4 years ago, about 1 pm in the afternoon, we officially pulled out from our home in Cridersville, Ohio and became a fulltime RV family. I WAS SO SCARED!! I had so many thoughts running through my head. I mean we were after all heading out with a 5 month old and traveling over 2000 miles in a 6 day time span. Plus, it didn't help that on that day my husband also received a police ticket, we left about 4 hours after we were originally supposed to, and lost our cat the first night. You can read all about that from our first post here... http://www.theadventuresofsuttonstravel.com/blog/rv-fulltimers.
Garrett knew it was going to be great though :) This photo was taken about 5 days into our trip in New Mexico.
Garrett knew it was going to be great though :) This photo was taken about 5 days into our trip in New Mexico.
In 4 short years we've been to 25 states, have visited so many amazing National Parks, State Parks, Zoos, Children's Museums, Science Museums, and so much more. We've taken over 60,000 photos, yikes!! But we are having an amazing time together as a family. We've also stopped to see so many family members along the way. Little did we know that many of these family members would soon be called home to Heaven. So thankful for this opportunity!!
I've made a video of our last 4 years together. It was SO DIFFICULT to go through all those pictures and pick out the ones to use. I hope you enjoy this video and are able to get a glimpse of what life is like for us on the road.
I've made a video of our last 4 years together. It was SO DIFFICULT to go through all those pictures and pick out the ones to use. I hope you enjoy this video and are able to get a glimpse of what life is like for us on the road.
In April of last year we pulled into Ohio thinking this stop was only going to be for a short time so I could be here for my mom when she had her total knee replacement (End of July we were supposed to head to New Orleans). God had other plans for us and we ended up staying much longer (my poor mom has had a really rough year). I'm thankful that we were able to stay though because I was able to get Garrett in an amazing preschool and daycare and his speech has really exploded since doing that.
But, the road is calling again. So in April we will pull out and take Tim to his next destination wherever that may be, fly back to Ohio until mid May and then fly back to Tim when Garrett's school is done.
Some of the things I think we've learned along the way:
1. Emptying your grey and black tanks isn't as scary as the movie RV with Robin Williams makes you think.
2. Always wear gloves while emptying said tanks or any time you are handling the hose. I can't tell you the number of times we've seen people doing this with bare hands......yuck!!
3. Always plan extra days while traveling because you never get there when you think you will.
4. Use your cell phones when backing into your RV space instead of yelling over your vehicles. You can also use hand signals.
5. Tire monitoring systems are useless......we had a blow out coming home from Massachusetts and the tire that blew still said we had full air in it.
6. Have a can of fire extinguisher spray in each room of the house and I have 2 cans in our bedroom.
7. Have a glass breaker and step stool outside of your kids room because you never know when a fire will break out and you need to get into your kids room quickly.
8. Less really is more. Every 3 months we go through the RV and do a purge of what we don't need or haven't used.
9. Make sure you have a gate in front of your door when you have little ones, because even though you think they don't know how to open the door, they do and will eventually fall out. (I personally know this first hand) Had a nice black eye and cut :(
10. Outside toys are REALLY important!! We spend 80% of our day outside normally.
11. Make sure to have extra fuses on hand for all vehicles.
12. A dog laying on the floor by the propane detector who farts will make it go off FOR HOURS.......
13. Get your kids light up shoes because if you come home late and didn't turn the outside lights on your kids shoes will help you find your way :)
14. Get off the beaten path, sometimes the road less traveled is the most fun road of all!!
15. Invest in a good camera and take lots of pictures and video. Those will become priceless one day.
16. Get a small fire box and keep all valuables in it. Including hard drives.
17. Each person has a job on moving day. Usually Tim does the outside, and I do the inside. (Garrett also has little jobs to do) Sometimes change it up so if anything ever happens each of you knows how to do the other persons job.
18. Before accepting a contract always call RV parks in the area to make sure you have a spot to park. Some RV parks won't have availability and that is the deciding factor in if we accept the position or not.
19. Yelp is your friend, especially when choosing a restaurant.
20. Kids will adapt and learn a lot. Living in a RV is really no different than living in your house if you actually think of how many rooms you really use.
I'm sure there are so many more, but who has time for that.....on to the next adventure :)
But, the road is calling again. So in April we will pull out and take Tim to his next destination wherever that may be, fly back to Ohio until mid May and then fly back to Tim when Garrett's school is done.
Some of the things I think we've learned along the way:
1. Emptying your grey and black tanks isn't as scary as the movie RV with Robin Williams makes you think.
2. Always wear gloves while emptying said tanks or any time you are handling the hose. I can't tell you the number of times we've seen people doing this with bare hands......yuck!!
3. Always plan extra days while traveling because you never get there when you think you will.
4. Use your cell phones when backing into your RV space instead of yelling over your vehicles. You can also use hand signals.
5. Tire monitoring systems are useless......we had a blow out coming home from Massachusetts and the tire that blew still said we had full air in it.
6. Have a can of fire extinguisher spray in each room of the house and I have 2 cans in our bedroom.
7. Have a glass breaker and step stool outside of your kids room because you never know when a fire will break out and you need to get into your kids room quickly.
8. Less really is more. Every 3 months we go through the RV and do a purge of what we don't need or haven't used.
9. Make sure you have a gate in front of your door when you have little ones, because even though you think they don't know how to open the door, they do and will eventually fall out. (I personally know this first hand) Had a nice black eye and cut :(
10. Outside toys are REALLY important!! We spend 80% of our day outside normally.
11. Make sure to have extra fuses on hand for all vehicles.
12. A dog laying on the floor by the propane detector who farts will make it go off FOR HOURS.......
13. Get your kids light up shoes because if you come home late and didn't turn the outside lights on your kids shoes will help you find your way :)
14. Get off the beaten path, sometimes the road less traveled is the most fun road of all!!
15. Invest in a good camera and take lots of pictures and video. Those will become priceless one day.
16. Get a small fire box and keep all valuables in it. Including hard drives.
17. Each person has a job on moving day. Usually Tim does the outside, and I do the inside. (Garrett also has little jobs to do) Sometimes change it up so if anything ever happens each of you knows how to do the other persons job.
18. Before accepting a contract always call RV parks in the area to make sure you have a spot to park. Some RV parks won't have availability and that is the deciding factor in if we accept the position or not.
19. Yelp is your friend, especially when choosing a restaurant.
20. Kids will adapt and learn a lot. Living in a RV is really no different than living in your house if you actually think of how many rooms you really use.
I'm sure there are so many more, but who has time for that.....on to the next adventure :)