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Those of you who have been LONG-time WritersWeekly readers may remember that Angela spent some time living in an RV, and touring the country with Max and Mason when they were very young.
Well, Angela and I are about to jump into the RV adventure again!
No, we’re not going to live in a camper. Angela has already experienced that, and we both lived on boats for years. No, we’re both happy with our house on the mountain. But we’ve decided to start stretching our legs a bit and planning some road trips, now that we’re empty-nesters.
Back in 2019, when we owned our wooded property in Florida, we purchased a 26-foot KZ travel trailer to stay in whenever we visited to camp and work the land. The county code enforcement office had told us that camping on the land was illegal. There was no electricity, no running water, and no structures. I guess Citrus County was wanting to prevent folks from just dropping a camper on a plot of land, and living in it. (Darned Commies!) So, I had to hide the camper in the middle of the property, and cover it with camo netting to prevent it from being seen from the road. We felt like outlaws on our own land!
Anyway, when we moved up here to Georgia, our daughter and son-in-law asked to borrow the camper to take the grandkids on various trips. We told them to just store the thing in their yard, because they have more flat land then we do. At our house, we have to store the camper on our carport behind the house – taking up a lot of valuable space. It was good to know the camper was being used and not just sitting. We were busy with gardening and homesteading. Plus, Mason still wasn’t 18 yet. So, we weren’t really in a position to go out on the road.
Eventually, after they had their third kiddo, they weren’t in much of a position to hit the road either. We were content to have them keep the camper on their land so we could use our carport. So, it sat for about four years.
What no one knew was that the roof sealant had dried and cracked quite a bit, and a leak had developed in the right, front corner of the camper. For four years, every time it rained, water was creeping through the camper’s ceiling, down walls, and into the floorboards.
Back in March, when Angela and I decided we wanted to start traveling again, we retrieved the camper, and took it home. There were five different soft spots in the floor. I had watched several YouTube videos on how to repair camper floors, and was planning a DIY project. However, a broken back from falling nine feet off a ladder put the kibosh on that plan.
So, in May, we had a mobile RV repairman come re-seal the roof. (First things first.) Then, he took it to his house to do the floor repairs. On the way to his house, the front portion of the ceiling collapsed because the support beams had rotted where they met up with the camper frame (more repairs).
We just got the camper back this month. I won’t tell you what the repairs cost. I will say it was a little more that HALF of what we bought the camper for! But, at least we didn’t have to buy another one! We’ve realized that the cost of having the roof sealed every few years (or doing it myself – if Angela will ever let me on a ladder again) is well worth it to prevent leaks and water intrusion. (Hey! Just like a sailboat!)
Anyway, the travel trailer is ready to travel, and our first planned trip sometime next month is going to be back to Florida to visit my mom. She’s got dementia and is going downhill fast, so we don’t know how much longer she’ll be around. She’s already having trouble recognizing my brother and sister. We’ll be staying at a campground right on the Little Manatee River.
We’re planning a bigger trip for next year – out west to Montana, and then south to Arizona and the Grand Canyon. If anyone has recommendations for RV parks/campgrounds in those states, we’d love to hear them! We’re looking forward to the occasional adventure, but I have a lot to learn about how RVs work. Next week I’m taking it to our local KOA to practice how to empty the black and grey water tanks. Wish me luck!
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Hubby and I were full-time RVers for 15 years… never had a problem putting TP in the toilets (two RVs). Make sure you purchase the septic-safe TP, dump tanks regularly, and you should be okay. We didn’t have pets, so that probably helped keep bugs out of our RV, too.
Places to stay (too many suggestions to list, but here are a few): in far western Montana, there’s a beautiful little campground called the Trout Creek Motel and Campground in Trout Creek; in nearby Thompson Falls, try Birdland Bay.
If you get to the Oregon Coast, I highly recommend Netarts Bay Garden RV Resort–get a bayside spot if you can (at least a year reservation, probably) so you can watch the seals from your RV.
So many great places to visit west of the Mississippi! Safe travels!
Brian- a little tip for you. If you find yourselves needing a quick nap while traveling or even an overnight stay (but be careful of which one you choose), Walmart allows you to stay free in their parking lot overnight. You can’t extend your walls and there is no electric or water hook up, but it’s great to stop and eat and rest up.
In response to Glenna, I live in a 5th wheel permanently and I do not throw anything down my rv toilet. Instead, I use a Dekor diaper pail and scented trash bags. It contains the smell so much better than a diaper genie, which I tried first. You can use regular small trash bags and not have to buy a dedicated system. You can find them on Amazon.
I’m 79 now and my wander lust has completely dried up. All I long for is to have a pre build ‘log cabin bungalow’ with a verandah on a small piece of land, where I can watch sunrises and sunsets, and hear the leaves sighing in the trees.
Maybe when my forthcoming publication takes the world by storm, I’ll be able to afford it in England, UK?
What ever you do to the toilet don’t throw even rv toilet paper down the hole. In hot summer weather you almost would need to dump daily or live with flies. Somehow the decomposing paper is a magnet. I live in a 22ft Winnebago for 2years. Just kept a gallon baggie and dumped it every morning with the kitchen trash. For Grand canyon I think there’s a Koa before you get to the main gate. Cheaper than the park but still a drive in.