6 Months a Year My Home Has Wheels

[adrienne oyler]

In 2005 we sold our home of 20 years and sold, gave away or put on permanent loan most all of the rest of our worldly possessions, there was just so much STUFF (George Carlen would have been proud). Most of this was done in six month. It was very stressful and left us with no time to even think about changing our minds. We had 39 foot motorhome and a full size pickup truck. Then we loaded the STUFF we kept into the RV and truck. Hooked the truck to the back of the RV and hit the road. I must confess my RV has a few amenities that most do not. For example, I have a 4½‘long 5½‘tall closet plus 2 short closets, a washer/dryer, and my personal favorite a dishwasher. Don’t laugh it comes in handy when we are boon docking (no running water or sewer) for a couple of days. The dirty dishes (handles down on the utensils) are wiped off and put on the appropriate racks then when we are back in a park with full hookups I run it through on full cycle. That way I save fresh water and gray water tank space. We have 2 sewage tanks, gray water is filled from the sinks and shower, the black is filled from the toilet. If we are very frugal using water we can last one week on the gray and 2 weeks on the black.
The first year we traveled a lot. A week here, two weeks there, and there, and there, most of that first winter was spent in southern California and southern Arizona. It sounds like fun doesn’t it? Well, most of it was, we did a lot of museums and sightseeing. Here’s one of the small ‘but’s, where there are people there is laundry. Now my machine will do the job but it takes aaalllll day to do the sheets and towels. You see you have to wash then dry a load then wash and dry the next then wash and dry the next. And since it was usually warmer weather it is counterproductive to the A/C unit to be running the clothes dryer. The alternative was to go to a laundromat in town or use the machines in the parks where we stayed. Both require a fair amount of faith and trust. Faith that the person before you didn’t have poison oak or worse and trust that the owners do try to keep the machines clean and working. There were a couple of places in a small town in Arizona we didn’t even go in we just went to the next on our list which had clean dry floors. Most of the parks we pick to stay in have clean reasonably priced machines, but I’m still not real comfortable processing some of our personal items in front of the other mixed gender patrons. Because of that I try to do the laundry at odd times (since I’m retired it’s not too hard to do). There are some “Oh this is great” and “Can we do it again”s liberally mixed in the other ‘but’s.

[Edythe Stromme]

Can't wait to hear more about the "buts". It's been so long since I have had to use a laundromat I had forgotten about the seedy side some of them have and worrying about what was in the machine before your load. No matter what the rules on the wall say, someone tries to dye a load of clothes or leaves debris of unknown origin in the machine. To use or not to use, that is the question. This helps me to remember to be grateful for my little laundry room with functioning washer and dryer and being able to use the AC and dry clothes at the same time. I envy your travels so keep writing about the "buts" so I can remember all I have to be grateful for!! Did you have any scary moments? Where is the best place you visited so far? Looking forward to more... Thanks, E.A.

[Ransom Southerland]

Welcome to WriteNow Adrienne,

Great intro story here. Of course, it reminded me of all kinds of "laundromat" experiences, but none so funny as the incident on Seinfeld in which Kramer helps Jerry "get even" with the laundromat owner he thought had stolen $1,500.

You can take a peek at it here:

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Thanks much for a good laugh today!

Ransom

[Chuck Stromme]

Nice story but you haven't tempted me to convert to the travellin' set. My folks and bro did it for many years and I'm happy they and you enjoyed it but the appeal is lost on me.

There are some great deals on Monaco and Country Coach RVs just up the road a few miles from here.

[Edythe Stromme]

Thanks for the Seinfeld moment Ransom. Funny stuff. Reminds me that I miss that show...

[adrienne oyler]

The scariest laundromat was in Vista, California (north east of San Diego). The whole strip mall had bars or iron gates on the windows and doors. Jim stood guard while I washed and dried our things. We had the vintage GMC motorhome at the time (no washer/dryer) and had the dogs guarding it in the parking lot.

Edythe Stromme said:

Can't wait to hear more about the "buts". It's been so long since I have had to use a laundromat I had forgotten about the seedy side some of them have and worrying about what was in the machine before your load. No matter what the rules on the wall say, someone tries to dye a load of clothes or leaves debris of unknown origin in the machine. To use or not to use, that is the question. This helps me to remember to be grateful for my little laundry room with functioning washer and dryer and being able to use the AC and dry clothes at the same time. I envy your travels so keep writing about the "buts" so I can remember all I have to be grateful for!! Did you have any scary moments? Where is the best place you visited so far? Looking forward to more... Thanks, E.A.