We have been home now for almost 4 months. Our adventures are now memories and we've settled back into a more "normal" life. Loralai has started Kindergarten and is doing great. Bean is running and talking our ears off! The kids are in swim class and gymnastics and Joe and I frequent the gym (all things we missed while on our adventure). We've hosted Thanksgiving (my grand dinner party) and have decorated the house for Christmas and we haven't stepped foot in the RV for probably a month or more. So now that we've had time to ponder our adventures, and talk to friends about our time on the road, here are our answers to many of the questions we've gotten...
1. The most asked and unasked question, How did you afford to do this????
Most importantly, Joe worked the entire time (minus a few weeks of vacation time while in remote National Parks). Joe normally works remotely from home, so during our trip he just worked remotely from wherever we were parked in our RV. Secondly, as a Realtor, I had the flexibility to leave town for several months, and had a great partner, Phil Barton, who ran everything here on the ground, as far as showing houses went, etc. I would just review the contracts and handle details as needed from the road. Thirdly, we got lucky and after having the house on the market for lease for over 4 months, were able to find a short-term tenant who paid our mortgage and utility bills, plus a little extra while we were away. And finally, we made a budget for ourselves while on the road. I always planned to compair our monthly costs while on the trip, to our budget, but that takes time and effort, and I never got around to doing it, but here is the budget we tried to stick to...
$1000 Gas (I don't think we spent this much monthly. Gas quickly crept over $4 a gallon when we first set out, but then half way through the trip, it dropped well below $4 again. I had figured $4 a gallon and 3000 miles a month with avg gas mileage of 12 mpg)
$600 Groceries (I shopped at Walmarts a lot. I think we did pretty good on this, maybe a little over.)
$900 Camp Fees (We did a little less then this I think. Most places were around $30 a night, give or take. Most expensive stay was a KOA in Great Falls, MO for $58 a night (stayed 2 nights and moved) and least was $13.50 a night in Roslyn, WA with water and electric only.)
$1000 Miscellaneous This was EVERYTHING else! (Oil changes, cloths, eating out, sight-seeing, etc) I want to say we did a little less then this, but I just don't know. We didn't miss out on anything super fun, I can tell you that!
$3500 total monthly budget
You could move less often then we did (moving usually weekly to a new location 9+ hours away) and save a bundle on gas. There are also plenty of campgrounds that are closer to $20 a night (if you don't mind only having water and electric and no sewer hook-ups, meaning you'd have to go dump your tanks weekly). We chose to stay in places close to what we wanted to do and with full hookups usually over the cheapest available. You could also trim down on the extra costs like eating out and the expensive sight-seeing activities. You could also look into "work-camping" where you work part-time at the campground. This can be hard to get into though, and they usually want you to stay in one place for at least a month. Plus with Joe working and me having the kids 24/7 it limited the time I'd have to work. But you can get free stays this way. We did do A LOT of free stuff in all the different places, like visiting parks, lots of the cities, like Estes Park, had free shuttles, and several of the national parks had these as well, like Zion, Grand Canyon, and Rocky Mountain National Parks. We did a lot of hiking and walking. One week we just parked in our friends drive way and saved $200 on camping fees. There were a few towns with Aquatic Centers that were only $5 for adults and kids were free where we could swim and play all day. We also got the $80 National Park pass, that gets you into any National park or monument, knowing we would visit a ton and that saved us so much! We kept busy doing FREE junior ranger programs and taking advantage of many of the amenities at the places we stayed, like a water park at one, ranger talks, putt-putt golf, beach access, etc.
As far as choosing just one place, I can't. Top 5? Grand Canyon, Roslyn Washington, Oregon (all of it!), Olympic NP, and Yosemite NP. We seemed to enjoy the National parks and small towns more then anything. We visited a few big cities, like Las Vegas and Seattle, and just didn't enjoy them as much. They were a little overwhelming and the faster pace of everything was difficult to navigate with kids. They places we stayed in cities, also didn't have any space for the kids to play outside. In Seattle it rained all the time and Las Vegas was HOT. Some of my favorite moments were just walking on the beach when it was foggy, or having a camp fire, or taking a moment to just think about what it would be like to live in the different places we visit. I was surprised to find that I liked things like looking at light houses. Maybe I'm getting old?
4. Worst part?
Flat tires and Odessa Walmart that first night out.
That we didn't go to Canada or Glacier National Park when we were just 3 hours away! We just ran out of time and Joe was out of vacation time, meaning we'd have to go over the weekend. Plus, we had reservations in Yellowstone that locked us into being there at a certain date. If we had gotten our passports prior to leaving, we could have at least visited Canada while staying in Northern WA, but live and learn and that just leaves something for our next Big Adventure! I also wished we would have had seen Death Valley (Joe thinks I'm crazy for this, and says it's just a desert.) and some of the CA coast and more National Parks in CA. Time!
6. Challenges?
It was a challenge to find places were Joe could get strong enough Internet signal so he could work. Despite our reviewing coverage maps, and calling to ask, we wouldn't really know how the signal was until we got there. There were a few times we had to leave and find another place. Also, because Joe was working and answering phone calls in the RV, we had to leave everyday, rain or shine, so he could work in peace. This did make is to we HAD to explore each place, like it or not! It was also a challenge at times having the kids 24/7. We were able to get a total of 5 dates in with the help of friends and drop in childcare and other times Joe would just let me GO somewhere ALONE. Of course we were also trying to pack a lot into each place, and many times the kids would end up dictating what we actually got to do (much less). I got better at parenting on the road as we went too though. I learned to always have the following items, diapers, wipes, band-aids, lots of snacks, movies, baby carrier, and an exit plan.
No, not usually. I wish I had made them at Yosemite, as it was completely booked up and we ended up having to stay in a motel while visiting and leaving the RV at our camping spot several hours away. After that, I immediately called and reserved our spot in Yellowstone. Other then those places though, I would just call ahead the week before or a few days before and make sure the place had availability. This worked out most of time, but I had to watch out for holidays when things would book up and a few times I could have gotten a cheaper spot if I'd reserved earlier, but the freedom that came with just calling as we drove, was well worth it!
8. What was a typical day like?
Joe got up at 5am to work. Me and the girls slept until 8-9am and got up just in time for Joe's lunch break, so I'd make a cooked breakfast/lunch for everyone, while Joe got the kids dressed. Then me and girls would go do something (park, zoo, tour Native American dwellings, shop, etc). We'd head back to the RV around 2pm when Joe got off work and go do our second activity of the day with Daddy. This way Joe got to see the different places too. I tried to "scout out" things while Joe worked or do things that were totally kid centered and save the really cool sites for when he could come with us. Then we'd all head back to the RV and I'd make something out of Cooking Light magazine for dinner. I'd do a school lesson with Loralai, or we'd roast marshmallows or go on a walk, and then do the kids bedtime routine. Kids in bed by 9pm and then Joe and I would usually hang out in our room and watch a movie or blog, or read until we went to sleep.
9. How did you plan out what to do in each place?
The area Visitor Center was almost always my first stop. There I would get maps, coupons, and talk to the locals working there about what the best things to do with kids were. I would also Google the area and check out our National parks/monuments map. Then I'd make a schedule for the week with a morning and afternoon activity for each day we were there. Things of course got moved around based on the weather, or kids moods, but it was a great way for us to write down all the big things we "had to do" in each place and make sure we did at least those.
10. What was it like having the kids all the time in such a small space?
Usually it was fine. Loralai did take a while to adjust though and there was some MONSTER, KICK THE WALLS FITS! The first month she was okay and just kept asking when we were going home. The next month was the hard one and also when she DEMANDED that she would ONLY wear dresses. Period! I think it was her way of having some control. So I bought her a ton of dresses and we all suffered through some loud, wall-kicking fits until she got used to things. Bean wasn't walking yet when we started, so she was filthy, crawling around outside all the time until she walked. Sometimes the girls wouldn't get along, and usually I'd just take them outside or to do something when it was really bad. But usually they got along very well. Better then at home even. If I was having an especially hard day, Joe would take the kids when he got off. Other times I'd keep the kids out late doing something and he would get a few hours to himself. Thank God there were 2 of us! We really enjoyed the close family time with very few distractions all in all. There was no lawn that needed mowing, no friends to visit, no classes to attend. It was just us and whatever we wanted to do that day.
11. How did you keep everything organized with a family?
I had to first learn to STOP bulk shopping. It was a hard habit to break. We would grocery shop usually twice a week since our fridge could only hold so much. We'd do laundry about once a week. We did dishes after every meal since we only had 4 of everything and very little counter space, but we got used to this too. There's actually a lot of storage in an RV, so we had room for all of our stuff, toys, gear, etc. A really useful thing I did was to get a wall length shoe holder for all of our shoes to go in and put it by the front door, I cut and put another one of the side of one of our cabinets to put all of our "pocket crap" in, like keys, change, head lamp, chap stick, etc. It kept the counters clear and I needed all the space I could get! Another issue was having a narrow, dark, deep pantry. I realize we were lucky to even have a pantry, since so many of the rigs we saw didn't, but the one we had wasn't very user-friendly. The biggest problem was that it was dark and deep. To add to this, when we drove, things would move around and reorganize themselves despite my sticky shelf mats. I eventually came up with a system that worked okay where I labeled each shelf with a different category (baking ingredients, kids snacks, adult snacks, cooking stuff, etc). Then I would write each thing we had on that shelf in pencil on the pantry door and would try to erase and rewrite as we used and bought more stuff. Really this amounted to, The Don't Touch Anything Unless Your Name Is Aubrey Pantry System, and it kept me from killing anyone. There were plenty of times the place was a MESS, just like at home. But the beauty of a small space, is that it took very little time to pick up. Even more difficult to keep clean was the truck! I would clean it out and reorganize all the toys, jackets, maps, etc at least one a week, usually while the girls played inside it. To add to this, despite my best efforts, I was never able to find a car wash to have the thing vacuumed out or washed throughout our entire trip. One of the first things I did when I got home was to go and get it detailed. She deserved it after everything!
12. Were you ever scared.
Yes, at the Odessa Walmart the first night out. We had no idea what we were doing and quickly learned that we would NOT being parking over night at Walmarts to save money. We just had that moment of, What the hell are we doing!?!?! And what if people don't do this cause it doesn't work? Turns out that it turned out okay.
13. How was driving all that way?
It was pretty good. We really stretched it out over several months, and we tried not to drive more then 8-9 hours over 2 days. We did stop at A LOT of McDonalds! I was so sick on McDonalds by the time we got home, but after making your two little kids sit for several hours while driving, you HAVE TO go somewhere with a playground, food, and easy RV parking. This almost always meant McDonalds. Bean would nap for a couple of hours each drive and Loralai would watch at least 1 movie (with head phones), so it was usually okay. There were plenty of times though, that I considered facing my fear and almost certain death, driving the HUGE RV (which I never did), and make Joe deal with the kids! There were also times that I had to get in the backseat with the kids when they were nearing the end of their rope. We played "I spy" and counted and sang and just plain ignored the kids at times too.
We all got closer. And we saw SO MUCH! Loralai really learned a lot through the Jr. Ranger programs, and she also got really good at making fast friends. I think I learned how to chill out a little more and live in the moment. And Joe learned to be more easy going and to say "yes" more. Bean just liked being with all of us, my happy girl.
15. Who did you visit?
The first friendly face we saw was a month and a half into our trip, when we saw my God Mother, Patty in Ashland. A month and a half later, we visited my brother and sister and their mom in Great Falls, Montana. Then we met up with Joe's parents in Yellowstone for a week right after that. The very next week our friends Hilary and Phil came to stay with us in Estes Park, CO for a few days. Our last visit was to stay with our friends, Chelsea and James in Woodland Park, CO.
It was tight! But doable. We go really lucky and found an RV with a tub. You don't realize how rare this is until you start looking at RV's. So bathing our thankfully little kids was easy. Plus it was so tight in the bathroom that you got the added bonus of being able to sit on the toliet while you washed them. It was like a built in stool. We had a 6 gallon hot water heater on the rig. Knowing this, at first we were very careful showerers. I would line up all my shampoo, conditioner, and wash in such a way that would promote the fastest grab time. Then we would actually turn the water off while we soaped up and then turn it back on to rinse. When staying in a place that's 27 degrees, the last thing you want is for the hot water to run out while you are soapy and wet. But, as the hot water never did run out, I got more lax about hurrying so much, and eventually stopped turning the water off between rises. And wouldn't you know it, 6 gallons of hot water is actually enough to get you through a normal speed shower. Who knew? Plus the tiny, closet of a bathroom would stay really steamy and warm while you dried off and got dressed. There were only two places to stand while you did this, in the tub, or in the one person standing place in front of the mirror, so everything was in arms reach. It was tiny, but you had everything you needed and there's something cool about simplicity.
17. Would you do it again?
YES!!! OMG YES!!! I read something right before leaving on our trip.... Be the interesting person that you want to know. I feel more interesting now. Smarter. More traveled. More open. Our experiences are really the only things we can take with us and this was one heck of an experience that we shared as a family. We'll do it again! And again! And again!
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