The "working" RVer'

Within a year of retirement and now owning our motorhome the desire to "use" it as much as possible is strong. As I had mentioned earlier much of my business life has involved travel. As it turns out many of my customer visits this last year were in easy driving range. So I had the choice of driving a company car and staying in hotels or load the coach and the wife and I would hit the road. This was a no brainer.

Detroit Airport

Airports or the outdoors, no comparison.

The woods of Michigan

Preparing a motorhome for vacation travel is one thing. With business travel all you need to add is your mobile office. The usual computer, charger, tablet, smartphone and paperwork from the airplane trip fits very nice in an RV, But there were a couple of other considerations. As business is mobile in our times you need internet access. Many campgrounds provide Wi-fi but it tends to be unreliable and slow. One answer is to take advantage of the free Wi-fi at local restaurants and libraries. A better answer (though not free) is to use a mobile hot spot. In my circumstance I use my smartphone which has the hot spot option and a good data plan. As my wife can travel with me and we would like to receive our home phone calls we also opted to bring our home phone. Now you may be thinking "idiot" your home phone won't work on the road. A year or so back we replaced our somewhat unreliable "land line" with an AT&T home air phone. The service was reliable and half the cost of the land line. The side benefit being the home air phone is really a cell phone transceiver on steroids. It works anywhere a cell phone works and has a stronger signal and better antenna. Simply subscribe to the service (currently $25 a month), purchase a standard "home" phone of your choosing and you can take your home phone with you. The fun part is when people call your house they have no idea you are hundreds of miles from your home. 

The last items that are different than the RV vacation is to remember to include your business clothing. While many of my clients would think nothing of a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt it is just not professional. Most trips I do not bother with a printer. The RV has plenty of room and even a desk area when I decide to take one. Working from the road is not difficult and actually more relaxing than using hotels. One simply needs to remember the communication challenges associated with not having a hotel room. Another consideration is transportation. A full sized motorhome does not fit well in many business parking lots and can be a challenge to parallel park. There are alternatives such as take a cab, rent a car, have a local associate (or even the customer) pick you up or bring a toad (a small car towed behind the motorhome). The advantages are many. For me it is having my own bed and the ability to fix meals that are more healthy and of less volume than the restaurants. If you want an evening adult beverage simply step out on the patio and pour. Morning coffee can be prepared as you would at your home with all the flavor of home brewed (not hotel) coffee.

Our first "trip" was a short three hour drive to Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan. I had assignment as a consultant for one of the MSU football games. I know, tough life but somebody had to do it. We found an in city campground that was ten minutes from the stadium. The place had excellent reviews, large "on the lake" lots, power and water. All of this for $35.00 a night. They offered Wi-fi but it was spotty at best. Diane not being a fan of the sport opted to read, relax and catch up on some of her office work in a quiet environment. A local associate picked me up at 7:00 in the morning. We had a cup of coffee next to the lake and were at MSU by 7:30 ready for the days activity.

With a small like out the back door how can I complain?

The first trip went as planned. My wife spent the day relaxing I spent the day at a MSU football game. After the game I returned to our mobile house on wheels, not a used hotel room. I did a little fishing, (not catching, I have fishing down but catching seems to elude me) grilled some meat and poured our favorite beverage. Life was great. The evening time provided an opportunity to send a few emails that were related to the days "work" and kick back to watch a bit of television. Next was off to bed, my own bed.

The next morning we awakened to the sound of birds, not traffic. We were feeling a bit lazy so I opted to do some more fishing giving Diane a chance to wake up. After breakfast we decided to head back north. As I did my walk around of the motor home I discovered my left front tire had lost air during the stay. As it was low but not flat we decided to head to a nearby gas station to air up and check the tire. My first lesson on RV travel was delivered by the gas station. My tires require 90 PSI, the gauge said 50 PSI so all I needed to do was add 40 PSI. Unfortunately the gas station air system only went to 40 PSI. That was discovered after I connected the air to the valve and realized I was filling their system not the other way around. Now I am out $1.00 in quarters (for use of the air) and down to 40 PSI in my tire. Fortunately less than a mile down the road was a truck stop that not only had sufficient air, it was free and they checked the tire for me. Truckers are great people. At that time I made a mental note to purchase an air compressor for the motorhome.

We were treated to a beautiful color tour of the fall woods on our return to home. The air was cool, the sky displayed but a few white puffy clouds. Over all even though I had worked a couple of days I felt like I had been on a weekend outing. With our own motorhome, fishing, football and fresh air how could I feel any other way.

So what does an RV have to do with the insanity of life?

When I think about how this blog pertains to my title of Micheals Musings it has everything to do with the little bit of insanity that is in all of us. As for the question "what does an RV (recreational vehicle) have to do with the insanity of life", the answer is everything and yet nothing. Why would what some consider a rational, stable human being that has a comfortable home with nice neighbors in a great town want to spend a small fortune on a vehicle that is not really a vehicle and not really a house and use it to go on the road? Some buy the motor home, trailer of fiver because they have a vision of back woods adventures...... in style. Others choose the RV because they are more economical than buying a house and you don't ever have to mow the lawn. Yet others buy one because their neighbors bought one (now that is insane). For us it is the continuation of a wanderlust, the nomadic heritage that is deep inside of us.

Mackinaw Bridge, northern Michigan

  What other method of travel provides one the ability to simply look out the window to see some of the most beautiful scenes our nation has to offer? If one tires of the view or simply wants other scenery they simply jump behind the wheel and motor to the new spectacular scenery. 

We have a desire to meet new people, learn their culture and get to know what their community is like. There is no better way than to live in the community if only as a temporary guest. We love to learn about the people, the foods, the buildings the community life style. RVing gives us this opportunity to meet, get to know and observe history as it unfolds. Our first RV "trip" was in a rental Class A. We thought it would be a good idea to "try before you buy". In late April we left Traverse City, Michigan and drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan to pick up the rental. After a briefing of the systems we headed east across Canada to New York state. We are boon dockers at heart but decided to use the State Park system of the states we traveled. This trip was titled the "Graveyard Tour" as we intended to visit the towns and cemeteries of both of our families. The trip was fascinating. We could imagine and see where our respective Great, Great Grandparents and their children lived and worked. Many of the towns actually had streets bearing the family name. The people of the churches, libraries and museums were helpful in assisting us in locating the cemeteries that were the final resting places of our ancestors.

Golden Hill State Park, NY 

The state parks are quiet in the spring. Golden Hill offered camping right on Lake Ontario with power, water and peace. This place was so quiet not even the dogs barked.

The sunrise from our window

W There were many hiking trails, fishing and a nicely restored lighthouse. The people were friendly and knowledgable of the area. The park is well suited for couples and families. The campground is about 30 minutes from Niagara Falls and numerous small towns.

As I am a hobby photographer there are many opportunities for scenic and wildlife photography. In early spring the weather was cool with occasional evening rain. Diane enjoyed the peace. This gave her time to plan our route to visit the towns of our ancestors and locate our "target" cemeteries that were with in an easy drive of our Golden Hill base camp.

As our motorhome was a rental we did not have the option of a "toad" (a car towed behind the coach}. This was a non issue for this trip. As a former firefighter I am accustom to driving large rigs. This coach was small enough that we went everyplace we wanted to go. In the small towns I do admit I had to choose my parallel parking locations carefully. In the town of Lockport, New York I had found the perfect parking place, put the money in the two meters and we were off to explore. On our return we discovered a BMW that had managed to squeeze in front of us not leaving room to make the swing to get our of the parking spot without wiping our either the BMW or the parking meters on the sidewalk. As there was not much time left on the meter for the BMW we decided to wait a while. As it turned out the car behind us left which allowed us to simply back up and head for the camp.

Maneuvering a Class A motorhome is a bit different than driving a fire truck. The motorhome has the rear axle placement quite a bit forward of the rear bumper. This axle placement causes a condition known as tail swing. Tail swing is when the rear bumper of the coach swings wide during a turn. The tighter the turn the greater the tail swing. In the instance of a hard left turn at an intersection the tail of the coach can take half of the lane next to it. Not a real problem as long as your are aware and pay attention. That is enough of a driving lesson. A full sized motorhome is different than your family car but is not difficult to drive. You just need to be aware of it's handling and maneuvering quirks.

We spent a couple of days at Golden Hill and wished we could have stayed longer. Due to vacation time we had to begin our trek to the south and east. We visited towns and cemeteries as we headed to our next nesting spot. At cemeteries that had to low of clearance to get in we simply parked along side the road. We found great little neighborhood restaurants, meat markets and ice cream shops along the way.

My Great, Great Grandfather

Finding some of our ancestors required a lot of research ahead of time and often times searching cemeteries that have over two thousand permanent residents. Just because you know where the cemetery is located and the plot number, few cemeteries have maps. We were lucky here as a local resident knew the cemetery well enough to point us in the direction based on the date of death. In some places we searched in vain as we had no reference as to a relatives location.

Diane at Letchworth State Park enjoying the sun on a cool day

Letchworth State Park is a spectacular place. The history, the gorges, the waterfalls can keep one exploring for weeks. This park is huge offering both hiking and driving tours. You can kayak, fish, photo or hike. The campground offers large well spaced sites with power located in a forest of majestic trees. If you can't find something that interests you here you don't need to be camping. As we had arrived on Mothers Day weekend a driving tour of the park was in order. I am not sure which we enjoyed more, visiting one of the many gorge overlooks, the waterfalls, the turn of the century Inn or simply the drive. Wildlife and wildflowers abound. While the road is paved it is narrow and has many turns and even a few switchbacks.

As much as we hated to leave the area (and we will return) it was time to head to the next state park. Being explorers we try to avoid express ways as much as possible. On discovery was in the state of New York avoid the roads on the map that are colored grey. These roads are in poor condition and very rough. At times we could only manage twenty miles per hour if we wanted to not get bounced out of the coach. Two grueling hours later we found an on ramp to the expressway an moved to our next destination.

A new adventurer, Retirement and the RV

For years I have traveled. In my youth with my parents I remember many a road trip to Florida in the winter, Kentucky, Tennessee, upper Michigan, and all the places in between. Those early car experiences served to fuel my desire to go in search of other places, cultures and experiences. As I left the nest travel became a necessity for work. At first there was the occasional flight. As flights became more cost effective the number of them increased. Be it a two seater single engine or an airline jet, flying was the fast way to get to where I needed to be. In my career I have worked in or visited every state except for two, unless you consider landing and refueling a visit. Then I have been in all 50 states.

As my family grew the DW (dear wife) and I camped. At first it was a tent, then a pop up camper. As our children got older we moved to a nineteen foot trailer. We then borrowed my parents Travco Motorhome. We loved it but could not afford it. We owned  a nice fifth wheel (fiver) that we loved but sold when we purchased the "cabin on the lake". As we approach retirement I want to show the DW and see for myself all the fantastic people and places that I have seen only briefly. The choices were fly (very tired of airports, lines and airplanes), drive and hotel (very tired of sleeping in used beds and box like rooms) or revert to our camping days and really see North America and meet the people that are building the true history of the continent.

As I do not sleep as comfortable on the ground as I did a few years ago we decided to rent a motor home to see if that would suit us better than the trailer or fiver. One trip, 9 days in length told us we needed to own a motorhome. We did not need to pay a couple of hundred thousand for a new fancy one. We needed to find one that we could get our money out of if we changed our minds and that provided the comforts of our own home as we move across the many roads of North America. Less than 4 months after our "rental" we stumbled across a used coach that fit our check list.

2003 Winnebago Adventurer 35U

 The plan is to use "Winnie" as my wife has labeled her as a weekend get away for the first two years until we retire and then do the part time travel to see the country. We do not see full time RVing as fitting our life style as we love our cabin on the north woods lake and are well rooted in our home of 30 years. "Winnie" will become our airplane, hotel, car and even a base for occasional work assignments. Yes it is older than we had planned on purchasing but the couple that owned it kept in like new and drove it only 21,000 miles. As it met our must have check list, had a perfect floor plan and had been well maintained we figured it was worth a try.