First Steps

In a small town in the state of Utah, United States, two people put their house up for sale and bought a 5th wheel RV. Putting the cart before the horse, as usual, they had to pay someone to park it in an RV park for them because they hadn’t bought a one-ton truck to haul it. And then they moved in to wait for their house to sell. The truck wasn’t affordable until then. One of us retired, and the other was about to be, we only qualified to pay our mortgage, our RV space rent, and the RV mortgage (only $102 less than the house mortgage). I don’t know how we qualified for all that, but we’re taking it as a great blessing.

The lessons began. RVs require a LOT of work. Don’t let anyone fool you. Thankfully, we had help from the man who hauled our RV to the rented space, a permanent resident in the park we were in. You have to learn to hook up your power, water and sewer (not the toughest part). You must learn to work your leveling system. Reading the provided manuals may or may not assist in this effort. Ours did not. We have auto level but putting on the SnapPads we ordered to help with leveling in a variety of ground situations turned into our most expensive event. And I’m not speaking about the cost of the SnapPads themselves, either. They are great! They truly help in any kind of soil you have to park on. We were already traveling when we purchased ours and you have to put them under each leveling jack, then lower it in to ‘snap’ on, hopefully permanently. This was our first major expense, believe it or not. Mainly because our RV manual didn’t explain how the jacks work, either. Suddenly, we couldn’t lower our right front jack. Really? Well, we called an RV tech and, yep $385.00 later, we learned that the jacks all go up and down separately. You can push the manual control to lower the front jacks, but the left one will come down first. When it touches the ground, the right jack will come down. Also, our bed slide-out somehow came off the track while all this was going on and the tech helped reset it…by having it go out and in again until it corrected itself. Yep, we provided proof we were RV newbies. Sadly, we still are!

But let me take a step back. We have been so excited about getting on the road. The hardest part was letting go of most of my books. Not the ones with my stories, poems, and drabbles in them. Those are packed in a cabinet that runs above our sofa. But many of my other books have been given away or sold. I did store the classics and some favorites. And we actually put up some shelving that can hold some books. Also, those I’ve not read are in the RV. But in our house, I had three large and one medium-sized bookcase filled with books. Our child took some, especially those from their childhood, and favorites. They also took all our antiques – furniture, decor, and dishes passed down to me from my mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and those I purchased over the years myself. That made it easier to let things go. And that’s the key right there. They are things. How much do they truly matter? I kept some favorite items. They are stored or I found a place for them in the RV. My dishes went to our child for her home because they were stoneware and weight in the RV matters. They moved out to live with friends until they can move in with their boyfriend when he has a home for them in Oregon. So everything they wanted is also stored at the moment. A few items that didn’t go to our child, went to my siblings. And I sold many, many things over the course of two yard sales. Some items we gave to people from our church, too. Everything, almost, found a home. And that made this transition so much easier.

The house sold. We bought our one-ton Ford F350 long bed, crew cab truck. We figured out how to pack up, unhook, and attach the 5th wheel to our hitch. A neighbor helped us with this last step. One who sadly passed away, still a very young man, only a few days ago. Tyler, we will always be grateful to you. I’m so glad I gave you a hug goodbye then, not knowing on our return here for a month, you would leave us two days after I waved at you. Rest in Peace, friend.

Let me tell you, the sound and the pull a 5th wheel makes scared me half to death. Jay, my husband who has been a truck driver for 36 years, was unfazed and helped ease my concerns. Once I adjusted, the excitement of being on the move hit me! First, we were going home to Colorado for Christmas with our child and my oldest brother. Think of a time you’ve been away and you’re on your way home. My heart was filled.

In the next post, I’ll share more about the travels, Colorado first!