When we first purchased the RV my husband was working in Oklahoma and we stayed at the State Park. They don’t offer wi-fi. Of course they don’t! You should be out enjoying yourself. I liked staying here, because we woke up to deer walking around every morning. They had a nice pool that offered water aerobics in the evening and several hiking trails I would go walk on in the mornings. I would also ride my bicycle a lot without worrying about getting run over. One of the drawbacks to staying at the State Park is you are only allowed to stay for up to 14 days. Then you have to leave for 24 hours before you can come back. Unless you get an extension, like we did. We were there for almost 3 weeks. But I went to the Park Ranger and explained to him that my husband was waiting on word to go to the next project site and we would need a few more days and he gave us an extension for another week. Next we were sent to Cheyenne, WY, right during Frontier Days. Which was an exciting experience, but most of the RV spots were reserved up to a year in advance. So we had to stay in an electric only area. So we weren’t hooked up to water or sewer. They would, however, fill up our water tanks, and empty our sewer water on a regular basis. But the electric was slowed way down by too many people on the system. So I would have to turn everything off to run the microwave or it would overload. We were not in range of the internet. So once again I was deprived of online socializing. But we did have plenty of entertainment. I had the opportunity to meet people who came from all over. I even met a gentleman from France, who was backpacking in the States. They have some amazing concerts during Frontier Days. We saw Mark Chestnutt and Jason Aldean one weekend, and Eric Church and Toby Keith the next. Cheyenne has a shuttle service that runs during Frontier Days and stops at all the hotels and campgrounds, and its only $2 to ride. If you decide to take a cab instead, I think its $8 to go anywhere in town. Cheyenne also has an awesome Farmer’s Market that runs most of the year on Tuesdays and during the summer on Saturdays. It’s a great way to get some local, organically grown fruit and vegetables. There are a couple of women who sell goat cheese and a gentleman who sells fresh farm eggs, but get there early, because he sells out quick. If you like organic meats, there are some people who sell grass-fed, organic, hormone free beef and chicken. However a whole chicken is about $12 and they don’t sell just chicken breasts, or thighs. If the Amish women are there selling their jam, be sure to try the Traffic Jam. It’s made with different fruit and tomatoes, and it is amazing. Again, get there early. It’s the first one to sell out. After a couple of months we headed to Indiana and we stayed at a place in Monticello, near an amusement park called Indiana Beach. If you arrive during the summer, it might be a fun place. We got there the week after Labor Day and everything pretty much closes down for the winter. There was one place called Jake’s Beach House we stopped at that was still open. It has a patio that overlooked the lake and we stopped in a couple of times and had a pizza and a beer. But, it closed the week after we got there. We stayed at a small RV park that leases out seasonal spots. They charge a small fee for the whole season, which runs from about April to the end of October. After that all you pay for is the electricity. We met a lot of people that live here the entire season, and then go south for the winter. I think this is the perfect retirement plan. We also met people that live within a few hours and just come on the weekends. It was a neat little place other than the fact I had to walk to the office to get internet, and do laundry. I wasn’t pleased with the water there, either. It was very hard. I was only there a few days when it already started staining my sinks and toilet. We had to change our filter on our hose about every week. Usually it should get changed once a month. Other than that, we enjoyed it there. They have several social events, and they had a big Halloween party and a hayride when we were there. We met a great group of people that entertained pretty much every weekend who received us into their group and made us feel welcome.

Having the RV has been my favorite experience being on the road. I met a lot of nice people, and had some great times and I always felt like I was at home. One of the drawbacks we found was that most RV parks, esp in the Northern part of the country, close at the end of October. So unfortunately we had to put it in storage for the winter, and its still there, due to the fact we need a little work done on it and haven’t been home long enough to take care of it. We are hoping to be able to retrieve it soon.