Once An RVer...

 I realize it’s been a long time between blogs but that’s what seems to happen to most of them when they’ve been running as long as mine has. I figured I’d spare you the mundane aspects of a Wisconsin shut-in winter, in which we endured some major snowfalls and then just for good measure, a couple of ice storms in March, which did major damage to some of our trees.

I sewed up a storm through winter to have plenty of items for the Humane Society online auction in February and that went well, with most of my items selling. The large polar bear tote, which is one of the first ones I made when I was learning, ended up selling for $60, so we were thrilled for that! I still have enough left that I probably can stock the next online auction in September without more sewing because it’s looking like we’ll have a very busy summer. 

 Marc kept very busy with his daily volunteer activity of volunteering in the wood shop classes at the local high school, where he works to mentor those who have actual avid interest in learning something. Many just sit there as window dressing for what they perceive to be an easy class to waste time. He comes home daily shaking his head at how dangerous some of the kids are around the saws and chisels and how callous and sloppy they treat the tools. Unfortunately, there is a large percentage of young folk who are going to be complete write-offs and likely, entirely useless to society. If it’s not on their phone, it doesn’t exist or matter. Their attention span lasts only as long as the next Tic Tok video and anything hands-on is quickly forgotten by the next day. Fortunately, there are a few shining stars, one of which told Marc he wants to soak in all that Marc knows (not enough time, ha!), so Marc tries to concentrate on them so he can truly make a difference in a young person’s life. 

Those who’ve been following us, know we’ve been pretty home-bound the past couple of years and insidiously, it started working on me. I may be old but I’m not ready to give it all up quite yet, so I started dropping hints about the possibility of another RV purchase. Marc was having nothing to do with it; he hates maintaining them, losing depreciation money on them, having to worry about winter damage to roofs, and mostly, fixing them! I’m of the same accord, but the fact remains that unless we have an RV as a means to get out, we simply can’t go. Motel and Air B&B options, beyond high costs, just are a no go with three cats. 

Last fall, Marc decided to take up E biking and has been having lots of fun discovering all the local rides and trails and started getting interested in things further afield. My mind got into gear: what better way to find and experience those possibilities than a camper. And specifically, a camper where you can pack along your expensive bike easily and not have to worry about it. Thus, it came to be that he saw the light (halleluiah), and agreed to start looking for a toy hauler RV. I will say that he also thoughtfully added that he felt badly that I was left home and never got the chance to get out so that’s why he changed his mind on the RV idea.

It didn’t take long; we found a smaller 2021 cheaply made toy hauler in little used condition from a dealer nearby. There are a few minor fixes we’re doing to it: some small repairs; we removed all the attached, fold down chintzy furniture they come with and are installing our own important things like two new reclining chairs and the large kitty condo necessary for our cats’ comfort. Marc replaced the wheels with larger ones and bought new tires and he’ll be building a special storage unit to cover the interior wheel well.

 

We decided to sell the large destination RV we have sitting on our lake property up north; Marc will tow it back here where we can put it up for sale. I’ll unload it and then load up the new one so there will be nothing to buy in terms of household goods. The new RV doesn’t have a lot of storage and the idea is for us to just go out for two- or three-nights max, taking very little with us, so we’re not bogged down with packing, unpacking and setup when we get somewhere. We purposely looked for an RV without a slide (to get away from their endless problems), on the smaller side, but one still featuring a queen-sized dedicated bed, not a Murphy bed or crawl-over bed. 

So, looking forward, you should see more traveling scenery coming up in the blog. We’ll also be making some trips north to try and get our property on the market this summer and there will be much to move or store. I’ve learned at this age, that things move at a much slower pace than maybe what I’d like, but on the other hand, what’s the big hurry?

Wrapping up, these photos of an amazing post-storm sunset were just too stunning not to share!