Growing Pains

It’s hard to believe that we’ve had our new (to us) rig for two weeks already. What a whirlwind of activity we’ve had! Here’s how our timeline went down:

• Wednesday, April 15^th – “accidentally” found RV
• Thursday, April 16^th – bought RV
• Saturday, April 18^th – freaked out about buying RV (see last blog)
• Wednesday, April 22^nd – picked up new (to us) RV
• Thursday, April 23^rd – moved out of Newmar (old RV) and into Monaco (new RV)
• Friday, April 24^th – listed Newmar RV for sale
• Saturday, April 25^th – showed Newmar RV for 1^st time
• Sunday, April 26^th – sold Newmar RV
• Thursday, April 30^th – drove Monaco RV back to shop (2.5 hours away) for scheduled repairs
• Friday, May 1^st – waved goodbye to Newmar RV as new owners drove it away

  

Whew! We’re just starting to catch our breaths.

The day we drove the new rig home was rainy and blustery, but Tom handled it well, as usual:

I wish I could say the transition into our new rig went smoothly, but. . .

The first night in the Monaco, the propane gas detectors kept going off (beeping loudly). Of course, that didn’t start until we were sound asleep at 2am.

I screamed my way through my first shower because the water was switching between scalding hot and freezing cold.

And, even though we were moving from a 33’10” rig to a 41’6” rig (that’s a gain of seven feet and eight inches), nothing seemed to fit. I eventually found the storage was there, but it had shifted to different locations and we had to redefine what went in the various “rooms”.  Everything has a place now, and the trauma of moving is over, but I was on the edge for a few days, and lucky to have Tom around to keep me from going over. When I became hysterical about “nothing fits in this bathroom”, Tom calmly found a place for everything.

That first week I made three or four trips to town – i.e. a 45 minute drive away –  to buy (and return) various storage solutions, storage bins, and shelf liners from Home Depot, the Dollar Tree, and Walmart. Thank goodness those stores were all open! And it turned out the long drive through the rolling hills was calming.

I was so stressed out that when my newly-ordered bedspread arrived, I didn’t even open it for two days because I was afraid that I wouldn’t like it, and that it would have sent me over that edge for sure. I can laugh now – because I do really like the new spread – and because it’s all beginning to feel like home. Really. Every day is getting better.

In my busy mind, I have to keep reminding myself of all the positives I’ve gained and not focus on those I’ve lost. As every full-timer knows, it’s always a trade-off; unless you have unlimited funds, and even those million-dollar rigs have their problems. And really, how bad is it when the light switches are in stupid places or I have to keep my finger on the button to open and lower the vents? I have to keep things in perspective – and the reason we made the switch in the first place.

In addition to storage, we’ve gained living space. Going from two slides to four really opens the place up and makes it feel more like an apartment and less like an RV. And now that everything is put in place, I’m much more relaxed. Although I imagine some things will still get re-arranged several times before it’s all settled.

Now it’s on to functional things – like figuring out what’s going on with the shower. Although Tom did put that on top of his list and replaced the faucet, which helped (but didn’t quite solve) the problem.

We have to learn how these appliances work. This microwave/convection oven is nothing like out last one and I’m not even attempting to try out the washer/dryer combo until we get our water usage figured out.

This is all new-to-us utility management. We went from a pedal-flush toilet (that I really liked) to an all-electric water-gulping one. And our black tank is definitely smaller. So we’re learning how long we can last on these systems – whereas we had the old ones down pat.

Now it’s Tom’s turn to stress out. The LED’s have arrived, but switching out the light bulbs throughout the rig will not be nearly as easy as it was in the Newmar. He’s working on it as I “speak”:

And the solar company he was so happy with last time decided it was a good idea to route all their technical calls and questions to an overseas call center. So he’s shopping around for solar sales and can’t get anyone to call back (yet).

It’s change. And it’s different. And apparently as I’m getting older, I’m less resilient. So I’m reminding myself to be the supple willow, not the rigid redwood. (It’s an on-going effort.)

But I am grateful every day: For our life situation, for the wonderful man I married thirteen years ago yesterday, and for great friends and family that keep us on track (and supplied with plenty of parking).

Tom has been helping his brother with a building project to help “pay” for our keep,

and I’ve been busy with fairy sales and working from my new dining table/office:

So with our move done, we took the day off yesterday (on our anniversary)  to take a drive up to a nearby lake:

 

Then we stopped on the way back for a late lunch and outdoor seating – our first dining date in six weeks!

Happy Travels! (eventually)

Peace & Love, Joy