RV Living- Lesson 101

We've been on the road about 3 months and when we have visitors they ask how this RV living works. As you can imagine it's a very different life in a home on wheels...
When you pick up your new coach at the dealership they don't do much to familiarize you with your new home. At least that was our experience! Thankfully, Jay is very handy and he attributes this to his many years on boats. There is always something that needs attention! This coach was no different!

There is a strict routine that has to be followed when you arrive at a park and also when you leave with a motor coach. Each person has responsibilities and they have to dovetail in order to have a flawless arrival and departure. This coach has 3 slides, for those that are not familiar with this, it means the coach has extending walls that increase the width of the coach when you are stationary in a park. It becomes very livable and cozy!

RV living was completely foreign to me until we started shopping for this coach, I was very surprised at the level of amenities that many coaches have! ( I made the mistake of calling it a camper once,no!) Full kitchens with top of the line appliances, residential refrigerators, convection ovens (which is a must) and some even have dishwashers, this coach has one, his name is Jay!

Every buyer has to decide what features are important or deal breakers and that's how it goes! Jay and I were in sync where that was concerned. This coach had to have a King size bed and a Washer and Dryer, also a bath and a half would be nice! Based on this we were able to find the perfect coach, and here we are!
We realized right away when we are on the road EVERYTHING has to be secured and put somewhere where it won't break or roll off a counter!
So this is how it goes day of departure... every cabinet in the kitchen gets a bath towel or a small blanket laid over the contents and then the cabinet doors have to be clipped with a small rope bracelet that eliminates the possibility of opening or shifting in transit. The counters are also cleared of small items. The dining chairs are clipped to the floor and then I start at the rear of the coach, by the way this is my list of duties on D day! The rear of the coach is the full bath so I lock the shower door and clear the counters. Next I roll up the area rugs and put those on the bed along with the small table and the ottoman from the living room. The bed is a great spot to store things so anything small goes on top. Next the kitchen trash can and Savannah's food dish goes in the half bath, another great space to store things, BUT, I learned the hard way not to block access to "the throne" because if you have to "go" during the trip you can't reach the rear bathroom once the slides are closed without jumping over the bed which is covered with stuff, awkward! Next, you close the rear slide in the bedroom which moves the bed in close to the opposite wall. The other two slides get closed which makes the living room and kitchen a narrow space about 4 feet wide, a tiny path front to back!

a narrow pass!

You know you did everything correctly when you get on the highway and you don't hear any rattling!
Once we turned into an empty lot and one of the cabinets opened and all the plates fell out and broke into a million pieces on the tile floor, it was like an earthquake, that's when we bought the door bracelet clips and a supply of paper plates! While I am completing this process, Jay is outside emptying the tanks, (I will skip the details on that process) and disconnecting the water and the 50 amp power supply. He attaches the Jeep to the tow bar, making sure the transmission is fully in neutral, if not, tires and transmission will be destroyed ! Next the Jacks have to be brought up, (4 auto Jack stabilize the coach when the slides are out) and a final walk around to be sure all this is completed before you depart. It sounds like a lot, but, its about a 30 minute process. We are ready to roll!

When we arrive at our next destination we basically reverse the process, Jay handles the outside and I gladly reassemble our interior! Savannah always looks at me happily because she knows its time to go outside and investigate her new surroundings!

This, my friends is our RV Life!

Next stop October 1st... Las Vegas baby!

Observations from the Park in Santa Fe

We settled in to our space here in Santa Fe on September 2nd. In the last 18 days we have enjoyed the marvelous weather, a family wedding, some hiking, a  Santa Fe Fiesta, a Farmers Market, amazing New Mexican cuisine and of course numerous trips to the neighborhood Walmart.

In front of the Walmart? The Walmart horse?

The Santa Fe Farmers Market, fabulous!
 

In between all this excitement we enjoy a normal routine. This includes a walk around the park every night around 7pm to enjoy the sunsets. There is something so phenomenal about the sunsets here in New Mexico... They are so enormous and colorful and its like a new painting every night.
I guess I need to upgrade my 4S IPhone because I can't fully capture this beautiful sight to save my life!

Our neighbors change every few days. There are always new people to chat with during our walks.
The conversations always include, "Where ya from?", "Is your dog friendly?", "Where ya headed?" and "How long ya been on the road?" Of course there is always a "nice coach/camper/tent" thrown in for good measure... I just think that's good manners, right?

I am rarely surprised these days about anything I hear, but, this surprised and delighted me. I have met several women who travel solo in their RV's with their pets! No husband, no partner, no kids, solo baby! During our walk the other day we saw a BMW SUV pulling an Airstream trailer, she was setting her camp! We commented to the owner, a (60ish woman) how nice her trailer was and she proceeded to share with us that she recently retired from her teaching job, she bought this diesel BMW and Airstream. She sold her house, most of her possessions and hit the road to see the country! She had already driven 6000 miles and was having the time of her life! ALONE! This conversation fascinated me! Yesterday an antique VW bus pulled in next to us, two ladies got out and proceeded to pop the top of the bus, set up their camp stove and settle in for the night! OK, I had to casually walk over to them and see what's up, call me nosy, but there has to be a story and I wanted to hear it! They were from Canada, two AARP card holders, "if you know what I mean" and they were traveling and camping in that VW bus!
 I have taken many solo vacations in my days and I always heard from friends and family, "you are so brave", not really, these ladies are the brave ones! So I decided to do some research on line, apparently there many women of a "certain age" that live this lifestyle! There are even Women RV Clubs. I found a Utube video of a 72 year old women who lives in her 40 foot motor home and travels the country for the last 10 years, You Go Girl! I found many stories like this, all I can say is WOW... I think the lesson here is about living life to the fullest and not waiting for the perfect scenario...

 

 

There are many stories yet to be told from this long and winding road...

Land of Enchantment

Jay and I visited New Mexico earlier this year and it was my first time visiting the southwest, I was truly enchanted! When we traveled here in May we drove from Las Vegas with several stops before arriving here. It was snowing when we arrived in Santa Fe, I was cold and tired and I didn't have a decent coat and I was starving after being in the car for at least 10 hours. Despite all that I was in awe!
Needless to say, I had no idea that the next time I would be visiting here it would be in a motorhome traveling 2000 miles from Florida. We made 9 stops along the way as my previous posts described and according to my trip planner, this was our destination! Our first stop in New Mexico was in Rio Rancho which is right outside Albuquerque.

We stayed in Rio Rancho for the Labor day weekend. Our home for three nights was The Stagecoach RV Park. This place was nothing to brag about, but it was clean and the views were awfully nice, although, everywhere you look in New Mexico you find a stunning view, just sayin...

On Sunday we decided to explore Madrid which is a small town on The Turquoise Trail ( Route 14). This little town was where the movie Wild Hogs was filmed a few years ago, starring John Travolta and Tim Allen. It was very cool, quite a few shops and saloons and some art galleries. It also seems to be a destination for bikers due to the theme of the movie.

We also were lucky enough to find a fantastic restaurant on Saturday. The Range Café, I assumed "home on the range", but no, it was "range" as in kitchen range, what an adorable place this was! The burgers were to die for! I'm beginning to think this trip should be called "The Burger Journey" because I've lost count how many burgers we've eaten in the past 2000 miles!
On Tuesday we checked out and headed for Santa Fe, only 40 miles north. I am excited to return this beautiful place, hopefully it won't be snowing this time!
Our destination was Santa Fe Skis RV Park, everyone we talked to during our travels had great things to say about it. I figured if it's in Santa Fe, its got to be great!
We pulled in and we were directed to our site, wow!
This place is amazing! Our site faced a beautiful prairie on the edge of the park, after 3 days here we extended our stay here until the end of September.
This park has numerous metal sculptures throughout the park and spectacular views. Our first night here we had a picnic on our patio with crab legs and cold beer, a fitting reward for this journey!

I couldn't wait to visit the Santa Fe Plaza the next day, I heard a three day Fiesta was underway and I wanted to be there! Welcome to Santa Fe! It was a beautiful day in the 70's and there was food everywhere!

We ended up in a roof top restaurant for pizza, which was the perfect spot for enjoying the view!

The following day Jay's niece Kate invited us to join them for a tour at Bandelier National Monument Park. A new adventure! We drove northwest about 40 miles to this park, it's a 33,677 acre United States National Monument here in New Mexico preserving the homes and territory of the Ancestral Pueblo People. Most of the pueblo structures date to two eras, in total from 1150 to 1600. This place was amazing, after a slightly scary ride on a bus to the start of the path we wandered through the structures for about 3 miles. The pictures hardly do it justice, but here ya go!

Jay and Kate

We really enjoyed the day, in addition we learned so much about how the Pueblo Indians lived for over 400 years in this area.
So far our visit here in Santa Fe has been full of wonder and new experiences. One of my favorites has been the sunsets here on the prairie....

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

Amarillo TX or Bust!

  

  

We arrived in Amarillo on a crisp sunny day. The Amarillo Ranch RV park was our home for the next  72 hours and it was literally right off 40 West so we weren't driving around looking for a park in the woods! The park looked exactly like you would expect an RV park to look in this part of Texas! In these parts you rarely see any grass or trees and this park had a bit of both. All the spaces are gravel but there were trees that gave some relief to the scorching Texas sun. We have learned that you always want to park facing the morning sun so you have shade in the afternoon. We arrived by noon and the park had a lot of empty spaces, we quickly realized that this was a popular overnight stop over and by nightfall it was full! I love watching the parade of huge motorhomes with their "toad" Jeeps arrive. It reminds of my days when I lived in Connecticut and spent time boating every weekend, the parade of boats arriving at marinas was similar! I couldn't wait to get settled because I had plans for the evening. In these parts everyone who passes through has to visit The Big Texan Steak Ranch! Home of the 72 ounce steak, if you can consume it, its free! They were also featured on the Food Channel recently, "Man vs Food" I had to see it! They also pick you up in a stretch limo with horns on the front right at your coach. We didn't opt for the pick up and so we headed over for dinner!
Since I am a foodie, yes I admit that.. I read the restaurant reviews before I go.. This place had less than stellar reviews, big tourist trap, too expensive, blah..blah, I don't care, I still wanted a steak, not 72 ounces, a 6 ounce filet will do! It was a typical tourist joint but, we had a blast! The three man roving band stopped at our table and when they heard we were from Florida they starting singing Jimmy Buffett! Hysterical!
We left after a trip to the gift shop, well fed and satisfied!

 The next morning we woke up and it was 58 degrees out, what a change!
 Our plan for today was to visit the Jack Sisemore Traveland RV museum.  This museum sits within an RV sales center, the owner who had been in business for 25 years started this museum because he had a passion for collecting old RV's and restoring them. Free admission, even better! This place was so interesting! The collection included the Flexible bus from the 2012 movie RV starring Robin Williams and many other RV's from the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.



    

A vintage Airstream

We really enjoyed our visit to Amarillo, its a nice town with a funky Texas feel to it! I'm not sure three days was enough, but, we were anxious to get to New Mexico! Our next stop was Rio Rancho New Mexico, 40 miles south of Santa Fe.


We were on the road bright and early and within the hour we were in New Mexico!