Time Gets Away As Usual

Can you believe that we’ve been living in our RV for 3 years already? Not sure where the time has gone because it sure doesn’t feel like we’ve been in our 5th wheel that long.

The first few months were a lot of trial and error, plus all of the moving around we did, personally I miss the moving around, seeing different things, meeting different people, that’s what its all about. The winters have been good to us, we stayed on a farm the first winter (2016) and even though there was a lot of snow and ice we did survive. Our second winter (2017) was even better, we landed a spot in an actual RV park with full hookups along with free cable and virtually next to nothing for snow and ice, it was a great winter. This was also the first winter where we had to adapt to puppies and that dreaded housebreaking, that was an ordeal that’s for sure. We now have gotten past that for the most part and will need to replace the carpet and the floor sometime this year, but hey isn’t that what puppies are all about?

Now that the 3rd Winter is Approaching (2018)

I’m sure hoping that this winter will be kind to us, I don’t mind the snow just not to much of it, that would be great! We went out and bought a small floor heater this year to help compensate with the cost of propane, it keeps the living end very nice and toasty but the bedroom is cold as usual – thank god for my electric blanket.

We are kinda hoping that we have accomplished all of the winterizing that needed to be done, after all it’s already the middle of November it won’t be long now. The only thing that we can’t be sure of, is how much the temperature will fall below 0 and if that happens the under carriage of our fifth wheel will freeze like it did back in the winter of 2016. I’ll be so happy when we get our new fifth wheel next year and you can count on this it will have the polar package that’s for sure.

When Life Gets in the Way!

I do think that the last time I wrote a post I was either just leaving my current job or had already left, seems like forever ago. I went back to working out of our trailer, thinking that it would only be nights & weekends BUT as usual that didn’t last long and before I knew it I was back working 24/7. I sometimes think I’m my own worst enemy cause we all know I could just say NO!

Just look at the time frame from this post to the last one I made almost a full year has gone by, that’s pretty sad that I can’t even find the time to post in here or write another page on a topic that I’m passionate about. I’ve decided that for the rest of November I’m going to take some time for myself or should I say our RV.

I ripped out the carpet almost three months ago and still have found the flooring I want to replace it with – oh wait a minute I haven’t had the time to even look. Thats the colour of carpet that used to be in our 5th wheel, when I ripped it out you wouldn’t have even guessed it was that colour. The dogs had literally destroyed it and it was more black than blue. I always wonder to myself why when they build these trailers that they always seem to put in the most insane colours and why is it they always have white floor tiles? Who in their right mind wants to go camping with white floors that doesn’t even make sense to me.

I’m replacing all of the carpet with flooring and also the white floor that runs through the kitchen, living area and even the bathroom. I’m thinking maybe something on the rustic side, or at least a colour that semi hides the dirt. That’s going to be my winter project and if I’m really energetic and can find the extra time I just might paint the walls and ceiling.

I’m thinking maybe something like this for the floor colour, rustic but realistic for the camping season. This just makes a lot more sense to me and since we have two dogs it makes a heck of a lot more sense than the white floors we have now – any suggestions?

Keeping it to Myself – No Longer an Option

Now before I wrap all of this up for the night I want to share a little secret with you, I’ve been having way to much fun with my new candle hobby that I got into about six months ago. I purchased quite a few over this past summer & fall and each one made our trailer smell amazing. I got into these because first I liked the fact that they are made in Canada right down the road from me actually in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

Their made from 100% soy candle wax which is made from pure soybeans and specialized soy-based additives that are FDA-approved and Kosher-certified. They all come with two 100% cotton wicks and are 40% larger than the average competitors and contain 60% more fragrance oil.

I fell in love with these candles, of course there is also wax melts, soaps, bath salts, essential oils and even aromatherapy diffusers plus oil & wax melts warmers and more!

Now for the Best Part – Or at Least for Me this is Why I Love Them!

You’ll never believe what I was able to get from these candles that not only smell  amazing but have a hidden treasure inside, that’s right you actually read that – there’s a hidden surprise in each and every product excluding the essential oils for obvious reasons. These are all of the rings that I’ve found inside the candles that I purchased over the last six months or so, a few had necklaces in them that I didn’t add to the picture. The higher valued price rings came from the sterling silver & gold collection which did cost a little more to purchase. They are guaranteed to be lead and nickel free and can be valued from $50 to $5000, most I got was the black sapphire valued at $200 but hey I’m not complaining.

Don’t get me wrong I didn’t like all of the rings I received but it is fun when I type in the code on the appraisal page, gets me all warm and fuzzy inside while I wait for the value. It’s just the small things that amuse me while living in a 5th wheel, and I can honestly say that most of them I went digging for, seems I didn’t have the patience to wait for the candle to burn down enough to actually pull it out.

You can the rings in these sizes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 also with Christmas so close getting a candle with a necklace hidden inside makes a very nice gift.

I leave you with a picture of the scent that I first started out with, since then I’ve bought “Pumpkin Pie”, “Orange Creamsicle”, “Chocolate N Cranberry”, “Christmas Kitchen” and “Outrageous Orange”.  I haven’t been disappointed yet with any of the scents

Try One for Yourself Don’t be Afraid of Becoming Addicted like me!

Twists & Turns a Part of Life!

As 2017 quickly starts to fade away I thought to myself “maybe I should spend the day wrapping up some loose ends” and what a better way to start the day, drink coffee and write a story!

My husband and I have lived in our 5th wheel for 542 days now and NO it wasn’t all that great in the beginning, so many things have changed since that very first day we decided that we didn’t want to pay large amounts of rent anymore. I’ll do a quick wrap up of the past year for those of you that have just joined our RV life style.

• In the beginning if something was going to go wrong it did, from rotting walls to broken hot water tanks.
• We had to give away our dog “Karma”, she didn’t like change and couldn’t copt with all of the moving around, that was hard for us BUT better for her.
• I was able to get a full-time job working from within the 5th wheel, we were back to having a second income.
• We bought a newer used 5th wheel within 3 months, one with a slide, more windows and no rot.
• We lost our best friend “Orca” this past August sad story, there’s a blog on that, still makes me cry to this day.
• This summer we spent moving around from RV park to RV park in and around our city. This was a good way to entertain that feeling of boredom, never was a dull summer.
• Our family grew after we added two new additions, so once again we are a family of four. They are a handful no doubt about it BUT we love them just the same.
• Fall/Winter came up on us quickly so without scrambling to much we were able to find a winter parking spot, thanks to an employee that bumped us to the top of the waiting list.
• I quit my job, even with working from the RV the stress was to much to handle, dispatching employees is something I don’t recommend, it takes a toll on your sanity.

There you have the past 542 days in a quick summary, if you want to know more you’ll have to read all of my past posts.

I often ask myself “are you happy?” The answer is yes BUT (there’s always a but), I find myself bored! It takes like a half hour to clean the RV and with me not working that leaves 10 – 12 hrs before the hubby gets home from work. Even cooking dinner has become less of a chore with the new Instant Pot so with all of this time on my hands that can only lead to one thing BORED!!!

The new little puppies “Barbas” & “Gizmo” are great with relieving some of the boredom BUT with them not catching on to the housebreaking idea they don’t get to have the run of the RV just yet. I did have to rearrange the entire RV to make room for their Richell Convertible High Playpen which they can’t get out of yet! Every other one I have tried they seemed to always climb over, this one I bought from Amazon and it seems to be working. They still think that the inside of the RV is their private bathroom and with such a tiny space it can smell bad pretty fast.

Barbas

Gizmo

We chose to go smaller this time when adding our new sons to the family after all living in the 5th wheel with “Karma” at 120 lbs and “Orca” at 90 lbs was a little tough especially in the beginning without the slide BUT we managed because we loved them!

Both puppies won’t grow to be very big 18 lbs at most each, so the perfect size for living in a RV, will be a glorified day when they finally learn what going outside means!

Since I have way to many hours in a day to do absolutely nothing I decided a few weeks back to join Epicure and start cooking and eating the healthy way, maybe I could prolong the passing of my life you might say, I doubt it BUT it’s a good way to think! Actually truth be told I was kinda hoping it went take away some of my boredom, it hasn’t so I’m right back at square one BORED with life!

People often ask if we ever have any regrets about our decision of moving into a 5th wheel with little to no space, the answer is YES!

It’s not for everyone, it takes a lot of courage to part with all of your treasured belongings that you’ve worked so hard over the course of your life to accumulate, taking only actual things you need to get by with. I wouldn’t say we have many regrets I think the biggest one for me (not sure how hubby feels) is that we didn’t move out to the Emory Bar RV Park when we had the chance, we let life get in the way with our decision of moving there.

Life always has away of working out in the end so who knows maybe next year I’ll be writing a post from out there instead of Langley ha ha!!!

Life has many Turns

It seems that I’ve been way to busy this summer to get caught up with all of my online writings, life has away of getting busier as we grow older. I’m hoping to find the time to continue with our adventures as we live in the RV.

A lot of things have changed since moving into our 5th wheel 503 days ago and even though it got off to a rocky start we wouldn’t live anywhere else. Life as we know it has become a little more simpler and since we could never afford to buy a home here on the lower mainland of British Columbia the RV was our only option. Owning our home on wheels has opened up different avenues for us, let me see if I can explain a few.

1. We don’t have to deal with landlords, which can be trying in itself since it could be a bad landlord. You know the ones that always need to be in your business or the ones that don’t want to spend the money to do the repairs needed on their property. Of course they can always come and tell you to move simply because they want to use the property for their own family members to live on. Don’t get me wrong we still have to pay for the RV pad but that’s not a bad thing because no matter what we own the home.
2. We have that feeling of security knowing that even if the RV park closes down we are not homeless, wouldn’t be the first time we had to park our home on a street in some remote location for a few days while we find another spot to park.
3. We don’t have to spend that dreaded amount of time packing our belongings, asking our friends to help us move, then the unpacking which I’m sure everyone can agree is the worse job ever – moving!!!

Thats just some of the things that we don’t miss all we do now is hook up to our truck and away we go, no help needed. Besides have you ever noticed that you have tons of friends until that one day when you have to move, something always comes up, just saying.

Summer was an Amazing Adventure

We had an interesting summer and stayed at some amazing places that we could of got used to staying full time, but sadly they have a huge waiting list when it comes to winter camping.

We stayed at the Fort Langley RV Park for a total of a month this year, this park is very clean and well taken care of. With your regular hookups of sewer, water and electricity you also get free cable, which was a novelty for us since it’s been over a year that we’ve watched TV, they must of had close to 50 channels.

Fort Langley is central to almost everything but holy the traffic can be a little overwhelming in such a small community, especially with all the filming that goes on there.

Another place that we liked this summer was Hazelmere RV Park & Campground this too was a clean park. They say they have cable television too but realistically the only way you can get that is if you have your own cable box, kinda corny if you ask me. But on the plus side if the RV sites are all booked they have a huge lawn area that’s used for overflow which we didn’t mind at all even if there’s no services.

The staff at Hazelmere were all friendly and so were the full time people that lived there, a morning didn’t go by where someone didn’t say hello. We spent an entire month there this summer and if they would of had a spot available for winter this would of been our first choice cable TV or not.

Then we also stayed at Derby Reach for a couple of weeks that was nice, no water, no electricity and cable or sewer but very relaxing. This is for people that want to get away from the hustle & bustle of city life.

This campground is by far our favourite, the staff is amazing, the scenery is spectacular, the campsite is quiet even with a lot of kids around. It brings us back to sitting around and actually visiting with one another face to face without technology getting in the way.

Summer was Also a Time of Sadness

August 5th was a sad time for us this year when we had to let go of our best friend, our amazing dog “Orca” started experiencing a tremendous amount of pain in his back legs and no amount of medication was helping him live a happy normal life. There was times I sat on the floor with him when he couldn’t get up and walk, which freaked him out just as much as it did for me.

I miss this old dog more than anyone can even imagine, he was my best friend for almost 10 years and truth be told he loved me more than my own kids do. Orca will always be in my heart until I myself can no longer breath, he has been missed everyday.

Summer was Quick to Leave

There you have it Summer is over and now we are embarking on a new adventure the Fall/Winter Season. We were lucky to jump to the top of a waiting list for a RV Park out in Aldergrove and moved our 5th wheel in on Oct 1st. We plan on staying here for the winter, we have electricity, water, sewer, cable, laundromat, hot showers (if we don’t want to use our propane), and the residents are extremely friendly. It’s important to note that with Orca gone we are able to stay at a lot more places than before, seems RV parks limit the size of dogs that they allow into their parks – which I think is sad.

Spring is Here the Birds say So!

I’ve been feeling a little grounded lately so we know its time to make a change. We’ve been living in our 5th wheel for 324 days now and to be honest it really doesn’t feel much different then living somewhere and paying rent. Yes, in the beginning it was a total nightmare and with us being complete newbies, that really didn’t help much and now things are good, well most everything.

Our new 5ft wheel doesn’t seem to have a very big holding tank for the fresh water at least that’s what I think. Seems like every time I want to take a shower wouldn’t you know it there just isn’t any water, I’ll be completely happy to be hooked up directly to a water source, after all filling the tank takes time which I seem to have very little of these days.

We took a drive over the weekend and visited the Emory Bar RV park just outside of Hope BC and this could very well be our next home for awhile. They have a general store, produce market, gift store, liquor store, ATM machine, gas station, a deli, the cafe, laundromat and even showers plus lets not forget the wifi and satellite TV. Kinda reminded me of a tiny town all in itself then walk across the street and your in heaven with the Fraser river and all of it’s fishing just minutes away.

I do have a question for all of you experienced RV’ers and that is Why do the birds always want to get in through our windows? Everyday there’s at least one bird sometimes two that sit at the window pecking at the glass. I’ve tried everything I can think of to keep them away from the windows and yet it starts all over again the very next day unless it’s raining. As much as I enjoy watching birds this gets annoying over time not to mention the scratches on the window from their little feet as they cling to the window. I don’t recall having this problem last year although it was early summer when we moved into the first fifth wheel we started out living in. Hopefully someone will be able to tell me what to do or even why they think its a good idea to come inside. 

I think we need to hook up and fly the coop so to speak and head down to the river for some good old fashion camping, sit out by the fire, drink some beer and just smell the great outdoors. 

After all who doesn’t love rest, relaxation, solitude and just good old fashion peace and quiet. I know that I could sure use a break from everyday life just to bad I can’t take a break from cell phones and computers. I was lucky enough to find a good paying job working from our RV so basically as long as I have cell service and some type of internet I can pretty much go anywhere and camping is on my list. 

That’s about all I have for tonight but as we get more into the summer months along with  trying to find a new place to park the RV this year my posts should get a little more exciting and maybe not as bleak as they were in the beginning of this adventure we chose to embark on. 

Things Change In An Instant!

Its been awhile since I’ve had the time to sit down and write, things have changed so drastically over the past month that I’ve run out of time for things that I enjoy like writing my horror stories here, ha ha!

We stayed everywhere we could find a site for the month of July and you’ll see that not all of the places were all that great. The two pictures were taken from our dining room window and if your anything like me you enjoy a little privacy.

I’m more of a private person this first view above wasn’t for me.

Now this is peaceful and more like it.

There isn’t going to be anything today that’s bad in fact everything is almost perfect for now anyways. I managed to pick up a full-time job working out of the RV dispatching for a local company and even though I can go into the office if I choose too, most days I prefer to stay at home and work.

We have been staying on a farm for the past few weeks while the owner is away feeding their dog, cats and yes even a funny old donkey, he’s so very sweet. I’m able to have a small amount of time to myself hence the lack of writing lately but hey at least I can’t complain that I’m bored.

Now this is more like it, peaceful with more privacy then we even need, peach trees on the one side of the garage and pear trees on the other side, life is good this month!

This old Donkey is so funny and quite vocal when he wants to be.

The RV seems to be on track with everything working as it should except maybe the fridge we still have the problem of it shutting off whenever it feels like and if it happens that it wants to continue working it freezes everything and I mean everything no matter how low you turn it down. Ever try to make a salad with a frozen head of lettuce me either I just threw it away. I’m sure over the next few weeks or months when we have the extra cash lying around we’ll either get the fridge fixed or replace it with another one, right now though we have electric hookup so the bar fridge is the better option for us.

Funny how things can change in an instant for example I got my new job two weeks ago and the hubby quit his job on Friday he starts a brand new job on Monday just that quick. We are staying on the farm until after the September long weekend then it’ll be time to move on again but I’m sure by then I’ll be ready for the next adventure. Not sure if our dog Orca will be coming with us when we leave, he seems to love the farm life and has made some new friends, just wouldn’t be right to cope him up in a RV park.

Orca is saying “what the heck we’re moving again”

Life is finally starting to come together, yes we tried to get a larger 5th wheel but for some silly reason I think it’s best to wait until we can buy a brand new one that way we won’t be haunted by other people’s junk ever again. This one will have to do until at least next year so hmm I wonder how the winter will affect us both mentally as well as the money, lets hope things continue to be as great as they are now.

It might be a little to small for living in but we are making it work, here we found a free sani dump at a rest area so decided to have lunch, dump the tank and head out to the side of an industrial road for the night. Told you I’m a little behind this was in July 2016.

We might have got off to a rough start but I think that’s because we had no idea how or even where to go and the fact that it was the start of summer vacation made it that much harder for us. Now we just take each day as it comes and while we are here on the farm we are going to do some work to the RV to get it updated for the winter. I have my eye on a RV park for the winter and even though we can’t get in until October 15th that’s okay, time zips by at lightening speed it’ll be October in no time. Think it’s time for me to do a small load of laundry and get it out on the make shift line we put up, we are learning of new ways to save money now that we’ve come to understand and adapt to this lifestyle.

To be honest I came across this completely by accident one day when I was dreading another trip to the laundry mat. I don’t use it for everything but it sure is handy to have when clean clothes are needed, now if only I could find a new dryer invention instead of hanging the clothes on a line.

Check it out for yourself especially if your like us and live in your RV

Scrubba Portable Laundry System Wash Bag

I save money and wash clothes wherever and whenever I want and when I’m done it folds down to pocket-size so I can just throw it under the bathroom sink. Things are finally coming along for us, it was a lot of trial and error although I do think in the beginning it was more error on our part. I still can’t give up the electricity and water hook ups but have learnt to adapt without cable TV and wifi, for now.

Feels Like I’m Drowning in Hot Water!

That’s right things are going from bad to worse and I’m thinking it might be time to throw in the towel… Wouldn’t you know the hot water heater sprung a leak yesterday more like a river than a leak and now that’s right NO hot water!

What does a RV hot water tank look like, not very big but does the job if it’s not pouring out on the ground!

I wanted a shower so bad, my hair was in need of a good wash and I hate when it starts to look all yucky, not to mention I had to go out in public to meet up with a few women that I didn’t even know. You know what they say about first impressions and how that’s important, crap didn’t want them thinking WOW she doesn’t wash her hair.

I took to the internet and must have watched over 20 how to videos off YouTube, I wanted to see if I could do a quick fix just so at the very least I’d have clean hair. Some I turned off immediately, some just dragged and dragged no interest there and some well they didn’t even resemble our 5th wheel at all. Then I did a google search and found a view forums that started to make sense, I’m not much for reading but having clean hair was important.

First I read check the hot water plug to see if it’s leaking, that’s the little brass looking screw thing in the picture, guess what it wasn’t, good to know I was thinking to myself, although maybe it should be replaced too

Onward I proceed to read, but I should warn all of you it just sounded like a lot of bla bla to me but I was so desperate to wash my hair I had to keep reading. I don’t even consider myself the hands on type of person and usually leave this kind of crap to the hubby, but he was at work. Then it happened would you look at that steps to fixing a hot water tank leak and even in terms I can understand and accomplish sounds simple enough.

This is where the river of water is coming from it’s called the “Hot Water Pressure Relief Valve” and look easy to read and understand instructions, should I feel lucky or maybe I should wait before getting all excited

Step 1 – Turn off the water heater, this was an easy step since it was already off after finding that it had a leak, I’m not that incompetent.

Step 2 – Turn off incoming water supply, ha ha another easy task since the water supply is coming from the garden hose even a child can figure that one out.

Step 3 – Open the closest hot water faucet in the RV, for me this means the one in the kitchen but only because it’s the closest to the hot water tank.

Step 4 – Pull handle of the pressure temperature relief valve straight out and allow the water to drain until it stops, this one had me a little baffled in the beginning but hey straight out how hard can that be.

Step 5 – Allow pressure temperature relief valve to snap shut, now turn on water supply and close faucet, okay the last two were simple but the snapping shut part I don’t think that really happened and seriously not even sure what that even means since I had to push the valve back down where it was originally at when I started all of this.

Now for the Big Test – Did I Manage to Fix the Leak!

Once all was said and done I came back into the RV and turned on the hot water tank it’s not rocket science after all it’s just a switch under the kitchen sink.

Turning on the hot water simple to do with this switch

I went back outside to check for leaks and wouldn’t you know there wasn’t one at least not yet anyways. I ran out of time doing all of these steps so in case you’re wondering yes I went out with my hair still looking and feeling yucky!

Couple Hours have Come and Gone!

I was pretty excited thinking that I had fixed the hot water leak problem and was sure looking forward to that hot shower and finally feeling like a normal person again. Wasn’t that a short-lived dream, turned on the hot water tank, waited 30 minutes for the water to heat up, got into the shower and turned on the water. Oh My God I yelled at the hubby the dam water is cold and I hate water at the best of times more so if it’s cold. Well wouldn’t you know it all the hot water went right out of the tank and onto the ground leaving me with nothing but ice-cold water and a very pissed off attitude!

Now I’m fit to be tied and have virtually no way of washing my hair, hubby as sweet as he is offers to boil me some water, can you see it now me washing my hair with hot boiled water there’s an emergency room visit waiting to happen. Then I remembered we have a close family friend that not only lives alone (he’s single & cute ladies) but is only five minutes away from us so I call him up and ask for a quirky favour “Hey can I use your shower“, thank goodness he was home and didn’t have any plans.

 

The Pitfalls from Living in a RV!

People rarely talk about the bad side of anything or maybe when I was searching living in a RV only the good things came up, not really knowing but let me tell you things are not as glamorous as one would think. I’m not in very good spirits these days and seem to be bordering on having a mental breakdown or so my doctor says, and quite frankly I’m inclined to agree with him.

The Isolation is the Worst!

I have been feeling so lonely these past few weeks that there are days that I just want to die. I can’t go anywhere unless I take the dogs and leaving them in a hot vehicle not an option, so here I am stuck with two dogs 24/7 that weigh in at 100+ pounds each, am I complaining you bet I am. I can’t even leave them unattended in the RV unless it’s raining and around 14 degrees and even then that’s usually early mornings around 5am, what’s there to do at that time of the morning absolutely nothing, that’s what!

Seems all I can focus on is crying and holy crap seems that’s all I do these days! There’s not just one thing that gets me going it can be anything like every time the fridge shuts off, oh I should mention it’s off as I write this, what a surprise – not!

Seems I have no reason to talk to family or friends on the phone anymore after all what do I have that’s new to say, nothing that’s what, just the same old crap day after day!

The Expense is Outrages!

When researching living in RV’s people would say how much cheaper it is and how they were saving money, now there’s a joke! The expense is far more greater then you would expect especially at this time of the year. RV parks for example charge anywhere from $240 – $300 a week and that’s if you want the full hookups, which why wouldn’t you since you have a trailer thats suppose to have all the amenities to keep you comfortable like your still living in a conventional home. I should also mention that the majority of the RV parks that I’ve talked to over the past month and half won’t take RV’s over 10 years old, WOW now what are we suppose to do, this piece of crap is something like a 1998, yes I called it a piece of crap why – because it is!

To Old for the Parks – Now What!

Don’t get me wrong there are a few RV parks that will actually take in this 5th wheel, not all parks are that picky and you’ve seen from my past posts that we have stayed in a few. If your considering living in a RV my suggestion do your homework, find a RV park that you like or even a few of them and ask millions of questions and do this before you give up your life as you knew it. I’m the first to admit that we jumped into this with both feet and never once took the time to research the bad side of living in a RV, and if we had this one were living in would never have been considered an option!

Has Anything Changed After We Moved!

You bet it has and not for the good either, do I regret this decision that we made so hastily hell yes I sure do! If given the option to return back into the normal way of living would I – you bet I’d be the first to say yes!

Let me do a re-cap and write the pros and cons and then you be the judge, bet you’d be on my side and want to return back to a normal life.

Living the Normal Way versus RV Living!

Pros/Cons

• The dogs had their own fenced yard, they felt safe, came and went between the house and yard on their own. Now I have to find a home for our female because she simply hates moving around and most of the time refuses to even get in the truck. Plus they live on a leash now and don’t have the freedom that they were used to, is that fair I think not!
• I had a job, maybe not the best one out there but it allowed me to get out and meet people, talk with people, mingle in society and yes even bring in a second income.
• When I wanted to shower I just went and had one, didn’t have to worry about the tank being full, like today for example woke up wanting a shower but its not going to happen – why – the dam tank is full!
• We used to go out for dinner twice a month, now we can only grab take out and eat it back at the trailer, you know why already the dogs.
• The fridge makes me cry, every time I buy meat it shuts off and everything defrosts I’m so sick and tired of spending money only to cook everything in one day! Yes I realize that can happen with a regular fridge buy hey that’s what landlords are for.
• Don’t even get me started on the one side of the trailer where it’s nothing but dry rot to the point where the siding could fall completely off (no wonder the RV parks don’t want us in there) it’s held on by duct tape, yes you read it right duct tape! Now we’re facing the mold in the walls and with me having bad lungs it’s just not worth the risk. Hey did I mention the ant hill inside the dry rot wall, that’s right ants they are everywhere and I swear if I get bit by one more I’m going to snap! This would be a landlords responsibilty when it comes to the mold and dry rot just not to sure about the ant infestation.
• Laundry is another factor I should mention, we used to wash/dry clothes weekly but now first we have to find a laundromat then one of us has to sit there while the clothes are being done, can’t be both of us, you remember we have the dogs!

Am I Happy – Do I Sound Happy!

I can honestly say I’m not happy, haven’t been for the past few weeks for the first time in my life “I don’t know what to do” I don’t even know how to go about fixing things. It’s easy for people to sit and say ha ha you have nobody to blame but yourselves and you could very well be right. I thought you should know that the RV life is not easy, it’s not fun (unless your camping for a week or two) and it’s not for everyone!

 

 

Deciding Which Way To Go!

We have decided that since we are living in our RV it needs to be bigger! We are carefully weighing all of our options especially since our truck is only capable of hauling a trailer that weighs in at 10,500lbs so 5th wheel trailers can be limited for us. We have managed to find two that will work and both are fairly simular when it comes to weight, floor plan and price. One is a 2012 Wind River $26,900 and the second one is a 2011 Durango $24,900 there isn’t much difference between the two other then a few hundred pounds and the Wind River has better shocks. Both come with a four year warranty and both only have the one slideout it’s a tough call on which one we’ll be calling home!

Okay it’s official we have decided after looking at both 5th wheels again the Durango is the way to go!

Turns out the Wind River doesn’t have the closet space, counter space or the same amount of cupboards and the Durango even had a larger bedroom. We stopped by this morning to get all the financing started, so hopefully by the middle of the week it’ll all come together.

The deal wasn’t ment to be seems it fell through a crack in the road.

If your thinking of living in a RV make sure you’ll have the room for everybody including your fur babies, that’s what our problem is there just isn’t enough room for the two of us plus the 100 lb plus dogs we have and quite frankly it’s just not fair to them. Make sure your prepared to live in a much smaller place then your used too, I get a little claustrophobic at times and can actually see the walls closing in on me. Makes me wonder at times did we make the right decision is there a transition period and if so how long does it take for everyone to adjust? I realize this way of life isn’t for everyone and maybe we just started to late in life!

This week we are parked in an industrial area of Langley along side the road, I suppose the only good thing about that is its free, still makes me wonder though how others living in their RV’S do it or even worst the people that live in their cars, vans and trucks that can’t be easy! I’m thankful for having a roof over my head with at the very least a full kitchen to use rain or shine although I should mention it sure is boring without electricity for the TV or wifi for the iPad, time for us to research satellites, not that it would be much help here on the roadside.

Should we go back to the conventional way of living, that’s the question I ask myself everyday!

The thing I keep trying to remind myself we are only into the third week so it’s best I play this out until at least the end of August, who knows maybe it does get easier with time once we sort out what works best for us!

All Good Things End Sooner Or Later!

Saturday is here tomorrow and I gotta say having electricity, running water and the use of the bathroom has been almost like a dream come true this past week.

But it’s time to move on, not sure where we’ll end up next week I’m hoping somewhere close to a working wifi, the days go fast but if I had wifi they would pass by even quicker. I did manage to get up at 4:30 am on Tuesday so I could drive Scott to work and have the truck but that was a lot of work and ended up being a long and tired day.

One Can Dream Right?

I decided to take a tour of 5th wheels that our truck is capable of hauling and Omg is all I have to say, some are more beautiful inside then any house I’ve ever lived in. The first one is simply amazing inside theres even a fireplace plus it’s ready for -20 come winter and has so many extras including two slide outs. While I was there I met another couple shopping for a trailer to live in, they told me that they were tired of living pay cheque to pay cheque and have decided it’s the best thing for their family.

The next one is 6 years old and half the price not as fancy but still pretty nice just the same. Has only one slide out and an extra large fridge which is a three way (the only way to go). With a three way it’ll work on propane, electricity and battery the one we have now is only a two way propane or electric and you all know it doesn’t like to work. I personally will make sure our next fridge is a three way and if your thinking of living in an RV that’s the fridge you’ll want. You might not always have electricity and if you run out of propane you’ll be able to switch it over to your RV battery which we always keep fully charged.

It’s becoming a way of life for more people than you can even imagine as they trade in their mortgage/rent payments to own their home!

This week I’ve met two different families one has moved here from Nova Scotia where they bought their trailer and now live here in the park with their two young kids while hubby works his day job. The second family just bought their trailer over the weekend and are slowly moving in during the daytime, they couldn’t afford to pay rent anymore here in Chilliwack. They had their trailer delivered by the sales place they bought it at because they only own the family car, two adults, two teenagers and two family dogs. It’s becoming increasingly popular for living saving people $1000’s of dollars a month.

Most people choose to put their trailers into RV parks and pay anywhere from $400 to $575 a month depending on the park and this includes the electricity, water, sewer hookup, basic cable and if you get the right park that can include wifi too. Some of them raise the monthly rent for the months of June, July, August and September but then those are the busy summer months. I know of two parks here that charge $870 during the summer then drop to $450 after school goes back in so it’s easy to see why more families are choosing the RV lifestyle.

I don’t mind the RV parks we just haven’t found the right one that we want to call home and I’m still trying to find someone with property who wouldn’t mind making a few extra hundred bucks a month by renting us a spot for our trailer. I would prefer that over a park and as long as we could get electricity and water that’s pretty much all we’d need, there’s companies that can empty our sewer tank you see their trucks everywhere and of course cable with wifi would just be a bonus. If you know someone that has property between Langley to Abbotsford send them our way or let them know we’re looking.

We’ll have to decide on a park and area before October so that we can winterize the trailer but until then we’re enjoying the change of scenery week to week.

So Much To Learn In Such A Short Time!

I’m thinking we should of tested out everything before starting this journey, sucks to be going into the second week only to find things aren’t what they seem!

First thing we learnt (important too) the wall between the awning and inside the trailer is dry rot, found that out when the awning fell out of the exterior wall putting it back in for moving. The next thing is the fridge (can’t live without one) seems it doesn’t work on electricity anymore and even to start it with propane takes two people. Today I’ll sit here without the fridge running (mental note to self, get fridge switch fixed). Can’t imagine how much that’s going to cost!

During our first week out it wasn’t a big deal we didn’t have the trailer hooked to water so when I washed dishes I would just boil water and use that to wash them. Today a whole new problem has reared it’s ugly head, went to use the tap to fill the sink only to learn it leaks! That’s right pours out of the tap all over the counter faster then it can fill the sink!

Today I’m feeling a bit ripped off not only with the trailer but with everything in general. It’s raining, I’m stuck in a RV park about 20kms from the nearest town without a vehicle (Scott took the truck to work), no fridge to keep the meat frozen which means I’ll have to cook up everything sometime today, tomorrow at the latest. The propane lighter ran out of fluid and with the matches in the truck won’t be lighting the stove anytime soon, stuck eating toast. The free wifi sucks big time here so if I wanted to post this blog entry I’d have to walk clear across the park to the laundromat in the pouring rain, not sure if that’s going to happen. My cell phone has less then 20% battery life, my fault I forget to take the charger out of the truck last night.

Looking for the positive side of the day, I hooked the Playstation to the TV so at least I can watch a movie or two. The dogs are laid back but that’s only because they know it’s raining outside! Being prepared for all the unknown things that could happen should be top priority on one’s list, wouldn’t you agree?

Today is not a great day for me and if
you’ve been thinking about living in a RV be prepared it takes a lot of energy, patience, a little knowledge couldn’t hurt and there will be times that you’ll  feel isolated or claustrophobic like I’m feeling right now!