Year Three

When we started, we thought we'd be done by now. Our original plan was to travel the country for at least a year, perhaps two, maybe as long as three.

Yes, it's been that long!

That fateful day, July 7, 2009, the idea of living on the road for three whole years seemed pretty extreme. By then we were sure we would have seen it all. We were certain we'd have found a place we'd rather be and other things we'd rather be doing. This crazy idea of living fulltime in a small box on wheels couldn't possibly keep us entertained for more than three years.

We got that wrong!

In the three years since we left the last place we called home, we've traveled 29,323 miles and parked our moose in 147 spots in 35 states of just one country.

We haven't seen it all. Far from it.

And, where would we rather be? We don't know! We think it might be a smallish college-town somewhere west of the Mississippi someday. We'll know it when we find it. But, for now, the place we park our moose is the best place for us to be.

What would we rather be doing?

I'm still amazed that I haven't "worked" in three years and I'm still a fully functioning human being. For a couple of recovering workaholics, we have adapted quite well. For what would we trade exploring our country while we hike, bike, geocache and meet wonderful people?

We don't know.

And, what's the entertainment factor these days living in this box on wheels?

Year Three has been particularly challenging for our moose. It ended as it started, with a problematic heat pump. In between, we dealt with big problems with our refrigerator and ceiling, and pesky maladies with our satellite radio, TV antenna motor and sleep number bed. Add in regularly scheduled maintenance and it seemed like we spent much of our energy this year on Bullwinkle's care and feeding. Our fingers are crossed that next week we'll get the heat pump taken care of and our moose will be ready to roll for a trouble-free year.

While these troubles have tested our patience, our sense of adventure (and humor) remains intact. And, it's all still pretty darn entertaining.

These first three years have exceeded our expectations. We've had the great privilege of seeing amazing sights, meeting interesting people, reconnecting with family and old friends, making new ones, learning lots and dealing with the highs and lows of life on the road. And, we're not done.

Today, we start Year Four. We didn't think we'd be here. But, we're sure glad we are.

A Toast!

We waited until the very end of the year to bring our 2011 travels to a close. Just a couple of hours ago, we made the 100-mile trek from Convent to Mandeville, Louisiana. We're all settled in to our spot at Fountainebleau State Park on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, ready to ring in the new year.

Today's quick trip brought Bullwinkle's total travels for the year to about 5,700 miles. That's less than half of the previous year! Focusing this year's explorations in the Great Southwest fulfilled one of our fulltime RVing dreams. It was really great to slow down and see it all.

Our extended time in Texas, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado provided delightful memories of some of America's most spectacular scenery...and a whole bunch of red rock. More importantly, this year provided us the opportunity to spend time with some very special people.

2011 was the year we met Anne and Gene, Darren and Joyce (and we had so much fun seeing them again in Gunnison), Mike and Peggy, Warren, Carol and Breanna, Mike and Susan, Hayward and Lydia, Fred and Sharon, Keith and Donna, Karen and Arvin and their family and a bunch of great people at the Gunnison KOA, the Wishnies (finally!), Nic and Nikki, John and Bridget and Mike and Sandy. Last night we had the great pleasure of spending time with brand new friends Brad, Wendy and Brady from Wisconsin.

This year we also had the good fun of meeting up with on-the-road friends once more. We caught up with Mike and Leslie, Gary and Francile, Jim and Sandie, Bob and Molly, Jim and Ellie, Roxa and Hutch, Ed and Marilyn in a delightfully chance meeting at a restaurant in Colorado, Craig and Anne, Mac and Netters, Steve and Cathy, Linda and Denny, Mike and Penny, and Deb and Rod. We had four-time fun with good friends John and Sandy, who we got to play with in Kerrville, Cortez, Moab and Kansas.

Sadly, 2011 was also the year we lost one of our fulltime RVing friends when our friend Doug lost his hard fought battle with cancer. We continued to be inspired by his courage and humor. Our thoughts and prayers are with JoAnn, especially during this holiday season.

This year we were lucky enough to coordinate travel plans with some of favorite non-RVing folks, too. Paul's sister Susan and husband Doug coordinated their vacation plans with our travel schedule twice this year, meeting us in Kerrville and Gunnison. They're planning to head to Maui this winter. If there was a way we could get Bullwinkle across the Pacific, we would! We also hooked up with California peeps Rick and Cindy and Matt and Mary Kay while they were passing through Santa Fe.

Our travels this year also provided the perfect opportunity to reconnect with special people from our past. It had been nearly 20 years since we'd seen former co-worker Gail and her husband Dave, so it was a real treat to spend time with them in their home in Utah. And, although it had been a decade or so since we'd seen our dear friends and best neighbors ever Mary and Tracy, when we stopped by their place in Argyle, Texas, it was a joy to pick up right where we left off.

This year has served up a giant helping of fresh stories. Sit around a campfire with us someday and you can look forward to hearing about our very special doormat delivery, our food coma in Santa Fe, the day we discovered disc golf, the time we got kicked out of an RV park (almost), our 25th anniversary hike at Arches National Park, the priciest iced tea anywhere, the back-to-back challenges of keeping our AC and refrigerator running, fun with Freightliner in Grand Junction, the thrill of watching a pack of world-class cyclists roll through town, and watching Christmas Eve bonfires ablaze on the banks of the Mississippi River.

It's been a great year. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to spend our days exactly as we want, meeting fantastic people along the way and sharing it all with you, our faithful readers. We so look forward to what the coming year will bring for us all.

Tonight, as we raise a glass in celebration of the memories of the year coming to a close and the possibilities of the year just beginning, our wish for you is a new year of good health and happiness. May your travels be safe, fun and trouble-free. We hope our paths cross somewhere along the way. That would make 2012 extra special.

Cheers!

Year Two

Today marks a milestone in our full-time RVing adventures. It was two years ago today that we celebrated our personal Independence Day and launched our Great RV Escape.

It's hard to believe it's been two years, already and only. In a way, it seems like we've just been at this, maybe, a little over a year. But, in other ways, it seems like we've been living this life for a very long time. And, that's a good thing.

Last year, we posted a recap of Year One. And, we thought about doing something similar today. But, somehow, looking up how many miles we've traveled and stops we've made feels like a bit too much work. And, really, it's not all that important. Is it? (If you really want to know, just ask. We'll look it up.)

With that attitude, it sounds like we've mellowed a bit in Year Two, eh? And, maybe we have. We're trying to slow down enough to really savor the places we visit. Our month in Santa Fe (even when it was windy) and a near month near Zion (even when it was blazing hot), with a week or two in a couple of gorgeous places in between is definitely a better way for us to travel.

And, while the places have been great, the thing that continues to amaze us is the people we meet. We've always known that America is a beautiful country. What we're learning is it's not just the beautiful coasts, mountain ranges and national parks that make it so. It's the people that make this country great. The stories of so many folks we've met who are visiting here or call this nation home inspire us. They are funny, heartwarming and heart breaking. It's the encounters with these good folks, either planned or by mere chance, that keep us on the road.

One of the things that has changed for us over this past year is how little our life really has to do with our RV. Writing that last sentence seems so funny. After all, the RV -- and the idea of living in one fulltime -- was our primary obsession before we started this gig. And, truth be told, for awhile after. But, today, Bullwinkle is just where we live and our mode of transportation between one place we call home for awhile and the next. It's what we do, who we meet and what we see that makes this a dandy lifestyle for us right now.

Of course, our moose has thrown us a curve ball or two along the way. In fact, that's what brought us here to Salt Lake City. From time to time our moose needs tending to. And, when that happens, he does get to set the itinerary. For all he does for us, we'll let him do just that. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy the detours. Salt Lake is a city we've been meaning to see. Thanks to our moose, we're doing it now. Turns out, Bullwinkle is a pretty good travel agent!

Moose and squirrel care and maintenance is just one of the challenges of life on the road. As I write this, Paul is wrestling with one of our financial services providers over the logistics of depositing a check. With two years of life on the road under our belts, we have come to understand that full-time RVing is still life, complete with its assortment of challenges, frustrations, freedom and joys. And, when it comes to this life, sometimes we just deal with it.

Today, we celebrate it. With deep gratitude for all of the wonderful people we've met over the last two years, especially those we are honored to call friends, we raise a glass and thank you for making this an amazing ride. Here's to many more safe, happy and trouble-free miles and more great times ahead. (And, if we haven't actually met yet, here's another toast to hoping we do so soon!)

Onward to Year Three!

Cheers!

Sitting in one spot for awhile has given us time to reflect. And, on this last day of 2010, we’ve taken some time to reflect on these most memorable last 365 days.

2010 was our first full calendar year as fulltimers. With just shy of a year and a half of life on the road under our belt, this was the year when this lifestyle became our normal life. We’re still newbies and far from experts, but this life some folks call strange or absurd has become absolutely normal. And, we like it that way.

With 13,000 miles or so on the new moose’s odometer, it would be easy to think this past year was all about the places we’ve been. And, we’ve been to some great places. We played in a giant sandbox, spent a month visiting our old home state of California, enjoyed a summer month in one really cool spot in Idaho, discovered that even the northernmost parts of our country can be really hot in summer, finally laid eyes on Niagara Falls, walked over to Canada for the second year in a row, made a beeline back to Kansas City, spent two days at chassis school followed by two fun weeks in the hills of Tennessee, became honorary citizens of Forest City, Iowa, (OK, we’re kidding about that!) spent a holiday month in Kansas City without freezing our butts off and found a wonderful winter home in the hills of Texas.

But, as wonderful as all of the places of 2010 have been, this year has really been about people. Our most notable reflection about this year is the people we now know as friends who were strangers just a year ago (or less!).

2010 was the year we met Pat and Ed, Mike and Penny, Jerry and Maxine, Eric and Karla, Steve and Debbie, Sherry and Sharon, Al and Priscilla, Joe and Judy, Anna and Gale, JoAnn and Doug, Leno and Kevin, Donna and Nolan, Chuck and Kathy, Mark and Dortha, Ed and Marilyn, Carl and Linda, Gary and Francile (and their whole family), Bob and Molly, Nora and Howie, Sandie and Jim, Linda and Denny, Jim and Ellie, Phil and Joy, Merikay, Sandy and John, Mike and Leslie, Judy and Emma, John and Ann, Len and Mary Ellen, Chuck and Anneke, Sue and Paul, Craig and Anne, Gary and Vicki, Lisa and Tony and Tez and Rick, Cindy and Ken, Darrell and Judy and Gene and Judi, Jenny’s other half Don, Brenda and JB.

And we were worried fulltiming would be a lonely lifestyle!

We had the good fortune to reconnect with fulltiming friends Mac and Netters, Rod and Deb, Gypsy and our Godfadda Gordon and Juanita. It was a real treat to camp with Steve and Cathy after meeting them last year in Kansas City and seeing them as new fulltimers this year.

This was also the year we met our virtual friends Bruce and Margie, only to lose them in a tragic and senseless act a few months later. We also lost my crazy relative Leonard, from whom we inherited our RVing genes. The most precious loss, of course, was Paul’s mom. We miss her, especially during this holiday season.

As we ring in the new year at our park’s celebration this evening, we’ll raise our glasses and toast the wonderful people who make our great life on the road richer than ever. We wish everyone who reads these words a new year of health, happiness, prosperity, fun and adventure.

Cheers!

Year One

Our Great RV Escape is a year old! It's hard to believe, but one year ago today was our personal Independence Day. How can it be a year, already? And, in many delightful ways, it seems like we've been enjoying this lifestyle for years.

Let's take a quick look at the numbers. We've traveled 12,284 miles in two motorhomes, and put another 10,000 miles on the Jeep. We've visited 26 states and stopped in 61 parks/campgrounds.

We've been moving!

Though it looks like we've been on the move every five or six days, we have managed to sit some. The longest we've sat in one spot was five weeks in Mission, Texas. (It felt like much longer!) We spent a month in Kansas City twice. (One month was so much more pleasant than the other!) And, we enjoyed month-long stays in Port Aransas, Texas and Island Park, Idaho. We spent another month moving around our former home state of California. The other half of the year we spent a night or two here and a week or two there.

As we've traveled coast to coast and back (plus some) over the past year, we've come to appreciate that we live in one extraordinarily beautiful country. We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to explore it all.

We've also been blessed with new friends. Lots of them! The people we've met during our travels have been the best part of our travels! It's been such a treat to connect with folks we've only known online, and become fast friends with people who just happen to park next door. Many of our fellow fulltimers have said they have many more friends than they had before they hit the road. We couldn't agree more!

It's been a joy to reconnect with old friends and family, too. Many people have asked how we decide where we're going to go. This year, much of our route has been determined by the locations of people who are dear to us. It's a great way to travel!

While we're counting our blessings, we must include our two furry traveling companions. They're celebrating their first year of fulltiming, too! While cats have a reputation for being among the least adaptable of God's creatures, these very well traveled felines have adapted to life on the road quite well. They continue to amaze and inspire us with their ability to live in the moment and go with the flow.

As we celebrate our first road trip around the sun, we're also grateful to the countless people, beyond our family and friends, who have helped us along the way during our rookie year. Everyone, from the cheerful campground hosts that have welcomed us to an unfamiliar park after a long travel day to the good people at McGeorge Rolling Hills RV who helped us secure and move into our new home, remind us that we're not out here alone. There are a bunch of good people out there happy to help, and vice versa. Perhaps our most valuable lesson in Year One has been to put trust in strangers. We've had to. And, so far, it's worked.

Finally, we're grateful to you, our faithful readers. We put all this stuff out there into the ether, and you are the ones who actually stop to take a look. You let us know when stuff is funny, or not, or helpful, or not. And, we love that! While, we're at it, a big hats off to our fellow RVing bloggers. Whether you know it or not, you've become a regular part of our fulltiming day. And, it's one of the best parts!

When we initially hatched this fulltiming idea, we thought it might be fun to travel the country for a year. Of course, as the idea evolved, the time period stretched to two or three years, or beyond. Of course, when we left a year ago we didn't really know how much we'd like living this crazy dream of ours. One year later, two things are clear. First, though we know there is an end date to this gig, we sure can't see it from here. Second, if this was only a one-year gig, tomorrow would be a very, very sad day, indeed.

Thankfully, this doesn't all end tomorrow. Instead, we'll start Year Two with a bit of exploration around Mount Rushmore. We look forward to what the next year will bring.

Tonight, we celebrate. We're sitting outside our moose right now, enjoying a celebratory cocktail while we put Year One in the history books. As I've been typing away, Paul just exclaimed, "We've come a long way from tent camping."

We sure have. Cheers!

Three Quarters

Greetings from the middle of nowhere! We’re in a dandy spot in a lovely overnight park in Fort Stockton, TX. With almost 300 miles behind us today, we are enjoying a mellow evening, looking forward to the sunset over the Texas mountains and becoming increasingly grateful that the high plains winds are quieting down nicely.

For being camped in the middle of nowhere, today is a rather noteworthy day. Today marks our ninth month as fulltimers. That’s right, we’ve successfully completed our first three quarters of fulltiming.

We talked about what to write about this noteworthy day. Here’s the bottom line: We love this life!!!

Now, if you want more detail, stay tuned.

A very interesting thing happened over the last three months. This traveling around the country in an RV thing has, at last, started feeling like our life! It still feels a little bit like a vacation. And, truthfully, we hope that feeling never goes away. But, what we have started to realize is the freedom and flexibility that comes with this lifestyle.

We need to get our Winnie fixed? No problem! We’ll make an unscheduled stop in Buda.

They need to order parts? No problem! We’ll spend a week in Kerrville.

Wait a minute! We have friends staying in a park on our way out of town. No problem! We’ll stop in Boerne for a couple of nights and say “Hi!”

(Now, when they tried to twist our arms to stay for a few more days to attend a rally, we just had to draw the line! It was tough, but we do have places to go and people to see!)

Our impromptu stop in Boerne was just one example of what makes this life, and not a vacation. We parked for a couple of days and caught up with Mac and Netters and Kathy and Chuck, and met Bob and Molly, whom we’d heard so much about. We also met Nora and Howie and Lynette and Greg and others. It was lots of fun! Such is this life!

And, today, after being caught in a unscheduled vortex in our new favorite place: Texas Hill Country, it was time to hit the road. We packed the moose and watched the weather, leaving between two Texas-sized thunderstorms. We really threaded a needle on that one!

After spending more than three months in the Bluebonnet State, it is time for us to get back on the road. After this single overnighter, we’ll spend a few nights in a new state to us: New Mexico.

And, this is our life.

These days it’s not so much about our RV or where we’re going when. It’s all about living.

And, after nine months on the road, that’s a very good thing!

Graduation

We're down to our final week in "Port A"...already. The fun continues, despite weather that continues to be cooler, wetter and windier than usual for this little piece of paradise.

When we're not hunkered down inside (Don't feel sorry for us. It's not that bad!), we've managed to get out and about to see the sights, soak up some sunshine and spend time with lots of great people.

The sight of the week was the buzz of the RV park yesterday. Like an old-fashioned game of "post office" neighbors told neighbors of an extraordinary event just up the beach. When we heard the word, we joined the steady stream of sightseers to lay our eyes on a 40-foot whale that washed ashore overnight. Officials from the nearby University of Texas Marine Science Institute worked among the shutter-happy tourists to determine what caused the demise of the rare-in-these-parts Baleen whale. Port Aransas city staffers used heavy equipment to drag the beast to a massive crevice they carved out of the sand dunes. This would be the whale's final resting place.

Of all the things we imagined we might see as fulltimers, attending a whale funeral never made the list! But, paying our respects to a sea mammal the size of our motorhome definitely goes on the list of our memorable life experiences.

Also on the list, we've recently had the great pleasure of meeting up with several members of this wonderful fulltiming community.

We ferried over to Rockport to meet up with Doug and JoAnn. They are a lovely couple who have been living their dream of exploring the continent since 2003. Their blog is one of the many we devoured as we prepared for our journey. Their daily entries have a message: do what you dream. It's what they do every day. We are so fortunate to count this two inspirational folks as new friends. (Oh yes, and their dog Fillmore, too!)

A Mexican restaurant in Port Aransas was the scene of a noteworthy event this afternoon. We met up with fellow "Class of 2009" fulltimers Eric and Karla and Sherry and Sharon, and frequent Port Aransas visitors Al and Priscilla for a tasty lunch. Before our food arrived, Eric presented us with official diplomas from our class gathering last month in Quartzite, Arizona. We are now proud holders of the degree Bachelor of RV Lifestyle!

Along with our diploma, we also received a "Mortgage Certificate" suitable for burning. This simple sheet is designed to represent the freedom of our new lifestyle. Before we burn it, we want to capture and share the wonderful words it contains.

This allows you to be free of the chains of a stix and bricks, the mowing of grass, the shoveling of snow and the slavery to "stuff".

It gives you the right to enjoy a new view out your front window whenever you so desire. To explore new worlds at any time. To enjoy all of the sights and especially foods of this great country of ours. To make more friends than you have ever had in your life.

Go forth and enjoy this lifestyle that you have chosen. Ignore those who don't understand and think you are crazy. Remember, you are never alone. There are lots of us out there.

Happy Graduation!

Halfway

It's a noteworthy day around here.

Livingston is bracing for record-breaking lows in the teens tonight. We realize this is big news in these parts, but for us it's, happily, a non-event. Our event d'jour is the celebration of our first six months of fulltiming!

Yes, a mere six months ago today we left the crazy but comfortable confines of the San Francisco Bay for the fun and freedom of life on the road. What a memorable half a year it's been.

We've visited 21 states and covered some 7,770 miles as we traveled coast to coast and halfway back. We've made 37 stops, all at campgrounds or parks. No boondocking for us yet! We've stayed at two places twice. Striking the averages with those stats, we've moved every five days and our typical travel day covers 210 miles. Thankfully, those miles have been essentially trouble free.

The miles have been memorable, indeed. We've met wonderful people, seen stunning places and enjoyed tasty treats along the way. We've enjoyed all kinds of weather, much of it record breaking. We've spent time reconnecting with friends and family. It's been wonderful.

Much of this first six months has been spent adjusting to new stuff. We spent the first few months adjusting to our new lifestyle. About the time we were getting comfortable with that we bought a new motorhome, which has us adjusting to more new stuff. While it's been more than a bit stressful at times, it's all good.

As we look forward to the second half of our newbie year, we want to share what we consider the funniest moment of the first half. For some reason, it didn't make the blog when it happened. But, we'll bring it to you now.

Our Funniest Moment

Date: November 17

Place: Bristol-Kingsport KOA

Time: Just after 11PM

After our first full day of driving our new moose, we settled in for an overnight at this quiet little campground in the hills of eastern Tennessee. Snug in our pull-through with campers on either side of us, we readied for bed. Suddenly we were startled by the unending blast of an air horn, and it was ours! I did a one-second 40-foot dash to the front of our new motorhome to find our girl kitty sitting happily on the steering wheel, oblivious to the commotion she was creating. I grabbed the cat and silence returned to the campground. Afraid of how our sleeping neighbors might react, we waited quietly inside the next morning until they rolled away.

Sure, we laugh about it all...now.

Here's to a second half of our rookie year that is as memorable and as fun as the first.

Cheers!

What a Year!

With just a few hours before 2009 is history, we want to grab a quick moment to celebrate the last 365 days.

2009 promised to be a year of significant change for us. And, it did not disappoint. In a nutshell, we readied our house for a very swift and very profitable sale in the worst real estate market in decades; readied our cats, ourselves, our moose and squirrel for fulltime rv travel; both got laid off on one of the happiest days of our lives, which provided the last catalyst to make our fulltiming dream a reality.

This was the year that we did it. We became fulltimers. It's a year we will always remember. And, it's a year that, in other ways, we are eager to forget. Though we were emotionally detached from our work, the first four months of this year were perhaps the most difficult and challenging of our careers. It was tough. And, it's over. It's time to let it go.

As proud as we are of having successfully made the transition from career workaholics to newbie fulltimers this year, it's also time celebrate what it was and let it go, too. That monumental task is behind us, thank God. Now, we are on to better and brighter things. So, cheers to us for making it all happen. (And many thanks to those who helped us along the way!) And, with that, we happily let it go.

With our transition year behind us, we look forward to 2010 and what we hope will be our first full year as fulltimers. Last year this night we asked ourselves "Where will we be next New Year's Eve?" Little did we know the answer would be "Weatherford, Texas." And, we're so glad we're here. It makes us wonder where in the world we will be next New Year's Eve. We'll see!

As the clock strikes midnight tonight, our travel weary bodies will be snoozing away. But, in our slumber we will celebrate a most memorable year of change, preparation, explorations, adventures, new friendships, a new moose, and many happy and trouble-free miles on the road.

And when we awake sometime tomorrow to the new year, we we happily say, "Bring it on!"

Happy New Year!

Home Again

It's our first morning after our return to our "home" park here in Merriam. Not much has changed around this place in the last seven weeks. The trees are bare and the thermometer has tumbled, but many of the same rigs and faces are here. While the place is still dumpy, it feels good to be back.

After making some serious tracks, we're relishing in the fact that we don't have to go anywhere this morning. Sure, there's a holiday grocery run on the agenda. But, it's to our favorite supermarket in the country. Even though it's sure to be crowded, it will be a treat. And, it's less than two miles away. For now, we're treating ourselves to hot coffee in front of our warm fireplace. My wool socks that I haven't worn in forever are super toasty. Yes, this is one of those mornings you wish would never end.

Coming back to Kansas City seems, so far anyway, to mark significant milestones in our fulltiming lifestyle. When we arrived in September, we celebrated the completion of our first leg. Today, we find ourselves reflecting on a successful second leg of our journey.

Seven weeks ago, we embarked on our trip to Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We never made it. Instead, we traveled in wind and rain across much of the South. We even dodged a tornado! We enjoyed some fine Southern cookin', and great times with family and friends. We caught up with Gypsy for the fourth time in a year, and met Dee and Jim for the first. (We came oooh so close to meeting Hembree, but we'll catch her next time!) Along the way we visited America's Castle, rescued a kitten, and had a window explode. We took a great big detour and said goodbye to our old moose and took delivery on a bigger, better replacement.

Now, we're home for the holidays. And, they won't be something we try to squeeze into our off work hours. We won't be standing in any airport security lines, either. No scheduled three hour flight that turns into five. Yes, for the first time in our adult lives, we're going to kick back, relax and really enjoy this special time of year.

We might just feel like kids again!

Replacement

We found our replacement window today. It is attached to a brand, spankin' new 40-foot diesel pusher.

Yes, it's true. As several of our faithful readers suspected, our detour to Ashland, VA was all part of our Bullwinkle Expansion Plan. Yep, it was time to find a bigger moose. The exploding window a mere 15 miles from our trade-in destination provided added excitement.

Though we made a pledge early on to delay any big decisions - like a motorhome purchase - until we'd been fulltiming for at least six months, we decided since we were the ones making the rules we could also break them. So, it's only been four months. What's 60 days between a couple of fulltimers, anyway?

Since the first day we started poking our heads into diesel pushers and dreaming of fulltiming in them one model stood out: The 40TD. Itasca calls it an Ellipse. And we drooled all over it from day one. Winnebago calls it a Tour. In fact, we were looking at a 40TD Ellipse the day the sleazy sales guy introduced us to the 32H, the layout of our beloved moose. With each of the 200 or so nights we've spent in our first motorhome, the idea of someday owning a 40TD has been firmly planted in our collective consciousness.

When Winnebago announced its 2010 lineup, one thing was missing: The 40TD. If we were ever to grab the brass ring with the floor plan of our dreams it would have to be a 2009. So, we started searching.

In Asheville, after our visit to the Winnie dealer there, we were reminded of our love of the 40TD. So, we started searching online. Thursday morning we found the 40TD of our dreams. It was sitting in Ashland, VA, just 382 miles away. After a marathon of emails and phone calls, the deal was essentially done by late Friday. All we had left to do was drive to Virginia.

After we arrived in Ashland yesterday, we drove over to the dealership. Behind the locked gate, there sat our dream machine. Only now can we admit that in that moment we fell in love. We had found our Big Moose. This morning we made our way back to the dealership. We met all of the people we had only corresponded with by email and phone. Then, we got the tour of our Tour.

It is beautiful.

Eight feet longer than our current moose, and with two - count 'em two - Big Ass Slides, our Tour is spacious. Really spacious. Lots of space. Gobs of storage. Massive amounts of CCC. It has a lovely table and chairs, fireplace and a sleep number bed. Yep, it looks a lot like that place we once called home.

Then, we drove it.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! With that engine 40 feet behind us we hardly heard a thing. The air suspension gave us a ride that was oh, so smooth. And the 60-degree cut in its steering allows this thing to turn on a dime.

Yep. It's awesome.

Really. It's awesome.

Then, we got down to business. If you ever want to negotiate a deal on an RV, call Paul. You definitely want him on your side. He's good.

Before we knew it we were signing papers and had big smiles on our faces. We're picking it up Wednesday or Thursday.

We promise to document our find on Bullwinkle's Travels. Pictures, and all. But, for now, we're so tired we've barely been able to feed ourselves. So, we're going to call it a very productive day.

And, just in case you're wondering, this rig will be Bullwinkle II. But, I have a feeling we might just refer to him as Big Bull.

He's the fulltiming rig of our dreams.

Not Our Best Day

Our 100th day as fulltimers just wasn’t our best.

In the same spirit of full disclosure that we chronicled the ups and downs of our preparations for fulltiming, we feel compelled to share the story of this day that tested our mettle as fulltimers.

We awoke to complete silence for the first time in a long time. The rain that plagued Arkansas had come to an end. What a great day to travel! We were up and out early, hitting the road at 9:00 a.m. sharp. Just as we leaving we noticed the fabric valance over our dinette was wet. We chalked it up to several consecutive days of heavy rain and went on our way. (Stay tuned, dear readers, for the rest of this story.)

The first half of our 260-mile travel day was perfect. Then, we hit Louisiana.

We had prepared two possible routes for today. The first was the most direct, but included a 60 or so mile stretch of two-lane highway in Louisiana. The second route added some 30 miles, was all four-lane and bypassed the the Pelican State. When we reached the fork in the road, things were looking good, so we opted for the most direct route. Some 20 miles after passing the point of no return, we crossed into Louisiana. Immediately, the road went to shit. Shoulders disappeared. Potholes multiplied before us like rabbits. Flood waters lapped at the shoulderless roadway. Oh yeah, and it got balmy. We slowed our speed down to something that minimized the teeth shattering and made it easier to keep it between the lines and out of the flood waters. After 90 minutes of bouncing along, we finally reached I-20. And, yes, it got worse.

When we crossed the roaring Mississippi River at historic Vicksburg, we were delighted that our pass off of this poor excuse for an interstate was Exit #2. From there we glided south to just north of Port Gibson, where we took a seven-mile turnoff down a narrow two-lane, low hanging tree branch lined road to our lovely campground located just one half-mile from the mighty river. When we stepped out of the coach we were instantly soaked by the 99.99% humidity combined with the 80 degree temps. This was “balmy” on steroids!

After a warm but muggy welcome from the campground staff, we commenced with the task of unhooking the Jeep and selecting our campsite. We were advised that if we wanted to have any chance at cell service, we should setup in the “upper” campground. Eager to put our shiny new aircard to work in this wifi-less park, we decided to take the high road. Paul set about separating the squirrel from the moose and quickly discovered the locking bolts on the tow bar wouldn’t budge. This five-minute procedure became a frustrating half hour. With brute force he got them unlocked, then eventually freed. Imagine wrestling with a tow bar in a sauna after a long, bouncy travel day! Our energy and moods were plummeting.

We climbed the steep road to the upper campground to choose our site. With no cable at this place, our goal was to select the most satellite-friendly site in this tree-lined loop. We picked one, backed through mud to get situated on the pad, plugged in and couldn’t find a satellite. So, we unplugged and pulled into our second choice. We couldn’t find a satellite here, either. But, by now we were soaked with sweat and AC was becoming a higher priority than TV. So, we commenced with our setup.

With our setup complete, we turned our attention back to the wet valance we had noticed this morning. A few rainy stops ago, we noticed a small trickle of water above one of our bedroom windows. But, the source of this new leak had us stumped. An initial check in the cabinet above the window revealed no water. I started taking dishes out of the cabinet and was surprised to find one dish filled with water! The leak appeared to come from part of the mechanism in the Big Ass Slide. With two parts like this on the slide, we made a beeline to the offending part’s twin inside the bedroom closet and discovered a spot where water had obviously poured down the back wall...and been absorbed by my clothes. Within minutes we had dishes piled on the table and my clothes spread out in the bathroom. Minor annoyances had been piling up all day, but this one nearly sent me over the edge.

With the dishes dry and put away, damp clothes hanging in the shower, and a big cocktail in hand, we settled in to relax, unwind and connect with the outside world. With one teeny-tiny bar on our iphones, we had a few successful attempts at sending arrival emails and posts, but quickly came to the realization that we have no dependable cell service here.

Welcome to Mississippi!

Exhausted, grumpy and regretting that I had ever chosen this remote rainforest campground in this godforsaken part of the world, I hopped in the shower right after dinner, put on my jammies and readied myself for a much needed night’s rest. I successfully logged on to Facebook, checked in on a few of our fulltiming buddies and got a powerful lesson in perspective. I read of the ordeal Pam and Randy Warner have had over the last 24 hours. After an engine breakdown yesterday, they spent last night in a Walmart parking lot and had their motorhome towed off today for diagnosis and repair. Sitting here in the comfort of our slightly leaky rolling home, having safely arrived after a tiring travel day, I realized we really don’t have any problems. All we had was one bad day. And, all things considered, I guess it was really that bad.

One bad day out of 100. I think I can handle that. After all, it’s just one percent. And, as the saying goes, even a bad day of fulltiming is better than a day of work.

Amen to that!

First Quarter Report

We hit the road three months ago today. As we look back on our first quarter of fulltiming, in many ways we can't believe it's been three months already. But, when reflect on all of the places we've been, things we've seen and people we've met, we can't believe it's only been three months. That's the kind of relationship we have with the calendar these days!

With hopes of providing some helpful insight to future and fellow newbie fulltimers, we offer a brief report on our first quarter on the road. Knowing also that there are many folks who pass by these parts who have been at this lots longer than we have, we welcome their comments, too. If it looks like we're heading toward a ditch with any of this stuff, please let us know!

Executive Summary

• It's all good!

The Places We've Been

• Nine states in three months, and we don't feel like we're rushing.
• Nine lovely quilt shops.
• Four National Parks!
• Speaking of National Parks, Crater Lake is, without a doubt, stunning.
• The rest of the West Coast...it's prettier in Oregon and Washington.
• Ferrying off to Canada was a very fun day.
• It's really something to stand where Custer last stood.

The Things We've Seen

• Sunset on the Pacific.
• Sunset over Canada.
• A gorgeous big Montana sky.
• A black bear popping his head out of roadside bushes to say hello.
• Endless miles and miles of highway across Wyoming.
• A 40-foot motorhome towing a 40-foot boat.
• At least one geocache in every state we've visited.

The People We've Met

• We haven't met any bad people, that's for sure!
• RVers tend to be a friendly, helpful and fun bunch!
• And, they have really fun friends!
• People who seem nice online are even nicer in person!
• You just gotta hang with da Godfadda!

The Things We've Learned

• Two back-to-back one nighters is our limit.
• One month in one place is our limit on the other end. (And we have six weeks booked in Kansas City....when it's cold!)
• 250 miles is a perfect travel day. 200 is better.
• Some of the best places to park are public - not private - campgrounds.
• We can live simply - and quite happily - on what we use to spend on our mortgage.
• Everything takes longer than you think.
• So, never, ever be in a hurry.
• If you're ever in a pickle, just stop, get out and look around.
• Stuff is just stuff.
• Cats, or at least our cats, can adapt to this lifestyle quite well.
• Our mistakes have been our best teacher.
• It feels great, and we mean great, to slow down and relax.

Looking Forward

• We can't wait to see Hilton Head and the Great Smokey Mountains, which are coming up on our agenda.
• Spending the holidays with family and friends in Kansas City, while we keep our fingers crossed that the temperatures are reasonable.
• Becoming winter Texans.
• Hanging with da Godfadda in Idaho, family in South Dakota and attending our first Grand National Rally next summer.
• We know we'll stop this one day, but we can't imagine when that might be!

The smartest thing we've done so far on this journey is make (and keep) our pact to not make any big decisions about life on the road for the first six months. Sure, it's tempting to think about buying a new diesel pusher (especially when you're climbing to 7,000 feet in Wyoming), but we think we're smart to wait. And, after working for 30 years, it's not hard to resist jumping right back in. But, we do think about what work will look like next. What a treat to give that six months to stew. Who knows what we'll come up with. People have asked how long we'll be at this, and our response has been "until we don't want to do it anymore." What we know for sure is we don't have to think about any of this for the next three months, at least. Right now, we're just going with the flow.

Here's to another great three months. Thanks so much for joining us on the ride.

Our First Leg

Greetings from suburban Kansas City! It's really - and I mean really - great to be here.

It's the first of 30 mornings in our ol' hometown. We slept in and are giving ourselves a leisurely day before we get too involved in all of the things there are to do here. Our RV park really - and I mean really - isn't much. But, we don't care. We're here. The first "leg" of our fulltiming journey is complete.

Nine and a half years ago, after all of our stuff was boxed and loaded onto a moving truck by professionals, we packed my Volkswagen Passat with everything that was left, including our geriatric cat. In the pre-dawn hours of that April Fool's Day (That should have been some kind of omen!) we left our native Kansas City and headed west. Three days later we were in our new home in the Bay Area - road weary, done being in a confined space with a meowing cat, and a bit shell shocked. Our plan was to be gone three to five years. Well, we overshot that a bit!

Our return trip could not have been more different. We sold nearly all of our stuff. We loaded what we needed into our year-old motorhome, and packed the rest ourselves in a tiny POD. Instead of taking three days, we took eight weeks! Along the way, we've visited old friends, met new ones, caught up with family and seen some absolutely stunning sights. And, we've barely heard a peep out of the two cats we're traveling with these days. And, us? We are rested, refreshed and free!

After eight weeks on the road, we're still fulltiming newbies. And, we newbies have completed our first mission: We've come home. With that, we've finished the chapter of our lives in which we were Californians. Now, we're fulltimers. And, after we rest up for a month at home in our rolling home, we'll be on the road again.

On the next leg of our journey, we have no particular place to go. And our plans? They're wide open!

Reflections from Newbie Fulltimers

We've been on the road for just over a month. Or, so the calendar says. In a way, it's flown by and feels like a long holiday. But, much more, it feels like Bend, Oregon was three months ago.

One thing's for sure. We're still newbies at this fulltiming gig. But, some 30 nights freshly under our belts, we thought we'd pause for a moment and reflect on our first month on the road.

We've had the great pleasure to have many wonderful conversations with many wonderful people across the Pacific Northwest over the last month. So, we'll capture our reflections by sharing some of our most frequently asked questions.

Q: How do you like fulltiming?
A: Simple. WE LOVE IT!

Q: What has been your biggest surprise?
A: Some people have heard us answer this question in stereo. So, it's unanimous. Our biggest surprise is how busy we are! When we were cookin' up this plan, we thought we would have finished several books, pedaled hundreds of miles on the bikes and constructed a quilt by now. Not so! Instead, like we said, we've had the pleasure of meeting up with lots of great people. We'd rather have it that way!

Q: What's your favorite moment so far?
A: Oh, that's a tough one. We've seen so many wonderful places and people already. But this first month, we'd have to say our favorite moment was pulling away from Oakland and passing through the Caldecott Tunnel for the last time (in a long time, at least). How often do you get to relish in those moments where you truly realize a dream? After all the planning and preparation, that moment was something very special.

Q: What's your favorite thing about fulltiming?
A: That's easy. Meeting people.

Q: What's your least favorite thing about fulltiming?
A: That's easy. Lack of wifi. (Don't get me started!) Honestly, in the year we were weekenders, we had dependable wifi just about everywhere we went. As fulltimers, dependable wifi has been rare. Very rare.

Q: How's Bullwinkle doing?
A: Better than we expected! Our motorhome is performing perfectly (knock on wood) and is surprisingly spacious. At 32-feet, we thought we might be feeling a bit cramped by now. But, quite the contrary. We have plenty of room!

Q: How about Rocky?
A: OK. We know our vehicles don't really have a personality. But, if our Jeep could talk we think he'd be pretty happy. We've taken him out of the city and into the country. He's where he was built to be! He's rolls so happily behind the moose that we hardly know he's there. He's gotten dirty and grungy and clean again. And, we just love exploring the places we park in our squirrel. We have the perfect toad!

Q: How are the cats doing?
A: We couldn't be happier. They are doing great. The moose is their new home. They're very comfortable here. And, they love that scenery changes every so often. In fact, our girl kitty is the most adaptable of us all. We could learn a lot from her! We're so glad they're with us and doing so well.

Q: What's your biggest learning in your first month on the road?
A: How quickly you can feel at home in a new place...thanks to technology, helpful people and your own intuition.

Q: Any other insights you'd like to share?
A: America is one beautiful country!

Q: What advice would you give people considering fulltiming?
A: It's never too early to start purging. Other than that, ask somebody who's been doing this longer than we have. We're still newbies!

Our First Week

Today marks our seventh day as fulltimers. What a week it's been!

We're chilling out in Crescent, OR, just about an hour south of Bend. Our travel day was extremely easy. We're rethinking our 250-mile per travel day limit. Maybe it should be more like 50 miles! (Just kidding!)

Light travel day aside, we realize our initial fulltiming itinerary looks more like one of vacationers. With a couple of nights here, a few nights there, and a night or two not far from there, we're moving around more than we will be. But, for now, it's a whole lotta fun.

I am most pleased to report that we are well on the road to recovery. We've had a couple of great night's sleep. So, we're no longer dog tired. We're emerging from what can best be described as some kind of fog. We thought we'd been thinking clearly over the last week, but it's obvious we weren't. Mt. Shasta is a distant blur. And, as Paul commented this morning, it seems like we arrived in Bend a month ago.

We spent Saturday morning cleaning the place. And, that definitely helped it feel more like home. We're still looking for things here and there, but more and more things have found their rightful place. And, most importantly, we're remembering where that place is!

We may not be settled just yet. But, after our first week on the road, we think we can see it from here.

Our Independence Day

The Great RV Escape has, at long last, begun.

It's official. We're fulltimers!

Our last morning in the Bay Area started early. Like every morning for the last couple of weeks, we had a lot of stuff to do. We had piles of stuff sitting outside the moose, and each pile needed to go somewhere. Resisting the temptation to simply put the stuff somewhere and roll, we wisely took the time to get organized. Believe it or not, the purging continued! A couple of hours later, we had a place for almost everything. We gifted several items to our hosts: storage tubs, cleaning supplies, hangers, liquor and wine. (We have plenty of the latter on board!) It felt great to leave that extra weight behind at the start.

With our organization complete, we were off to run our last errands: We returned our cable modem; I mailed the keys to our former back gate to the new owner and had my vintage Gibson guitar packed and shipped off to my brother; and, Boris got one last haircut from his favorite barber. We picked up a yummy grinder sandwich from a great neighborhood spot and took it back to the moose for lunch. On the way, our realtor called to tell us the title transfer was complete.

With that call, we were now free to roam about the country!

Though we were hungry, we were too excited to eat. We decided to share half the sandwich for lunch and saved the rest for later. In just a few minutes we had the moose ready to roll.

This was the moment we were waiting for! All of our preparation, hard work and good luck was leading to this day - this moment - for our new lifestyle to begin. We took a deep breath (OK, actually, it was several) and headed out.

The egress from our hosts' house was a bit tricky (though not as scary as the ingress!) so we decided to save the hooking up for a church parking lot about couple of miles away. There, a UPS driver, City of Oakland employee and several church volunteer gardeners likely took great amusement in watching these brand new fulltimers get hooked up.

For the benefit of our future fulltiming friends, we offer the following advice: If you plan to carry a bike rack on your tow hitch, take it on a test run before you load up for your fulltiming adventure.

Among the hundreds of "to-dos" we've done over recent months, one was to have our drop hitch receiver modified to accept our bike rack. Another was to replace our bike rack with a more RV-friendly version. Done and done. What we had not done, however, is try them all out with the squirrel in tow. So, the driver, city employee and gardeners got quite a show as we unloaded three bikes and figured out how to get the Jeep hooked up. It won't be that complicated in the future, thankfully. And, with practice, we'll get better at it all. With everything finally hooked together, we started toward the street. With the first right turn in the parking lot, we checked the camera. It looked like a front corner of the Jeep was plowing into Boris' fancy road bike. (Yikes!) We stopped, jumped out and looked. Turns out that camera angle can be quite deceiving. Thankfully, the bike and Jeep had plenty of clearance.

We waved a friendly so long to the amused gardeners and thanked them for the use of their parking lot. At 2:00 PM Pacific Time, we hit the road. It was much later than we had anticipated. With an estimated six hours of travel ahead of us, we were in for a long first travel day. We did our very best to get our adrenaline levels down to something close to normal and settle in for the first leg of our great escape.

It was a gorgeous day to travel. Sunny, with little wind and very pleasant Summer temperatures. With surprisingly little emotion, we waved so long to Oakland and traveled on very familiar highways most of the afternoon. Along the way, we reflected on what it took for us to get to this point, and how happy we were to finally be here. As we passed Redding we were venturing into new territory, and it was beautiful. As we were crossing stunning Lake Shasta, we placed a call to our fulltiming Godfadda and his bride to share our virtual toast to new adventures. (We saved our toast for later, of course!)

At 8PM, we pulled into the Mount Shasta KOA, which sits in the shadow of - you guessed it - magnificent Mount Shasta. We were settled into our very level pull thru in a matter of minutes. We made a couple of quick calls to family members to let them know we'd made it safely to our destination, and then enjoyed our favorite adult beverages with a toast to our exciting new lifestyle. With plans for a special celebratory dinner, we opted to save that meal for tomorrow - given the late hour. Instead, we sat down to what will surely be a very memorable first night meal.

Yep, we shared the rest of the sandwich and a Heineken.

With that, we're calling it a day. And, like so many of our fulltiming friends, we just can't wait to see what is in store for tomorrow.

We Have a Deal

I can’t believe I am about to type these words. But, here goes.

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!

The last 24 hours have been a bit of a blur. What a ride it’s been. Actually, it started Saturday when we got a call from our agent that the “second looker” intended to write an offer. Our agent asked us to stay close to our rolling home. With that, we did our best to stay calm while emails began to fly. There were questions about this that and the other about the house. We made several trips into “town” to pick up voice mail messages and respond. As the flurry began to die down in the early evening, we stopped in the campground office and inquired about fax capabilities. We explained the situation and they graciously offered us ready access to their fax machine. With a potential offer in the wings, we didn’t get much sleep Saturday night. With our house on the market just three days, we had a feeling the offer would be a good one.

Sunday morning started with an email from our agent requesting a detailed recap of our recent roof repairs. We compiled the information and sent it off with 10 pictures of our neat and tidy roof. Then we waited. 

Just before noon, we checked email for the thousandth time and at last saw the message we had been waiting for. We had an offer. And, it was a good one. This buyer wanted to buy our house for more than our asking price. Significantly more. And, it would be a cash transaction. Cash! We could not believe our eyes!

Our agent was hosting our first open house in the early afternoon, so we had to wait until that wrapped up to review the contract with her. (The open house was a huge success, with about 100 lookers and rave reviews.) We went through the contract page by page and crafted our counter-offer. (We were fine with the price, of course. There were just a few other little things.) It was well past closing time when we made it back to the campground office. But, the managers gracefully offered to stay and facilitate the receiving and sending of a bunch of legal papers. With the deal now back in the prospective buyer’s hands, we got less sleep Sunday night than the night before. 

We didn’t have to wait long to get the word this morning. The campground manager delivered a one-page fax containing a addendum of one tiny detail to the contract. With that, we drove back to town to call our agent. Our counter had been verbally accepted! We drove back to the campground and faxed the signed and dated addendum. The buyer and her agent met at 1PM to get her signatures. With that, the deal was done. We have a contract!

We close July 7th.

We can’t wait to tell this campfire story: In the crappiest real estate market in decades, we sold our house in four days for significantly more than our asking price to a cash buyer. Three weeks later, we hit the road.

Our fingers are crossed that it turns out that way.

Happy Blogoversary

One year ago today this blog was born.

Look back to that first post, and you'll see a couple of people with a dream. Of course, they had absolutely no how idea how it would all come to pass, but they had a dream to start traveling the country fulltime in their yet-to-be-purchased motorhome starting April 1, 2010.

Wow! It's really something to look back. In reading that first post and paging through those that follow our story really unfolds. From here, it reads like a very systematic story. It's as if we actually planned it all to happen this way. Funny how life can be!

As we sit here a year later, with our house readied for the market and our motorhome readied for life on the road, we are smiling. Why? Well, we're a heck of a lot happier now than we were then. And, with any luck at all it will be more like August 1, 2009 (she types with all fingers crossed) when we make our great escape. That'd make us eight months early!

What a pleasure it will be to be ahead of schedule.

Thanks so much for making the journey with us, dear readers. Something tells us the real fun is just beginning.

Cheers!

Our First Anniversary

What a difference a year makes.

One year ago this evening, Boris and I were pulling into a KOA near Visalia, CA on the first night of our maiden RV voyage.  We had no idea what we started that day.

We rented a 26-foot Class C for 10 nights.  Our mission: to make it to the Grand Canyon and back in one piece.  Though we had been "tent campers" for years, we had never spent a night in, much less driven, anything on wheels bigger than a car. But with a couple hundred miles under our belt that first night, we pulled in to the KOA and within minutes were enjoying all the comforts of home. Ten trouble free days later (well, except that one incident in the desert), we reluctantly returned that trusty Tioga and gave birth to a new obsession. 

Reflecting on the last 365 days, so much has transpired.  We created one heck of a list of bookmarks of blogs of current and future fulltimers (see right), created our own where we declared our intention to become fulltimers, and another blog to report on our on-the-road adventures.  We shopped for and found our moose, met up with a Winnebago owners group on our first night as Winnie owners, learned how Bullwinkle works (inside and out), discovered online forums, chat rooms and Camping World, found a new Winnie dealer to work with because ours closed, introduced our cats to the moose, hooked our Jeep to it, spent Thanksgiving in the desert and many weekends closer to home falling in love with this lifestyle. We've detached from our jobs, first emotionally and finally physically, and systematically begun a transition from a stationary life to a rolling one.  We've met so many wonderful, helpful and fun people - in person and online (and some both!) - whom we now consider friends. 

As we celebrate this anniversary, we're camped in the California Delta with members of our FMCA chapter. We have nearly half as much stuff in our house as we once did.  And, that's an especially good thing because it's going on the market in a matter of weeks.  The fulltiming lifestyle we discovered just one year ago and have dreamt of for months will be ours very soon. 

What a year!  We're definitely loving the ride.