We were going on a once in a lifetime adventure. We had decided to move across the country and start a new life along with our 16 year old daughter Jadelyn. We didn't know exactly where we were going to land, and we wanted to take what we owned with us including Gus-Gus, the dog, and Pablo, the cat. We decided the best way to do it was to downsize and move all our possessions into a home on wheels.
We set a date, so ee had a lot of work to do simplifying our life, selling our house, etc. We needed to spend a few months looking around so we'd get a good idea of what motor homes were in our price range, which ones would fit us, and were well built, etc.
To get the ball rolling we drove around the block to the nearest RV dealer, a hole in the wall place called, interestingly, Look No Further RV. Notwithstanding their confident title, I looked at their stock more with the idea of seeing what's out there than actually looking to purchase. Jadelyn was with me and, being young and enthusiastic, she was looking with an eye toward purchase.
Over the next few weeks we went in an ever widening circle to visit RV dealerships. It became our weekend ritual, a kind of bonding experience for father and daughter. All three of us went to an RV expo. But one thing kept sticking with us. Have you ever had the experience, during a search to buy something, that you keep comparing all others afterward to one particular item? Well, before long we found ourselves doing that with a particular rig we had seen at, you guessed it, Look No Further. Jadelyn kept telling me how much better it was than all the others we had been looking at, so finally I thought, we'd better go take another look.
This time I had my eyes fully open and a good idea of what's out there. We walked up the stairs into the 1998 Damon Intruder for the second time but this time with a heightened sense of awe. This wasn't the newest one we had looked at nor the fanciest, but just look at all that space. We felt right at home that day. It was kind of like the day we went to the animal shelter to adopt a cat and came home with two because they chose us. This motor home was choosing us and we knew it. We were hooked.
P.S. If you want to read about our moving adventure, it starts right here. Just make sure you press "prev" instead of "next" to go to the later post. It's a blog thing.
OUR ADVENTURE BEGINS
Our house sold in early March and the adventure began in earnest as we moved into the motor home. The next day we were ready for our first mission:
To dump the tanks. A fully self-contained, solar-powered motorhome is an awesome thing. It's like living completely unplugged. It reminds me of the day I switched from land-line phone service to cell phone only. You have everything you need right with you, all the time. But there's one big thing you can't avoid. Just like people, when an RV's gotta go, you know, you can't wait too long.
Pablo supervises the tank-dumping operations
I'm wondering if you're thinking that we're having an exciting time or that it must be a real hassle. Well, the answer is, it's both! Actually, I wouldn't say it's that much of a hassle. But I agree with a fellow blogger who posted, a couple of years ago, 29 Reasons Living in an RV is Better Than Living in a House. I totally agree with most of the reasons Heath and Alyssa list there. Some of my favorites:
3. RVing across the country makes you not take normal things for granted.
14. It takes five minutes to clean the entire house. Six minutes if you vacuum.
27. The RV lifestyle reinforces not living a “comfortable life.”
29. It teaches you to value experiences over belongings, and relationships over work.
In fact, these were some of the reasons we've decided to make this big leap at this time in our lives.
Remember, press "prev" instead of "next" to go to the later post.