It’s FALL Y’all!

23 Nov 2017 3 Comments

by Betty Huffman in Family, Grand Kids, Life Style Adjustments, Retirement, RV-ing, Traveling, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

With winter fast approaching, we decided to go back to the STL area to spend some more time with my parents.  We planned to stay a month once again at Belleville Mobile Home and RV Estates in Fenton, MO.  We had our spot reserved from October 14 through November 15.

We didn’t have a lot of plans for this particular time in STL. We helped my dad sort through some Christmas decorations and other stuff and helped him get a little more organized on the unfinished side of the basement. As a result, Jack and I reorganized and moved the things we are storing there to the unfinished side of the basement.  I visited my mom in the nursing facility often.

This was a time we had planned to experiment with cooking in the RV.  It’s not really a lot different.  Outside grilling is about the same except we have a smaller, portable Weber gas grill that uses the small one pound LP gas containers.  It has a smaller grilling space but that is not that big of an adjustment.

However, inside the RV there is A LOT LESS space for food prep. It also has a three burner gas stove and a microwave/convection oven combo.  I’ve cooked with gas before, but it was a REALLY long time ago.  I liked it back then, so I’m sure I’ll like it again. I’ve never used a convection oven, so I’ll be doing some experimenting with that in the near future. Jack grilled some steaks, hamburgers, and hot dogs, and I cooked chili, spaghetti, and breakfasts. As you can see, I am not a gourmet cook at all! Each time we cooked a meal, food prep became easier, so I guess I’m adjusting to the smaller work space. We also had my dad over to eat with us several times. Once again, I forgot to take very many pictures, however, I did get one of the chili I made in my new electric skillet and one of our breakfasts:

Here is a pic of Zoey cuddling up to my dad on our couch.

At the end of October we had a special trip to Springfield, MO, planned. Jack’s mom (who lives in Springfield) had her 90th birthday on Nov. 1st. We planned a family celebration the weekend before her birthday at the Walnut Street Inn. All of her children, grandkids, great-grandkids, and great-great-grandkids were there for the celebration. Our oldest son, Jeff, flew in to STL from FL and rode down with us for the weekend (we took the car and left the RV). Other members of the family drove in from various places. Here are a few pictures of the celebration:

A few days after we returned from Springfield, I noticed some water on the floor between the refrigerator and the bathroom door. Jack thought it was just from the water he spilled that had not dried yet in the seams between the tiles. However, after a week of water seeping up through the seams between the tiles, we decided it must be a leak somewhere. When we couldn’t find the leak ourselves, we decided we needed to get a repair shop appointment at Camping World just outside of Springfield. We scheduled that appointment for Monday, Nov. 13, which meant we would be leaving the STL area a couple days earlier than planned just in case the RV had to be in the repair shop for a day or two.

Things didn’t quite go as we planned. On Sunday, Nov. 12, my mom became very ill and was admitted to the ICU at Mercy hospital. Jack and I decided he would go on to Springfield to Camping World for the repair appointment. I would stay in STL at my parents’ house with dad and spend a good portion of the days with mom in the ICU. Mom had picked up the norovirus (which is a dangerous virus for the elderly and very young children and infants), and after a few scary days she began to get better. She was well enough to leave the ICU by Wednesday. They moved her to a TCU room (Transition Care Unit) on Thursday when a bed became available because her dementia prevents her from being able to use the call button. On Friday the doctor told us she would likely go home on Saturday or Sunday. Therefore, I decided to leave early Saturday morning to drive to Springfield and join Jack.

We planned to drive half way to our next destination Saturday afternoon and finish the trip on Sunday. Again, things didn’t go as we planned. On my way to Springfield that morning the winds were terrible (20-30 mph sustained winds with 45 mph gusts)! It is unwise to drive an RV in that kind of wind! We stayed in Springfield Saturday night and then made the 7 hour trip all on Sunday. That was a really long day, however, I’m glad to report we made it safely to ……..

…….. I’ll let you know where we are in the next post. 🙂

So, for now … “On the Road Again!”

Betty

To Be Or Not To Be …. A Full Time RVer?

02 Nov 2017 7 Comments

by Betty Huffman in Family, Garage Sale, Life Style Adjustments, RV-ing, Sell All You Own, Traveling, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

Living full time in an RV brings some unique challenges. Some we were aware of and prepared for in advance accordingly. Some challenges were unexpected. It has been two months since we started this adventure. I’m somewhat proud to report that we are adjusting to the challenges and the different pace of life quite nicely.  

One of the biggest challenges for us to overcome happened BEFORE we ever left the town we had lived in for the last 27 years. Just imagine having to sell EV.ER.Y.THING you own. Besides having to sell the house, all the furniture, and all the home decor items, imagine having to put your hands physically on all your nicknacks, photos, memorabilia, linens, books, small appliances, TVs, computers, dishes, pots and pans, utensils, tools, household supplies, all holiday decorations, clothes, and ALL that “stuff” you have stored in boxes in your basement, attic, and/or garage. In fact, stop right now and look all around if you are in your home. Walk around a little and look at all that you have in your home. 

Next, think about having to decide what you really want to keep. This was NOT an easy task! We knew we only wanted to keep those things we had sentimental attachments to or things we would need in the RV. Just trying to decide what clothes and shoes to keep AND would fit in the available RV spaces was a BIG challenge! 

Selling everything and deciding what to keep, what to put in the RV, and what to store took about two months. We were fortunate enough to be able to set the RV up at a local RV camp right in town for about the last month. That way we could load our belongings in it and then rearrange things multiple times before we had to actually be out of our house. And, BELIEVE me! We rearranged things in the RV MULTIPLE times! It also gave us the opportunity to move into the RV “full time” the last week or so, and to return to the house to clean carpets and the whole house without a lot of boxes, etc., in the way. All in all, I can say that things went quite smoothly for such a massive undertaking.

Here are just a few pictures of SOME of the stuff we had for our garage sale.  This was AFTER selling most all of our furniture, dishes, and home decor items on Facebook Marketplace (THAT, too, was a MAJOR undertaking!)



We left our house and became “full time RVers” on September 1st. We’ve spent the last couple of months moving around to spend time with family and friends in different locations in Missouri and Oklahoma. I can honestly say the adjustment period hasn’t been too bad. HOWEVER, don’t kid yourself; it is MOST DEFINITELY an adjustment!

Imagine living in a 2400+ square foot house (or in our case plural – multiple houses!) for the last 27 years, and then moving into approximately an 800 square foot home on wheels.  This required some changes in our routines and how we do things.  Because our RV has a king size bed in the space where a queen size bed was supposed to be, our bedroom walking areas are limited.  It’s a good thing we are both short, somewhat “small” people!  We”dance” around each other in the bedroom and bathroom areas frequently.  We ARE adjusting to that!

We have learned the hard way about storing certain things in certain places.  You definitely learn the first couple of months which things you need/use frequently and which you don’t.  Those frequently used items MUST go in convenient to reach spaces. You also must plan ahead for items you want while traveling down the road; there are certain spaces that are inaccessible while driving and with the slides all the way in.  

Most RVs manufactured within the last ten years or so have been designed with well-planned storage areas both in the coach and underneath.  I fortunately have my dad’s “packing skills,” so I enjoyed organizing things and “putting the puzzle” together to make it all fit.  Believe it or not, but I still have some available spaces left to fill!  These pictures show some of the inside storage cabinets and some under the coach storage compartments on the outside.






Another MAJOR adjustment is laundry.  We have been fortunate enough to own our own washer and dryer for the last 40 years.  Now we do laundry at a laundromat!  Even though the RV has a washer/dryer combined unit in the bedroom, it is definitely NOT a practical appliance to use.  It washes and dries in the same unit, so you can only be working on one load at a time.  Also, the tub is very small, so small loads only.  Depending on the weight of the clothes being washed, it takes anywhere from 1.5 – 3 hours to do one load (we will only use this unit when we are in desperate need).  Compare that to doing FOUR loads in about an 1.5 hours at the laundromat.  This decision was a no brainer.  Besides, I have a great helper!  Here we are doing laundry this past week.


One more, final adjustment and thing that we must remember:  We are both retired now and can set our own schedules.  We don’t have to be anywhere at a certain time unless we choose.  Plus ….. We are finally ready to travel all through the good ‘ole USA as full time RVers now that we have worked out the kinks!

So, for now … “On the Road Again!”

Betty

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