A PEEK INSIDE...HOW WE ROLL

"To me old age is always fifteen years older than I am."  
Bernard Baruch

Carol writes:  For newcomers to our blog who are not familiar with our two previous experiences on the road, by way of a short summary, here is how it went…

Chapter 1 on the road was done for a year as a family after Al retired from the Navy in 1989.  As we traveled throughout much of the western United States and the two western provinces of Canada, we homeschooled our two kids for 3^rd and 4^th grade.  Life for a family of four in a 29-ft travel trailer with two cats was certainly adventurous for that era, whereas now, full-timers, who are usually retirees, are a very common sight in many campgrounds.  Eventually, in 1990, we settled down in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where we bought a home, raised our family, and finished out our careers for the next 25 years.

Chapter 2 on the road took place recently from March 2013 to March 2014.  It was just Al and me this time, and the adventurous part was we did our year on the road in Western Europe in our Class-B Pleasure-Way motorhome.  Many readers have told me that the archived stories in my  “Catching the Trade Winds” blog provide rather entertaining accounts of that adventure.

On April 28, 2015, we began Chapter 3 of our nomadic life on the road, but I guess you could say this time we were really serious!  Our timeline is to do this for as long as we are motivated and for as long as our treasured good health allows us.  We’re older now and we need a few more creature comforts.  I think our Entegra Anthem RV with 4 slide-outs more than meets that requirement…

The interior of our motorhome has all the bells and whistles that we could want (and some that we still don't understand):

A nice front living room space where we can relax with friends or watch a little TV.  Presently, Al has a nasty cough and cold and has already tested out the sofa overnight.  

Followed by a fully equipped kitchen...   

a big comfy bed mid-coach...not a young as we used to be...

and a great rear shower, because we have had way more experiences with sink baths and public campground showers than we would like.  The family rule is that the last one to use the shower has to use the squeegee on the walls and glass door.  Al always wants to go first...

Pretty sweet home on wheels.  We have truly traded "real estate" for "wheel estate" (not an original joke).

I will readily admit we are still rookies at this 'big rig' stuff.  Our motorhome is very high tech, and for us the learning curve is steep.  Thankfully, we have fellow campers who now and then are quite helpful, like our next door neighbor yesterday who tactfully pointed out to Al (as he emptied the tanks) that our sewer hose was going uphill on its support slinky.  

I had my own humbling experiece when that same neighbor's wife, upon hearing me say that our bed was not easy to make, suggested that I pull the mattress forward a few feet to make it easier to put on the fitted sheets.  Geez!  Worked like a charm.

We sort of figured out the U.S. Mail issue when we left home for a year on our European adventure.  The Internet has many, many mail-forwarding services to choose from.  We decided on a company named "Americas Mailbox" out of Box Elder, South Dakota. For a nominal monthly fee they forward our mail to any destination we would like, such as a campground address...or General Delivery at any post office of our choosing.  It also helps to have online bill-pay set up with electronic delivery of documents selected whenever possible.

How do we manage healthcare on the road?  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, and I hope it is no time soon.  Routine prescriptions can be mailed, although it will be another month or so before I have tested that plan.

Why did we find it a necessity to give up our Colorado residency?  It had everything to do with TAXES! First of all, South Dakota has no state income tax. Secondly, we saved about 3% on the purchase price of the car AND the RV by being South Dakota residents rather than Colorado residents.  In addition, over the next few years, we will save thousands of dollars on yearly vehicle license plate renewals. These facts are no secret in the full-timer world, and that is why you see so many South Dakota license plates in campgrounds.  Lastly, Pennington County in South Dakota makes it really easy to become a resident--the county simply requires you have paper proof that you have been in the county for one 24-hour period.  That's what hotel receipts are for...

"The avoidance of taxes is the only pursuit that still carries any reward."  John Maynard Keynes 

ART THROUGH THE AGES IN THE SANTA FE AREA

"The greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique."  
Isaac Bashevis Singer

Carol writes:  Even though much of the U.S. is well-immersed in spring by late April, such is not the case in the Rockies.  Old Man Winter tends to linger in the Rockies, so it wasn’t hard to pick which direction to head out of Colorado Springs—and that would be south toward warmer and sunnier days.  We decided to park ourselves for a week in the lovely art colony atmosphere of Santa Fe. 

Southwestern-style architecture has always been a favorite of ours, and Santa Fe has southwestern charm galore.

Santa Fe Plaza is quintessential Spanish-American Colonial.  As they have for centuries, Native American jewelry artisans are still selling their jewelry along the ancient walls of the Plaza.

Among Santa Fe’s major attractions are the historic Palace of the Governors, the nearby Chapel of Loretto with its magical suspended staircase,

 

and the always popular year-round Saturday Farmers Market.

On a spectacular sunny day, we made a side trip to Bandelier National Monument, which is known for its wonderful archeological sites of the dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo People.

The 140-ft vertical climb up 4 ladders to the Alcove House sure gave the quads a workout,

but it was worth it for the special experience at the top.

                                                          

                                                  

From an historic point of view, the hike along the stream bed was fascinating…climbing up ladders to ancient housing,

gradually understanding the logic of location, and appreciating how the dwellings were constructed with post holes carved into the rock face to support the wooden beams.

Without a doubt Santa Fe has one of the most beautiful, unique and appropriately designed state capitol buildings of any we have ever visited.  Locals affectionately call their state capitol the “Roundhouse,”

and they are extremely proud of its New Mexico-themed art collection.  The fabric art quilt pieces made me realize I am only a rookie when it comes to quilt design and custom quilting.

How do they create incredibly detailed human hands or forest scenes…out of  cloth?

We took a quick peek inside nearby San Miguel Chapel, the oldest church in the continental United States.

One of Santa Fe’s claim to fame is its world-class art scene, best appreciated with a stroll into the dozens of art galleries along Canyon Road.  The galleries are situated in the old southwestern-style houses—fantastic venues for displaying art!

To close out our stay in Santa Fe, we took a day trip 50 miles south to Albuquerque to soak in some of the area’s oldest “art” that was created centuries ago on the basalt rock faces at Petroglyph National Monument.

Time to head on down to Clovis to spend some precious time with our daughter.  As we rolled out of Santa Fe, we felt our visit had met all of our expectations on what life is like on the road full time.  I had made an instant friendship with a fellow blogger in the campground and look forward to following her RV blog stories, perhaps crossing paths once again somewhere on the road.  We have decided that we will definitely come back to Santa Fe--when our route takes us west once again-- because it really was such a neat place to hang out.

"Art is the signature of civilizations."  Jean Sebelius

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

“On the road again

Goin’ places that I’ve never been

Seein’ things that I may never see again,

And I can’t wait to get on the road again.”                             

Song lyrics from "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson

CAROL WRITES:  Welcome back readers of my blog who encouraged me so much during our European road trip!  It was just a little over 13 months ago that Al and I arrived back home from our European adventure.  We enjoyed a wonderful Colorado ‘super summer’ in 2014 

that wound up at the South Dakota Buffalo Roundup in late September.  I will never forget the iconic sight of the massive buffalo herd as it crested the hill and charged down into the ravine leading into the corrals.     

After the roundup, we spent a delightful 10 days in our Pleasure-Way RV doing a little fishing, visiting the Badlands,

Mt. Rushmore,

Crazy Horse Memorial,

Fort Robinson (Nebraska), Cave of the Winds, and Scotts Bluff.

I guess that is what got us to thinking…

By the time November rolled around, we had decided we were going to start the process of committing to a full-time life on the road.  That meant selling our Colorado home of 25 years, buying a new and bigger RV, and selling most of our household possessions so as to minimize the size of our long-term storage unit.  Oh, and we found it quite beneficial to give up our Colorado residency and become South Dakota residents.  

Even on the road, we have to have an address somewhere…but that is the subject of another blog post.

After a thorough search for the ideal Class A RV that would fit a full-time lifestyle on the road, we settled on an Entegra Anthem, which explains the “anthem” theme in both of our new Gmail addresses, in case you are wondering.  

As for selling our home…the lightning speed at which that occurred still has us shaking our heads.  Little did we know that here in the Springs, it had become a seller’s market.  After the for-sale sign had been posted out front, we had 11 showings and 2 offers in the first four days!  Closing was 6 weeks later and, fortunately, in the interim our new RV had arrived from the factory.  (We had always thought it was a good game plan to have our new RV to live in case the house sold faster than anticipated.)  We moved into the RV on March 9, the day we took possession, and scooted on down to the Air Force Academy Family Campground

two days later, where we have been staying for the past 2 months as we tidy up all our affairs, meet with medical providers for our yearly checkups, and bid a fond farewell to some of our very dear friends.

We have found that there are a lot of good things to say about a simpler RV lifestyle.  It is still surprising to us how few “possessions” we actually need for day-to-day living!  We sold approximately 80% of our household possessions with 70-plus sales on Craigslist, and I can honestly say that I will not miss, and I will not replace any of the items in my first 30-or-so sales.  As I remember it, the day we sold our bedroom furniture was the real point of no-return.

Conducting over 70 Craigslist sales involved hundreds of phone calls, texts, and emails.  At times, I was sorely disappointed at how rude and inconsiderate some strangers could be on Craigslist.  And the scammers, spammers, and cheats were rampant!  About the time I would mutter to myself that I couldn’t wait to be done with Craigslist posts, a wonderful ‘stranger encounter’ would occur, and faith in my fellow human beings would be restored. 

Among my many customers, there was the woman who had just come back from a very emotional 3-year missionary trip to Kabul, Afghanistan; the woman who had lost everything in the Black Forest Fire; the two Iraqi interpreters who had been granted asylum in our country for their interpretive services to the US Army; the young Olympic hopeful who needed a treadmill; the thankful college student who was in great need of basic living room furniture; and, finally, the true clock lover who purchased my father’s beloved grandfather clock, promised to take good care of it, and then, with his children, named it “Ralph” in honor of my father.  These are the stories I will remember, not the misfits who stood me up at a sale.

Our to-do list is down to a few phone calls.  Our departure from the Springs is tentatively set for Monday, April 27^th.  We will have nicely rounded out the chapter on 25 years of life in Colorado, and we will have turned to the first page of Chapter 3 on the road.  First, we plan to head slowly to Clovis, New Mexico, for some quality time with our daughter.  By the end of May, we will probably head east, maybe all the way to Boston, but that’s another story...  For now, that’s life on the road…picking a direction, heading out, and not burning daylight.  In the words of Lemony Snicket:

“If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.”