We’ve been OTR for six weeks now, since September 14, 2007. How many times have I written the first entry into this blog, yet failed to put it to screen and posted. Too many chores. Too many things to buy for our new life. Too many things to shed from our old one. Too many broken gizmos, leaking seals, unexpected work.
Too much rain! We moved from Olympia to our WA RV site at Lake Tyee outside of Concrete in mid July. With far too much stuff to fit in our 33’ trailer. Strewn about in plastic containers on the side of the trailer. Then the rain started. Two weeks of rain. In July! After the rain finally subsided, the mosquitoes emerged. Maybe they were outside all along, but we were huddled inside, trying to stay dry.
For two months, Bruce was still working as an IT trainer for Western State Hospital. Searching daily for an Internet connection after many hours trying to get a signal with our new satellite dish. He haunted the local library most days, using their Wifi connection. And worked two days per week in at the Hospital in Lakewood, 150 miles away.
Jenna toiled away at the trailer, winnowing down our belongings to a manageable number. Many trips to Salvation Army and containers of clothing to the Hospital clothing bank.
It’s not like we didn’t know this was coming. We spent 2 ½ years thinking and preparing for this Full Time life. We bought a nice used Class C motorhome and spent the summer in it. Once we made the decision to move ahead, Jenna became an RV savant, memorizing a database of trailers as she studied layouts and quality and colors and …. Bruce took a crash course in tow vehicles, with weight rating, payload, wheelbase, and engines.
We corresponded with other RVers via websites like http://www.rv.net/ and http://www.escapees.com/ . Learned about septic systems, travel planning, boondocking, and equipment.
We even acquired a travel dog, our latest Corgi, named Denby.
We research that decision too, ‘cause you don’t casually invite another being into your 300 square foot living space.
Sadly we gave away our beloved Moxie cat, whose need to excrete we could not tolerate in that small space.
We were prepared and expectant. Took delivery on a
big one ton truck in December 06.
And sold Bruce’s beloved
red Celica convertible to a coworker who offered to buy it months before.
Ordered our new home in April 07 to pick up in July.
Then the unexpected. We put our house on the market on June 1, figuring we’d try to sell it ourselves for one month.
Bruce created a website and listed it on
Craigs list. In the midst of a down market, we sold in 10 days. The owners wanted possession in three weeks!! Uh oh.
Month of June = frantic. Every day - selling, culling, and cleaning. Bargaining, negotiating, cajoling. And still too much remaining. But by the end of the month, we had sold our house and much in it on Craig’s list.
July 1, we said goodbye to stixnbrix living, after nine houses in three states in 27 years. Off to pick up our 33’ Excel fifth wheel trailer in
Lewiston ID, then on to the
Life On Wheels conference in nearby
Moscow ID. A four day conference dedicated to fulltimers, with a “preconference” for newbies like us.
Then back to Olympia to pick up our remaining belongings and on to the deluge in Concrete.
So Bruce finished his work responsibilities on September 12, and we hit the road two days later. At last!
Since then, we spent a few days in Olympia visiting friends and Bruce’s mother. Then five weeks along the Oregon coast in three beautiful state parks:
- Fort Stevens outside of Astoria
- Cape Lookout near Tillamook
- South Beach by Newport - our current location
Beautiful places all. But the rain has followed us, reminding us of the reason we left the NW winter. (70 mph winds and thunder one week ago.)
We’ve waited for three weeks now to take our trailer to
Eugene, OR for a long list of minor (and not so minor) repairs. And an
automatic Internet satellite dish on the roof, as Bruce has abandoned the idea of setting up a
manual dish on a frequent basis – don’t ask.
We made one improvement ourselves. Our new TV failed. We sent it back to the RV manufacturer. And decided we don't need a TV anyway. Goodbye tube...Hello more storage space.
Once free of these final constraints, we can begin the Full Time life in earnest – traveling with no schedule or itinerary. Other than driving far enough south and east from the winter rain. We plan to arrive in
Quartzsite, AZ in
mid-January for an annual RV extravaganza. Till then and prior – a mystery. Ain’t that life after all?
Bruce
We have arrived. Finally arrived at our destination. After years of planning and months of traveling. To a patch of rock and hardened soil in the Arizona desert. Quartzite.
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