From RV Life to Home Life

Old habits die hard

Well hello. I took a month off to decompress from the hectic start of the new year.

We did accomplish quite a bit in March. When April rolled around I was exhausted!

And you know what? I just went into home mode and did nothing. Well, nothing on the to-do list anyway.

I cooked food, went grocery shopping, and did a little retail shopping. It’s been years since I went into a clothing store and browsed. I had a fabulous time.

I even went into my old job at DSW Shoes. I bought shoes that are not related to camping and outdoor life. I bought cute shoes that make me smile.

If you know the past life of me, you know shoes are my weakness. At one time, I possessed 200 pairs. And yes, I wore them at least once.

When you take on RV life full-time you have to downsize and only keep what you need. Releasing my beauty trinkets into the wilds of new owners was the most difficult part for me. Now that I have a home base, I can have my shoes in a safe place. Oh, I did buy some new trainers and useful campground shoes.

Reconnecting with Family

Last month I went to lunch with my daughter and son-in-law-to-be (this month actually), and I even had lunch with my ex. He wanted to make sure I was doing okay since Wolf passed. It was strange, but we talked about our kids and retired life. Good times all around.

I have two rooms at my son’s house. He works a lot so I get plenty of time with the grand pups and with my dogs, we have a total of 5 fur babies. They are a lot of work!

Sasha gets PLENTY of playtime all day long. But the little ones often go to the door as if to say let’s go, Mom. Time to travel. Soon babies, soon.

What did we accomplish?

My van is alive again! It is so nice having a car. I can’t tell you how liberating it is to have a car in a non-walking town. So, new engine (well used but new to me). The cost was $7,000. My warranty company only paid what the car was worth. I had to pay $800, plus the $200 out-of-network mechanic. A grand is cheaper than going through the hassle of getting another car. I took it to the dealership it was the easiest. My mechanic doesn’t deal with third-party warranty companies. He has had too many problems getting paid in the past. But dealerships will deal with them.

Plumbing in the house. I finally found a plumbing company that had no problem with the fact there were several issues, but we could only tackle one project at a time.

The first job was in the kitchen. $1100 for parts and labor. My son and I 50-50 the finances on anything that needs to be done on the house.

There was a funky setup under the sink that controlled the outside irrigation, when the plumber capped that off, we didn’t have any cold water inside. Weirdest setup either of us had ever seen. Completely reconfigured and replaced the pipes, new garbage disposal, new sink drains, and installed a new faucet my son had purchased. Also, he disconnected the old dishwasher that hadn’t worked in years. The kitchen looks and works great!

Next job we had the air ducts cleaned. $700. They had never been done and this house was built in 1977. Back then they put in popcorn ceilings. I can only guess the sound of rocks coming out of the vents was popcorn particles they probably sprayed on and didn’t cover the ducts. The gunk that is lurking in your ducts is nasty.

Normal annual business completed

Every spring we would come back to Vegas to take care of business.

Both the minivan and the motorhome have been smogged and registrations renewed. Sasha had her annual check-up at the vet and she was due for her rabbies. Little ones got their checkups too.

Reset

So after all the money was used up for all the jobs and business we took a break to catch up on finances and decompress from all the chaos. Trying to wrangle 5 dogs when strangers are roaming through the house is a task. Especially Sasha my overprotective German shepherd. Unfortunately, the screen door didn’t survive.

Future travel plans?

Absolutely.

My daughter is getting married this month and grandma pup sitting duty for me while they honeymoon for a week.

In June, The next project is taking down a wall and installing new fencing to expand the parking. The motorhome will finally be off the street and tucked into an area on the side of the house. And adding a third parking space in the front.

Fourth of July in my neighborhood is horrible. The house shakes from the loud illegal fireworks people use here in Vegas. My little ones can’t take it and they are 14 years old. So, I will be loading us into the motorhome and heading for the mountains. I can’t wait actually. I am antsy to get back to traveling.

The temperature is rising here in the desert as it does. I’m not used to the extreme heat anymore. It was good to escape to cooler temps. I’m sure I will be hiding indoors in the cool A/C during peak hours.

I  am enjoying time with my family and adjusting to home life again. Very different as one person. I’m learning how to live differently for the first time in my life.

Day by day

I’m also realizing my limitations on what I can do. Before, if I couldn’t do it Wolf took care of it. We did everything together. Now, I have to enlist one of my kids or hire someone to do the job. It’s weird.

Taking a short trip to the mountains on my own will be the real test if I can do the solo travel. Women do it all the time. But for me, it’s the ability to handle 3 dogs. Sasha is a handful on her own. We’ll see how it goes. 

Take care and safe travels if you’re on the road this summer.

Teresa