How
do I summarize the last three months of our lives? They have been a complete deviation from our
normal routine. For me, living in southwest Florida, retired,
writing, and completely happy, and my wife, who still teaches popular yoga classes, life couldn't
get much better. We'd like to see our family up in Georgia more than
every three months or so, but all in all, life ain't bad. We've
spent the last three months, however, living in a box eight feet wide
and about twenty feet long. The box has wheels and we tow it behind
our car. It's called a travel trailer.
The best of times - Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, FL
My
wife and I decided to test an idea we toyed with for the future.
That idea was to sell the house and all the accouterments, and just
travel. That's it, just travel. We'd stay in a recreational vehicle
of some sort at campgrounds around the country, possibly even
volunteering as campground hosts at parks we like. Our longest RV
trip prior to this was a modest three week excursion through the
mountains of northern Georgia. We really enjoyed that trip and were
ready to happily repeat it.
Did
we really want to change our lives? We're very happy with the ones
we have. Great neighbors, good
restaurants and stores just a few miles away, the only part we don't
like are the southwest Florida summers. Hot and humid, with constant
thunderstorms and the threat of hurricanes, sometimes we think there
has to be a better way to spend summer than constantly watching the
Weather Channel. The thought of no responsibilities to a piece of
real estate that dictates how often I have to mow it or change its
filters, was beginning to grow on me.
We
have tested that theory for the last three months, traveling from
Florida to the finger lakes of New York, staying in
campgrounds along the eastern U.S., developing ideas and conclusions
about what we would like to do in our future. If we liked the idea
of permanent RVing, we would put our home of fifteen years on the
market and buy the perfect RV and tow vehicle and strike out for
distant horizons. For our experiment, however, our choice of RV was
to simply use what we already owned, a small, twenty-one foot travel
trailer. We decided to use our current trailer and be as realistic
as possible in our assessment of what we experienced.
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In the Beginning - Flamingo, Everglades National Park
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We
traveled over five thousand miles, had fun, saw wonderful parts of
our country that we didn't even know existed. Who knew Pennsylvania
had a grand canyon? We met many, many great people, got lost, got
frustrated, got mad, even got ready to come home early, but wrapped
up a marvelous summer doing something we had only dreamed of.
We
encountered practically every brand of RV made in America. From
marvelous self-contained class “A” diesel pushers that cost well upwards of two-hundred thousand dollars, to beautiful forty-two foot
long fifth wheel trailers on three axles that, while as big and often
almost as well out-fitted as the Class “A's,” cost half as much.
Not counting the $45,000 diesel pickup truck and the special hitch
you need to haul the 12,000 pound trailers, of course. Still, both
types of units are incredibly popular and are often better outfitted
than many houses. Without a doubt, they dominate the RV market with
older, retired crowd, the ones who make sure they have room for the
grandchildren. For younger families, especially those with small
children, the smaller pop-ups and tents seemed to be the most
popular.
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We've seen just about every size - Vogel State Park, GA
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We
also saw beautiful, top of the line, self-contained class “B” and
“C” units, but considerably smaller and easier to drive than the
Class “A” units. The top-of-the-line units are absolutely the
state of the art in technology, but we are not interested in them for
several reasons. All self-contained units have to be unhooked and
all the camping features put away before they can be used as simple
transportation. There is a plethora of really nice, lower priced
Class “B's” and “C's” available, but we learned we like the
freedom of using a tow vehicle any time we want, from simply sight
seeing to making a run to a local grocery store. There are pros and
cons of both types of units, especially for those who want to forgo
the hassle of hooking and unhooking the trailer and its connections.
Having only a self-contained unit is far easier for many folks.
One
factor we found that applied to any style of recreational vehicle,
whether towed or self contained, was the type of camping facility,
the hook-up, that is available. From full hook-up sites with water,
electric service, and full sewer, to sites that had electric service
only, or water supply only, we developed a set of wants and desires
for future camping trips.
Our
first major surprise of our trip was the campground where none of the
sites had water to the pad, rather a communal water supply that no
one could hook up to on a permanent basis. Some water supplies limit
access to five minutes per camper, We had never encountered
waterless hook-ups in our trips through Florida and Georgia state
parks, but we found that waterless hook-up is common in some northern
campgrounds, whether state or Corp of Engineer operated. When the
brochure or description only mentions drinking water, be assured
there is no water spigot at the campsite
Once
forewarned, we learned to fill our freshwater holding tank prior to
setting up camp, but the first time left us without water until we
made a special effort to fill the tank. Water weighs over eight pounds a gallon, so filling our 26 gallon fresh water tank added over 200 pounds to the weight of the trailer. The popular Seven Points
campground at Raystown Lake, the most popular Corps of Engineers
campground in their entire system, is also a non-water to the site
campground. By the time we stayed there, we had mastered the
inconvenience of a prolonged stay at a waterless campsite.
In
anticipation of campsites without electric service, we purchased a
portable generator that supplied 2600 watts service, but found out it
wouldn't start our trailer's air conditioner. I even installed the
“hard-start” capacitor on the A/C, but it made no difference. We
left the generator behind as we simply decided to stay at campgrounds
that had electric service and not be without air-conditioning. When
we stayed at my cousin's farm just outside Pleasant Garden, North
Carolina, we hooked up to the house water with a garden hose, but we
used a borrowed 7500 watt portable generator to run the A/C at night.
We quickly found out how far five gallons of gas goes and how long
we have to wear ear plugs.
The
second thing we learned is we don't like to be dependent on a
campgrounds' toilet and shower facilities. Whether in the state of
the art class “A” or in a basic trailer, holding tanks have to be
emptied. The gray water holding tank will fill up in a hurry when
two people shower daily, especially if you add doing the dishes. The
best solution is called a full-hookup site, with a minimum of 30 amp
service, potable water, and a sewer hook-up that lets you empty your
holding tanks whenever you want. Most full-service sites have 50 amp
electrical service, but check to make sure which power level is
actually available. With water and sewer, showering can be done at
your leisure and convenience right in the privacy of your own RV. We
walked out of more than a few shower facilities that suffered the
maelstrom of weekend crowds.
We stayed at commercial campgrounds that touted "Free WiFi," although they neglected to mention the Internet connection was free only for the first 60 minutes! Many commercial campgrounds also brag about free cable, but one we stayed at in Winchester, Virginia, had such lousy analog cable reception we used our trusty little TV antenna instead! Free HDTV beats free, fuzzy, indistinguishable colors, and bad sound any day.
The
majority of the class “A” units and many of the class “B” and
“C” units tow a second, smaller vehicle behind the RV, which is
unhooked and used as a runabout once they are settled at a campsite.
Towing another vehicle involves a completely different set of
problems. From being unable to backup your RV without first
unhooking the towed vehicle, to special braking and lighting systems
and tow bars, insurance, and simply being harder to maneuver through
traffic and gas stations, towing a second vehicle requires more time
and attention than we are ready to devote. I haven't been there,
though, so I'll leave that chapter to someone else. Having the
expense, the extra responsibilities and tasks of a second vehicle
just isn't something we want to do.
As
far as self-contained units are concerned, I have no intention of
living in a motel while a mechanic in Slipstitch tries to find a
replacement fender or even a simple belt for the engine. If the RV
we buy is to become our domicile, it can't be at the mercy of a drunk
or a distracted, texting teenage driver. We saw an RV on the
Interstate just outside Tifton, Georgia, with its side torn
completely off, its contents strewn all along I-75. That would be in
the same category as losing your house to a hurricane or tornado.
We
found how to pay bills, check mail, both the stamped and the ethereal
kind, and to keep up with the news, especially the weather on the
Internet. We visited libraries to use their free WiFi, and even used
one as a shipping address when we had an emergency part shipped to
us. We stopped at McDonald's restaurants when we absolutely had to
have access to the Internet. We know now we will have a smart phone
and a mobile hot-spot when we take our next RV trip, even if it is
only another summer jaunt.
A
Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania had never heard of humus, and another one
had never heard of 3-in-1 oil. We also learned in Pennsylvania you
buy six-packs of beer from bars or restaurants, and you pay whatever
price they stick you with. No beer or wine in grocery stores in PA,
and the beer stores only sell buy the case! There are no Camping
Worlds in Pennsylvania, either, even though the state must be the RV
capitol of the United States. Pennsylvania also has some of the
prettiest mountain ranges and forests in the United States, and
oddly, no sales tax on clothes.
We
know we will make changes to what clothes we pack to wear and what we
food we bring to eat. We learned we can live without satellite
television, but not local stations and weather reports. We learned a
lot, and most importantly of all, learned that we still have much to
learn! Anyone who prides themselves on being an expert at this will
someday be left scratching their head wondering why the wheels fell
off.
Also
on our list of experiences was a not-so-gentle reminder to reread the
instruction manuals that come with every RV. They are really written
so the average owner will understand them, but we found rereading
them a second time around can be enlightening. When I reread the
water heater manual included with my new travel trailer, I realized
it was for a different water heater than what was installed in our
trailer. I downloaded the correct manual from the Internet while
visiting a local library. A blog entry on the Internet that
suggests filling your black-water, or sewage, holding tank with
ice-cubes and then driving around town to clean out undissolved
toilet paper to solve erroneous water level readings would be far
more difficult than following the manufacturers recommendation of
using a commercial drain cleaner such as Draino or Mr. Plumber to do
the same thing.
We met a campground host who roared with laughter as
he recalled RVers who hooked up to the full-service sewer hookups for
the first time and then left their black-water drain valves open as
if they were at home. Toilets in RVs and toilets at home operate
quite differently! The expensive trips to camper service locations
that were needed to rectify the solidified, blocked waste holding
tanks could have been prevented if the owners had read their manuals.
Don't open your black-water drain if the tank has no water in it,
or, basically, never use the toilet without substantial water in the
holding tank. Most manufacturers recommend at least one-third full
before opening the black-water drain valve. In this case, not
reading the manual is not only embarrassing, it can be expensive.
We
saw a fellow towing a large, plastic blue-boy, a portable sewage
container, behind an electric wheel chair on his way to the dump
station. We saw the smallest fifth-wheel we've ever seen, a short,
twenty footer, towed by a diesel pickup almost as big as the trailer
itself, and more types of tents and canvas shelters than we could
possibly count. We've seen large fifth-wheel units being driven on
the Interstate with their slides-outs in the open position! Twice,
once at Raystown Lake and again at Tompkins, my wife had strange dogs
stick their heads under her toilet door. We've seen bicycles,
chairs, and dog leashes inadvertently left behind by campers, and
we've seen campsite scavengers who ride around campgrounds in pickup
trucks after the mass of campers leave on Sundays, picking up
anything left behind. Firewood, usually, but they always check over
the sites for any loose goodies.
We
met dear friends, both near the beginning of our trip, and at the
extreme culmination, the endpoint destination, of our three month
experiment. If it hadn't been for meeting our good friends near
Watkins Glen, New York, in early September, we might have cut our
trip short and returned home early, especially after Hurricane Isaac
grazed the west coast of Florida, but we held to our schedule and saw
the trip through to its end. It has been worth it, and we are glad
we did it.
It
actually hasn't come to an end yet as I write this. We still have
several days to go at Tompkins Campground in northern Pennsylvania,
the tenth location we have set up our temporary residence on this
trip. After Tompkins, we are scheduled at Watkins Glen State Park in
New York, Bolar Mountain in Virginia, then finally at our daughter's
place near Athens, Georgia. After catching up on our snail mail,
seeing our granddaughter and her parents, we will head toward Port
Charlotte and slowly but surely return to normal.
We
have decided to do a similar trip next year as well, still using our
reliable Toyota Sequoia and the twenty-one foot KZ Sportsmen, and
we'll take the dogs again as well. Oh, did I forget to write about
the dogs? We had Daisy, our thirteen year old Samoyed mix and Taz, a
Golden Retriever mix we believe to be seven or eight years old. Who
knows how old they really are, they are both rescues that have become
part of our family. We doubt Daisy will make another long trip, but
then again, we may be surprised, she is a tough old girl. Taz is
showing signs of cabin fever, but then he hasn't been off-leash for
almost three months. He is a free spirit tethered on a leash, and we
are thrilled with his patience and demeanor.
We
will plan a different itinerary as we want to see more of this
beautiful country of ours while still taking advantage of the cooler
weather we came to love during this trip. We will probably shorten
the trip as three months was just a little too long to be away from
home. That also means we won't be trading the house for an RV.
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| Home Base - Port Charlotte, FL |
The summation of the last three months? Home may be where the heart is, but right now our hearts are still at home.
NEXT: Onward - North to New York and Watkins Glen, at:
