4 years

Looking back on my RV journey...

I purchased my RV in April 2011 and began my full-time journey in November of 2011.

1st night @ Lazydays RV in Florida

Although I had looked at some RV's at dealers in IL and checked out a few on Craigslist, I pretty much just jumped into this RVing life. I found my RV on a website. The dealer sent me measurements and videos of the interior. For a small refundable deposit they held it for me until I was able to get to Florida after tax season.

When I arrived in FL, I had never driven an RV. Luckily, Lazydays RV in Seffner, FL offered a free driving class. A few hours after finishing the class, I was heading down the highway.    

                            Mustang Island, January 2012

        May 2014 - leaving San Antonio - heading to Cody, WY

      Along a dirt road in Montana

                                                                       Texas State Parks

I would like to have a "home base" someday. A small piece of land to park the RV, maybe a few outbuildings. Just a place to stop and rest between travels. I really am not interested in owning a house again. Of course, I could change my mind in the future.

    Red rocks of Utah - near Bryce Canyon

I have overnighted in only a handful of states so far... 

Florida - Mississippi - Missouri - Illinois

Kansas - Colorado - Arkansas - Texas

Wyoming  - Montana - New Mexico 

Utah - Arizona - Oklahoma - Iowa and Louisiana 

                North Rim of the Grand Canyon

I've worked at Mesa Verde National Park, Grand Canyon North Rim and in the town of Cody, WY near Yellowstone.  I also worked at the South Padre KOA and volunteered at Laguna Atascosa NWR in South Texas.

It is an amazing experience to live/work for several months at a national park, most visitors only stay a few hours.

I work seasonally and I have the freedom to travel, explore and visit with family whenever and wherever I want. I am not limited to a specific number of vacation days and I do not have to worry about getting back to a home that needs to be taken care of.

My hopes and dreams are to travel to all the corners of the U.S. and Canada - Alaska is high on the list.

Wishing you Health, Happiness and Prosperity                                                       

Martin J. Dies, Jr. State Park

Catching up on missing posts from this summer.

Texarkana, August 1st
Jasper, Texas  August 2nd and 3rd

After leaving the state park on Saturday morning, I continued along I-30 until I reached Texarkana, TX.  I camped at a KOA near the highway, a place to do some laundry and sleep, nothing special except for the nice swing at my site.

Sunday morning was a nice drive south along Highway 59 through some small towns. I turned into Martin Dies State Park and remembered being there before.  It was very hot and humid and there were not very many campers.  I decided to use one of the coupons for 1/2 off a 2nd night and paid for 2 nights. My site had a view of the lake through the trees. 

It was too hot to do much, I did go for short walks and short bike rides in the early mornings or right before sunset. I did a little bit of sewing in the afternoon, setting up my sewing machine on the picnic table. Mostly this was a relaxing, lazy stop along the way.

Love the large sites that are standard at most state parks.

Sea Rim State Park

This post is from August 2015

Several years ago I read an article about Sea Rim State Park on the SE coast of Texas.

      View from my campsite... low tide

I decided to head down and see this park, but would only be staying one night. I would have liked to stay longer, but I was on my way to meet with my family on South Padre Island. 

This park is in an out of the way secluded area. A place to relax on the beach, walk along the shore or to fish. There are also several kayaking trails. 

"Its where the marsh meets the gulf" 

You drive right through some refineries to get here - the benefit of that is low gas prices. 

The road heading west toward the Galveston ferry is permanently closed, so there is only one way in/out and you have to backtrack. 

A new converter

I have access to internet at my RV again for a little while. I have been stubborn and refuse to pay a lot per month to use the internet. I can do most internet related tasks using the unlimited data plan on my Sprint iPhone, except use it as a hotspot. I do not want to drag my big laptop around to use it in places with free wi-fi, so have been doing without. 

I have heard that Sprint recently announced that we can tether our phones to another device for a limited amount of data per month. I need to call and see if my plan allows this now. 

So time will tell how I keep up with the blog. I can write short posts using the Blogger app on my iPhone, but its a pain for longer posts. 

I've been having problems with my 12V system for a few years now. The problems would come and go. Suddenly things would get dim and then I would have no lights and no power to the control panel. So no A/C even though I was plugged in at the RV park. 

In August when a mobile tech looked over things, he disconnected the converter,  so that everything ran off 110, for one day until he installed the new batteries. 

At an authorized Winnebago service center I was told to just keep playing with the battery disconnect switch near the door. 

I've also stopped to have things checked out at a few more repair places and they basically told me everything was ok. 

A few days ago my lights appeared dim. 

I shut off anything that worked off 12V. It seemed to get a little better. And, yes, I pressed the disconnect switch a few times. Luckily I have a small plug-in desk lamp, so I wasn't totally in the dark. 

On Wednesday evening, no lights, no control panel and the light on the LP detector was red - indicating low voltage. I had new house batteries installed in August - they couldn't be the problem. 

A mobile tech came out Thursday and switched out the original converter. The new one is different, but fits in the same space. He did have to modify the way he attached the cover because the screw holes for the cover were a part of the original converter.

The new converter is a WFCO Ultra III, model WF-9800. I hope this solves the problems. 

           New converter - ready to wire

                  Getting things ready

       Work space near the side door

                      Old converter

                Inside of old converter

                    Finished! 

My coach is a 2008, delivered to the original owner in the Fall of 2007 - so it is now 8 years old. The average lifespan of a convertor is 10 years. 

November 6, 2011 is the last day I was in my "sticks & bricks" house. Happy 4 year RV anniversary to me.