Life's Short! Go RVing!: Random Thoughts by Aubrey

Now having been on the road 5 weeks, I have gathered a list of items that I wish we had brought with us and a list of those I wish we'd left at home.

Things I wish I had brought with us…

1. MORE toys!!! Amazingly enough, Loralai does not even ask to watch TV anymore. This does put more pressure on active play though. Everything I read prior to this about RVing with kids said to bring very few toys and the kids would have a great time with dirt and sticks. Ha. Maybe this doesn’t work out so well for me because mine are too young to just let run loose in the woods while I do dishes in the RV? Either way, I wish I would have brought more toys!

We have found a few new games to keep them having fun, like this one that we call "Wasing Dishes".

2. The humidifier. Cheap enough replacement cost ($16), but all those little things add up. Coming from “humid” Austin, we were not used to the dry, desert air. I would have to wake up every night to put saline drops down Juliet’s nose and then suction her, just so she could still breathe while nursing. And having this in the beginning may have prevented my face from being raw for 2 weeks and shedding 5 layers of skin.

3. More cloths for me. When you have the luxury of washing whatever you want to wear, whenever you want to wear it, you don’t realize how few cloths you actually have when you no longer have a washer and dryer in your house.

4. Our feather down comforter. We’ve weathered some COLD nights with just our thin Target quilt!

5. A plug-in heater. See cold nights, above. We have since purchased one.

6. A plug-in fan. We’ve had some hot nights too!

7. More kid DVD’s. When driving 10 hours in a weekend, variety is a great thing to give a 4 year old. In our attempt to do this, we bought her Matilda. I’m afraid it was a bad call. She loves the movie, but has to act out all the parts where the characters are being jerks to Matilda, over and over, and over again. It’s very annoying to have your kid tell you everyday, “I’m right and you’re wrong” and “You’re mean parents!”, and then want you to act out the movie with her EXACTLY. Uhhhhg.

8. Cleaning supplies. I guess having a cleaning lady and Joe have spoiled me. I somehow thought when packing that a sponge, a broom, and disinfectant wipes would be all we needed to keep the RV sparkling clean. I have since bought a toilet scrubber, swifer, RV toilet bowl cleaner, magic erasers (Juliet learned how to write on the walls with crayons. We are so proud!), carpet cleaner, and dish soap.

S'more Night

Things I wish I had left at home…

1. All the board games. Who was I kidding? I had all these visions of us sitting down in the evening to play Monopoly or Candy land like all good RVing families should. But in reality, even if my 4 year old would sit through a game (doubtful), my 1 year old would quickly come along and swipe all the pieces off the board.

2. The cookie sheets that are too long to fit in our tiny oven.

3. The 12 month supply of deodorant. What was I thinking?

4. The ultra huge jar of sauerkraut that takes up precious fridge space, but I can’t bring myself to throw away. What if I have a craving for a hot dog?!?!

5. My steamer pot. Did you know you can steam veggies in the microwave and it doesn’t use any propane and is 5 times faster?

6. Serving tray. Yes, I will admit to having grand visions of meeting other RVing families just like ours who we would immediately click with and eat potluck dinners with every night. In such an event, my serving tray would be the perfect item to bring our dish over on. We have not met such a family yet. Instead, the tray rolls around while we drive and almost falls out of the cabinet every time I open it.

7. Whatever I packed in the top drawer of the TV cabinet. I’m too short to open it up and see what’s inside, but whatever it is, it has not been needed.