Ratchet Up Stress Level to HIGH

We finally made it to Texas! I was here all of one day before I heard "well, bless y'all's hearts".   I had to smile.  We're in Amarillo, and it is freezing!  I could have stayed in Minnesota for this.  There's actually snow in tomorrow's forecast.  Snow!  Yeah, that's not so fun in an RV. The walls, they be thin. Fortunately, we are all set quilt-wise, thanks to Grandma Joy and Grandma Clara. 

We're here on business, really. We need to renew my driver's license, which turns out to be the easiest thing we have to do this week. And it's not easy. Everything else is really complicated.  We need to register both new vehicles. Bought the trailer and truck in Utah.  Sent the registrations to Minnesota.  Need to register them in Texas.  We are not people who like things to be easy.  We live on the edge. 

We also need to get some other basic needs attended to.  Things like teeth cleanings and prescriptions take on a whole new level of difficulty on the road. 

As if this weren't all stressful enough, let's add in, just for fun, the fact that we don't know where we're going after this. The madness that is College Bowl games has taken over our plans, and I feel like it might break me.  Reese, our Marching Band kid, is looking at the possibility of joining the Gophers in either San Diego or Nashville for a football game...sometime in December...

You can see my issue. San Diego is West.  Nashville, as it turns out is East. 

We Type A's like plans. An awful lot.  We like order. We like for things to be in their places.

I have developed an eye twitch. 

Notice that there are no pictures or anything fun this time.  That's how stressed out I feel.  But to balance things out, here is a picture of Ethan and Erin playing pool, badly. 

I'm not even sure what he's doing there.  I mean, I'm no expert, but shouldn't the cue actually be on the table?  Even Erin, who is no shark herself, looks perplexed by what turned out to be Ethan's signature move.   I have to say, though, we loved this place.  It's so odd, but it really works.  It's the Route 66 brand spanking new RV Resort. Indoor pool and a delightful casino are included. 

 I know what you're thinking.  "I've never been in a delightful casino, Christi. They're all dirty and smell like stale people and desperation."  But this one really is different.  It's open and clean.  Maybe it'll be like every other casino in a couple of years, but right now it's really lovely.  If it weren't so cold there, I would live in Albuquerque.

Oh, before I forget to mention it, Henry and I have also started dieting together.  Because, you know, I needed some stress pimples.  We've cut out pretty much everything that makes eating fun.  In a nutshell, which is one of the few things I can still eat, we've cut all animal products out of our diet.  I caved the other day and had 12 of Erin's M&Ms and then faithfully wrote them down in my MyFitnessPal app.  They were amazing.  We'll see how long we can hold out.  Right now, the push is to just get back into shape. Why not? We have nothing else to do, right?  hahahahaha

When do we slow down?

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, again. I find myself wondering when the relaxed, retirement part of this trip starts?  We headed out of Utah and back to Nevada to have our "date" with Penn of Penn & Teller fame.  We helped to fund a movie he made, so we met he and his wife, Emily, and then went to the show.  It was a lot of fun, and my mom was there to help us enjoy it.  She had kindly flown to Vegas to babysit.  Since she left in a blizzard, it has come home to me that we should now be experiencing full on winter.  This is perhaps one of the biggest benefits of this lifestyle. I am no longer driving in wind, ice and snow.  Instead of the blizzard, we had this:

After Vegas, we spent a couple of idyllic days in Lake Havasu, Arizona and then brought Grandma to the Phoenix airport.  It was a bit hectic, more activity and driving than we would normally do. But of course, it was well worth it to have such a beloved guest. 

Now that we're in Phoenix and our "obligations" have once again ended, we hightail it to Texas. I need to renew my driver's license. We also need to register our new truck and RV as we are establishing residency there.  Why Texas?  In a word, taxes. It is one of the friendlier states in the union when it comes to taxation and establishing residency.  We will also be taking care of the nuts and bolts of new health insurance once we get there on December 5th.  We are currently using COBRA and it's incredibly expensive. I'm hoping we can do all of these things in the two weeks we'll be in Amarillo, because...

A new obligation awaits!   Yep, it looks like our Minnesota Golden Gophers are in the hunt for a Bowl Game.  The one that they're projected to attend is the Holiday Bowl. In San Diego.  California.  Where we just were for a month.  So, yeah, if that happens, we'll hightail it back to the state of questionable roads and over regulation.  Fortunately, it's also pretty gorgeous there. 

All of this is to say, we are not slowing down!   I'm starting to face the very real possibility that it won't. Ever.  Maybe that's just what it means to have a full life, I don't know.  But we have places to go and things to do once we get there.  It's made a bit more difficult in that none of it is written in stone.  This is the difference between life in Suburbia and life in an RV.  I always knew exactly where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to be doing in the suburbs.  There was always a plan, a road map laid out neatly for me.  Now, there is no map and no real timeline except for a vague hint of "next month".  Each time we move, we have to make another reservation and project how long we want to stay.  I'm finding it a bit more stressful than I thought it would be.  Where's the boredom?  I truly thought there would be more boredom!

Uncertainty is not yet addicting.  I think I'd like a better map. 

"I wish"

We hear this a lot, actually. "I wish I could do what you are doing."  Or "I wish I could retire."  I find that being the source of someone's envy is a very uncomfortable place for me to be.  So, as I do, I thought about it way more than I probably should and came up with this.  If you want it, do it.  It's just about the trade offs.  I truly think that we are not unique. As we are discovering, there is a large (and growing) community of full-time RVers.  We thought that, by now, the attractions we are visiting would be empty.  After all, the school year is in full swing and people are settled in for the winter, right?  Well, wrong.  The attractions we've visited are perhaps not as busy as they'd be in the summer, but there are lots of people doing the same thing we're doing.  And even more surprising, many of them are doing it with kids.  So, how did we do this? 

We talked about and accepted trade offs.  The things I was willing to give up are not trivial, not at all. I gave up order and convenience. Gone are the days when I could run out to my local grocery store for 1 or 2 things.  Now, if we need milk, we have to plan for an excursion into town. Since we change locations fairly often (at least weekly right now), we have to relearn the geography.  Order is difficult to come by. 

Silence ad space are also largely gone.  When you live in close quarters with three other people, two of whom believe that the optimal volume for conversation is "jackhammer", the sane people in the household relish the hour or so after the children have gone to bed. There is nothing so blissful as the quiet of a half empty campground by a lake.  The silence may be less frequent, but it is also deeper.  And space - we don't spread out.  We don't even put something down for five minutes without someone else asking for it to be moved out of the way.  It's tidier, because it has to be. But being mindful of the space you inhabit is definitely a trade off.  

We've also given up the convenience of infrastructure in terms of our children's education, our electricity and our internet service.  The last of those is a huge, huge deal.  Having unreliable internet service may be the one thing that ultimately stops me from enjoying this lifestyle.  I wish there were a better solution than using my phone's hot spot (which is notoriously unreliable) or trying to hook up to a campground's sketchy and almost always painfully slow WiFi.  When we find that rare campground with excellent WiFi, I binge on it like the junkie that I am. 


We traded permanence for adventure.  In fact, we have doubled down on that.  We said goodbye to our dear old girl last week.  The days of living in our Class A motor home are over.  We are enjoying this adventure much more than we thought we would, so we upgraded.  We now own a truck and pull-behind travel trailer with a separate space for the kids. Their "bunkhouse" has three bunks and plenty of toy storage.  And we can unhook and take day trips without worrying about the 6 miles to the gallon we were getting with the Coachmen.  Our plan is to continue this journey for another couple of years. There's a lot to see out here, as it turns out.

If you already own a house, you can definitely afford this lifestyle.  It's much cheaper if you stay a week or a month in one location.  And it's cheaper yet if you dry camp without any hookups at all.  There are plenty of places where this is possible.  I have given up driving all over a Metro all day and working more than I wanted in order to afford living in our mortgaged-to-the-hilt house.  The trailer  has plenty of room for all four of us, and the payment is a fraction of our mortgage.  I've given up seeing my children for a few minutes a day.  I've also given up waking up at 6am.  If you're truly willing to give up convenience and predictability, the trade off is fantastic views, lazier days and beautiful weather.  All the time.  I say, it's worth it - at least for now. 

Challenges of close confines

One of the interesting things about this lifestyle is the closeness.  It's not only the physical space, but the mental "space" as well.  And I think having a child with ADD has greatly magnified that effect.  It's hard to write about ADD without sounding like a bad parent or feeling guilty.  The side effects in my son's case are extreme negativity (about any suggested activity), a reactive contrary response to any question posed and downright harassment if there's something he wants.  The medications help, but we have tried to wean him off of those to disastrous effect.  He tests our patience, and I see this improving only as he matures.  Meanwhile, we do the best we can to manage his symptoms. I think many people assume that retirement and the life we're living now is just bliss.  It's just not so. It is always, always about balance. There will be good days and bad.  No matter where you travel, you take yourself with you.  I knew this going in to this adventure and it remains true.

There are enough positives to outweigh the negatives, of course.  This was true in our suburban life and it's true now.  We are in Utah and have made some big decisions. We are so happy doing this that we feel we can do it indefinitely.  We are also acutely aware that we are missing attractions along the way.  Because we still have obligations and timelines that need to be met, we are not fully exploring the areas we've visited.  So, we have decided to put our sailboat on hold, maybe for several years.  I don't doubt that we'll still charter when we can.  But there's a lot to be said for the RV life, and we need more time.  We will not even make it to the East Coast this year.  And next year is already largely spoken for.  We'll be retracing some of the route we took in 2016 and spending more time in each spot.  Additionally, we'll be heading farther north.  We missed out on Banff this year because of repairs to our RV.  So next year, we head to Canada for at least part of the summer.

All of this leads me to the other crazy decision we made this week. We have decided to upgrade our current living situation. We are trading in the old girl for a new trailer.  This means we will have a truck to drive around.  No more insane mountain roads with a 33 foot RV!  More on this later, but we pick up the new trailer in 10 days.  I'll document that experience when it happens.

I leave this entry with the stunning beauty that is Zion National Park.  Of course, the pictures can not do it justice.  We'll be seeing more of Utah over the next month, and I suspect I'll fall even more deeply in love.  It's pretty easy to do:

On the Road Again!

And yes, we do channel Willie Nelson and sing that song every single time we add a leg to our travels.  It never gets old. 

The last couple of weeks have been amazing.  During our stay at the Travis Air Force Base, we took a day trip to Muir Woods.  I had been waiting to see the sequoias since we talked about coming to California.  It's one of my clearer childhood memories.  I was privileged to go to a camp in the 6th grade in the middle of the Redwoods.  They do not disappoint.  My imagination did not equal the reality. How many times in life can you say that?

It's so quiet that you can feel your soul healing. Well, except for the other tourists.  But even then, everyone was respectful of this magnificent and silent world.  I learned that diplomats had met here, in the Cathedral Grove, as the United Nations was forming.  What a perfect setting to contemplate grave decisions.  There's a sense of smallness here.  Our problems are so minuscule by comparison to the thousands of years in the lives of these trees. I wish I could conjure this memory any time I am feeling worried or overwhelmed.  I wish we all could. 

After Muir Woods, we went to San Francisco, a bit of a shock after the silence.  It's a city of my childhood, so I thoroughly enjoyed the piers and sea lions.  Fisherman's Wharf is just, plain fun to see. But a couple of unexpected surprises were actually better.  We went to a museum along the wharf that contained a history of coin-operated machines.  It turns out that is really, really fun!  We spent far more time there than I expected, putting our quarters into machines from the 1800s all the way up to pinball and PacMan.  Not only was it fun for all, it was cheap! I think we spent less than $20.   Parking in the ramp was more expensive.  I highly recommend the stop if you are ever in the area.  It's called Musee Mecanique. I'd put the accents on the words properly, but my computer-challenged self can't seem to figure that out.

The other highlights for me included a street musician playing a Chapman stick and a didgeridoo, and a tour of the Boudin Bread Factory.  So much sourdough!  So little time!  We also took a side trip on the way out of town to the historic Lombard Street.  Apparently, we may be one of the last as, true to the State of California, they are now considering regulating or charging for this privilege.  It is quite a view, though.

In a nutshell, it's a great place to visit.  After the relative quiet and isolation of our RV, the traffic in San Francisco (and actually, in California as a whole) is enough to scare me away.  If I did live here again, I'd want to live within walking distance to everything I need.  Add to that the sheer number of laws around things that in other states are unregulated and, well, I'm happy to be where we are, off the grid.  Getting a simple prescription filled was like trying to merge two corporations.  I have a feeling that Nevada is going to seem downright lawless after this. 

After another week of being pampered with my dad and stepmom, we are now off again. Tables like this will be a thing of memory for awhile. She really did spoil us rotten.

 We'll be making a stop near LA to see a friend in the radio business.  We're going to record a demo to send out. I'm nervous! I haven't been on the air since 1999.  My chops may need some polishing.  I'm not expecting anything to come of it, but I am open to the possibilities. From there, we are heading to Las Vegas to see the incredible woman who took over my dog training business. She will be there for a conference. And then?  All points Utah! We'll be spending the better part of a month seeing what there is to see, checking out the Grand Canyon (of course) and then heading back to Vegas for another rendezvous.  I think the plan after that is to beeline to Texas, where we will likely try to establish residency and renew my driver's license before it expires.  Not that I am doing any driving.  The RV is unwieldy, at best, and Henry has a lot of experience with it now.  It's a fair trade, I think. He does all the driving. I do all the dishes and laundry.   In my opinion, I have the better end of that bargain! 

A break in the action - and just in time

The last couple of weeks have contained a sort of stillness that we hadn't yet experienced on the road.  We have spent the time imposing upon my dad and stepmom in sunny California.  By sunny, I mean oppressively hot by 1pm.  They are having an unseasonably hot Fall in in the valley as well as a drought. 

This was, we thought, our last obligation.  This would be the last time that we had to be somewhere at a certain time.  So we acted like it and became lumps for days at a time.  It was lovely.  The added benefit is that my stepmom is a fantastic cook.  Ethan has been sous chef for several meals, and my waistline reflects this culinary extravagance. On other days, we took day trips with the loan of a car.  I can not even describe the delight of driving a tiny vehicle that immediately responds to the driver after the bumping and swaying of a 33-foot motor home.  We even drove at speeds of 70 miles per hour!   Henry and I took a "date drive" down the coast to Monterey and Carmel.  If you ever get the chance to take the 17 mile drive, do it without hesitation.   It is some of the prettiest real estate in the country.

We also went on saw a dear friend of mine who generously welcomed my family to her home. And as a bonus, her husband is a ham radio guy!  I got a free demonstration. It's something I'll definitely be exploring when it's time to get the sailboat. 

We get a lot of questions about that, by the way. And the answer is, we are really enjoying what we're doing now.  So much so, in fact, that we have started to contemplate trading up.   We did some shopping for trailers that can be towed while we were in the area.  There are a couple of major advantages to this method of travel. First, we can detach the trailer which would mean no more stressful (borderline terrifying) drives up winding mountain roads in the gigantic RV.  Our pocketbook would be happy at the higher gas mileage, no doubt. And second, the kids would have a space of their own.  That would mean no more putting the beds away each morning and getting them out each night.  So! We have put the RV up for sale. I sort of can't believe we're doing it, and we'd be just fine if we end up not selling it. It's our home, after all. We'll see if we get a nibble or two.  With all of the work we've put into it, it's a steal at what we're asking.   A little piece of me just can't think about that too much or there will be weeping. Oh well, it's only money. And I'll take some solace from the fact that someone will get a lot of enjoyment from our labor.  So, I guess, if you know someone who's looking:

http://www.rvtrader.com/listing/1997-Coachmen-CATALINA-330MBS-119622900


A couple of other notables from this period.  We drove to San Francisco with the entire family to pick up a new addition to the Madison household.  She is the cutest little thing! 

I will say, though, that driving into San Francisco...on a Friday night...during rush hour is maybe not optimal. 

And finally, the reason for the obligation, the reason we had to be in California by mid-September, the Monterey Jazz Festival.  We got to see one of our favorites, Davina and the Vagabonds.  Check them out if you're a jazz and blues lover. They are fantastic. She knocked it out of the park, as usual. 

Now, the obligations are not ending like we thought they would. They are terrific to have, though. That's the difference in our lives between working and retirement.  People actually want to see us!  Go figure.  So we have dates to see friends and family through December! And there are more friends to add to our list.  I now think that this aspect will not change as long as there are people we know along our route.  Our current stop is the Travis Air Force Base, where Henry's niece is living with her family.  It's a mini city! I had no idea how big it would be. We went to the museum on base yesterday and my brain is still swimming.  I have decided that Erin should be an astronaut. 

So, while the "have to"s have definitely lessened, they have not completely ceased.  I think they lend us purpose, which turns out to be a pretty good thing. 

Routines and the lack thereof

Can it be that we have actually started to fall into a routine?  Granted, it's loose, but I think it might count as something of a schedule.  We get up late, comparatively.  We were up by 6am and off to school by 7:15am for an 8am start time back in the real world.  Now, we're lucky to drag ourselves out of bed by 8:30am.  Coffee. Always coffee. Then homework. We have been using Khan Academy for math, but we've discovered that it also covers a number of other subjects. There are great videos and explanations that are kid friendly. We are also using Science News magazine as a source for current events, and I'm teaching cursive.  Duolingo has our Spanish curriculum.  And of course, we take advantage of the local offerings.   The Lewis and Clark trail ends in Washington, so we were able to visit an absolutely top notch interpretive center.  Did you know that Lewis was a captain but Clark wasn't?  His commission just hadn't come through in time for the trip. But Lewis kept it a secret anyway. As far as the rest of the men knew, they were both captains.  I found that rather endearing. As the homeschooling thing revs up and solidifies, we are asking the kids to pursue a subject in which they are interested and then present their findings to the rest of us. 

We have lunch before noon.  I'm trying to limit my calorie intake, because I'm still cruise chubby.  Well, come ON! They feed you 7 times a day!  It couldn't be helped.  The afternoons then are comprised of bike rides or hikes or, as is the case today, a rafting experience. I have never been white water rafting, so I'm excited and a little scared.  Since I am not taking my camera with me on that adventure (because, water), here's a shot of our hike the other day near Cascade Locks, Oregon.  My overall take on Oregon so far is that it's even prettier than Washington State. Sure, Washington has the big mountains, but Oregon seems richer and lusher.

Every second or third day, we drive.  We've also started keeping track of chores for the kids and have implemented a points or "minutes" system for screen time.  Time can be added or taken away depending on behavior.  It's going shockingly well.  I'm impressed again by how much humans need structure. We crave it.  The kids are responding beautifully to the new guidelines.  Because of it, I now think this was such a great idea!  Of course, give me an hour and I may change my mind.

By evening, the togetherness usually gets to me.  I shouldn't be surprised at how much time I seem to need alone, but I am.  Quiet is bliss.  Bliss, I tell you!  I may need to invest in some sort of noise-cancelling earphones or earplugs.  I swear, my children are trying to rob me of any hearing I have left.  My days in radio and loud concerts took a toll before they were born, to be sure. But they find amusement in yelling directly into my ear, just to be sure that I am completely deaf in my senior years.  And don't get me started on Yahtzee, surely the LOUDEST game in the universe.  Don't believe me?  Play it with a 10- and 11-year old so intent on shaking the dice as loudly as possible that the outcome of the game is irrelevant.   I have sworn it off, along with breakfast. 

Internet is also still a problem. I feel like a junkie.  We're heading into California in a few days, and I'm looking forward to visiting my dad and his wife, my stepmom. I'd be lying if at least a smidgeon of my desire is a fast internet hookup.  I am itching for a fix! We have also been sending a number of packages ahead.  Getting mail is another complicated problem, so it's nice to have a "home base" for a couple of weeks.  These are things I naturally took for granted before this. 

So am I ready to go back and re-enter?  ...Nah.  If the right thing came up, we'd do it.  But we're a-ok with this choice for the moment, especially when we see our kids playing together on a beach. Ethan does a mean Jack Sparrow imitation. Life is good.