LJ and DJ's Big Adventure... Retired and Loving it!: #46 The RV Life…again…and we lived to tell the tale…barely

In retrospect, I should have written this in a more timely manner. But the memories are still there. It's been a bit of a journey, but I realized going back and re-reading the entire series that it is truly a diary of our recent life together. I have been reminded of some pretty funny events and amazing comebacks. Time to update the blog to keep more of those memories alive.

First let me explain the rv mistake… what I wrote in blog 43🙄

“As if all that wasn’t enough drama, we are now the proud owners of a new RV that will love having its own garage. Whaaaaaat??? I know. We bought the new one for better creature comforts while on the road. We sold our toy hauler and ordered the new one back in April before all this house stuff happened. Perfect timing lol. Might as well do all kinds of life changing crap at once, get it over with lol. We pick it up in a few days, just in time for our new adventure. Can't wait to post pics of the new travel home. It's a Keystone Montana 3231ck. Like a little apartment, lol, with wheels. He’ll tow his atv trailer like he did with our original Montana back in 2017. This one is less than 38’ so much easier to do. Fortunately LJ is a fabulous trailer parking guy. It’ll be awesome.”

Should have read blog entry 21🤦‍♀️

Crazy thing about all of this is the repetition of previous mistakes. Blog entry 21 back in April 2018 talks about how we had this fabulous Montana fifth wheel when we decided to go full time RVing. After living in it for about 8 months we realized there was no way we’d come out of this adventure alive if we didn’t get a toy hauler. So we did. Bought the perfect toy hauler for long term living. No triple towing; Two living areas with the garage; outside tv. I mean we lived in the dang thing for almost two years. It was great.

So here we are again, going full time rving with another Montana. Oh it was beautiful and perfect for short trips, and that was the original plan. Yet history was repeating itself. I would have given anything to still have the toy hauler. Too bad we didn’t know in April that two months later we’d be embarking on another round of gypsy living. But again, that’s how we James’ do things. Bassakwards. I’ve decided to blame Bruce Clark. He bought a new Montana earlier in the year. It was pretty…and new and I liked it. After all, LJ had cancer while we were living in the toy hauler so it held bad memories. plus we had no intention of RV living again. Perfect excuse to justify getting a new one. There was some truth to that, but really the toy hauler was huge and we could do with a smaller one since we were planning on only going on trips without the toys. When we found the Montana we bought, it was really nice with all kinds of amenities. Yep…and how’d that work out. Sigh…

Because it was late getting to us (we had ordered it in April; supposed to get it in July; received it August 5th) we had to move out and move in at the same time. We doubled our stress level and work. We just threw crates into the rv for me to unpack once at the rv park. Could have just moved right in to the TH. But enough bitching about that. What was done was done. Move on. So we managed to move from the beautiful house to the teeny fifth wheel. But even that did no go as planned. Wait for it....

In the middle of all this moving stuff, we went to pick up the new trailer. We had about three weeks to go so that would give me plenty of time to get it loaded and ready to go. Or would it. The very day we brought it home things did not go as planned. LJ backed it in like the true champ he is. I wasn't paying much attention but then I noticed he had it too close to the tree so I wouldn't be able to open the slide out. That was never a problem with the toy hauler but this trailer, the slide went almost all the way to the back. Uh oh. Of course he was in the middle of unhooking the thing when I brought this to his attention. It would have to be moved forward. "Goddammit" was the nice word he said. I won't mention the other word with a capital F that was said numerous times. Neither one of us considered that slide location to the tree, but of course it was my fault. And as usual, right in the middle of doing something he had to pee. Never fails. Start something, have to pee. In the middle of something...have to pee. Must be an old guy thing. So off he goes. I was sure he could handle this on his own so in the house I went to start gathering trailer stuff.

I'm in the house when I hear this very loud BOOOOOM! Oh shit... My first thought is he moved it too far forward and hit the block wall, but I was wrong, thank goodness. So I go outside to see what the noise was and discover LJ forgot he had engaged the release lever due to his mad dash to the bathroom and believed the truck and trailer were still hooked together. So when he moved the truck to pull the trailer forward it was juuuuuuuuust far enough for the trailer to land on the truck. That was the boom. Geeeeeeesh. How many times have we seen friends do that and we laugh internally. Boy that was stupid. Yes it was. We were now proud members of "you’re an idiot club". But this, too, was my fault since I interrupted him in the middle of his unhooking earlier. He would have done everything right if I hadn't approached him precisely at that moment. Ok.. I'll take the blame. What are wives for. Buuuuut that doesn't solve the problem we now have. The truck was absolutely fine, mainly because he had a metal cover over the bed so the metal rails protected the truck. The new trailer though? It damaged the trim around the front cap and chipped the paint. Did I mention we had full body paint on this new trailer? Of course we did. LJ said "well at least the truck is ok. We can live with the trailer damage". It's like he doesn't even know me. We've owned it for five minutes. What are you smoking?

Long story short, we took it in stride. Nothing else was going right so far so why would this be easy. We found a guy who repaired it, including the paint for $1500. He had to replace trim and fix a couple things, then paint it. Fortunately when covid started and the supply chain was affected, being a smart guy, he stocked up on trim and other parts. No waiting since he had everything he needed. Still took over a week to get it done. Time we couldn't afford to lose but no one to blame but ourselves. Still managed to get it done on time. Moving on....

We didn’t stay at the rv park the entire 19 months with those little excursions here and there. But we were there long enough for snowbirds to leave and return, remarking "You guys are still here???" Yea... cuz house building is fun...and timely... not. We did make a trip to Utah to atv ride. We took the rv to Chico for our granddaughter’s wedding. Made a trip to Quartszite and another to Laughlin for more riding. But we mostly just lived at Destiny RV Park. We couldn’t find any openings closer to the new place so we just made weekly trips up to Wickenburg to check on the house progress. No big deal…just a 100 mile round trip each time.

Once we got settled at the rv park everything was fine. Felt that sense of being free again. This time wasn’t as easy in other ways though. We only had the main tv since we decided to go the cheap way with the satellite. Previously we had a proper roof mounted satellite so it worked like at home. Each tv worked independently (and in the toy hauler we had 4). We now were using a portable satellite so the bedroom tv only had local channels while the main tv got everything. We no longer had the luxury of a garage where I could do puzzles or crafting while watching tv. We no longer had an outside tv so we could watch different things. Usually it wasn’t a problem, but then lo and behold here comes Nascar season. I finally bought ear phones so I didn’t have to listen to it 🤷🏼‍♀️.

Top that off with only ONE bathroom. Our last two trailers had a second bathroom. We discovered early on with this set up that at our age ya need a second bathroom. Many a race to see who could get there first. Fortunately I beat him to the finish line, All those years as a patrol cop taught me how to pee fast. LJ never had to wait long. But if he got there first….. 😳. Damn we missed the toy hauler and its two bathrooms.

Speaking of the bathroom, one of the joys of rv living is cleaning tanks. LJ usually did it, but once in awhile I did if he was gone or I was being generous with my time. Of course there’s the time in Utah I got sidetracked while adding back in a little water to the tank so I could add deodorizer packets. I’ve learned it helps to not forget to turn the water off, thereby overfilling the tank which then fills the toilet causing an overflow onto the bathroom floor AND down into the storage compartment then out the bay door. It’s a miracle it only went to the side with the plastic crates so nothing got damaged. So glad I had cleaned the tanks well prior to this stupid act. I'm sure you can figure out why 😂💩. I got it all cleaned up before LJ got back from riding. Wasn't going to tell him, but he always enjoys a good laugh at my expense. And laugh he did. I got to wear the I'm an idiot label the rest of the trip.

Scooter loves his big bro

Jeff came to visit that Utah trip. Again, one of those events that would have been so much better with the TH and its separate bedroom/bathroom. But we made it work and he got to spend UTV riding time with his dad. And he got the pleasure of working on the UTV when the doohickey thingy broke. Of course them being stranded afforded me the opportunity to hook up the little trailer and drive the truck up the mountain. You know.. the truck I had never driven before and had to figure out where the four wheel drive button was along with navigating unfamiliar territory. He was so proud lol.

Jeff made shirts 😂😂

dad wouldn't let him drive cuz he wanted
him to get the full LJ experience lol

But I digress. Back to the new rig....Rv had a nice kitchen though. Upgraded stove. Full size fridge. Lots of storage. Too bad I hate to cook, especially in the rv.🤣🤣. We were still near civilization so we frequented the local Texas Roadhouse and Mexican restaurant. You know you go out a lot when they see you coming and your drink order is at the table before you get seated🤣🤣.

LJ hated my GMC Acadia so in December 2021at the height of no new cars being available and dealers getting full price for them, we decided to buy a new car 🤣🤦‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️. Actually it all worked out because we were able to work a great deal with a local dealer on a car they had just received, plus we got tons more for our used car than it was worth. He’s pretty happy with the Hyundai Palisade. I wanted something smaller, but LJ has trouble finding smaller cars that are comfortable for him. Is what it is.

LJ also decided he needed a new UTV…which was true since the last one had been on its side or top more than once. So he indulged himself. I’m happy to say…knock on wood…that he has yet to mess up this one and it’s been a couple years. He goes on an atv adventure monthly now so he deserved a new one. I won't tell you the long story about how he ended up with this UTV. Like how he drove to LA to buy a four place; had it for a week: decided since he was triple towing he needed a 2 place... ... .... thank goodness he got the four place at such a good deal he didn't lose any money except for the cost of going to LA. Men are stupid. 😂 But he loves it and has ridden it quite a bit so all is good.

We had an end slot at the park so, fortunately, we could park my car, the truck and the atv in the rv slot.

Another true joy of rv living is doing it in Arizona in the summer…the record breaking hot summer. 115 outside…100+ inside. We would have been fine in the toy hauler. It had three strong air conditioners. The new one had one in the living area that barely kept up and one in the bedroom that was useless. We ended up buying floor fans to survive. I’d take scooter to petsmart just to enjoy the car and store AC. And because the house build was taking so long we did that TWO summers! We’d go check on the house and invade the Roloffs since the ac worked at their place…except that one time their power went out for three days because of a wicked storm. We didn't want to travel too much because the house build needed oversight. That's the next blog.

Speaking of storms.. Monsoon weather is also quite entertaining in the tin can. Not only is it loud, but you pray you don't find water leaking through the windows or the roof. Being a new trailer, that was unlikely. Being a trailer built during covid? You hoped it was unlikely. And wind? Good times. Rockin and a rollin for all the wrong reasons lol.

We made it work, but it wasn’t always pleasant. Hard to get alone time and you need that when you live in a 260 sf one bedroom, one bathroom tin can. Fortunately we like each other so we survived. I did really miss having an inside space to do puzzles or crafting. Did I mention the toy hauler was far superior for long term living? I might have mentioned that before.

Scooter was pretty sick of it, though. I could tell he was depressed so we tried to get him out as much as possible. He did get his daily trip to the dog park and a walk around the rv park where he proudly announced his presence to all who would listen. Just wasn't the same as being in the house. He really missed his yard. His favorite days were visiting the Roloff dogs or Clark dogs. I can see such a change in him now that he’s back in a house, poor little guy.

One of the things that makes me laugh about the whole thing is buying a house with an RV garage and full hookups so we could bring the trailer home and use it as an extra bedroom if needed. Seemed like a good idea when we bought the 2 bedroom little house. It’s funny because the RV never made it anywhere near this place. We were so sick of it by the end that it went straight to the dealership for consignment. The rv garage still works though since LJ can keep his UTV, truck and trailer in there. A running joke is passing someone with an rv on the road and one of us commenting “hey that looks like fun! We should get one of those!” 🤣. We never say never about having a small toy hauler again. But living in one? Been there. Done that. No fucking way! But as we have learned: never say never 🤣🤣🤣

Next up…Building this current house… OMFG. Get the 🍿ready.