WHAT TO DO...WHAT TO DO...ALL DAY LONG

I was very  happy to have received a very complimentary email about this blog from a colleague of Erik's. Along with the compliment he also had a suggestion/request: Would I write about how one spends ones days in an RV when on an extended trip as anyone interested in setting out on this kind of adventure may like some insight into what goes on day to day while on the road. Not sure I'm quite up to this task but I will certainly give it my best shot and hope it doesn't sound too boring or monotonous, because this trip has been anything but boring or monotonous.

When this adventure is over (which it almost is) we will have traveled approximately 8,400 miles/14,000 kms. Wow, that's a long way.  We left on 3 November 2014 and are due to arrive back home in Brockville, ON on the 25th or so of April, 2015. That means we will have been on the road for approximately 173 days. Now listen up because I am going to use math and anyone who knows me understands that math is not my strong point and numbers make my head ache. Of the approximately 173 days that we will have been away from home 119 of them were extended
stays and the rest, 54 days, were spent traveling for a one night stay. The one night stays were from Brockville to St. Augustine when we first started, across the southern states from Carrabelle Beach, FL to California and up the west coast from California to Victoria, BC. Our extended stays were six weeks in St. Augustine, FL, one week in Carrabelle Beach, FL, six weeks in Escondido, CA, two weeks in Victoria, BC and two weeks in Parksville, BC.

When we are staying in one place for an extended period of time we live. I don't quite know how to describe it any differently than that we do the things we would be doing if we were at home. We source out places to do the things we enjoy. In Florida I found and joined a tennis club and Erik got himself a fishing license and found the fishing holes. We spent plenty of time exploring St. Augustine, playing tourist, we walked on beaches, had lunches on warm, sun filled patios and traveled a bit around that area just looking. We found a really valuable website that allowed us to find dog friendly restaurants, hotels/motels, dog parks, and business that were dog friendly in any city in the U.S. and Canada. If you are contemplating traveling with dogs I would strongly suggest you go to this website every time you stop. www.bringfido.com. It's great. It's also useful to go on line to Tourism Board websites for the area you are in as there can be a wealth of information at your fingertips.

In California we had friends and family already (I had lived in San Diego for ten years and Erik had met my friends when he used to come to visit me). I re-joined my old tennis club, re-connected with friends and Erik was able to play music. Perhaps it made it easier for us having a ready made social life while there but I think the resources are out there to find things to do. The same holds true for Victoria. Erik has friends from when he lived there for about 13 years and his son, Adam, also lives in Victoria. Of course, day to day living still entails shopping for food, cooking meals, cleaning the RV (takes about 45 minutes tops), taking the dogs for walks and of course the dreaded laundry. I guess it is all a lot easier when you are in your own little home away from home and not in a hotel somewhere carting your suitcases in and out of your room and schlepping around looking for restaurants to eat in.

The traveling days are pretty easy to deal with as I know exactly what we did. It's pretty repetitious when you pull into and pull out of  an RV Park and we have it down to a science (pretty much!!). So let's start with us waking up in an RV Park where we have only been for one night and are pulling out. Because we have our two dogs with us the first thing that happens, (after they are fed) is Erik takes the dogs for a walk so they can do their business. While he is out I make coffee, make the bed and begin to put away everything that needs to be put away in readiness for the move. When the dogs and Erik get back we have some breakfast then the pulling out begins. After showers and no more water is needed,  Erik goes outside to empty the tanks (it's all automated and each site has its own little sewer) and he unplugs the water hoses and the electricity. Easy peasy in California or Florida where  it's warm but we've done this when temps were barely above freezing. Inside I close the ceiling air vents, turn off the furnace and water heater, and make sure nothing is on the counters that can fall during our trip. I then bring in the sliders (button operated) and lock up the trailer, which includes retracting steps and door handle. While all this is going on the dogs are placed in the truck to snooze.

Then we hitch up the RV to the fifth wheel in the truck and we bring up the front and back stabilizers on the RV, we remove wheel chocks and do all the other little minute things that need to be done. We have a check list that we still
refer to even after all this time even though we can do it without this reference. We are pretty adamant about safety.

It sounds like a five minute job but there are a lot more little things on that list and it takes us about thirty minutes from start to finish.

Then we drive for our four or five hours to the next RV Resort and set up. It starts with getting the Fifth wheel into our spot. If we are only staying one night or two we request a drive through spot, which most RV Parks reserve for quick stays anyway. If we are staying for any length of time we get a back in spot. The back ins require a bit of maneuvering as you want to be lined up straight and you need to be close to the electricity and sewer and water that are available to you. All RV Parks have these on the driver's side of the RV as that's where they are on RVs but not all parks have them within close proximity of each other. So, anyway, Erik maneuvers the RV while I stand behind and let him know when our electricity cord will reach and there is nothing to obstruct our sliders. We check the RV for levelness and then we insert wheel chocks behind and in front of the  RV's tires, place boards as required and drop the front stabilizers. We disconnect the power from the RV to the truck (for brake and indicator lights) and move the truck.Outside Erik connects power, water sewer and I extend the sliders, put things back where they belong and turn on water heater, furnace, extend the awning and bang, we're done.

So now it's probably two in the afternoon or a little later and we have time to spend. What do we do? If the weather is fine we will explore the  region for interesting sites, find food stores, gas stations, etc. When traveling to a one night stop we always make sure there are two meals in our fridge so we won't be hunting for stores if we were a) delayed for any reason, b) there were no stores near to our park c) there were stores but the weather was atrocious and we just didn't want to go out. Exploring with two big dogs can be limiting but www.bringfido.com has been so valuable to us. It will tell you where you can find dog friendly restaurants, dog friendly motels/hotels, dog parks in the area and other businesses that would be of interest if traveling with dogs. The next morning we take it all apart and try to leave around nine in the morning, avoiding any work traffic, and keep to our schedule of driving around 250 miles/400 kms per day.

Some of the things I would recommend to anyone thinking of doing a trip like this? First and foremost, think of safety. You're pulling a lot of weight. Have a check list of what to do when arriving at a site and leaving a site and use it. We have done this numerous times (perhaps 25 times to this point with about 10 more in the future as we head home from BC to Brockville) and we use our list every single time.

Be nice. You will be in close (VERY close) proximity with your traveling partner. If you have issues you need to resolve them before you leave. If your partner has a habit that annoys you (sucking on his teeth; laying on the bed with his shoes on; whatever) by the end of the trip that little habit may seem like grounds for premeditated murder. It works both ways, too.

Experiment. Try as much of the local stuff as you can. Whether it's food or culture join in. You will love the experience even more.

Keep a journal. Without this blog I don't believe I would even begin to remember the places we have been and the things we have seen. Lots of tiny little moments would be lost if I hadn't taken as many pictures as I did (they aren't great pics taken with my cell phone) but they are great memory joggers.

Enjoy yourself. See what you want to see and do what you want to do. If you don't like museums then don't go and see museums to please the folks back home. Lie in the sun every day if that's your thing.

That, my friends, is my attempt at letting you know the day to day living routine we have followed since 3rd November 2014 in our little 30 foot home away from home.

Until next time when I will be writing: we have a glitch; we  leave California; we drive through rainy Oregon and Washington; we stay a night in one of The Most Beautiful and Ambitious RV Parks we have Ever seen; followed by, home again home again, Oh! Canada in beautiful British Columbia.