2019 was our first full year of transitioning from working for others to working for ourselves. We wintered in San Diego, stored our RV in Tucson then came home in March for Mom’s 80th and impulsively bought a tiny condo in town. By May we were back out west, this time in Utah, selling our family home over the phone from the parking lot of the Lodge at Zion National Park.
Homing Pidgeons
Homing Pigeons
We toured the Mighty Five in Utah, biked through the Badlands then fought the gnats and mosquitos of Minnesota and Michigan before returning to DC in July for 2 weddings and a house closing with five local RV trips, a Caribbean cruise and kicking off 2020 with tent camping in the Everglades. We called that seven months of homing.
Gotta Get To Glacier
In January, our plan was to outfit our Beloved Betty for an extended tour of the US across the Smokies, into the middle states, down to the Texas Border and straight up to arrive Glacier Park Montana in June. It was a rough meandering outline of a 5,000 mile March – June leg with an open-ended where-to-next discussion … turn left toward Washington, north to Banff or hang a right crossing Canada for Acadia in the fall. We knew we’d be gone at least 7 months, possibly more, so getting Betty road trip ready meant getting her into the shop for some serious maintenance, starting with the leaky roof.
RIP
As the saying goes, when it rains it pours, and the leaky roof got the better of Betty, soaking the bedroom beyond repair. The pivot became how to put Betty to rest (dispose of the body), find her replacement and stick to a March 1 departure.
Decisions, Decisions
Our first idea was radical change, from a 34 foot Class A to a 24 foot trailer towed by our 2010 light duty pickup. One rig met Eric’s engineering standards and was promptly eliminated when standing in the kitchen was the same as sitting on the bed. Plan B was a newer, shorter version of Betty, also eliminated when must-haves and price could not align. Then a new idea emerged – upgrade our truck, downsize our digs and create the ultimate go anywhere solution for long distance discovery.
But wait, there’s more
Without getting into nitty gritty technical tow tirades, our highly calculated acquisition blends the comfort of RV living with the freedom of primitive camping in a stylish, reliable and accessible package. The journey is underway.