Say What?

Did we really say we bought a house?

Oh yeah! We did!

Technically, we haven't bought it just yet. We made an offer, which has been accepted. We're currently in escrow. (And, that's such an exciting place to be!)

So, what's up? What prompted these two nomads to cough up the cash for a 2,100-square-foot split level in the 'burbs?  Perhaps the best way to explain what's up is to answer a few questions.

Q. So, you're hangin' up the keys. Are you sad about that?

A. We're not the least bit sad. We're excited! 

Unlike our marriage, fulltime RVing was never a "forever" gig for us. From the beginning, our plan was to live on the road for "a year or two, perhaps as long as three." It's been almost four. We were overdue! As we close the chapter of our lives that was lived on the road, we're moving on to a chapter where we'll be reconnecting with our old hometown in a brand new way. 

And, while Bullwinkle's keys will soon be hanging on a nifty rack in our new house, they won't stay there long. We're thrilled to be making the move from fulltime RVers to "anytime" RVers! We're already planning round-trip excursions from here. 

Q. Are you sorry fulltime RVing didn't work out for you?

A. Didn't work out? We're closing in on four years of this amazing lifestyle. If fulltiming hadn't worked out for us we would have known (and stopped) long, long ago. We've loved it! 

We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to do this crazy thing.  We've explored so many stunning places, met so many wonderful people and made lots of new friends. What's not to like? We hoped it would be the journey of a lifetime. It has exceeded our expectations.

Q. Then, why are you stopping?

A. The short answer is we couldn't muster the energy to drive across West Texas for a third time.

But, that's not really it. While we were lacking enthusiasm to head west, we both felt some kind of gravitational pull back to Kansas City. We've made dozens of trips in and out of our old hometown since we left here 13 years ago, yet we'd never felt this kind of powerful tug. 

We were being called home. 

No one asked us to do it. We just knew this is where we wanted to be. And, when you just know, you go. As soon as the snow cleared, we pointed the moose north. Our energy and enthusiasm returned instantly. It was clear we were on the right path. 

Just as they had when we left Oakland to hit the road, things fell into place. On extremely short notice, our home park had a spot for us for exactly a month. That provided us a window of opportunity to find the perfect house at the perfect time at a perfect price, just as real estate prices began to percolate. We didn't want to miss the best real estate market in years. And, by the looks of things, we didn't.

It feels like it was all meant to be.  As much as we have loved our life on the road, we have found something else we love even more.

Q. Why Kansas City?

A. We have a list of reasons! The bottom line is the easiest place for us to call home is also the best. We resisted returning to the place we lived for the first four decades of our lives because it was so familiar and comfortable. Turns out that after a decade living in California and four years of exploring new places on the road, familiar and comfortable are exactly what we want. Kansas City is home!

In our travels, we looked at real estate in some of our favorite towns. Whenever we got remotely serious about purchasing a home, we got antsy. We'd think of our old hometown and couldn't imagine not living there.

While we have no desire to return to the workaholic lives we lived here before, we do have plans to do a little work. Paul has maintained relationships with a handful of financial planning/investment management clients while we've been on the road. Having a home base provides an opportunity to grow that into a small business, which we've always wanted to do. And, Kansas City is the best place for us to do that. We're both eager to see Paul busy!

Besides being a place where a bunch of our family and friends live, Kansas City is centrally located. We can point Bullwinkle in any direction from here and be somewhere fun in a day or two. We can't wait!

Q. What about Bullwinkle?

A. Well, today, he's getting his annual chassis service. Tomorrow, we're heading off to southwest Missouri to visit extended family. Next week he'll bring us back to Kansas City and, if everything works as planned, we'll close escrow by the end of the month. Near the top of our "to-do" list is finding a safe, secure and sheltered spot for Bullwinkle to call home. But, he won't stay there long. After we get settled in, we'll be off together on some Summer adventures. 

Bullwinkle is like a member of our family. So, we're sticking together! He'll get more rest than he's been used to. But, after traveling over 30,000 miles, he certainly deserves it! We feel fortunate to have such a comfortable (and movable) second home! 

Q. What about your new home?

A. All systems are go with this deal, but we don't want to jinx anything. It's tough to type with my fingers crossed, but I'll say it's cute, comfortable and just the right size for two people and two cats who have been living in 400 square feet. It's a 35-year-old house that's been redone inside and out. It's almost like new, but it's sitting on a lovely lot in a well-established neighborhood we know and love. And, of course, it has a long, level driveway. Bullwinkle won't live there, but he'll be a frequent visitor!

Q. What about your blog?

A. As our fulltiming adventures come to a close, we'll wrap up things here at The Great RV Escape. We pledged long ago that we'd share our story from beginning to end. So, we shall. As exciting as all of the preparations for life on the road were, we're here to tell you that transitioning from "fulltimers" to "anytimers" is an exciting adventure! And, it's all part of the process. We want to capture it all. And, we hope our complete story helps somebody who finds their way to these pages someday. 

Bullwinkle's Travels will continue, of course. We'll share our "anytimer" adventures there. Of course, that poor, neglected blog is so out-of-date, it's going to take some serious dusting off and updating. I'm on it!

Q. What's next?

A. Suddenly, we have LOTS to do! We'll keep you posted. 

The College Vibe

This latest series of posts has sparked some dandy comments. We always like comments, but we're especially appreciating the most recent efforts of our lovely readers. Y'all seem to be approaching this new chapter of our adventures in the spirit in which it's being written: with fun. We feel like we're in good company. Thanks so much!

Before we get too far into today's subject, we wanted to address a couple of items from recent comments.

Our buddies Sue and Doug asked about landing in one of our favorite spots -- Gunnison, Colorado -- and bugging out during those 30-below winters.

We love Gunnison so! And, we have thought about the possibility of becoming snowbirds. But, as much as we love our favorite high-altitude town, we are more in love the idea of having a place where we could stay all year, if we so decided. We plan to do lots of extended traveling after we find our home base, but we don't like the idea of being forced to hit the road by Mother Nature every year. So, for now, we'll look for a place that's livable year-round. (And, you can bet Gunnison will be a frequent stop on our summer travel schedule!)

Now that we've put some of our critical criteria out there, we certainly welcome your suggestions for spots worth considering. ArkTravelers offered up Fayetteville, and we're so pleased to report that Arkansas is on our itinerary for this fall. We've been meaning to spend some significant time in The Natural State for awhile, but life kept getting in the way. We are looking forward to our visit to Fayetteville and surrounding areas. We'll definitely keep you posted.

The Odd Essay (I can so relate to that!) asked about how "when" we land might impact "where." And, that's a great question. This quest feels like such a moving target (no pun intended), it is certainly subject to change. At not quite 55 years old, we're not ready to hang out where most retirees retire. Our current criteria feels like it should appeal to us for at least the next decade or so. If not, I guess we'll move!

Jessica and Harry, who are currently "practicing" for their fulltime RVing adventures, made an inquiry that inspired the subject of this post. Thinking they might have missed the answer, they wondered about our fascination with college towns. And, we haven't said. (Or, at least I don't remember!) But, here goes.

There's something about college towns. For us, anyway. It's tough to put a finger on exactly why. But, we like the vibe. The seasonal injection of knowledge-hungry students gives a community a boost of energy. On the flip side, their summer exodus gives a community an annual cue to slow down, spread out and relax.

With a college town, you tend to get better and more fun restaurants. And, there's lots to do. Most college towns offer as many cultural activities as many bigger cities. In a college town, the whole place just seems to have a higher IQ. And, with an ongoing influx of new 18 and 19-year-olds, the community gets an annual dose of fresh energy.

For nearly a decade we lived within shouting distance of the UC-Berkeley campus. Of course, there's nothing "small" about Cal or Berkeley, and a lot of it is a bit over the top. But, there was a lot we enjoyed about football Saturdays, cool concerts and restaurants featuring cuisines from around the world.

In our travels, we've noticed how college towns stand out. Alpine could easily be a remote West Texas town. But, thanks to Sul Ross University, the place is buzzing. Among other things, it is home to a fine dining establishment that's a sister-restaurant to a 5-star place in Fort Worth. Missoula is definitely a crossroads town in western Montana. But, the University of Montana brings a cool vibe to town that made us think about moving in! And, we felt the shift in our beloved Gunnison last Fall when the 2,300 students came back to Western State College. The town came alive!

And, of course, there's our own college town. As we've said, Lawrence, Kansas is a place we might love to call home. Imagining life in the shadow of our very favorite University is easy, indeed!

All this said, we know well how life among college students can grate on your nerves. We had an uncanny ability to schedule a trip to the grocery store on the Sunday night before a new semester. Our local Safeway was crawling with kids who were three or four to a cart loaded with Ramen noodles, mac-n-cheese and Red Bull. Still, it was fun to be a part of it all.

So, that explains our infatuation with college towns. We'd love to be part of one again one day.

But for now, we need to wrap up our stay here in Kansas City. Tomorrow will be a day filled with tearful goodbyes and getting ready to roll.

We can't wait.

Critical Criteria

One of the things we thought about during our "down days" as bloggers (But, have you noticed how things have suddenly "picked up"?) was what we want in the town in which we choose to land and set up our home base. Until very recently, we would simply immerse ourselves in each town and get the feel of the place. Kerrville felt good. Santa Fe didn't. (Though it's an awesome place to visit!) Gunnison felt very good, in the Summer, of course. With each town we've visited over the past three years, we've departed with an intuitive sense of whether or not that destination was a place we'd like to settle down in someday. The whole process has been loads of fun, but far from scientific.

Until now.

Since about the time we crossed back over the Mississippi River last month, we've been working on our list of "must haves" for the town we will choose as our home base. The first on the list was that our place will be west of the Mississippi River! Of course, there are a multitude of wonderful places we love to visit east of that big river. But, one thing we've learned in our travels is that we are, at our core, Westerners.

With that little piece of self-discovery, we narrowed our search from "anywhere" in the country to "somewhere." Over the last few weeks, we've added to the list of criteria. Heck, I even put it on a spreadsheet. Yesterday, I looked online for a bit of help.

Find Your Spot.com features a quiz designed to help you find cities and towns that are most likely to appeal to you, based on your answers to an eight-part quiz that inquires about everything from the weather to culture, education, medical care, transportation, recreation, size, safety, location, home prices, taxes, faith and personal fit. Before you click on this link to the quiz, let me warn you, after you take the quiz, and before you get your list of 24 recommended locations, the site asks for a bunch of personal information, which I opted not to submit. Even without getting the answers, I like the quiz for the things it make you think about. Once we know what we want, we don't really need a list. We'll have great fun finding the place that's right for us on our own.

I'll share some of our critical criteria here, but I want to make it clear that these are the factors that appeal to us, and only us. Any list like this will be unique to each individual going through this process. There's no right or wrong to it all. And, like our travel plans, our list is definitely written in chalk, subject to change at any time.

With that disclaimer out of the way, here's a look at some of our criteria, such as they are today.

We'd like to "land" in a town that:

• is west of the Mississippi River, but not in California
• is part of a medium-to-small SMSA (300,000 people or less)
• features natural geographic beauty
• has lots of opportunities for outdoor activities (hiking, biking, geocaching)
• is livable year-round 
• is within a short drive to a major airport
• is within a day's drive of Kansas City (It can be a long day's drive.)
• is a college town
• is within a short drive of friends and/or family
• has quality services (medical, vet, shopping)
• offers safe and affordable living

We have a few other items on the list that are a bit more personal. But, this gives you an idea of the kind of things we're thinking about and looking for. We think it's a pretty nifty list!

In our travels, we've noticed a handful of states where we really feel at home. Kansas is obvious. There are parts of our adopted state of Texas that speak to us, but we haven't been there in Summer! Colorado is another. We've always liked it, but last Summer we absolutely fell in love with Gunnison. It's not livable (by our standards) in Winter, but there are several other places in the state that we are eager to explore and consider.

We're heading to one of those places in a week or so. Fort Collins is a town we've only driven through. But, we're looking forward to spending a month there this summer and checking it out. Whether or not it makes the cut doesn't really matter. Either way, we know it will be a lot of fun.

Meanwhile, we'll keep working on our list.

We're Flip Floppers

Whew! I can't tell you how much better I feel. It's so good to have come out of the closet on thinking about the end of our fulltiming adventures.

I want to remind you dear readers, we're just thinking about it at this point. We still have many miles ahead of us in this journey. Heck, we have tentative travel plans well into next year. And, along the way we will continue to think about and look for that place where we want to land and establish our home base. From that place, wherever it may be, we will continue to travel -- sometimes for months on end -- and continue to enjoy this amazing lifestyle. As so many of our commenting readers alluded to, that will be the time when we will enjoy the best of both worlds. We can't wait. But, we will.

As we search for our perfect landing spot, we know we will have our challenges. Chief among them is this simple fact: We're flip floppers.

(Thank God we're not running for office!)

But, it's true. We are. We will fall in love with a place in a heartbeat. We'll convince ourselves "this" is the place for us. Then, in a nanosecond, we'll talk ourselves out of it. We move down the road and find another spot with which we fall in love. It's a vicious, but really fun, cycle.

This flip flopping is most obvious while we're here in our native Kansas City. It would be a piece of cake for us to settle here. The fact that the area is filled with friends and family and we know our way around practically with our eyes closed makes the idea of settling here a real no brainer.

Then, in the same breath, we can talk ourselves out of it. It's too easy. It's not really our favorite place. It's too big. Too familiar. Too hot. Too humid. Too cold in the Winter. We want to be somewhere different.

See how we flip flop?

See how this process of finding our home base might take us awhile?

Today we had the great pleasure of spending some time in a town that's at, or near, the top of our potential home base list. Lawrence, Kansas sits just 45 miles - and a few light years - away from Kansas City. This quaint little college town on the banks of the Kansas river is home to our alma mater, The University of Kansas. It serves up a heap of history with a nice side of modern conveniences. It's town and country. It's business and academia. It's the best of everything.

Yep. We love it.

One of our hundred nieces and nephews (O.K., it's really not that many!) has expressed a passionate interest in attending the KU School of Journalism. Even though this particular niece still has a couple of years of high school left, as a couple of proud alums, we jumped at the chance to show her around.

We spent the day in our favorite college town. As we hiked around campus, we poked in stately buildings that were familiar and new. At one point in the day, we enjoyed a 360-degree panorama from our 10-story perch on top of the hill. As we took in the sweeping views of the university, the town, the surrounding neighborhoods and not-too-distant farms, we sighed in unison.

"We could live here!"

Oh, yes! We could.

As we left the Lawrence city limits, our niece was dreaming of her future as a Jayhawk. And, we were talking ourselves out of our love fest for the town. You see, we have other places to see and explore. It's too soon for us to declare our old college town our new hometown.

And so we flip flop.

When it comes to finding our new home base, we know we'll know it when we see it. It might be a brand new town, or familiar stomping grounds. Who knows?

For now, these flip floppers will just keep looking.

We're Evolving

I'm the first to admit my enthusiasm for blogging has waned over the last few months. It's been tough to find things to write about. I really didn't have much to say. At first, I didn't understand exactly why. But, today it occurred to me.

We're evolving.

I'm not trying to steal any headlines here. Really, it's not that. But, what it is is a change in how we are as fulltime RVers. And, truth be told, I was afraid to write about it. Until today.

Today I remembered why we started this blog. We wanted to chronicle the story of our fulltime RVing journey, from before the beginning to the very end. And, from the beginning we have been painfully honest about what we're thinking and feeling. We have always told it like it is, the good and the not so good, for a couple of reasons. First, we wanted to chronicle our story. Second, we hoped our doing so might inform and/or inspire folks who were thinking about following us along this path.

In the beginning, it was so easy. We'd hatched this dream and started a blog about it all. The preparations were as exciting as they were stressful. Then, finally, we hit the road. Every day was a new and exciting adventure. It was all so compelling we just had to write about it, whether anyone wanted to read it or not. As the months and miles passed by, we became more comfortable as our mobile lifestyle became not-quite-so new. We started to slow down, relax and stay awhile in some places. Life was good, but blogging material became harder to find.

As we approach our third anniversary as fulltimers (in a month or so), something has changed. And, like I said, we haven't had the courage to blog about it. Until today. So, here goes.

We're thinking about the end.

No, we're not talking about the Mayan calendar. We're thinking about the end of our fulltime RVing journey. And, in the same spirit we've written every word of this humble little blog, we want to be honest about the process as we transition from fulltime RVers to anytime RVers.

I've been perusing the blogs of many former fulltime RVers lately, and I've noticed a theme: Folks are happily hopping across the country until one day they stop, never to blog again.

We don't want to do that.

Today we decided that we want to be up front and personal about this part of our fulltiming journey, too. So, we shall.

When we started this blog, we laid it all out. Here's an excerpt from our very first post, from July 2008:

How long will we be "gone"? At least a year. Maybe two. Perhaps as long as three. Who knows?

At the end of the road we'll settle down in a new spot. Right now, we're thinking it may be our old college town. But, again, who knows?

From the beginning, we knew this whole fulltiming adventure for us was a "temporary gig." Nearly three years in, that's still true. That whole "perhaps as long as three" thing makes us smile. That sounded like such a very long time to be on the road back then. We can't believe how quickly the time has flown. Today when folks ask us how long we plan to be doing this, we have a simple answer that reflects our new perspective.

It feels like we're about halfway done.

(Of course, that's subject to change at any time!)

But, these days, it does feel like we're about halfway done. We have a list of places yet to see, and places to go back and visit again. We're enjoying it all, of course. But, in the back of our minds, something is smoldering. We are starting to yearn for a home base: A place to call home; A real address that isn't a file folder in a warehouse. Someday, we want a proper kitchen, a real bathroom, a lovely patio and a yard. (Anyone who's following my Pinterest boards has probably already noticed this!)

We've given it a lot of thought. And, we'll share some of that, if you're interested. The bottom line is our travel plans are now including spending time in some of the places we might like to call home one day. And, that might take us a year, or two or three to find.

Who knows?

We'll definitely keep you posted.