That is remarkable. More so than the 18 days of RVing post! We have travelled nearly across the entire country. One more state until the West Coast. It’s baffling to me!
We’ve spent a lot of time in Idaho – much more than we ever planned for – and it was one of the best decisions we made. Idaho is fantastic. The people here are super friendly and nice. We spent a fair amount of time at Smith RV, for some warranty work, and let me tell you – if you ever need work done on an RV of any kind: GO THERE! The staff is overly accommodating (To name a few: Manny, Nathan, Cody, Layne and Skip). It became like a second home to us. I was actually really sad to leave them. We traipsed around Idaho a bunch. We saw Idaho Falls, EBR-1 Atomic Museum (surprisingly interesting to me), Indian Ice Caves, Shoshone Falls and the Potato Museum. Ridiculously hot everywhere except for Idaho Falls. I did not expect Idaho to be so hot or so awesome. We also discovered the wonderful world of WinCo – a non-membership, buy-in-bulk store. AMAZING! I have no idea why these are not out east…we need them!!
The two-ish weeks we’ve spent in Idaho was a great break. For our bank accounts and our brains. I’m excited to be back on the road. In just about a week, Katie will be meeting up with us and staying in our Hotel RV for a week. I’m super excited to have a familiar face around! That will pretty much mark the halfway point of our trip. Hard to believe!
In my last post, I spoke a lot about what I miss about home and the normalcies of every day life. I still miss a good amount of it, but I would definitely say I’m more adjusted to this life style now. Would I want to live this way full-time? Right now, I’ll say no. I’m sure if we ever did decide to, I would adjust…and it would be much different because we’d probably stay in places much longer, making it less stressful and less on-the-go. So, who knows. While I do miss the conveniences of home still, I don’t think of them nearly as much as I did a few weeks ago. I wonder what an adjustment it will be to go back to living in a house come Winter.
The biggest thing I miss would probably be WiFi. All the things I had in my last post are inconveniences that I can learn to live with. Lack of WiFi is tough to work with. I don’t miss Facebook or Instagram so much. I miss a bit of TV, but it’s not detrimental. Sending pictures and videos to family and friends is a bit tough to do without the WiFi, including doing video chats. The hardest thing though is route planning and finding places to stay. WiFi would be really helpful for those bits. The data we have though seems to be getting us through. So, I’m thankful for that.
I also miss the space to do yoga every morning (but I’ll have that back soon enough) and my YouTube mornings – watching my fellow Rvers’ vlogs and the TED talks or other educational videos that I would watch during my morning routine. For instance, before we left I had been learning about minimalism and capsule wardrobes. I would watch YouTube videos nearly every day about how to do it and the benefits of both. Since we have been living over a month without the use of our slide outs (which most of my clothes are in!), I’ve learned firsthand that I can live on a fixed amount of clothing. I’ve had use of approximately 15 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, 4 pairs of shorts, 2 dresses, 1 pair of flip-flops, 1 pair of hiking boots, and 1 pair of sneakers. And this is doing laundry every 2-3 weeks. This is of course not getting dressed up for anything and not having to go to work. There are times where I remember a certain piece of clothing that’s locked in the wardrobe that I desperately want to wear, but the feeling fades and I move on. This gives me hope for when I go home to cut down my wardrobe a bit more.
It’s hard to think back on all of the things we have seen and feel like we actually saw them. We did so much sightseeing, most of it definitely doesn’t feel real. But it is!! On top of that, Paul has done a LOT of fixing things…from fuses, wiring and lights to removing and (soon to be) replacing the leveling jack that was bent and leaking. Oh – and also removing a tick from my head! I know it’s all very stressful for him, but he continues to impress me with his knowledge and capabilities on WTF to do. I definitely count myself lucky to be traveling with someone so handy.
One of my favorite parts of our trip is meeting fellow RVers, travelers and the locals. I’m doing my best to keep track of names and the little bits of wisdom or advice of traveling and sightseeing they’ve given us. I especially love meeting the other RVers. We have yet to meet any our age, but there is an instant connection for every RVer we have met. We’ve shared stories, traveling tips and mishaps, and one couple even let us take a peek into their super expensive 1.5 bath RV. We’ve also looked at other RVs at Camping World, etc…just to see what else is out there. Some made us super envious and others made us super grateful. It’s a fine line, for sure!
I have still been journaling at least every other day about every single day. I’m halfway through my second journal. I really hope that I am capturing the essence of being on the road – the fun and sadness and stress of it all! There are times where I feel very worried and stressed about money and work when I return home. And while missing my people back home (and some who are now out of the state/country) is real and super heavy on my heart at times, I know that in just a few months I’m going to look back on this adventure with awe and nostalgia (and be super sad that I have to work again haha). So I am trying to be present each day and really experience the experience.
I’m signing off for now. I will do my best to write a bit more often, if possible. But my main focus is going to be enjoying the time we’re out here, because it will be over before we know it! Thanks again for checking in. ❤
P.S. Incase you were wondering, Pookie is having the time of her life!! (This is her super excited face!) 😀
Raising LeBar 