When you live in an RV, certain things kinda happen......

Like when you're so *extremely* low on water that you actually find yourself pondering which you'll choose, washing your hands after using the bathroom or brushing your teeth.....


Like when you put non perishables away for the night and have to decide on the best place to put them so the mice can't get to them.....


Like your daughter saying let's have a party, it's the first time we have mice in the RV!


Like when you're low on electricity walking around the RV with a Coleman lamp feeling like Laura Ingalls walking around with her lantern.....


Like when you get distracted talking to someone while dumping and then drive away without your sewer cap on......


Like when you boil a pot of chick peas and the whole RV steams up.....which is actually nice on a cold day...


Like the heating apparatus breaking down because there was a mouse trapped in, and now schmeared all over, the system......(more on that another time)


Like when it's so cold you turn on the stove burners to heat up the place soon to learn that you probably should have removed what you stored in the microwave above it before hand......so much for the almond butter....



But other kinds of things also happen......


Like your kids complaining that they have no friends to play with and then, like a parade, 3 different families with kids arrive at your campground one day after the other....and new best friends are born!


Like when you 'come home' and try to park your house and a neighbor you've never met before spends a good hour helping you do it....


Like your children having grandparent figures around who love spending time with them and treat them like their own......


Like your dog receiving medical advice, meds and buffalo burgers from a a new neighbor and friend, who happens to be a vet tech.....


Like sharing campfires, cooking and marshmallows with new friends.....(no, we didn't buy the marshmallows, but our kids ate them)


Like camp hosts and fellow campers taking a sincere interest in you and spending hours giving you detailed descriptions of campgrounds and sights to see along the way......


Like tried and true RVers sharing their extensive knowledge about everything and anything with you.....



Life on the road is nothing if not interesting.  And it's only been a month!

Living and learning.......8/2/10

A successful restful night was had by all, hallelujah! It was kind of nice not to have to jump out of bed in the morning and have to rush out for this or that errand, just hangin’! No idea what the day holds, but finishing to organize the RV is definitely on the list as we randomly dumped our last minute stuff in yesterday and we don’t have a place to sit down unless we move things around constantly.......not an acceptable situation......

.......We’ve now enjoyed our first road trip smoothies for breakfast while getting some very helpful suggestions from yet another friendly camper. He is actually the campground host but he’s also a full-timer, spending the summer here and then moving on, so we *really* got many helpful tips...

......RV’s been shut up, moved and water’s been refilled. Dumping the so called ‘black water’ (use your imagination if you don’t know what that is) is currently underway with the boys in tow since that *is* what they’ve been waiting for all this time. Check out RV the movie to see what I mean, but it ain’t pretty! Hopefully S’s dumping process will go much smoother, no pun intended ;-). We now have a new neighbor who will help S park the darn thing (we have yet to name it) when he returns - bottom line, RV folk are really really friendly and helpful!!!..........

.........We’re learning to live in our small space, that, BTW, isn’t really that small come to realize! There is so much storage in this thing it’s unbelievable. We are experiencing some bumps and bruises, literally, since moving within our limited spaces will take some getting used to. We’ve had bumped heads, elbows, feet - all part of the learning curve. But really, when we get tired of being inside, we head outside.

We’ve got a beautiful view of the lake, mountains, Aspens and wild flowers. The sounds of birds, crickets, wind and rain. The older two have been biking around the campground loop and are having the time of their lives.



The following quotes were heard today: “You know, it’s not so bad living in an RV” by Inventor and “Can we stay in the RV for 2 years? maybe 3? or even 5??” by Analyzer.....

......Conservation - we’re looking at it in a whole new way. It’s beyond doing the right thing or being PC, it’s actually a matter of running out of stuff. While living with indoor plumbing we don’t necessarily think about running out of water. We know that we should conserve and can maybe even picture the lakes and oceans being polluted and depleted. Right now we don’t have a water hookup so we fill the tanks at a central location and then if we don't want to move the whole darn thing again, we *must* minimize our water use, there are no two ways about it. Dish washing takes on a whole new face, not to mention showering, toothbrushing, hand washing and even toilet flushing (but I’ll spare you the details)! If we don’t have electrical hookups we either have no electricity or when we purchase a generator we still have to use electricity way more conservatively than we did while living in our house (and as some of you know, we were pretty conservative to begin with). It’s all about preserving our resources, and this time, it’s right in our faces. I don’t have a problem with that, I actually find it kind of liberating ironically.

Oh, one more kitchen related item, I like not having to take 6-8 strides from sink to fridge or stovetop, or to an opposite counter. Granted, it’s only been a day, but still, we all keep looking at each other and say, wow, this is pretty cool!

Some of our adventures during our stay at Steamboat......