Terri and Peter's RV Adventures

I read an article in an RV newsletter this morning that asked “Would you recommend RVing to a friend?” Only 26% said “Yes, definitely.” 6% said “Absolutely not.” And the rest was somewhere in between. Today, I was on a zoom meeting with several close Jewish women friends in a spiritual group I belong to. They threw out the old axiom that Jews don’t camp. Well, that’s certainly true of the people I know and yet, I grew up camping with my family so I wonder if it’s just a matter of environmental influence rather than ethnic proclivity.

In any case, this might be one of those days where a bystander would say, “Absolutely no way would I RV in a beautiful spot like Door County. I’d rather be shopping for quilts or picking cherries or walking on the beach before going back to my bed and breakfast.”

They probably didn’t like the fact that starting at 8 am, we were packing up the trailer as if we were leaving but we weren’t. We had to dump our grey and black tanks and fill up our water reservoir. Then, we had to do laundry, and fortunately, the laundry room was across the small road in front of our campsite, making it far more convenient than most. Of course, we needed to get $10 worth of quarters and beat out everyone else who wanted to do their laundry because it was going to be closed tomorrow for repair. Then there was putting new sheets on the bed which is snugly fitted against two sides of a wall making it an aerobic activity to tuck in sheets and move pillows around so they don’t accidentally touch the floor.

Then there was driving 30 minutes each way to go to a tiny organic market that had most but not all that I wanted. While I loved the drive as I got to see more of Door County, it was still an hour and a half to do a modest grocery run. Then there was putting the food away, cleaning up the trailer (there’s a steady layer of dirt accumulating every day), deodorizing both tanks by dropping tablets and liquid down the drains, and making lunch.

Then, I saw three screws coming out of a cabinet that needed to be rescrewed; I notice that in a recent rain storm, the bottom of one of the huge (read: expensive) bags of dogfood somehow got wet and I had to sift out the wet food from the dry and throw away the wet stuff. And, when I was driving off later today, I almost ran over Star link. It was hit or miss if it was going to recover. Thankfully, it did.

Most, if not all, of these activities are things I do at home (well, not the laundry or rescrewing things or dealing with wet dogfood). But they are not considered part of a traditional “vacation” as most people see it.

However, some of this is part of taking a long trip. Laundry has to get done (for us, every two weeks); screws come undone when you have a house bouncing down the road. It’s generally a very physical activity with lots of semi-heavy lifting and awkward twisting and reaching into tight spaces.

And yet, there are so many benefits of RVing: seeing new places and yet sleeping in your own bed and having the food and drinks you want when you want them. Having the freedom of eating inside or outside in nature. Being so close to nature, be it woods, lakes, mountains, streams, or meadows, at every stop. Meeting new people that you might not generally meet and learning from them. Knowing that each day is going to be different from the last and when it’s time to hit the road you’re going to another exciting, fun and interesting place.

That’s my top-of-mind list of what I love about RVing and road travel. Clearly, we’ve created a set up with our RV and Star link that really meets our needs and we are very fortunate. This trailer is far more comfortable than our 19′ drivable van that even with the tight quarters at times, there’s no comparison between the two. Having a brand new Airstream is a true luxury. Most things are working and the nuisance problems will be fixed (under warranty) when we get home. Emergency repairs like the door, were handled quickly and it’s now working like new.

I’ll finish my recounting of the day with the good part: Peter, the dogs and I went to Newport State Park and walked the beach along Lake Michigan and then hiked a forested trail. Just that brief encounter with nature was renewing and a great remedy for all the chores early in the day.

Tomorrow we have a full, free day and I’m thinking of going to the next town south that’s somewhat bigger than most: Sister Bay. There’s a cheese place called The Creamery that I want to check out and the harbor area looks like a fun, walkable place to explore. On Tuesday, we’ll head south to the other end of the peninsula so we’ll have access to another set of towns. The comparison to Cape Cod continues to hold. We are really enjoying it here.