Full-Time RV Living - Anniversary

Today marks one year for living in our fifth-wheel.  Love it.  Everything has a place and it only takes twenty minutes to vacuum, dust and clean the bathroom.  And all the comforts of home.

Christmas Presents and Stormy Weather

No chance to see the total eclipse of the moon tonight.  Our San Diego weather has turned stormy with rain and wind.  The weather is discouraging us from going out on our daily walk and we are house-bound (or RV-bound).

Knowing that the weather is nasty for the next several days, we decided to splurge on a couple of early Christmas presents to “each other”.  We went to the Otay Ranch Shopping Mall and Mike bought the new Tour of Duty Black Ops video game at Best Buy.  These games get more and more involved stories and the characters are surprisingly life-like.    So easy to spend hours playing.

I bought the Nintendo DS and the Art Academy “game”.   Not having enough room to store my art supplies and spread out while I am painting has been a disappointment on the road.  When I saw the advertisement for the Nintendo Art Academy, I had to have it.
There are ten lessons where an artist called Vince teaches you how to paint different pictures on a step-by-step basis. First, you draw an apple and learn how to use the pencil tools for outlines and shading, as well as learning how light affects shadows. Then later on you move to brushes and paints.  After the lessons you are able to use the tools and freestyle.  If you are pleased with your results, the picture can be saved.

Art Academy does not replace live lessons or painting with the real brushes, but in a small space it fits the bill.   It is rewarding and fun.  Plus, we now have a Nintendo to play other games.  Mario, anyone?

Big Box Store

At almost every location from Astoria, Oregon to San Diego, California, we have found a Costco.  Our travels have us seeking out new things to do and see, but it is comforting to find a Costco with aisle displays and products the same at every store.  Yes, I raise my hand and bow my head in shame; but I like shopping at a big box store.

Organizing: Clothing

We have purged and downsized our clothing three times since we have been on the road.  The first two purges were cleaning out stuff we were not wearing, and today was due to clothing no longer fitting—it was too big!  Yea!  Our new retirement lifestyle allows us to cook fresh vegetables, eat fresh fruit (how did I eat canned pineapple?), and exercise everyday.  It feels great to finally lose weight and do it in a way that can be easily maintained.  Along with the purging is the realization that fewer items are needed to have a nice wardrobe.  And you need to buy quality for it to last (you tend wear the same item more frequently).  We find purchasing from outdoor clothing retailers like REI, Orvis, and Sports Authority results in some more rugged wear.

Not speaking for Mike (As long as it fits, he is happy; but I at least make sure his shirt works with the pants…), I am realizing my previous wardrobe was dated.  I am not a fashionista, but I do like dressing nicely.  In my quest for age-appropriate, updated clothing, I stumbled across a website  http://www.polyvore.com/ that is a neat tool for planning clothing purchases and it is creative way (a collage/scrapbook tool) of thinking of more than one way to wear an article of clothing.  The picture to the left shows clothing I own (the shorts were a recent purchase) and the collage I created for our trip to the beach later this week.   I will let you explore the website to understand how this works, but it is pretty neat the way you can import from retailers’ websites.

I recognize this approach is not for everyone, but I find it is a fun little hobby.  Maybe as I create more collages, I can post another blog with them and the ways I plan to maximize my wardrobe on the road.

Just Enjoying Life

My mom called this morning.   She reads the blog everyday. 

“What is wrong?” she asked.
 
“Nothing is wrong.” I replied.  “Why?  Everything is great.”

“You have not blogged since Sunday.  Are you sick?” She insisted.

Really, nothing is wrong.  We have just been hanging out and I did not think anyone cared to know that Mike was washing and waxing the 5’er (this takes several days and the RV Parks allowing you to wash your rig are limited—our current park does) and I have been cleaning the cupboards.   Apparently, I was wrong—somebody cares.  I will be more diligent in my daily blogging.

If you did not notice, there are at least four safety violations in the picture of Mike buffing the RV.  What happened to his work safety ethic?  A rebel without a cause.

We did go out to eat at a cute Mexican restaurant in the little town of San Juan Bautista a couple miles down the road from us.  We plan to go back to the town and see the old Spanish Mission (built in 1797) and hit a couple more restaurants there.  I will take my camera this time.

I have been reading a lot since I found a new series of books to enjoy.  Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse southern vampire books and HBO True Blood television series, writes another set with a couple more interesting central characters. When I start reading, it is hard to stop much less focus on anything else.

Maybe tomorrow we will head to Santa Cruz to enjoy the beach and the boardwalk.  It is like summer here and we like it!

Beginnings

A reader asked for some information about our rig and why and where we started our full-time experience.  I can tell from her comment that I haven't done a good job describing some of our background.  So, here goes:

Mike and I grew-up and worked in the Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, Kennewick), Washington.  It was a great place to grow up and we still have the majority of our family and many friends there (and we miss them, terribly).  It is not a small town; the population between the three cities is around 100,000+ so you have some good shopping and conveniences that come with a medium size city.  But, the area is a bit isolated--you drive quite a distance to get out of the desert or to a large city.   Hunting, fishing, golf and water sports enjoyed in the Columbia River are the primary sources of recreation in the immediate area (when the weather obliges).  It is considered a high desert (yes, Washington has a dry side with no trees) and the weather can be harsh--cold in the winter, extremely hot in the summer, and dust storms in the spring (picture tumbling tumbleweeds), but the fall is wonderful from the beginning of September through the end of October (that is when we plan to visit!).  We were ready for a change during our retirement, and we also knew we wanted to see and experience new parts of the country.  Full-timing in an RV was and is an economical and fun way to satisfy our wanderlust!

Our choice was to sell most everything--house, furniture and some of the toys.  For us, this decision was very freeing.  Nothing to worry about 1,000 of miles away, more disposable income on the road; and to be honest, we aren't sure where we want to end up when we do settle down again.  It works for us, but I know it is not for everyone.

After researching RVs, we decided the one for us was a 5th wheel.  It gave us more livable space than a motorhome, and we already had the truck (2004 Ford F350).  More specifically, we wanted a Doubletree Mobile Suite--it is well insulated, quality finishes (both inside and out), and structurally seemed to be very well built.  We stumbled across a new 32-foot Doubletree Mobile Suite at Russ Dean RV in Pasco, Washington the summer of 2008 and it was listed at a great price.  Most folks want a 36-foot, but really the 32-foot is all we need.  Plus, we did not want to overtax the truck with too much weight. 

So, there you have it.  In future entries, I'll describe how we decided to furnish our RV, organizing, and our favorite technology on the road.

Today, we found a nice trail around Lake Marie (see picture above) not too far from our RV park at Winchester Bay.  Hiking in the woods gave us a reprieve from the windy bay--very calm among the trees. 

We're very happy with our new lifestyle.