When we first started out, backing up was my biggest fear. I really was looking forward to finding all the pull-through spots that we could find. However, that’s not how life works.
I love pull-through spots since they are so much easier to maneuver. However, not every campground offers pull-throughs or they could all be booked and only the back-ins are left. We had never owned a RV, a trailer, or even anything that had to be towed before. I had certainly never had to back up a large truck and a 37′ travel trailer. It is a scary position to be in, knowing that if you mess up too badly you can damage your property, as well as someone else’s; especially when you have already sold your sticks-and-bricks (home) and this RV is now your moving home for a year.
We had watched so many videos before embarking on this adventure. In my head, I knew you had to turn the wheel the opposite of what you would expect when backing up a trailer. However, in the moment, that advice just added to my stress and confusion. It’s very different watching a video and then trying to do it in real life. My mother-in-law found a video and sent us a link. It was made with a piece of paper and a Lego truck and trailer. Honestly, I don’t know that I would have clicked on the video if I was scrolling through YouTube. It ended up being the best video for me! This YouTuber said something that helps me every time I have to back up. Starting with the wheels in the straight position, “Turn the bottom of the steering wheel towards the direction you want the trailer to go”. It is something I can see, something tangible I can focus on, and that made a huge difference. If you are just starting out and want advice on how to back into a site, please check out his video. He has some other useful tips on getting into a site.
I know of several people who bought RV’s for the first time this year. It can be daunting. We have had neighbors stare at us when trying to pull into/back into a site. At the worst, they’ve said that looked hard and that we needed a beer now that it was done. At best, some of them will try to help you. Don’t let it discourage you; everyone was a newbie once. If you can find a large empty parking lot to practice in, that can help. Find the one thing that will stick in your brain that will help you. I stressed out and struggled every time we had to back up, but it does get easier and the “Turn the bottom of the steering wheel towards the direction you want the trailer to go” method really helped me.
Also, don’t let back-in sites discourage you from a campground! Some of our favorite campgrounds have been back-in sites.
Did you know that you can set off your CO/Propane detector by using Lysol? Me either!
Well, now I know. We had bought the kids new blankets and I sprayed them so they could use them that night (it’s been chilly). Suddenly the alarm started blaring. I had no idea that spraying the Lysol would set it off.
I did some reading online and supposedly Febreze, passing gas right next to it, the RV batteries getting warm and emitting odor/gas, bug sprays, sunscreen/spray, hair spray, even some cooking sprays can all set it off.
We even spilled a little bit of an alcoholic drink near it, and it went off as well! It is starting to remind me of the smoke detector in the kitchen of the house. Anytime the oven got over 375 degrees F, it went off.
It certainly has been an experience learning the idiosyncrasies of our RV. Although, to be fair, it hasn’t been too bad so far. Just a little ear splitting at times. 🙂
I have been told that I am not writing enough. I am taking that as a compliment because the people in my life think I have something to say. Well intrepid fans, thank you for your patience. Hopefully the following is worth the wait.
My wife is so darn nice and optimistic, that her version of RV life comes out too…perfect. Everyone loves Sarah. But many want to hear the real story of RV life. Well, I really struggle with being anything but blunt and people love a train wreck, so here we go.
Driving: I tell anyone that will listen that the key to life is marrying well. I wish I could say I found the right one and I was so amazing I charmed her into marrying me. Unfortunately, I was just a stupid 21 year old that lucked into an amazing person who decided I was good enough to hang on to. All that said, Sarah has driven the rig 80%+ of the time. I took a brief 200+ mile stint of the first 1,400 mile we have driven so far. It wasn’t hard driving, but certainly not my favorite. So, I am very glad that she is a competent, independent woman that can manage almost anything.
NOTE: My driving experience stopped when I got over confident pulling into a gas station and set the RV up for a bollard catastrophe that required backing out of a rather easy pull through spot. We are still learning to back the rig up well, so this ended up with some terse language back and forth with my aforementioned love of my life. Gratefully the gas station on the semi side was close to empty and real truckers can spot a newbie RV owner a mile away. They all gave us a wide birth as we figured things out. Apparently I am going to learn humility on this trip.
Kids: Sometimes I think God put kids on this planet to test us. More time with them has been such a rewarding and frustrating time. Being mini versions of us, the kids know exactly what buttons to push to get us angry. Overall, I am learning to be more patient and they are learning how to deal with Dad in 400 SF of space.
Some fun kid situations so far:
During one of his first events using the rather small shower in the RV, one of them managed to shut himself in the doors. To which the rest of the RV got to hear “Ow my penis.” This has been an ongoing refrain for anyone that gets hurt (regardless of region).
The kids convinced me that since the Greyhound did not make it on the trip we had enough room for bikes. After Walmart provided fully assembled bikes for under a few hundred bucks I was convinced. Will got a nice Mountain bike that he can grow into and Nick got a classic BMX with upgraded handle bar brakes.
So, the kids are not expert bikers. They have only cycled in controlled suburbia sidewalks. So, after we got the bikes ready at the camp site, I gave them a quick tutorial on biking with hand brakes and on gravel. I would have been better to teach the various trees how to ride bikes as in retrospect I don’t think they could hear me over their internal dialogue of “YEAH BIKES!!!!!!”
Well friends, no matter how frustrated you get with your kids, you never need to reduce yourself to corporal punishment. Mainly, because kids do it to themselves.
Day 1 of bike ownership the older one learned the hazards of gravel as he lost most of the skin from both elbows. On the upside, this allowed me to use the nice first aid kit my mother-in-law made for us and to dust off my first aid merit badge skills.
Day 2 the younger one learned the hazards of the front brake as he flew over the handle bars. Luckily nothing was permanently damaged and he kept all his teeth.
POOP: I have gotten the opportunity to do some plumbing in my life. As a two time home owner and a dad to two rambunctious boys, I have replaced a number of toilets. It is never a fun job and often leaves me stinky and disgusted.
Well, RV life gets you close and personal to this exciting part of human life. On day 2 of boondocking we got to empty the black tank and remove the hose. Nothing can really prepare you for a 6:30AM poop shower/bath. Apparently we had a knife valve that was sticking. I haven’t seen much more that motivates me in this word than a 3″ open line of urine and feces under 30 gallons of head pressure. I found the strength within me rather quickly to “unstick” that knife valve and stop the cascade of fun. After a quick wash off, I even managed to smile long enough for a photo. Although, I have to admit the smile is slightly forced for the picture.
Money: Man is this cheap adventure expensive. It seems like everything we do costs more than I expected. $10 to park at Mt. Rushmore, $30 to see Crazy Horse, $20 Custer State Park, $10 parking Deadwood, $25 Buffalo Ridge 1880 Cowboy Town Museum, $6 for bundles of firewood, multi-hundred dollar RV campgrounds. Hopefully most of these are normal start up costs and this outflow of cash slows significantly. Some of the more expensive items we purchased to get started (besides the RV itself): TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensors) for RV tires $327; Coach-Net insurance $179; backup camera for RV $546; EMS (Electrical Management System) to help manage potentially unreliable campsite electrical grid $387; telescopic ladder $120.27; RVLock door locks $290.99; Viair compressor $311.37; under mattress pad (keeps air flow, prevents mold) $106.95; blackout curtains for boys’ room (they broke the aluminum blinds night 1 of use) $73.39; wheel chocks/x-chocks/levelers $150; LevelPro $145; full time RV insurance $621; Good Sam roadside assistance $80; the list goes on, but it makes me tired just to write it all down. I factored in about $5,000 for start up costs and I think we will likely blow through this pretty quickly. I will do a later post mid adventure reviewing this gear and seeing if it stands up to full time living. In general, so far, I have really loved all the things that we have gotten.
Work: I was lucky enough to work for a company that let me go remote for a year to live out this dream with my kids. They agreed to this all pre-COVID, so prior to the huge swell of remote workers making this mainstream. They are a remarkable company and I am grateful to work for them. Based on perceived limitations of remote work, we decided it would be best to move from a Manufacturing Leader to an Operations Analyst. The Manufacturing Leader role is easiest done with a physical presence and has many direct reports that require regular interaction. The Operations Analyst position has no direct reports and allows for more independent contributor work. This has been my first week in the Operations Analyst role and it went very well.
Pluses:
When doing independent contributor work, I can retreat to an office with the best view of my career.
I thought the hardest part would be connectivity. I have been blown away by how good the coast to coast networks have been. I would say it is very similar to home. The only time we lost signal was deep in a National Park. We were even able to FaceTime my dad in Deadwood so he could see the staged gun fight.
Deltas:
I am still adapting to being an hourly employee. I have done this before and will get back in the swing of things. I tend to get lost in my work and time flies by. It is just a hassle to set alarms to make sure I do not go over my 40 hours.
Time zones are tough. We are currently on in Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) and my work is in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). This translates to a 2 hour delta. This is a double edged sword. I start earlier (i.e. – 6:30AM/4:30AM EDT/MDT). I finish earlier (i.e.- 3:00PM/1PM EDT/CDT). So I am working several hours before the family wakes up and going to bed several hours earlier. It should be interesting to adapt to the Pacific Time Zone.
WRAP UP:
So far, I couldn’t have asked for more.
More time with my kids has been great. I am really getting to know them better and am learning a bunch of things over that I thought I knew about them.
Things break, smell and challenge me every day. I am regularly humbled by all that I do not know, frustrated by interactions with my family and the world and pushed to learn faster than I previously have. It is all good and really just part of life. We are living more now than we did and getting out there. Hopeful for the best that is to come.
June 9th started our adventure. Although we had been living in the RV for a month now, it’s very different trying to pack it up, move it, and then unpack it all again.
We have watched countless YouTube videos. Seriously, we have been watching for about a year or so now. Trying to do this in real life is so much different (and harder) than watching all the videos would make you think it would be.
The night before we packed up all loose items. All loose items: coffee pot, radio, paper towel holder, baskets holding remotes, Nick’s plants, dehumidifier, all cords/games/etc.. Everything had to be moved out of the way of the slides. Anything that could move had to be packed away, shut away, etc. We even took out the microwave glass plate and wrapped it up after hearing about how the door could open in transit and the plate could fall out and break.
We also packed up the cooler and the snack bag for the truck and preloaded everything we might need. The slides were put in, and we thought we were good to go.
It still took us almost two hours in the morning.
After finally getting on the road, driving was ok. We hit a few spots of construction where there was heavy stop and go traffic. We had to slam on the brakes once when the person in front of us slammed on theirs. There was a semi behind us. Of course, the semi is larger and heavier than even us and stopping is even slower for them. He ended up pulling onto the shoulder to avoid rear ending us. Based on where he was sitting on the shoulder, we definitely would have been hit. We were very lucky. My heartbeat took awhile to get back to normal.
We ended up stopping every few hours for bathroom breaks and/or for fuel. Indiana had surprisingly nice rest stops with lots of larger parking spots for semi trucks and RVs.
Will took a turn in the front passenger seat when Ben had some work to do. (For some reason the back seat has more space than front passenger seat.) He took a few pictures, but quickly fell asleep!
Stopped traffic, Will’s reflection in mirror taking pictures, sound asleep minutes later
Iowa was very green. As we were driving through, we checked with the BassPro Shop that we were planning on stopping at for the night. They told us that the city had recently put out No Overnight Parking signs, so we could not stop there. As we were trying to find a new place to stay for the night (we were planning on boondocking), a big storm rolled in and with it a tornado warning. So much fun. The visibility was extremely low, even with headlights and wipers on full blast. It got extremely dark very quickly. It was a harrowing part of the drive. When it cleared up a little bit and the sun came back out, we decided to call it for the night and looked for another place to stay. With a little more research, we found Riverside Casino in Iowa. They did allow overnight parking.
We got the RV parked and went to find some dinner at their cafe. I’ve had casino food before and it’s normally not something to write home about (excluding Las Vegas). This place was delicious. We got several items to split between us: fish tacos, pizza, salad (with chicken), and an amazing poutine. It was a wonderful dinner. We also got a chocolate chunk cookie and a zephyr (glazed donut filled with mouse/cream puff filling, topped with sugar and glazed walnuts).
On our walk back to the RV, we were greeted with an amazing sunset. All in all, it was a decent day. But now I want more of that poutine and another zephyr!
