After closing on our house, selling most of our “stuff”, putting antiques and keepsakes in climate-controlled storage, and buying our “new” motorhome, we finished loading the motorhome while “camping” it in for five days and four nights in our driveway. To be honest, I thought the steps into the motorhome were going to be the end of me. Thankfully, I made it and realized there was no way I would be traversing them everyday like I had been for the last several days! On to packing.
We have officially been living in the RV for two weeks and I still don’t know where I put a lot of things. You know when you move into a new place, and you can’t exactly remember where you decided to store something? Magnify that by the fact that we have two or three “layers” of depth in the cabinets. We have said several times, “It’s here somewhere,” or “We’ll find it eventually.”
When we bought a used motorhome, we knew there were would items that would need fixing. There is no way I would want to do this journey with anyone else but Frank. He can fix most things or figure out what parts to order / buy, etc… So far he has: fixed the gauges on the dashboard (a fuse was in the wrong slot), fixed the dishwasher (he doesn’t know exactly how he fixed it, but he fixed it), fixed the toilet, (but at the moment, it is being finicky again), taken out one of the couches and installed two recliners, fixed the central vacuum (again, he doesn’t know what he did, but it works), installed the rest of the blue ox tow bar to the back of the motorhome, installed the base plate and lights for the Explorer, and installed a brake system for the Explorer. He has been a busy man. However, he still hasn’t been able to fix the leveling jacks. He has studied the paperwork, been on forums, called and emailed the factory numerous times, but still no progress. It’s a good thing we have eight wheels on this motorhome. I have no doubt he’ll figure it out. He thinks it is a relay, but no one seems to know where it is located – including the factory. Hopefully, it will be fixed before we end up at an RV site that is on an incline.
How are the pets doing? Bailey seems to take it in stride, but if we leave the motorhome, we come back to find her standing in the driver’s seat. We figured out that she can see out the windows from there, so, I guess she is keeping an eye out on everything and looking for us. The only problem is she doesn’t have great sight; she is a Shih Tzu and has the typical eye problems. The 16-year-old cat, Bootsie has claimed the bedroom, specifically, my side of the bed. If I get up, I usually come back to her lying right in the middle of my spot. I’m constantly having to move her over. What is interesting about this is she only started entering our bedroom in the house about a week before we moved out. Before that, she didn’t enter our bedroom because of Frank. (They have a love / hate relationship. lol) During travel time, she seems to disappear. We think she may be hiding in the closet but haven’t looked too hard to figure out where she disappears.
Our plans included a few days in Lagarto, Texas area to visit Frank’s mom. Then we drove to Kingsville for a few days to tour King Ranch and the museum. We went there several years ago and just missed the last tour, so I wanted to make it this time. A beach sounded good, so we came to Port Aransas to stay in an RV Resort. It is genuinely nice (and a bit pricey), but we look right out over a pond and are very close to the boardwalk to walk to the beach. We really like this place and plan to return in the future. Tomorrow, we head for San Marcos to visit our youngest son who attends college at Texas State. We are planning on floating the river while there.
Where are we headed next? We will be heading to Waco for a couple of days, then Texarkana, before staying a while in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We want to check out various areas in Western Arkansas before heading to Branson, Missouri for about 10 days. The arch in St. Louis will be a destination before going to Mark Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. The plan is to make it to my mom’s around the first part of August so we can pick her up to tour northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Michigan will be the first “new” state for me to visit. I believe Frank will enjoy visiting the Henry Ford Center and various car museums along the way.
September should see us in Kentucky and hopefully Biltmore, outside Ashville, NC, and Tennessee will be our October destinations. November will see us slowly making our way back to the Houston area to be with the kids for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Our goal is to update a map on our website as we are traveling, so you’ll know where we are. I post a few pictures on our Facebook page – The Texas RV Couple. I will also start posting some here on our website. YouTube is in our future (we think), but I have to figure it out. I’m starting with just my iPhone to see how it works before thinking of upgrading.
We hope you will come explore with us as we travel our nation. We are open to suggestions for sightseeing and anything else of interest.
Until next time,
Beth