Road Trip 6: Here we come!

Neither of us can quite believe that, in a couple of days, we are going to be leaving on our 6th road trip.  Six?

Little did we think when we bought that first (heavily) used camper and pickup that we would be doing this for as long as we could.  But we love it.

Over the course of our first five road trips the evolution has been like this:

Road Trip 1:  2 1/2 months--Stayed at several RV parks and campgrounds

Road Trip 2:   6 months--Stayed mostly at campgrounds, occasionally at RV parks

Road Trip 3:  5 1/2 months--Stayed mostly at campgrounds, but started dry camping (finding places off the road in National Forest and BLM lands where we are completely alone);  RV parks only when we needed to resupply

Road Trip 4:  5 1/2 months--mostly dry camping; RV parks only when we needed to resupply or to meet up with Kathy and Bill at Big Bend National Park

Road Trip 5:  4 1/2 months--mostly dry camping; RV parks only when we needed to resupply or to meet Kathy and Bill for a week at Joshua Tree National Park

Road Trip 6:  We are going to be gone 4 1/2 months+;  We are not planning on staying in any campgrounds, and doing only dry camping ;  We will stay at RV parks to resupply and to meet up with Kathy and Bill in Death Valley

We believe that it was halfway through Road trip 3 that we sort of came into our own.  We discovered dry camping (also called boondocking) and once we did that we knew it was for us. We absolutely love the experience of being out on a deserted road, all by ourselves.  No sounds except that of the desert--coyotes, birds, wind, etc.  We love getting up in the middle of the night and looking at the brilliance of the stars, or seeing the desert when there is a full moon and it is bright enough that you could almost read.  We find history, beauty, and rawness.  There is nothing like it. 

We have worked all summer to be able to make this work.  We had to get the pickup and the camper serviced.

The average use for an RV is one month/year, and we have used ours 22 months in the past 4 1/3 years.  So it gets a lot of use.  We make it a point to not let anything go unrepaired, which means we both do a lot of little repairs during the summer.  It is, after all, not a "Recreation Vehicle."  Instead, it is our home.  In addition to repairs to keep it as good as new, we also make improvements----mainly to keep everything in place when we go over rough roads.  For example, this year:

A brace to keep the bathroom door from sliding open:

We store stuff in the stove, but it wasn't designed to stay closed when going over uneven ground.  Problem solved!

These are just a few of the maintenance items that have to be completed each summer.

Another important step is planning where to go.  "Planning" means something different when one is camping in BLM areas.  Each year we have identified a general plan.  This year we are going to head east to the National Grassland areas of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.  Did you know that there are National Grasslands in these states?  We were only vaguely aware of this.

We are leaving earlier than last year because we want to catch these areas in the midwest before winter sets in.  When winter drives us south, we will either head to Big Bend, Texas, or southern Arizona before we settle in for a couple of months in the southern California deserts.

Since we are going to these new places, we needed maps.  Maps, maps, and more maps.  Vicky purchased dozens for this trip.  Each map is a small area, which shows which roads are passable, where you can camp off the roads, etc.  She has to organize them so she can find them while we are driving:

Then there is our food.  Vicky plans meals that are filling, delicious, and nutritious.  She organizes the canned food into easily-retrievable meals.  Takes a lot of planning:

We have to put away the bird feeders, after cleaning them so they will be ready in the spring:


Roll up the hoses and insulate the faucets:

Move our flower baskets from the eaves to the porch, to maximize the chances that some of them will last until the spring:

Vicky has several lists of little things that must be done.  These are only a very few of the items on her list.  It requires a lot of planning to be gone from our home for so long, and to be in our camper for so long.  

But, when we are all ready, it is a great feeling to know that we have prepared for almost any contingency.  And we can leave relaxed, and be able to focus on the immediate experience of our outdoor life.  Ian and Adam contribute a lot to that feeling because Ian monitors our mail and Adam monitors our security cameras.  It's a job for them.  Last year they did it so well, and it made a big difference.

And, of course, our ritual each summer of creating and putting stickers on our camper:

The summer has been full.  Full of bike rides, trips to Atlanta, Colorado, Tahoe, Lopez Island, San Juan Island, Eastern Washington, and Alaska.  Full of watching birds, planting our flowers, and spending time with family.

We went camping in Eastern Washington with Ian and Adam:

 

And with Soren and Sebastian at Stone Mountain Georgia:

With the girls much of the time spent involved Vicky working with them on various craft projects, including teaching how to sew.  We also managed a swim, and lot of time with their parents.

But now the summer is over.  Fall is in the air (I love trite sayings).

We have thoroughly and utterly enjoyed our summer, and our time with family, and friends.  And our wonderful home on Whidbey Island.

But nothing lasts forever, including our summer.  So, now, it is time to go and see and walk on more of our wonderful country.  We will return in February.  Oddly, although we are anxious to go, we are also already looking forward to coming back home then.  We can't even imagine what we will have seen and experienced before we do.