April 2020

Of course, we always find that if things are already complicated, then the universe will decide to make them even more complicated…
We know that right now best laid plans are really just tentative ideas…The new Arctic Fox 5th wheel RV that we ordered in November was in Baird Texas, near Abilene. We made reservations at Texas State Parks for the way up, and a RV park near the dealer for a week for the transfer- that worked out, for the most part. The dealer was open, although we had to stay out of their buildings (signed 2 hours of paperwork outside at 40 degrees!), did the swap of campers in 85 degree heat 3 days later. And waited on their front porch for the afternoon for the bank to get the UPS package of paperwork (that package got waylaid for 2 days) and then wire the money so we could take our camper home!
We realized how minimally we live when we saw ALL of our stuff in 18 bins! We spent two days stowing all our gear, trying every switch, button and device in the camper…and we found 4 things that did not work, so back to the dealer on our way to a RV park to sit for a month to wait out the virus.

The tech crew at the dealer was awesome about fixing the problems on the day we headed to the next RV park- the big slide was jamming up- lo and behold the limit switch bracket was broken from the mount, which bent a bolt, which allowed the slide to go out too far, which flexed the wood trim on the inside, which forced the carpet to lift, which then jammed a pantry draw…phew…did you get all that? And a few other minor fixes needed. But we did have time to go get takeout BBQ- brisket and sausage! Yum!
In the mean time, Texas closed all of their state parks where we had reservations at two parks to get us through April. So, while we sat on the porch, we searched the web for a RV park that was not near the highway, had at least a few trees, maybe even a lake and seemed well run and clean- we found only one withing 75 miles (needing to stay near the RV dealer for other problems) and as luck would have it, they had just a few sites left and since we have been in Texas since December, they would let us in! another PHEW! We don’t want to be here a month; we are really ready to be on the move, however with the virus, sitting still is probably a good move. We have a view of the lake, but there is not much else to do around here…oh well…

So, the new camper has 50% more space than the previous one! About 340 sq ft, compared to 230 sq ft! It is SOOOO spacious.

In comparison, the Outdoors RV that we spent 2.5 years in:

Our whole rig is one quarter the size our houses were! Tons more storage inside and out- nothing has to be stacked or packed in the cupboards! The fridge is huge…for us- we’ve gone from 8 cu ft to 10.5 (yours is probably 17 to 21 cu ft)! And now we actually have counter space- one section is 24″ x 48″! Why did we not have this size camper before, you might ask..well, the Outdoors RV trailer was shorter in height and length, so we could get in places that this rig will never go- we are a little over 13ft tall now. (remember the pic of us driving through a tiny underpass – about 1 ft. clearance on three sides? we’ll never be able to go back to San Lorenzo Canyon) We will still boondock as we have solar panels, generators and lithium batteries.

Rhylee loves the new camper! mostly…

he can climb the steps on his own! He has three favorite places to lay…so far.  The only snafu, which we expected, is that it has messed up his sleeping so he is wandering and restless at night. But, it’g getting better. He takes his meds and wears his thundershirt at night, he can climb the three steps up to the bedroom and has a bed upstairs as well as his bed downstairs. We are hopeful that he will settle in soon…we so need a good night’s sleep!