So, you are all probably wondering how we are adjusting to our new life? After selling our home at the beginning of May, we spent the first month at Johnson's Corner RV Retreat in Johnstown, Colorado. This was a great place for us to get used to the RV and get to spend time with our daughters before hitting the road. Our oldest daughter, Jessika, bought an RV in January and was living at the same RV park; just two campers down from us! Our youngest, Michaela, lives in an apartment in Fort Collins. So, we were close enough to both! These girls are the only reason that making this lifestyle change is difficult because we miss them so much.
Adjusting to full time RVing came naturally. I haven't missed the house (or the stick and brick). I love the fact that house cleaning only takes a few minutes compared to hours. We also have no yard work to do. Not that we had any to do in Fort Collins since our yard was zeroscaped, but I love to say that. I like that fact that when we travel somewhere new that I never have to worry about forgetting anything. I have not missed having cable TV. The TV we watch is free. We just use our antenna and get several good HD channels over-the-air. We also enjoy a good movie occasionally; which we will either rent from Redbox or buy a new movie at a store. Some nights we will just sit outside and watch the stars.
Our trip to Ohio was eventful to say the least. Upon testing the tow vehicle to the RV and taking a test run around the parking lot, our Nissan Xterra was smoking inside the vehicle. Luckily, we were just a block from the RV dealership and drove there to find out what was going on. It turns out that we had a ground wire that was installed incorrectly, and this caused the trailer wire to fry from the front to the back of the vehicle. After a few adjustments and purchase of magnet tow lights, three hours later we were able to depart. All was going well while traveling down the highway about 260 miles until we heard the warning alarm go off on our tire pressure monitor system. One of our tires was losing air pressure; despite having put air into it at a Loves Truck Stop in Sydney, Nebraska. The local tire shops were closed for several days due to Memorial Day weekend. So, we called Good Sam's road side assistance. Since we were in a safe location and it being Memorial Day weekend, they were short on technicians, they could not assure us that someone could come that evening. Luckily for us, just down the road was a Cabela's campground so we limped in there for the night. By early next morning, help had arrived!! We drove to a Good Year shop to get the valve stem on the tire replaced. Then we were on the road again. All tires held up and we were able to make good drive time and covered about 560 miles. We finally stopped at a rest area in Iowa. If you like to sleep with semi-truck motors running all night and having them coming in and out all hours of the night, this is not a good place to stay, unless you're hard of hearing like my husband. Leaving early the next day, we were able to arrive near Dayton, Ohio by Memorial Day evening after finishing the last 450 miles. But on the way to Ohio as we were driving through Indianapolis and Richmond, Indiana, our electric brake system failed light came on due to the rough roads on the highway. We had to stop twice to insert the DC plug into the cigarette lighter and reset the brake system. We decided to get off the interstate and take the state highway for the last 40 miles. This was by far the best section of the drive along the 1260-mile journey. From now on, we'll take the slow and scenic routes with our RV.
During our month and a half stay in Ohio, we have set up camp at Michael's cousin, Diana, in West Milton. It was so generous of her to offer us a space to set up the RV. It sits on a beautiful 15-acre property that feels like we have our own space and it is so peaceful and relaxing. She has a beautiful house and several ponds with frogs which is great to listen to at night. She also has two alpacas, a pony and almost a dozen hens and roosters. We are so lucky that they are willing to share that with us this year. Being in Ohio for over a month, we had time to spend with families and friends, and to get some updates done on the RV. First thing we did was get the stabilizers repaired. One of them broke while in Colorado so we took it to dealership in Ohio. After ordering the part and a week later, they replaced the broken one and while testing all four stabilizers, the back right one broke. So, while we waited for parts to arrive (again), we spent the weekend taking off all the old caulking on the roof and resealing it. We also got some of the wiring routed for our cell and Wi-Fi ranger in place. Slowly we are getting our new life off to a great start and by the time we head out, we hope everything will go smoothly. In mid-July, we should be touring Michigan and then the Upper Peninsula. In August we hope to be in the Dakotas and then home to Colorado around Labor Day for a few weeks to see our girls and the mountains before heading to Utah to visit the numerous national parks. From there, we plan to spend the winter in Campe Verde, Arizona for three months. We hope to spend the summer in Colorado next year and pursue our volunteering at Poudre Wilderness Volunteer. We would like to be camp hosts at Arrowhead lodge or Stub Creek Cabin in the Arapahoe, Roosevelt and Pawnee National Forests.