What happened to us was kinda weird. We started losing some of the RVing enjoyment during our years of fulltiming. That's the reason I say that RVing is quite different than fulltiming. It was just too small of a house to live in all the time. We fixed it by going back to living in a stix/brix, and using the MH just for RVing. HOWEVER, presently it's the higher and higher cost of diesel that's the culprit. It's what's taking some of the fun out of it.
Willie & Betty Sue
Miko & Sparky
2003 41 ft Dutch Star Diesel Pusher/Spartan
Floorplan 4010
Blazer toad & Ranger bassboat
For several decades, my grandmother had the joy of RVing.
First with a truck trailer, then later with a travel trailer.
During the last several years, she and her traveling partner kept their trailer in a beautiful mountain resort.
They could call ahead and have the trailer in their space when they arrived by car.
Being regulars, and loved by all that knew them, people would come out to greet them and help set up and plug in.
By their late 80’s, they came to a point in their lives where driving up the mountain become too dangerous.
They sold the trailer for almost the same price they bought it for a decade earlier!
That season was behind them.
I have several dozen photo albums from destinations around our beautiful countries - inluding a couple albums with my children enjoying nature with their great-grandmother.
She past away last month at the age of 90.
It has been incredibly difficult for me to let her go.
Those albums, showing so many genuine smiles in front of her campers, have kept her alive in my heart.
My husband and I had been planning to purchase our 1st trailer for awhile, but something always took higher priority.
We finally took the time and bought our first PoP-uP in tribute to this amazing woman.
A new season in my family’s life begins as Gramma reaches her final destination.
We are taking our first trip Memorial Day weekend to Collier-Seminole in SW Florida.
It will be a bitter sweet trip.
It will also be the kick-off to decades of adventures around our beautiful country and the beginning of our albums filled with genuine smiles.
Looking forward to meeting you all out there…
M
“Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time.”
magster wrote: For three years after we retired, we were convinced our decision to become RVers was truly inspired. On two 3-month-plus trips out West and nearly 4 months spent visiting the Canadian Maritimes and New England, we had a ball traveling with our menagerie and seeing the sights. Of course, with a 5er, we have a vehicle to travel around in when unhooked.
But last summer, the wheels came off -- literally. Three catastrophic blowouts in 100-degree-plus heat and a broken air conditioner to boot. It became more of a 9,000-mile endurance contest, sort of holding our breaths to see what was going to happen next.
But call us stubborn. We're heading out in June for three to four months, to be spent mostly in Maine and New England.
But, if we have another disastrous summer, I can see saying it isn't fun anymore and the heck with it. We'll just load up our minivan and head for a rented cabin in the mountains somewhere.
Hope you find something you really enjoy doing.
Cheers,
And they made RV with Robin Williams?!?!?
2008 Itasca Meridian 37H, All. 3000MH (6-auto), Freightliner XC Chass., Cummins 6.7L Turbo, (Sweet! Delivery 03/12/08). Tow: '07 Dodge Gr. Caravan, Me, Him; Sugarbear, Apr. Toy Poodle; Pepe, Blk Toy Poodle; Hero, fat Siam.-mix polydactyl cat/Alarm Clock.
janeyiv wrote: I don't seem to be having a whole lot of fun with the RV travel these days. I'm not really into being stuck in remote locations. I've lived there! What I really want is to see the stuff you hear about. Cities and tourist attractions, etc.
I originally thought I could do this with the RV, but it turns out the RV parks, and particularly the membership things, are not close enough to the attractions, unless you are towing a car to get around in, which I refuse to do.
I wanted to take Lady along so we could enjoy life together just like at home. Now she has gotten so stiff it is impossible for her to climb the open steps up to the back door of the Bee. I built her a ramp, which helped for a while, but last time we were out, she missed the step at the top of the ramp and fell back to the ground. She is just 2 months short of her 15th birthday. If she can't do this anymore, what's the point?
Janey, we hear you clearly. One of our 4 dogs just died, and it really reminds us that their enjoyment of RVing is vitally connected to ours.
A few years back we got 2 shelter mutts and soon started learning to travel to dog-friendly places. In a few years we progressed to being able to take a great 3 week trip via our Toyota 4Runner visiting family and staying in mostly urban motels with 2 dogs. Leashed dogs at a hotel are a hassle, but generally this travel form was fun for a limited time.
Because we could not get into rural places like state park cabins (not too dog friendly, yet), we bought our Trail Lite B-Plus 213 3 years ago. We could travel more freely with our 2 dogs and we took many mostly short trips and enjoyed the mostly state park + dog walking experiences much like Janey describes - the rural side of things, if you will.
We also do not tow since I am legally blind and Martha has enough to manage driving the RV let alone adding a toad. The B+ was the smallest we could go yet have a fairly maneuverable rig (too little room for us in a Class B).
A small RV in a state park is fine for short stays, and you can walk the dogs till you drop. But a 10,000 lb., 22+ ft vehicle is nowhere near a Toyota 4Runner. While we do a good amount of driving the B+ in urban areas to get to restaurants and some tourist sites and such, it is not like having a toad to zip around in, and you always have the dogs with you. Also, an RV is not a good vehicle to zip around and scope out a new town to see how folks live – not really.
Around the time of Hurricane Katrina, I retired and we took on 2 more mutts. No more motels when you have 4 dogs! We continued with short trips for a while, and then Martha left the working world and we started taking more extended trips of up to a month. Unlike our previous 3 week midwest trip up to Minnesota with the SUV and urban motels, our month long RV trip of the midwest, lake superior, east coast and back was in campgrounds or someone’s driveway. Each stop posed logistical issues of hooking to a house, or trekking to and from a c.g. that is not centrally located. Generally we enjoyed travelling, but it could often be a headache.
In November, figuring we wanted a bit larger house, we sold our garden home and, on a lark, gave the full-time thing a go. Set up mail forwarding, insurance, storage, parked the SUV at our RV storage site and hit the rowdy road. For a month!
We realized that the cumulative RV travels of the past year or so along with the ongoing one was wearing us out (and I am 53 in pretty good health). For us, being continuously on the road or parked at a c.g. was not all that interesting. Spending so much time in c.g.s , searching for new restaurants and sights, dogs-on-leash with every opening of the door, will there be a c.g. spot tomorrow nite when we move on, etc. We came back and bought a house with a bit more space than before. We will resume the use the RV for short trips.
As Cloud Dancer has posted here and elsewhere, the comforts of a home cannot be matched in an RV, and it would seem to me that it is a person’s zest for wanderlust that would sustain a happy full-time RV trip. I suppose our wanderlust is limited to short bursts of adventure.
One’s experience of fun will differ from another’s, and it is generally not continuously maintainable – there is an ebb and flow to it all. As I sit at the keyboard, I can’t come up with anything else to add to this.
Sometimes some people just need a break away from something for a while after which they then feel that pull back to what they gave up. I hope whatever you decide makes you happy.
Mark and Vikki
2008 Gulfstream Amerilite 21MB
2008 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Ext Cab
Besides going camping..we never RV..we take several motel or hotel vacations a year to hit the big cities. We love going to Europe but with the dollar dropping so low that may be out for us.Luckily we got most of those vacations in already altho there are some we would like to repeat.
Our camping vacations are where we can be alone so we avoid crowds and close quarters.
I admitted to my son last night that I think he might have been right back in '02 when he advised me against the trade to the B+. He took me to a car lot where they had a Grand Prix sitting next to an Impala, so I could compare the two. Man! I want that Grand Prix badly! Still not making the final decision until after the Rice Hill trip. Three days of boredom will probably put the last nail in the coffin, so to speak. On the other hand, if they entertain me well, who knows?
Ivy (retired single girl)
Lady (Border Collie Mix guarding, guarding, guarding)
The Cookie Hauler (1990 Lumina APV, in which I camped before I got an RV and quit camping)
The Bee (2003 Trail Lite B-Plus on Ford E350)
Jane:
It sounds like a lot of your unhappiness is because of the problems that Lady is having. Maybe you should just take a break for awhile. Put the Bee on the side of the house for a few months, to figure out what you really want. You can still go vacationing in the Lumina....and may find that the cities are over-rated!!
Good luck in whatever you do.
Bill, Claudia, and the Paps
DH Bill / DW Claudia / DD Jenn / DS Chris The Paps! Sophie, Abby, Brandy, Kahlie and Annie
2000 Winnebago "Minnie" 31C, Ford V-10
Purchased April Fools Day, 2008 The Pets
Janey - We lost our little travel dog just this last Jan. She was 14 and over the last year or so of our RV trips, it became very apparent that the traveling was getting too hard and very uncomfortable for her. For 13 years, she just loved "going on the trips" more than anything in the world. She would know when we were getting ready for a trip by the packing going on - and she would get so excited she would just run around in circles until we finally just put her in the truck to calm her down. She loved looking out the window and putting her nose up on the windshield to watch the oncoming cars.
But last year - she went completely blind (she was a long time diabetic) and she could not get up and down out of the truck or the RV anymore - and the travel to and fro was just not fun for her anymore. So, we stopped going anywhere the last year and just stayed home where she was more comfortable and where she knew her way around. We finally had to put her down in January. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. She loved camping, hiking, swimming, hunting, playing, interacting with people and other dogs. She did it all - and to think she thrown out on the road as a little pup where we found her in the middle of nowhere - 14 years ago.
Since she died, I have not even wanted to go anywhere and have been very depressed, but then last month I got back on this site and read about all the trips being planned and could feel the excitement and the anticipation - and I decided that I do need to get out and go on the road again and live life again, just as she would want me to do. Life always presents us with changes and challenges and we just have to fight our way through them and decide what is best for each of us to do - at the time.
In your case, I agree with the previous poster that maybe it is Lady's discomfort that is part of what is causing you to lose your desire to go and do - and maybe you should stop long enough to let Lady live out the rest of her life in peace and comfort - and then you can decide where you go from there and what kind of travel you want.
In any event, take your time and do what works best for you and for Lady. Peace!
I don't think it is so much Lady's health that makes me want something different. As previously mentioned, I don't find much joy sitting around in campgrounds out in the boondocks. And travelling in the Lumina isn't really an alternative, since I have no desire to replace the tires before I switch. Also, the accelerator is so close to the seat, my foot gets cramped after an hour or two. It does not have cruise control nor air conditioning. I think the decision is pretty well made. I am just waiting until after the Rice Hill trip to act. When you see me passing you in that bright red Pontiac (I won't have to obey the truck speed limit anymore) just toot and wave, and/or cuss me out if you feel like it. I won't care. I will be having fun!
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