It’s taken a little over a year for me to get the permission from my husband (the driver) to tell this story. He finds it embarrassing. I believe that I have finally convinced him that this incident is in no way his fault. It was a series of unfortunate events on the backroads of Tennessee.
This story cannot be properly told without explaining my roots. My ancestors are from Tennessee. We can’t really figure out where they came from before Tennessee. They were so dirt poor that there wasn’t much in the way of records, family heirlooms, etc. that might have given us a clue as to where they came from before Tennessee. For all I know, they could have been hatched in Paint Rock, Tennessee.
My dad has told us stories that he heard from his grandfather and my grandmother about Tennessee. For instance, the nearest school was 5 miles away. So, my great uncle drove my grandmother to school at the age of 9 while standing up in their jalopy of a Model -T Ford. The other story – more relevant to this story is that the people in the backwoods of Tennessee, including my family, didn’t wait for the police or the school principal or whoever to take care of matters. Instead, they took matters into their own hands. For instance, if you were to trespass on my family’s farm, you might find yourself looking down the barrel of shotgun. It’s just how things were handled. My dad also had me convinced that this is still how things are handled in the backwoods of Tennessee.
Fast forward to modern times – October of 2022 to be more precise. We were going to meet my dad in Sweetwater, Tennessee so that we could explore the cemetery in nearby Paint Rock and he could share the stories of my ancestors buried there. On the way, we decided we’d stop in Pigeon Forge and check out the Great Smoky Mountains, Gaitlinburg, and of course, Dollywood. We were headed from Charleston, SC to Pigeon Forge, TN. My husband carefully checks Apple Maps, Google Maps, and a paper trucker map for directions – three maps. He plots our route and we hit the road. This three map system had never failed us.
On this particular day, our maps took us through the Smoky Mountain National Park boundaries which we thought was strange, but we kept going. What the heck?! It was a beautiful drive! Surely our maps – especially the trucker map wouldn’t give us a bum steer…
And then, it happened …. There was a sign …. A really big sign that said “Bridge is Out. Do NOT trust your GPS” (Or something like that). Unfortunately, the sign was placed at a fork in the road and it didn’t specify which direction the bridge was out. Apparently, if you were a local, you would have known all about it and tourists should have gone a different way. We pulled over into a church parking lot and consulted all of the maps and tried to decide which direction the washed-out bridge might be. After careful consideration and a whole bunch of guessing, we decided on the road that went to the right.
The road was a beautiful backroad with two narrow lanes and thankfully, no low bridges. We kept going about two miles down the road and then, there was the second sign “Bridge is Out – take alternate route” (or something like that.). We had no idea how much further up the bridge would be because the road was so twisted we couldn’t see it. Have you ever turned a fifth wheel and truck around on a narrow winding road? It’s not possible. It appeared that our only option was going to be to back up the winding road two miles to get back to the fork in the road. So, we did what every good Fifth Wheeling couple would have done – we just sat there … trying to figure out what to do do next.
We finally decided that the best thing to do would be to have me get out with my phone and start walking toward the bridge. Thank goodness there was at least a little cell service! I walked up and found a long driveway that we could probably pull into and then back out and get pointed in the opposite direction. But, with all of those family stories my dad told me about the people of the Tennessee backwoods, I was pretty concerned that we’d find ourselves in some trouble with the owners of the driveway and possibly end up with some bullet holes in the truck and the trailer. There had to be a better option.
I walked a little further up the road and found a church parking lot. I may have heard an angel chorus singing! Knowing it takes about 40 acres to turn a trailer around, I saw at least 30 acres and that would do! (OK – I may be a little off on the acreage, but you get the idea.) I headed back to the truck and the trailer feeling pretty proud of myself for getting us out of our pickle. I was stopped by a driver in a blue car who told me he knew we were in trouble and he had talked to my husband and was going to turn us around and lead us into Pigeon Forge. He kind of stole my thunder, but YAY!
My husband wasn’t far behind him with the truck and the trailer. I got back in the truck and we drove to the very church I had found and got ourselves turned around. The blue car driver got out and came to the window to tell us where he was going to take us and explained that he was an Uber Driver and a former truck driver. He’d go slow, make sure we had wide enough turns, and not take us under any bridges. The driver of the blue car had a name that I can’t remember, so I’ll just call him “Clarence”– after the angel from “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Clarence did a great job getting us out of our jam and getting us to Pigeon Forge, leading us on an equally pretty road that got exactly where we needed to be. When all was said and done, he didn’t even want to take any money for his efforts, but finally took a little cash for gas after a lot of convincing from us.
You have to wonder, what was an Uber driver doing in the backroads of Tennessee? It couldn’t have been good for business. I like to think he was an angel sent by God to protect us from ourselves… and some confusing signage. My dad later asked, “How did you think to call an Uber driver? That was genius!” We didn’t … he was sent!
Post script:
Here are some things we learned while in Tennessee – in addition to “even 3 maps might be wrong.”
The people of Tennessee are lovely. They are not like my dad described. Of course, we did our best not to trespass on anyone’s property.
Tennessee was much prettier than we expected! It was just like the song from Davey Crocket – “Greenest state in the land of the free.” I can’t wait to go back!
If you’re in a jam – call an Uber driver! You’ll look like a genius!
In our 16 years of RVing, we’ve always had at least one dog who comes with us most of the time. Our dogs love trailer trips! Our trailer lives in a storage place. When it comes up to the house to get it ready for a trip, our dogs know we’re going somewhere, and they get very excited about it! Over the years we’ve learned more and more about bringing the dogs and when not to bring them. I should probably point out that we are not full-timers. Our longest trips are usually around 2 weeks. As you’re reading this, take away anything that helps and leave the rest. I know for a fact that some of this won’t apply if you’re full timing (sorry about that!). Also, we have no experience traveling with cats. I know people do, but we can’t help you with that. (again, sorry about that!).
If you’ve read any of my blog posts, you’ll know I am a bit of neat freak. I also don’t like doing extra work on vacation. Bringing a dog or two along on a trip can be a bit of a struggle in this regard. I’ve learned to reconcile my love of traveling with my dogs and inner neat freak. Here’s how I handle things. (Note: check the bottom of this blog post for links).
Dog hair – I hate dog hair dust bunnies! Whenever I leave to go to work, I tell my dogs, “Leave your hair on!” They never listen! I found a good vacuum for keeping after the dog hair and I use I almost every day. I also use a swiffer to pick it up. I have learned to not even bother trying to sweep it out of the trailer as it just floats back in. I also brush out my dogs after our morning walk each day.
Mud prints – We live and travel in the Pacific Northwest. Mud is a constant issue. We keep a mud colored (some people might call it “taupe”) towel by the door so we can wipe off their feet when we come in from a walk and before they track mud all over the trailer. I also keep floor cleaner and a mop handy in case.
Rugs are your friends! – We have a Waterhog rug by the door. It’s a big help with collecting dirt and mud from the dogs’ feet and ours. I recently discovered Ruggables. Ruggables are magical rugs that don’t slip and are 100% machine washable and dryable. They come out beautifully! I don’t have any in my trailer but have them in the house and I’ll probably never buy a rug that isn’t either a Waterhog or a Ruggable ever again!
Dogs need their place. – Our dogs have their beds. We had another dog that needed her kennel at night. What does your dog need, so he knows where his spot is in your trailer?
Behavior – I’ve heard it said, “A tired dog is a good dog.” I totally agree! We involve our dogs in our day as much as possible. They love new smells, hikes, drives in the truck, and generally exploring with us. We do our best to make sure our dogs are tired from having fun! It usually makes us tired too! We all sleep better!
Keep up with their routine – You’ll all be happier campers if you do. My dogs go for a walk each morning after I get up. I plan that into my trailer routine, or should I say, they plan it into my trailer routine. They wake me up at walk time and let me know it’s morning … even if I try to explain that I’m on vacation and I’d like to sleep in. An RV park gets low marks from me if I can’t find a nice, safe place to walk a couple of miles with my dogs in the morning. My husband is the night guy. He takes them on what we call, “Nine-O’clock gosies outsies.” Every night at around 9 p.m., he takes them out on a little walk about for their last time before they go to bed.
We don’t always bring our dogs with us. We believe there are times when it isn’t really fair to the dogs if we bring them along. We have been lucky to find great house and dog sitters in cases where we think it’s best to leave them at home. Here’s how we decide.
Will we be going to a National Park? – If the answer is yes, then the dogs stay home. Most National Parks don’t allow dogs on their trails. The dogs would have to stay in the trailer all day. It wouldn’t be fair to them and potentially, they could be a disturbance to others in the RV park if they bark or whine while you’re away. Having said all that, check the website for the National Park you’ll be visiting. They may allow dogs, or they may have kennels you can use.
Will we be going to an amusement park? – We love to take our trailer to Disneyland. We would never bring our dogs on an amusement park RV trip. We are amusement park geeks and like to close the place down at night. This would create a situation where the dogs would have to stay in the trailer too long during the day. Again, not fair to the dogs or others staying in the RV Park.
How long are our driving days? – If it’s more than say, 4 hours, we leave the dogs at home. This could change when we retire and are able to travel more at off season times. We are usually traveling in July for our longer trips. If we’re going more than 4 hours from home, it’s usually hot where we’re going. We like being able to make stops along the way without worrying about what to do with the dogs while we go inside a restaurant for lunch for example. We’ve seen people with dogs on long trips stopped at rest stops. They do a great job with their dogs. We just think our dogs (and us) would have a better time if the dogs stayed home and stuck with their routine.
Are we going to be able to get them enough exercise? – On shorter trips where we’re planning a lot of hiking (where dogs are allowed on the trails), we love bringing the dogs! For instance, we traveled to Winthrop, Washington and camped there for a week. On the way, we ate lunch at a place on the way that allowed dogs on their deck. Our dogs loved it! We hiked all over the place in the North Cascades on trails that allowed dogs. They got a ton of exercise and were in dog heaven! They were also tired! If we went out to dinner at night, they were quiet in the trailer because they were happy and tired. We took another trip to Cannon Beach, OR that was a five night trip. The dogs loved the walks, running and playing on the beach, and the campfires.
Other things to consider:
Before you travel with your dog – Make sure your dog is good on a leash and behaves around other people and kids. You can teach this by walking your dog in your neighborhood, introducing him to kids, and letting people pet him or her. My dogs like to go to Starbucks! I tie them up while I run inside and get my drink. They often get lots of extra attention from other Starbucks patrons who are passing by them. They love it! It’s also taught them a lot about how to behave in other places. Before ever leaving them alone outside at Starbucks, I took them with a friend and we took turns going to grab our drinks. This way, they learned that I come back out and that they don’t need to fuss or bark – all under the watchful eye of my friend.
Check the RV Park’s pet policies – You may have a “banned” breed. Some RV parks ban certain breeds like Dobermans, Rottweilers, and German Shepherds. We have a rescue dog who is a German Shepherd mix. She is a submissive type dog who is timid around strangers. As my husband says, “Try to get bit by her!” We think it’s fairly impossible. We were also told that she may be part Aussie. So, when an RV park asks for breed of dog, we say that she’s an Aussie Mix. Our little “un-banned” breed dog has a greater potential for being a troublemaker!
Use a leash! – We stayed at an RV park one time and the people next door to us had Dobermans. The people let them roam free off leash. The RV Park didn’t pay any attention to what was going on in their park. I’m sure the people trained their dogs and that they were good, but I wasn’t going to test it by bringing my dogs out of the trailer while their dogs were out. It created a situation where we were “hold up” in our trailer. Not cool! Even if you have the best-off leash dog on the planet, put your dog on a leash in the RV park. Not only is it usually a law, but it’s better for everyone in the park.
Dog Parks– Many RV parks have dog parks. If your dog is a dog park dog, you might look for this feature.
Pick up after your dog – Bring lots of poop bags! Always clean up after your dog in the RV Park, on hikes, etc.
Is your dog a flight risk? – Our little dog is named “Chase.” Chase is his favorite game! If he gets out the door, we have to chase him all over the place and he’s fast! We work really hard at “sit” and “wait” when I open the door, but every now and then, he escapes! I have a “Whistle” on him. This is a GPS tracker that pairs with an app on my phone. So, if he gets lost, I can find him on a map. It also tracks his activity kind of like a Fitbit. I get a text every day that says, “Chase met his activity goal today!” With the Whistle, I can make my house/dog sitter one of his “people” while we’re gone. That way, if the dog-sitter has an issue, she’ll be able to hunt him down. It’s also fun to see where they go on walks and runs. Conversely, if the dog isn’t getting walked, I can see that too and check in to make sure everything is OK. One time, our dog-sitter hurt her knee while running our dogs. So, I had to enlist the help of a neighbor to get the dogs walked.
Our dogs have been a fun part of our RVing experience. When they’re not with us, we miss them and catch ourselves trying to block them from coming out the door when we come back from our exploring. Our dogs love the truck, the trailer, the hikes, the new smells, and everything about a trip! I guess dogs need vacations too!
Dog Packing List
Dog dishes (mine live in the trailer – one less thing to remember!)
Dog Food
Treats
Leash
Brush
Foot wiping towel
Dog jackets (I use these when it rains – less dog to dry)
Poop Bags
“Place” (bed, rug, kennel – whatever your dog needs to have his own spot in the trailer)
With the Coronavirus going on, you might be home on quarantine wishing you could go to an RV show. You might be doing the next best thing – shopping online for a new rig or maybe just dreaming for the future. You’re probably looking at floorplans and features. A lot of RV manufacturers like to show off some fancy features and try to woo you.
A little background for you about me. In addition to being a bit of a tight wad, I am also “Miss Fancy.” It’s a conundrum. My mom’s nickname for me was “Miss Fancy.” That’s because I was kind of persnickety about a few things. For instance, take me to an antique store and I’m in seventh heaven. Take me into Goodwill, especially the clothing department, and my gag reflex starts going off. That was the case when I was younger. I’m proud to say that if I’m on a hunt for something, I can handle Goodwill. So, maybe now, I’m “Miss Sort of Fancy.” I say this because, the “Miss Fancy” part of me is the part that jumped ship from tent camping to camping in a trailer. My fancy-ness has evolved over my 16 years of RVing to become a little more fancy. Here’s my take on the fancy gadgets they try to woo you with at RV shows. Remember, this is just my opinion. Your needs and opinions may vary. It’s my two cents … for whatever it’s worth to you.
Outdoor kitchens: Some rigs come with extensive outdoor kitchens complete with sinks, refrigerators, and a stove. Our first rig had an outdoor stove. Our second had an outdoor fridge and no stove. I used the outdoor stove only a little and I mostly used it to cook things that would have a lingering odor in the trailer such as clams and bacon. One of my favorite smells is bacon cooking in a campground. Taking it outside to cook was kind of a treat! Our second rig had an outdoor fridge. We thought it would come in handy so we could grab drinks on the road. As it turned out, it didn’t do a good job of keeping drinks cold while we were on the road because the fridge required electrical hookups to keep running. So, we had slightly colder than room temperature drinks on the road. It was kind of nice to have drinks cooling outside in the fridge once we were hooked up. Then, we could transfer them inside the trailer as we had space. It was an OK thing, but kind of a waste of space other than the spare key we hid in the freezer department. My verdict on outdoor kitchens – not worth the money or the space! I’d rather have the storage space to store something more useful.
Washer and Dryers: I have friends that wouldn’t own a rig without a washer/dryer unit. I don’t want one. Here’s why. The first problem is, they have plumbing. It’s one more thing that can leak. Leaks are one of the worst things for an RV. I don’t like doing laundry so much that I would want it going constantly in my rig. I’d rather pony up the quarters and get it done in one fell swoop at the laundromat. I have no idea how noisy they are. I’m sure I wouldn’t like the noise either. It’s also one more thing that has moving parts that could break. I figure, if I’m using the laundry in an RV park or a laundromat, the maintenance and repairs are not my problem … unless they eat my quarters. Space is always an issue in RVs and I would much rather have the space to store things than have a washer and dryer.
Dog bowl drawers: They look like a nice idea in a brochure, but in reality I think they’d be a trip hazard. As one of the world’s clumsiest people and a person who has worked in rehab facilities, I have decided that falling down is basically a bad idea. So, one less thing to trip over. Also, if you have to put the drawer back in while there is still food or water in … eww! What a mess! No thanks! I’d rather flip the dog bowls over accidentally in the trailer and be fully aware that I have made a mess instantly!
Dishwashers: My objections to these are much the same as my objections to the washer and dryer. There is plumbing, it leaks. Moving parts could break. It might be noisy. They’re also small. So, you’re going to have to wash some dishes anyway. I really don’t mind washing the dishes. It’s always been a teamwork thing on our trips.
Theater seating: I always thought theater seats were for wimps. That is, until we had our second rig. The couch was not floppable. Watching movies together as a family was awkward. It just wasn’t very comfortable. Then, we went to a movie theater that had the reclining seats and I was sold. That was going to be a requirement in our next rig. We now have theater seats and I love them!
Heated seats: When we were looking at our current trailer, the dealer was proud to show us that the theater seats were heated and that they had a massage feature. I thought, “Wow, that’s a little over the top, but OK.” Well, the heated seats … let me just say, I’m never going back! I love them! They’re especially great on the first night when it’s chilly out and the rig is still cold. The massage feature just makes me laugh. It’s not so much a massager as a jiggler. When we were kids, my family went on road trips where we stayed at Two Diamond or less motels listed in the AAA trip book. Sometimes these fancy places had beds with a little box you could put a quarter in and get a “massage,” which was more of a jiggle. The massage feature in our chairs makes me think of those funny motel beds.
Fireplace: Try to buy a fifth-wheel without one. I was against them, but when I we started looking at fifth wheels I had to make my peace with them. Luckily over the years, they have gotten better looking. I thought we’d probably never use ours. I was dead wrong. I love that thing! It heats up the living area great and adds a nice cozy feel to the trailer in the evenings when we can’t be outside with a fire in a fire pit. Another plus to the fireplace, it runs on electrical power. So, when you’re fully hooked up and on shore power, it provides heat to your living area without using up propane. One of my favorite things with this rig is when we go to one of our favorite places, there is a place to order take-out chowder. My husband gets the outside all set up and I set up the inside, make salad, and heat up the U-bake bread we bring along. Once he’s done outside, he calls to order up some chowder. I sit and wait in my heated seat and enjoy the fireplace. Miss Fancy … there she is!
Outdoor shower: Our first two rigs each had one. I thought it was going to be a Godsend since we had dogs and a little boy. I figured they’d need to be hosed off outside. It turns out, we mostly used the outside shower for filling up the bucket with the clams we brought back from clamming. In our second trailer, something went wrong and the shower leaked into the trailer. We ended up capping of the pipe to stop the leak which disabled the shower. We never missed it. Our current rig doesn’t have an outdoor shower. We actually could have used one recently when one dog hiked his leg and the other dog got her head in the way. Gross! We ended up working with the hose outside to wash the dog’s head. Everything was fine without the shower!
DVD player: Most rigs come with a built in DVD player. Meh… they’re OK. We’d rather they had a good place to put one that we pick out. We’d pick one with a blue-ray player. We keep talking about buying a blue-ray player for the trailer and never have gotten around to it. We’ve been talking about it since the last trailer….
TV: The TV’s that come with trailers aren’t great. Don’t let them woo you with the TV. We swap them out for smart TV’s. We use my phone as a hotspot and we have access to Netflix, Amazon Prime and a lot of other things. We love having a smart TV in the trailer! You might think that you’ll never watch TV because you’re going into the great outdoors. Well, if you’re boondocking, you’re right! Your TV isn’t going to work unless you run a generator. We generally stay at places with full hookups. I am a big fan of the great outdoors and hiking, but I love to return to my trailer for an evening of flopping out after a hiking day if I can’t have a campfire.
Outdoor TV: I’m not really interested in these, but can see their appeal. Maybe you want to watch a movie with the kids outside while roasting marshmallows. Sounds fun! Maybe you’re a tailgater. Maybe you’re camping with people and want to watch a football game together outside. Cool! My husband is opposed. He wants the space for storage (they usually take up some space in the storage area) and he’s absolutely against sitting still when he might get bit by a mosquito. So, no outdoor TV for us!
I hope that’s given you a little food for thought. If you want to make this long story shorter, I’d say if it has moving parts or if it might leak – think real hard about whether or not having it is worth it to you. If it makes your time in the rig more comfortable, it’s worth it.
Next Trailer Girl Blog: Easy Upgrades for Happier Camping
I love to travel in my trailer and I love to cook. RV kitchens can be a challenge with their small sinks, minimal cupboard space, and their weird ovens. We are now on our third trailer and with each one, I have gotten more kitchen space. I am currently spoiled with a pantry bigger than my home pantry, lots of drawers, and plenty of room for my dishes and pots and pans. This wasn’t always the case. My first trailer had very minimal kitchen space and I became a master of making everything I needed fit.
My first bit of advice for anyone setting up an RV kitchen is to figure out what kind of RV cook you’re going to be. Are you an everything-from-scratch-kind of person or a pop-it-in-the-microwave kind of person. If you’re the later, you are only going to be challenged by your freezer space and you won’t need much in the way of cookware or utensils. If you’re a little more like me, an almost-from-scratch sort of person, you’re going to need to figure out how to pack your kitchen just right. Here is how I have set up my RV kitchen and how it’s evolved over the past 16 years of RVing.
Dishes – I hate paper plates! I am also not a big fan of plastic-y dishes and cups. I want everything to feel as much like real dishes and cups as possible. 16 years ago, I bought a set of Corelle dishes that I am using to this day. They make great RV dishes because they don’t break or chip and they stack compactly.
My dishes cupboard in my trailer.
Mugs – Mugs are a very important piece of camping equipment! We have a couple of good travel mugs for when we need to have coffee in the car. Otherwise, we use regular mugs. After 15 years of use, the stoneware mugs from my Corelle set finally died. I have replaced them with some Starbucks mugs that look nice with my dishes. I keep them in a drawer. I find that mugs chip less in a drawer. If you store your mugs in a drawer, you need to measure your drawer before you buy your mugs. I looked a little weird when some kids I know caught me measuring the mugs at Starbucks. You need to make sure they’re not taller than the inside of your drawer and steer clear of the drawer catch thing (I’m sure there’s an official name for it). I lined the drawer with a non-slip liner and put a paper plate rolled up with some no-slip stuff around it in between the rows of mugs so they don’t bump into each other on the road. The paper plate set up was going to be a temporary measure until I thought of something classier, but it’s working! So, I think I’ll just leave it.
My mug drawer set up. The thing in the middle is a rolled up paper plate with some non-stick stuff wrapped around it. It keeps everything in place.
“Glassware”– I use acrylic “glassware.” I had some super cheap cups from Walmart for the first 10 years of RVing. They finally cracked and I sprung for some nicer ones from Crate and Barrel. They’re holding up really well. I also have stemless acrylic wine glasses (because trailers jiggle and you don’t want to spill your wine!). I found nice ones at Crate and Barrel.
Pots and Pans – My biggest piece of advice here is don’t cheap out! That’s right! Don’t go buying the cheapest stuff for your RV! Here’s why. You are on vacation! Your sink is smaller than your sink at home. You don’t have a garbage disposal. Your gray water tank is only so big. The last thing you need is your food sticking to some cheap pot or pan and to spend time and gray water tank space scrubbing! Get some good non-stick cookware for your rig. You can find decent T-Fal at places like Target and Walmart. Also, check places like Home Goods. Sometimes you can find higher end stuff like Calphalon at great prices. If your cookware has glass lids, store your lids on the pots or pans if possible. I have a rack for mine now and it’s working well. I’ve been traveling with glass pan lids for 16 years and haven’t broken one yet!
You need one “beater” pot – You should have one “beater” pot. Maybe one you’ve handed down from your home kitchen or bought used at someplace like Goodwill. I store my “beater” pot in the bench of my dinette. I use it when I need to cook outside or when I’m cooking something that might hurt my good pots, like clams.
Silverware– Get a good set you like and a silverware organizer for the drawer. No one likes a jumbled mess in the drawer when it’s time to set the table. You can find inexpensive sets of silverware at places like Target or Home Goods.
Utensils– I used to sell Pampered Chef. I am all kinds of picky about my utensils and it’s probably the one thing I have gone more overboard on. I haven’t really given into the “it has to have at least two purposes” mentality for this. For instance, I have an avocado cutting tool. It’s important! I also have a tomato corer and two different sizes of graters. Very important! The one thing I am persnickety about is that everything has to fit in its intended place. So, it took me forever to find the right cheese grater that would lay flat in the drawer and not be a cheap, flimsy one. After a couple months of searching, I found a great Microplane grater with a handle that doesn’t stick up. YAY!
Organizing your utensils – I have all of the utensils that I use near the stove (wooden spoons, rubber scrapers, tongs, etc) in a utensil holder on the counter near the stove. I stow it in the cupboard below when we are traveling. For all other utensils, I have them in drawers organized by size more than function. That’s to prevent the jumbled mess thing from happening in the drawer. I also have my knives in sheaths so that I don’t cut my fingers trying to find something else. I hate bleeding…
Roll-a-Roasters– Don’t go camping without them! They don’t take up much space! You’ll be the envy of everyone at the campground! Roll-a-Roasters are telescoping roasters for use with a campfire. They have a little turning screw that you can twist with your fingers while you roast. They make perfect marshmallows! You can find Roll-a-Roasters at Camping World or REI.
Roll-a-Roasters. Don’t go to a campfire without them!
Small appliances – Our first rig didn’t have much space in the kitchen for things like appliances. Our coffee pot was only a 4 cup coffee pot because we could fit it in the cupboard. We didn’t have enough counter space to actually leave it on the counter while we were camping. Because of that, I have learned to camp without any small appliances other than a coffee pot. When we got a bigger rig, we got a normal sized coffee pot (with a stainless-steel carafe. It’s not breakable and it keeps your coffee hot longer). The coffee pot upgrade was one of the most exciting things about getting a new trailer for us. We left our 4 cupper in the old trailer when we traded it in with a note about why whoever bought the trailer needed that tiny coffee pot. Many people like having a crock-pot or an insta-pot in their rigs. Now that I have space for one, I’m not sure I want one in the trailer. I don’t even have a toaster! If I want to toast something, I use a pan on the stove. I’ve gotten used to my “trailer” recipes that don’t require extra appliances. To be a good “trailer recipe,” the recipe must be fairly simple, not require more than two pots or pans, not be something that you have to spend too much time cleaning out of the bottom of a pan, and of course, be delicious!
A good grill is worth every penny! – We have had some grill failures. For instance, on our first trailer, we bought a gas grill that was basically a giant grill pan on wheels. While it worked OK, our steak had strange grill marks and it wasn’t as good as over an actual flame. Our second trailer had a cool grill that hooked up to a gas spigot thing on the trailer and had a little grill shelf on the back of the trailer. It was a great set-up … except for the part where the grill didn’t work for beans! We had to be super picky about what we cooked on it and the outside temperatures and wind had to be perfect or it would take forever! On our current rig, we sprung for a little Weber gas grill. We love it and it cooks great! My husband is the griller. It was hard to get him enthusiastic about grilling on the first two grills. Now, he’s much more willing and enthusiastic about going out, setting it all up, and grilling.
Grill pan – Funny story, since we had those first two grills that were sub-par and we do much of our camping in the rainy Pacific Northwest, we decided we should have a grill pan for the trailer in case our grilling plans were thwarted by weather or a lack of enthusiasm by the griller. We frequently camp in a town that has two kitchen stores, a big grocery store, and a hardware store that sells some kitchen things. Do you think we could find a grill pan there when we needed one? NO! It’s an artsy town. Our working theory is, there are just too many vegetarians and they don’t grill much (clearly, they haven’t tasted grilled vegetables!). I found a decent T-fal non-stick grill pan at our local Walmart after we got home from one of those trips. It’s come in handy!
Stones – I mentioned before that I sold Pampered Chef. I have several baking stones in my trailer that I think are a big help to RV baking. RV ovens are weird. The stones (along with tiles on the bottom of your oven) help distribute the heat more evenly and prevent burning on the bottom. I have a pizza stone, a round stone (like a cake pan), and a 9 x 9 square baker.
Baking sheets – Before you buy a baking sheet, measure your oven! I have messed this up more than once! My husband has bent baking sheets so they fit. Another time I bought one that almost fit and we just left the oven door open a little. Lame! I should have measured first! After you measure, go someplace like Home Goods or a kitchen store. They’ll have a better size selection. Buy heavier metal baking sheets to prevent burning on the bottom. If you’re lucky, you might find a silpat mat to put on it that will help with clean up. I haven’t been quite that lucky…. Yet….. I love kitchen stores! It’s fun to always have something to look for.
Cute dishtowels and pot-holders you like – Don’t go taking your old, stained dishtowels from your house and put them in your trailer! Go pick out some that make you happy! You’ll be seeing them a LOT while you’re camping! Also, you’ll be using a lot of them if you cook! Most likely, you’ll need to hang them to dry somewhere like your oven handle and it’ll be out where you can see it. You want something you like there, not something stained and ugly! Lately, have been collecting cute dishtowels from places I visit. It’s fun to have reminders of past trips.
I am the “scullery maid” on our trips. That’s what my husband jokingly calls me. I don’t mind because he’s the “hose master” and the driver. This little division of labor gives us each some say in our areas. He has veto power over what we listen to while on the road, for instance. Saddly, there’s not much upgrading you can do with hoses, but he has the best he can find! He likes eating well on the road and doesn’t question my choices in cookware. It works! Although, truth be told, he did look at me a little like I was crazy when I put bread in a basket with a cloth napkin liner on the table! I finally had enough room for the basket and room in the drawer for a couple of cloth napkins. Time to get a bread basket!
Here’s my shopping list for setting up an RV Kitchen:
Serving:
Set of Corelle Dishes
Mugs that fit where you’ll store them
Acrylic “Glassware”
Set of silverware and silverware organizer
Cooking:
Set of non-stick pots and pans including; stock-pot, sauce pan, small sauté pan, larger sauté pan, and a skillet with higher sides than a sauté pan.
Non-stick grill pan
Beater pot
Set of nesting mixing bowls with lids (mine are stainless steel and I’ve had them 16 years!)
Pampered Chef Micro-cooker (great for cooking things like Costco chicken tenders that you’ll be putting in another recipe or for thawing the meat you forgot to take out of the freezer)
Pyrex type measuring cup
Nesting dry measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Favorite Utensils:
Chef’s Knife, smaller knife, paring knife, and serrated knife (I love my bread knife – works on watermelons too!)
Pizza Cutter
Rubber scrapers
Wooden Spoons
Rubber tipped tongs
Flat silicone covered whisk (for stirring in non-stick pots)
Regular whisk (for things like scrambling eggs)
Cheese grater (or 2!) – my favorite are Microplane with handles that help them lay flat in the drawers
Roll-a-Roasters
Baking:
Baking stones
Heavy baking sheets that fit in your oven
Other things:
Good Grill
Cute Dishtowels
Coffee pot with stainless steel carafe
Tea Kettle
Cutting Boards you like and that don’t slip while you’re cutting
A word about shopping. I am a big fan of brick and mortar stores. I like to touch things like mugs and glasses and see how they’ll feel in my hands. I like to feel the weight of a pot, pan, or a baking sheet. You can’t do that by shopping online! I also like to support small businesses as much as possible and will buy something at a small kitchen shop before going to a someplace like Target. I’ll even pay a few bucks more to buy something from small mom and pop shop than say, Amazon, to help support their business. I encourage you to get off your computer (when you’re done reading this blog post, of course!) and go to actual stores! It’s fun and you’ll be doing the brick and mortar stores a big favor! Additionally, you’ll be doing yourself a big favor by buying things that are more to your liking and that fit in your rig! Win-Win!
Next Trailer Girl Blog – Those Amazing Gadgets, Why I Won’t Pay for Most of Them, And a Few That Have Won Me Over
I will be the first to admit that I know very little about economics. I’m also not the best at higher level math. However, to my credit, I am the household bookkeeper and budget master. I also run a small non-profit which I started from the ground up right before the big recession hit. It’s our 13th year and we’re still in business and growing! All that said, I feel somewhat competent where small scale money is concerned. Don’t even think of asking me a question about our nation’s economics. I’ll give you a blank stare!
The other important thing to note is, I majored in recreation. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation Administration, Therapeutic Option (or shortened up, Recreation Therapy. Yes! It’s a real thing people get paid to do!). As a Recreation Therapist, I worked in several different settings including Psychiatric Care, Skilled Nursing, Drug and Alcohol Rehab, and lots of youthwork settings. In all of my career life, I have worked with people of all ages and backgrounds. This will all be important to my “Economic” theories related to RVing.
When we first bought a trailer, we had to buy a tow vehicle to go with it. We bought a brand new Suburban because we couldn’t find a used one with low enough miles set up the way we wanted. At the time we purchased it, there were so many kick-backs from Chevy and the dealer, we actually could get a brand new one for the same price or less than a used one. It was crazy! We also bought our trailer brand new because we couldn’t find a used bunkhouse model that didn’t smell weird and where you could pack both food and clothes. It was a very strange time for used trailers! They were just starting to get the idea that families wanted to travel and that everyone in the family would bring stuff and want a bed to sleep in!
As soon as we bought our trailer and tow rig, we pretty much ceased any kind of travel that involved a hotel and an airplane. We also began taking a weekend trip almost every month. The tow rig also became my daily driver and was a great mom carpool-mobile.
I don’t have a CLUE how to do the math to figure out the value of the tow vehicle to the travel vs what we paid for it, wear and tear on the trailer and rig, or whatever kind of math an economist would use. Here’s the math I did when we traveled with our kids:
Gas – for a family of 4 was almost always less than airfare
Car – we didn’t have to rent one, so we saved on car rental
RV Park Fees – At $35 – $85 per night for a family of 4, this was always a better deal than a hotel
Food – At first, we almost never ate out. This saved us a lot of money. When we were able to go out a little more often, we still saved quite a bit of money on food. We didn’t spend any more on groceries for a trailer trip than we would have staying home. We always figured that just by eating breakfast in our trailer, we saved at least $50 per day for a family of 4 (with a Starbucks type breakfast).
Sounds like a bargain, right? Now, figure in the cost of your trailer over the time you have it minus what you sell it for when you’re done with it (or in our case trade it in). Then, divide by the number of years you use it. That’s what you spend on your vacationing on just your RV. Our first trailer, we had for 10 years. We bought it for about $13,000 and sold it for about $6,000. That’s about $700 per year. Then, we pay for storage (let’s figure $100 per month). So, there you have another $1200 per year. $1900 is a pretty nice car trip hotel vacation! I try not to think about that!
Here’s where the financial payoff improves: when you take the weekend trips periodically throughout the year. Yes! You have to use it to get your money’s worth! Our little 3 day weekend trips are a bargain! Especially if we stay in a state park. Even if we don’t stay in a state park, our the gas and RV Park fees for a weekend trip usually cost less than a nice dinner and a movie for two people. If you’re just going to use your rig for your annual summer vacation, you might want to re-think your purchase.
You can improve the payoff even more if you purchase a used RV or trailer. RV’s and trailers don’t hold their value. As soon as your wheels hit the street from the dealer, it’s worth a bunch less than it was on the lot.
As a Recreation Therapist and someone who has spent most of her working life working with youth in some capacity, I have seen what happens when people become unbalanced. I don’t mean the lack of ability to stand on one foot without falling over (I am challenged in that area!). I mean the lack of taking time out away from work, school, and stress. I’ve seen what happens when people don’t take the time to do things they enjoy and re-charge. It’s not pretty! It can lead to all kinds of problems like anxiety, depression, and the over-use of substances to “fix” the negative feelings. I’m not saying buying an RV or trailer will fix this. What I am saying is, it’s helped us and other people I know un-plug and come back refreshed. It helps maintain life balance. When I worked in nursing homes as a Recreation Therapist, my residents liked to talk about their travels. Not one ever said, “Wow! I really wish I hadn’t traveled!” Instead they told stories of their adventures and time spent with their families.
We recently took a “free” trip to Hawaii for 8 nights. We used airline miles to purchase the tickets and hotel points for the hotel. We paid for one activity type thing, a rental car, and food. Breakfast was included with our hotel stay (we still had to pay for a tip and if we wanted to eat eggs, that was additional). Lunch and dinner was pretty much all we really had to pay for food-wise. It was the most expensive vacation we have ever been on! We were in a resort area with what I called “the resort fee.” There wasn’t really an added fee, it was just more expensive. When we drove around and visited other areas, it was a little less expensive, but not much. It was Hawaii! It made me think that RVing was an even better deal! I had no idea how out of touch I was with resort type vacations! We take our trailer to touristy places. It was nice to be reminded that we are saving some money.
My husband is an engineer. He’s really good at math and he can do crazy math in his head. His theory on all of this is, it’s a wash. If we didn’t have the trailer, we weren’t storing it, etc, we’d spend the same amount of money on vacations. We’d just be traveling differently and less frequently. Since he’s so good at math, I would have to agree with him on that!
We are now empty nesters. We’re on our third trailer, a 5th wheel that we love! In the last 6 months, we’ve camped (fake camped) about 25 nights in it. In some of the places we camped, we wouldn’t have been able to find a hotel for under $150 per night with slim pickings as far as restaurants were concerned. I think the most we paid per night was about $75 for a swanky upgraded premium site. We are doing our best to get our money’s worth by taking lots of trips! If we didn’t have the trailer, we’d probably not take weekend trips that help us decompress. We’d probably be crabbier, but I don’t want test this theory to find out! Another great thing that happens on a road trip is conversation. My husband and I get a lot of talking done in the car. We talk about the kids. We solve the problems of our government and other nations. We make fun of signs we see on the road. We talk about our hopes and dreams for the future. We wouldn’t have these same conversations on a plane surrounded by strangers. So, when this recreation therapist does the economic math for our RV travels, I come up with “priceless.” You’ll need to do your own math with your calculator and your heart and see what you come up with.
Next Trailer Girl Blog – Mrs. Lewis, I Believe You’ve Become Separated from Your Children. A funny story about losing our kids (and getting reunited) in a National Park!
One of my favorite things about RVing is going to touristy places like Disneyland, Las Vegas, and National Parks. I love having my creature comforts like a bed and pillow that I’m used to, a bathroom that I cleaned (so I know it’s clean!), a medicine cabinet where my stuff is, and my own food. Winter time is a great time to start planning your summer trips and making reservations. Here are some things we’ve learned along the way.
Most touristy cities have an RV park – If they don’t have an RV Park in the City, then they have one not too far away. We’ve stayed in San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Durango, and lots of other fun cities. Usually the RV parks are on the outskirts of town and you’ll need to drive in. Do your homework! Many cities such as Seattle, have RV Parks that are on the outskirts of town or in a neighboring suburb. Most of the time you’ll need to unhitch and drive into the city. If you’re traveling in a Motorhome, you’ll want a vehicle you can use inside the cities. You’ll need to think ahead about parking in the city and coordinate it with whatever activities you want to do.
Not all cities have great RV Parks! – Again, do your homework on the RV Park! For instance, I’ve driven by and heard reports about the one that pops up first in Google for Seattle. It’s the Kent KOA and I would never stay there! There are others that are nicer that might be maybe a 10 or 15 minute longer drive into Seattle. For instance, the one in Bothell, is really nice! Even though it’s 40 minutes from home, friends from our town actually stay there for a get away! Sometimes there are just slim pickings and you have to suck it up and close the blinds in the RV when you’re there! One time, we were on a trip when one of the Harry Potter movies came out. The kids and my husband decided they wanted to go see the movie. So, they left me with the trailer. I was going to do laundry and enjoy some alone time. I gathered up the laundry, opened the trailer door, looked around, set the laundry back down in the trailer, locked the door, closed the blinds, made cookies, and watched TV. Forget it! I wasn’t going out there! It was too weird! I’ve seen way too many episodes of “Criminal Minds” and “NCIS” and I’m sure my imagination was getting the better of me. I’m sure I was perfectly safe doing my laundry there, but I wasn’t about to find out for sure!
There’s an app for that! – Check out RVParky. It’s an RV Park Review app. I have found it to be pretty accurate so far. Also, join RV Facebook groups. People post pictures of where they are and talk about campgrounds a lot. I have a list going in my phone of RV Parks in places that I’d like to go someday. For instance, I can’t wait to stay at a place called “Flying Flags” in Buellton, California; Jim and Mary’s RV Park in Missoula, Montana; or The Devil’s Tower KOA… not to mention Disney’s Fort Wilderness RV Park in Orlando, Florida. In the RVParky app, you can find out information about Walmart and Cracker Barrel parking lots where you can camp for free for a quick overnight. That’s a silly thing that’s on my bucket list! I’m not really sure why. Maybe just so I can say I stayed at a Walmart.
National Parks and RVing – Depending on the size of your rig and the park, camping inside the National Parks can be a challenge – especially if you’re planning a summer trip! A lot of National Parks have small sites, not enough hook-up sites, etc. We have had great luck finding RV parks just outside of places like Yosemite, Glacier, Zion, and Yellowstone to name just a few that have full hookups and larger spaces. When possible, I will pay for upgraded sites (KOAs often have Premium sites). They tend to be wider, sometimes have patios, have fire pits, etc. Do your homework! When visiting a National Park, don’t try to do it in a day! Allow at least a day to get to get set up and get the lay of the land, a day or more (I like 5 – 7) to explore the National Park, and then a get-a-way day. Sometimes it takes a while to get inside the National Parks because there’s a line. In Zion, we had to park in a lot just outside the gates of Zion National Park and walk in and then, take the shuttle once we were inside. Take some time to get the hang of how the National Park operates and how busy it is. Then, allow enough time to enjoy it. (Of course, I’m a biased National Parks geek!). I am looking forward to being able to go to National Parks during the off seasons. We were in Yosemite in January of 2018. We were staying at the Awahnee for my 50th birthday. While taking sunset pictures of Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge, we ran into a couple that was staying in one of the campgrounds with full hookups in a 5thwheel. It was much easier for them to get a reservation in January than say, July.
Disney Trips – We love bringing our trailer to Disneyland! It sounds insane, but hear me out! We stay about 3 miles from the park in an RV Park called Orangeland. It has citrus trees growing in it and you’re allowed to pick fruit and eat it. When you want to get rid of your trash, you leave the bag on in front of your rig and someone comes to pick it up. It has a nice pool. It’s a fine place to stay! The drawback is, you have to drive to Disneyland. Also, I remember Orangeland being a little spiffier a few years ago. But, for a place to crash after a long day at Disneyland, it’s just fine! Here are the BIG benefits:
Your own bed and pillows that you’re used to – I can’t say enough about getting a good night’s sleep when you’re doing Disneyland! I am a crazy amusement park closer! So, I need my endurance! A good night’s sleep is key to me having enough stamina.
Your own breakfast food – We usually eat lunch and dinner inside Disneyland or in Downtown Disney, but we make breakfast in the trailer. With a family of 4, we figured this saved us at least $50 per day on breakfast. We also have our own pot of coffee, “normal” food, and get a better and healthier start to the day. It prevents what we like to call, “vacation gut,” a condition where you feel like you’ve eaten too much greasy food and you have a rock sitting in your stomach. If you’ve read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” it’s like being the caterpillar that ate too much and needs to eat through a nice green leaf. This is a great way to make sure your day is off to a great start and to prevent yourself from feeling like an overly stuffed caterpillar.
Your own stuff and a little peace and quiet – Hotels are nice, but it’s great to come back after a long day to your own stuff. Your rig becomes your second home and coming back to it after a marathon day in an amusement park is restful! I am a creature comforts person. I like things like my bathroom drawer where I know where my stuff is, my kitchen and my cups, my fridge, etc.
It costs a fraction of what a hotel costs near Disneyland – It has similar amenities such as a pool, but no room service or maid service. I’d rather save the money and make my own bed!
We can’t wait to go to Disney World in Florida with our trailer. They have their own RV Park called Fort Wilderness. As a Disney Geek, I have made this a bucket list item! My husband is totally on board and is my partner in Disney Geek-ness!
Taking your RV to Touristy Cities can save you money! RV parks are generally a fraction of what a hotel room costs per night. Depending on how often you go out to eat, you’ll probably save quite a bit of money on food. We often save money on evening activities because we capitalize on the opportunity to have a campfire and enjoy s’mores. When traveling with a family, the cost of gas is generally less than the cost of airfare. When it’s just two people, it depends on how far you drive and the cost of gas. Sometimes if you can get bargain airfare, and it’s a toss-up.
One of the best parts of seeing touristy places with an RV is the road trip! You’ll get to see a lot more our great country out the window of your car than you would out of an airplane window! You can also make stops along the way visiting bonus places, like maybe a winery or a chocolate factory! Maybe you’ll stop at a fruit stand and buy a homemade pie (one of our road trip traditions). The road is yours! Start planning! Enjoy the trip … and the destination!
Next Trailer Girl Blog – The Economics of RVing ….As Told by Someone Who Majored in Recreation
We live in the Pacific Northwest. To be fair, this is the first season we’ve done the full-blown winterizing for our trailer. In the past, my husband has just blown out the lines with an air compressor and left the faucets open. We only had a problem once. (I’ll tell you about that at the end.) It makes me sad to think that we can’t just take off whenever we want. It’s going to take a little more doing to take a winter trip, and a little more re-doing. It might be hard to talk the guy who has to do all this extra work into taking off for a weekend. You’re probably wondering how I’m even qualified to write this blog post. Like I said, I live in the Pacific Northwest. I moved here from Southern California 25 years ago. It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s wet … YUCK! Trying to keep in in good spirits in the winter has been a challenge since our first winter here. Here are some things I do. Surprise, surprise! Many are travel related!
Leave town! – I try to get out of the area in the winter for a while (sometimes I even bring the family!). I usually use an airplane instead of a trailer in the winter. I’ve been on several mission trips to Nicaragua, visited my brother and his family in Southern California, visited my husband on his business trips to Florida, and this year, we’re going to Hawaii. Warm places and sunshine are good for the winter blahs.
Drink coffee – You wonder why Starbucks is such a big deal in Seattle? Cheap anit-depressant in a cup. There ya go! It helps! Coffee with friends is even better!
Plan our next trips – I usually have our summer trip planned and booked sometime in March or early April. Having this to look forward to is a huge help. I try to plan and book a trip for each month from March through October.
Do fun winter things – A few years ago, we took up snowshoeing. We live about 40 minutes from some great snowshoeing trails. Going up to the mountains for a day of getting out in the snow is fun and makes us appreciate where we live a little more.
Have hibernation days – We sometimes have lazy days in the winter where we hang out at home, watch movies, wear sweats, and just don’t go anywhere. We savor these days a bit because, in the PNW when it’s nice out, we feel guilty if we’re not outside working in the yard, hiking, walking the dogs, or otherwise just getting out.
Catch up with friends – We have friends who we hardly see all summer because our schedules don’t line up. They’re out of town or we’re out of town. They have out of town guests or we have out of town guests. Whatever! Winter is a great time to call your friends and get together.
Try new recipes and make notes about which ones will be good RV food – I love cooking. There’s no better time than when it gets dark at around 5 p.m. to try new recipes. It’s not like I can be outside working in the yard. I might as well cook!
Get outside daily – I have dogs. They make me go outside. If I don’t walk them every day, I pay for it. So, every morning, I get up, look at the temperature outside and complain “It’s stupid cold!”, put on several layers, and take the dogs for a walk. Once I’m out the door and a few blocks away, I appreciate being outside and getting some fresh air. It also gives me time to think about where I might like to go in the summer….
Get enough exercise – There’s nothing worse than hanging out inside and feeling like a blob! It adds to the blahs, messes up your sleep, and generally makes everything worse. If you’re snow-bound, you can probably find an exercise video on YouTube that will help. If you’re not, get out and walk or go to the gym. You’ll feel better, I promise!
Go somewhere in the winter in your rig – If you can get out – go! We have a favorite spot that’s easy to get to. There are no snowy passes to go over or anything scary like that. We’ll go there in the winter sometimes just to get away. One time, we went and we didn’t follow the directions on the sign that said, “If it gets to freezing temperatures, city water will be cut off to the RV Park. Make sure you have enough fresh water in your tank.” That was a bummer … for me! I didn’t get to use my own shower and had to use the RV Park shower that you put quarters in. My son and husband found my getting flustered with the whole situation very entertaining. Now I know better! I’ll be asking about the fresh water tank! This year, we went out in March after our Snow-mageddan to Mount St. Helens. There was still snow in places. It was cold and we ran out of propane and woke up freezing. That wasn’t fun either. Another thing I have to remember to ask about…. The moral of these little stories – make sure you’re prepared if you’re going out in the winter!
We’re considering snow-birding – When we retire, and if we’re still living in the PNW, we’ll probably be on the road most of the winter in warmer places. If you have this ability, I would highly recommend it! We had some neighbors when we first moved to the PNW that were snow-birds. We always knew when they were back because their swan planter showed up in the yard. They wintered in Florida and loved it. I thought they were old and crazy at the time. I now see the wisdom in their choice and plan to copy them in our own way!
Go to RV Shows – Are you thinking about a new rig? Are you curious about some rigs you saw on some of your trips? Go check them out an RV show. We have gone to RV shows as total looky-loos. We’ll go find the most expensive rig and see what kind of crazy things they put in it. We’ll look at newer versions of our own rig. Whatever, it’s always fun to look! My husband was out of town for the Winter RV Show in Seattle. When our trailer was in the shop for our Memorial Day Trip and our trip got cancelled, he decided he owed me an RV show. There wasn’t one going on so, we decided to go look at Fifth-Wheels. In order to make it a little less exhausting, we picked out about 6 different rigs on 3 lots that we wanted to look at. That turned out to be a little dangerous. We ended up buying our Fifth Wheel while our old rig was in the shop! It was a little sooner than we had planned, but we are really happy with how everything worked out!
Get professional help – If your blues are hanging on, please get help. Seasonal Affective Disorder is real. There are lots of ways to treat it. Hanging out and feeling sad all winter shouldn’t be an option.
So, you’re probably wondering about that time when we had the winterizing fail. It was our first trailer and our first winter with it. Sixteen years ago, RVs didn’t have as nice of sinks and faucets as they do now. Most of the sinks were small and the faucets were some version of the cheapest kind you can find at Home Depot. Our trailer was no exception to the crummy sink and faucet combo rule. I really hated the faucet because you couldn’t fit a pan under it to wash it. It was dumb! It was probably set up by someone who ate microwave dinners all the time. We forgot to leave the faucets open on the sink. My husband went to go pick up the trailer and there was our faucet, broken off and laying in the sink. YAY! I got a new faucet that worked much better! If you like your faucet, don’t forget to leave it open when you store your rig over the winter!
Hang in there! There are more RV-able months than months where going out is just too cold or too difficult. Find some winter fun, plan your summer, and look forward to being re-united with your rig!
Next Trailer Girl Blog Post – Going to Tourist Towns in Your Rig
This recipe is one we made on our first ever trailer trip and completely burned the bottom of it in the trailer oven. We had to scrape off all the toppings and eat them for dinner! (See my blog post called “Don’t Burn Your Biscuits” for tips on how to deal with RV ovens). It became a trailer trip staple because I can get it going while my husband was outside getting the trailer set up. I can have it in the oven and side salads ready to eat by the time he gets done outside. It works great! We now officially refer to it as “Trailer Pizza” even when we eat it at home. Hope you enjoy it!
Ingredients
1 Pilsbury canned pizza crust
About 8 oz Chicken cooked (I use frozen chicken tenders and cook them in a Pampered Chef micro cooker with water in my microwave)
1 Sprig of Rosemary – chopped
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 – 3 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Medium Red Onion – thinly sliced
3 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 Tsp Salt
Directions
Heat oven to 425 degrees
Pop open your pizza crust onto a cookie sheet and spread evenly over the cookie sheet (I use a rectangle pizza stone)
Mix together: Chicken, 2/3 of the cheese, Rosemary, Garlic, and Onions
Add Olive Oil and Salt and Mix together
Spread over pizza crust
Top with remaining cheese
Turn oven DOWN to 400 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes check it and turn it (unless your RV oven cooks perfectly!), and bake about 10 minutes more until crust is golden on the bottom and cheese is melted. Depending on your oven issues, your cheese may not brown without burning your crust. If that’s the case, turn the oven down again and try getting the cheese to brown a little more.
Next Trailer Girl Blog – Winter Blues – How Not to Get Sad When your Rig is Winterized
I’m a 50 something woman who has never been in trouble with the law outside of a few speeding and parking tickets. You might wonder who would ban me from Barstow, California. My husband, that’s who! He said I’m not allowed to set foot in Barstow ever again. If we’re ever traveling through, he’s going to keep on going …no stopping!
We were on our first kid-less trailer trip. Our son needed to catch up on some school and our daughter was working. They turned into perfect house and dog sitters. At the time, they weren’t getting along consistently. So, we decided to leave them each (separately) money for food and then, offered them house and dog sitting money under the condition that we didn’t get any calls to break up arguments or solve problems for them. If something broke, it was up to them to figure out how to fix it or live without it until we got home. It worked out really well! We got no calls or texts and it made for a really fun time away.
We were well into this two-week trip. We had been to Zion National Park and climbed Angel’s Landing and hiked the Narrows (we highly recommend those hikes!). We had been to Las Vegas to visit my husband’s parents and Elvis. (We learned a LOT the hard way about how to camp in Vegas in the summer!). We were having a great time! We were headed to Anaheim from Vegas to make a kid-less trip to Disneyland. That’s when I got banned from Barstow.
I have always hated Barstow. When we were kids, we would travel from Long Beach, California to Albuquerque, New Mexico in a day. Straight through. 18 hours in the back seat with my brothers….on the hump. My parents liked saving money by getting “liquor store breakfasts” consisting of powdered doughnuts and juice. Yeah, put that in the gut of the kid sitting on the hump who gets car sick! Great Idea! Barstow is usually where the doughnuts and juice kicked in and I felt pretty sick. In fact, as a kid, I called it “Barf-stow.”
Thankfully, my husband is totally opposed to a liquor store breakfast. In fact, a selling point for both of us about RVing is, we can make our own breakfast before hitting the road. If we have to leave too early, we have a non-nauseating Starbucks back-up plan. It works for us. When we first started RVing, we would stop and make lunch on the side of the road to save money. Later, we decided it was more fun to stop someplace (usually, we let the kids pick) and get something at a fast-food place. Especially, since some of our picnic stops were, well, a little embarrassing to our daughter when she was about 12. It turns out the grass in front of a bank isn’t so much like a park and it’s not cool to have a picnic there. Now we usually skip the picnics at lunch time and stop someplace like a fast-food restaurant.
My husband may be the world’s biggest In-N-Out Burger fan. It’s really unfortunate since we live in the Pacific Northwest and there are none here. He plans our trips so that we leave the RV park in time to hit an In-N-Out for lunch on the road whenever we’re in the land of In-N-Outs. It doesn’t matter to him if we had In N Out for lunch the day before. We’re still stopping! If you’ve ever been through Barstow, you know it has an exit with just about every fast food option available. Of course, my husband planned it so we would hit Barstow at lunch time for In-N-Out. This would be our 4th In-N-Out lunch on this trip. One In-N-Out visit per vacation is fine with me, mind you.
I can’t remember what day of the week it was, but it was a busy day in Barstow! It was July, and a lot of people were traveling through. We got off the freeway and headed toward In-N-Out looking for 40 acres to park. That’s where everything started to go south…..
I spotted an outlet mall. There’s always bus parking at an outlet mall. Surely, that would be a great place to park! My husband saw a bank that had a bunch of empty spaces in front and thought he might go there. Unfortunately, I didn’t speak up before he was headed toward the left turn lane toward the bank and as he says, the launch sequence was already started. We couldn’t adjust our course toward the outlet mall.
We got to the bank and took up about 6 spaces and he said, “I don’t like this. You wait here and I’m going to walk over there and see if I can find something better.” He left the car running and walked off. Now, we were driving a twelve-year-old Suburban. One of its many quirks was, the air conditioner only really worked when the car was moving, and it wasn’t, and it was Barstow … in July. It was getting super hot in the car by the time he got back. He said, “OK, we’re going to go out that exit in the parking lot and park over there by that outlet mall.” It would have really helped if he would have added, “right where you suggested,” but he didn’t.
OK fine! We’re all parked by the outlet mall and by now, I’m really hungry and overheated. Off to In N Out we go. We have great teamwork when it comes to In-N-Out. He gets in line to order and I “vulture-ize” the tables. As in, I stand and watch for someone to get up and swoop in and take their table when they leave. Well, I did my vulture-izing and got us a table. I waited …. And waited….. As I was waiting, I was staring at a Chipotle sign and a Panera sign and thinking, “I bet we’d have our food by now if we ate over there.” 45 minutes (yes, you read that right 45 minutes!) later, he comes out with the food and says, “There was a whole tour bus right in front of us!” Of course, I was completely grumpy by then. He’s all happy because he has his In-N-Out. He didn’t care how long it took him to get it! He couldn’t understand why I as so annoyed. I had to explain. That’s when he said, “I’m NEVER taking you to Barstow again!” (YAY! I never have to go to Barstow again!!)
The obligatory In N Out selfie. One of us was happy … and it wasn’t me!
We ate, I got less grumpy, and we got on the road. About 20 minutes down the road in Victorville, we spotted another In-N-Out from the freeway. It had its own 40 acres of parking and hardly any cars in it! We agreed, Barstow is jinxed and we’ll just have to move on next time!
Not every day or every moment of RVing is wonderful! Sometimes, you have to make a joke out of your situation. Barstow has been a long running one and a reason why we pay closer attention to the google earth map when we’re planning our stops. I hope you found our Barstow story amusing. Maybe you have your own version of our Barstow story. I hope you’ve been able to find the humor in it and make it part of your vacation humor.
Let me begin this blog post by saying I probably have no business writing it. I am in a Facebook group for owners of our rig’s manufacturer. I thought I knew what I was doing until I saw pictures of peoples’ beautiful spreads they put out at the national rally last month. Suffice it to say, I’m a low-key entertainer and I like it that way.
When we purchased our current 5thwheel one of the things we shopped for was more visiting space. Not more sleeping space. We tested the pull-out bed in the sofa to make sure it was comfortable so that we could have over night guests. If it wasn’t, it would have been a deal breaker. It turns out, the pull-out bed is more comfortable than the bunks in our old trailer. Go figure! We wanted more visiting space because we end up camping in places where we’re visiting other people, or people come to visit us. It’s fun!
If you’re still shopping and you think this might be your situation, you might consider something with an island in the kitchen and a living space near the kitchen. It makes for great visiting, snacking, and fun. We purchased our rig in May. Since our purchase, we have camped 20 nights in it on four separate trips. On only one of those trips were we without visitors. Our “rear living” / island kitchen has served us very well! We love it!
Here are some things I keep in mind when entertaining in my rig:
K.I.S.S.– My geometry teacher in 10thgrade always used to remind us when solving proofs, “Keep It Simple…Stupid.” (I seriously doubt he was calling anyone stupid! I think he was trying to get teenagers attention after lunch). Back when my kids were little and before we had a trailer, I tried to be my own version of Martha Stewart. I pretty much failed at it because I turned into a crazed over thinking entertaining machine that my family dreaded. Therefore, they dreaded any party I’d throw. It was no fun for them! Now that I’m older, and wiser (Ha! More like older and more tired!), I’ve realized that no one cares how fancy your party is. They care that the company is fun. These days, sometimes I even leave the chips in the bags! (Gasp!). Really, make it fun for you! Don’t go overboard!
Plan ahead –I really love to cook. When I’m camping, my cooking is much simpler. I marinate meat before the trip and freeze it, make simple salads, make things ahead when possible, etc. That way, when I’m ready to have guests, I can pull things out and go. No major prepping in the rig.
Grill!– Everyone loves good grilled food! You can grill anything. I know someone who grills peaches and says they’re delicious. I prefer steak, but whatever! When you grill, it brings people outside, keeps your rig cooler, and makes less dishes to wash.
Easy clean-up is key –Most rigs don’t have dishwashers. Mine doesn’t. Easy clean-up is a big deal. Use recipes and foods that are easy to clean up.
Whenever possible, invite people who help –So far, we’ve been super lucky this summer with company that helps. On our first trip out in our rig, the people we camped with wanted to cook for us in our rig. It was awesome! We just watched as they cooked. Later, we washed the dishes while they watched. When we camped with my brother and sister-in-law, they were super helpers. My brother loves grilling and cleaning the grill, so he cooked all of our grilled meat. My sister in law likes drying dishes (or pretends to) and jumps up to help as soon as anyone is at the sink. Having people like this over makes entertaining a lot more fun.
Order pizza!– In our favorite place to camp, we love the pizza place in town! We order pizza and bring it back to the trailer. We’ll make salad, have wine and drinks ready, and have a fun, easy, and delicious dinner.
Pot-luck it– We have friends that we camp with regularly. We eat together on the nights that we’re camping together. When we don’t order pizza or do something “organized,” we’ll have a BYOM (bring your own meat) pot-luck. We share sides, salads, drinks, etc. Then, for dessert we’ll have s’mores. It’s fun!
Overnight guests
We are in a new phase of life. We’re empty nesters. For 15 years, we had bunkhouse trailers. Our first rig had 4 bunks and we let our kids bring friends on our trips sometimes. Other times, we parked it in our driveway when we needed more sleeping space at the house and sent some kids out to sleep in the driveway. My brother and his family would come up to visit, but there is no hotel in our town and no room in our house. So, we parked our trailer in the RV park and they stayed in our “vacation condo.” This past summer, we realized that our kids hadn’t come on a long trip with us in years and that we were only using the bunkhouse for was storing my husband’s golf clubs. We decided it was time to re-think the bunkhouse situation. We bought a 5thwheel with a comfortable pull out sofa-bed (Not a jack-knife sofa. Jack Knife pull outs are only comfortable for kids!). It turned out to be a good choice.
My brother and his family have a 23-foot travel trailer. They rarely ever camp anywhere with hook-ups and sometimes tease us about how wimpy we are for going to RV parks. They live in Southern California where he owns a landscape business. Getting away for more than 7 or 8 days at a time is really hard for them. As a result, it’s kept them camping mostly in California, Arizona, and Nevada. We let them know we were planning a trip to Glacier National Park. At the time, we had our bunkhouse trailer that they had used in the local RV park when they came up to visit us. My brother said, “We’ll come! We’ll fly up to Montana and we’ll camp with you and sleep in your bunk beds!” A plan was hatched!
After we hatched the plan, we traded in the bunkhouse and sweated a bit about whether or not having guests on the pull out sofa bed was going to be a good situation. We did our best to make it as comfortable as possible. Here are some things we did:
Got a good mattress pad for the pull out– Even though the pull out is comfortable, it’s still not a mattress. A quality mattress pad helps with that.
Got quality bedding – Nice sheets, comfortable pillows, and a nice quilt made the bed a lot more comfortable.
Found space for them to unpack their bags – Suitcases in a trailer would be a trip hazard! Our new rig has a cupboard that is “extra” for us. We decided to keep it empty so that if we have guests, they can put their things in there. They unpacked their suitcases into the cupboard and we stowed the suitcases in the basement storage of the trailer. It worked great!
Made space in the medicine cabinet – Our medicine cabinet is HUGE for a trailer. We made one side of it empty so it could be just for them.
Find places to hang towels – We live and camp in the Pacific Northwest. It is imperative that we have places to hang wet things inside the trailer. We put some hooks in the “hallway” of the trailer for this. Our guests used them to hang their towels.
Gave them space – We made it a point to go to bed at a decent time and let them have the living space to themselves. We watched some TV in the bedroom. It helped that we hiked almost every day. Everyone was, as my sister in law would say, “knackered.” We were all ready to flop fairly early.
My brother and his wife on our pull out sofa bed. They were great trailer guests! Decor note: Our trailer isn’t this white inside. It’s much more “dirt – beige.” The ability to camouflage dirt was a big selling point. Don’t go thinking I’m some sort of person who can keep white furniture clean while camping!
You’re probably wondering where our airport adventure fits into this post. Well, on this trip to Glacier, my brother and his wife flew into Kalispell, Montana. We had a great plan. We used Google Maps and found a Cabela’s with 40 Acres of parking and a Chick-fil-A in the parking lot. The plan was for them to take an Uber to the Cabela’s parking lot. We had a meeting time. It was a great plan!
We were coming from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho where we had spent a night on the way to Montana. We stopped in St. Regis, Montana to buy a Huckleberry Pie (very important to the Montana experience), some jam, and use the restroom. There’s a really great traveler’s stopping place there with a great store, restaurant, espresso, ice cream, etc. We looked around a bit, but not terribly long. When we got in the truck, we were shocked at the time!! How was it possible that we had spent an hour and a half in that store?! I checked my brother’s flight on my phone and it said it was late. Perfect.
We started booking down the road when I got a text from my brother, “Just landed.” I looked at the GPS and we were 80 miles out. So, I texted back, “Crap! We’re 80 miles out! Take your time getting your bags and getting to Cabela’s.” We continued on trying to figure out where the time went. Later we got a text from my brother that said, “Uber says ‘No cars available.’ Now what?” We texted back and forth with things like, “Are you working the Uber app right?” He sent a screen shot of the Uber app. Looked right… “How about Lyft?” Finally, he calls. “I’ve been walking around the airport and I think you can pick us up in the passenger pick up area.” We’re thinking, “Obviously, he doesn’t know how tall we are!” I explain how much clearance we needed and he assured me that since he’s had plenty of time, he’s walked the whole outside of the airport and it’s going to work.
We drove to the airport and picked them up in the passenger pick up area. Of course, this irritated the people behind us and they insisted on honking. So, we were throwing suitcases into the back of the truck trying to avoid the 5thwheel hitch and laughing because the scene was just crazy!
We drove over to the Cabela’s and Chick-Fil-A and had lunch and did some “we forgot__.” shopping. At one point in the store, I checked my watch and it was an hour earlier than I thought. Then, I checked my phone to see the time. Head slap! We didn’t get the memo! There was a time change between Idaho and Montana! We lost an hour!
The whole trip went really well and we decided that we’ll do it again sometime. They stayed with us 7 nights and we had a great time. They reported being comfortable and said they enjoyed their stay. We might have to avoid the airport, but everything else worked out great! We are proud to be able to say we picked up people from the airport with our trailer attached. Not everyone can say that.
Entertaining in your rig is fun. There are lots of ways to do it from tail-gaiting, to pot-lucks, to just having people over for s’mores. I see people in RV parks camping with friends and sharing meals. I never really considered when we bought our first rig how social it could be. We have been happily surprised at how much fun we’ve had entertaining in our rig!
Enjoy your rig and entertaining at your own speed. You don’t even have to entertain at all if you don’t want to! It’s your rig! It’s your vacation! Enjoy it!
Feature Photo note: This photo was taken in our backyard at a barbecue with my grandparents. The kid with the big bow in her hair is me. That was our trailer when I was a little kid. My brother and I figured out that it had been about 45 years since we camped together in a trailer by the time of the Glacier trip in this blog. My parents sold it and we were tent campers after that … until we had kids of our own….
Next Trailer Girl blog post – Why I’m Banned from Barstow
Trailer Girl's Guide to Happy Camping 