People keep telling me (Serena) I should write a blog about all our RV adventures. But day to day life really isn’t that exciting (she writes as her husband is lying on the floor in the kitchen hitting the fuse box with his drill in an attempt to fix the AC).
It’s been around a year since my last letter, and it had only been six months since we had gotten married. We were in Kentucky (Target parking lot) for a few weeks at this time last year. After that, we drove Sturgis to Missouri. We stayed there for a couple weeks for my niece’s birthday, got the RV serviced, then we flew down to Arizona, where I got my car back! After being in storage for six months, my car needed a bit of work… Especially after I flew back to Missouri during June, accidentally taking both sets of keys and leaving my windows cracked during prime dust storm season.
We were living in a hotel for about a month and a half before we brought Sturgis down to Phoenix. The hotel was nice: a pool, a gym, breakfast every day and dinner every weekday, a few places (and PokeStops) within walking distance. But it wasn’t home.
We stayed in the hotel till the end of June, then I flew to MO to drive the RV with my family up to Michigan, where Isaac would fly to meet us (keeping up?). After MI, we drove the RV down to Phoenix to a spot at an RV Park, a 5 minute drive from Isaac’s work site.
The RV park was good… if you like intrusive staff and being in a place where you can get in trouble for just existing (lol Bob Jones). It was nice for the most part (but not without incident). Isaac worked day and night, and I hardly left the RV because it was so hot out. My google searches consisted of “When does it get cooler in AZ?” “How can you enjoy being outside in AZ?” “How can people live in AZ??”
On top of the daily 110° weather, our back AC unit went out. We had to camp out in the living room and seal the bedroom/bathroom off with the pocket doors so the one AC unit could keep the smaller area cool. Both ACs were soon replaced and we thought all was well… but then the thermostat would lock up, turning the new ACs off. We replaced the tstat, but it still would lock up. So Isaac jury-rigged the AC manually to bypass the tstat. We turn them off and on from the fuse box. Let’s just say it’s still a work in progress.
Thankfully the weather started cooling down. We had to leave the RV park in November because of all the snowbirds coming back into town, even though we were on the waiting list all summer (#bitter)… We stayed at the work site for a few weeks until Isaac finished up his part of the project, then drove about an hour and a half east to Isaac’s coworker’s house, who had an RV power hookup.
October was busy! I flew to Washington state for a week to visit my best friend, then I flew to MO for a week for my brother’s wedding, back to AZ for a week for our anniversary (horseback riding and massages), back to MO for a week for work, then back to AZ. I had a break for two weeks, then right after Thanksgiving, we got on a plane to South Carolina where we stayed for two weeks and had an early mini Christmas with family!
Back in AZ, we had a simple Christmas/New Years: we took a break from traveling and did as introverts do: we stayed in, stayed up, watched cheesy Christmas movies on Netflix, and played video games.
Early January, Isaac bought a two and a half-acre plot on the west side of AZ, where we are currently. It’s surrounded by power plants, and not too far from where Bill Gates is constructing his “smart city.”
All was finalized, so we offroaded to the plot and stayed the night, only to be awoken to the security from the neighboring powerplant a’knocking! They thought we were parked on their land, but with a printout of the deed and the purchase agreement, all was well. There are still some things to figure out with our neighbors, but we’re not worried about it.
We left the dolly on the land, then parked at a Walmart for a few nights to run errands (where I made some friends with fellow full time RVers!) because the land is quite aways out from civilization.
When we were ready to head back, Isaac noticed the tired pressure was super low on the tires. He planned to go get the dolly from the land, then drive to a service station to get the tires blown up and a truck wash while I did laundry. But on the way to the land, a tire blew out. He called in a tow but had to wait for an hour or so because the towtruck large enough for an RV was already occupied. He had all the comforts of home while he waited, and I went to go see a movie (How to Train Your Dragon 3)!
Isaac ended up just driving the RV to a service station where they blew up the other tires so we could get to where we needed to go to get a replacement. BUT Isaac had to fly to SC early the next day, so it was up to me! So after work on the morrow, I set off to get things done.
After SIX HOURS of going to the wrong station, almost getting stuck in a parking spot, waiting, being ogled at by truck drivers, getting stuck in the service pit, and more waiting, the RV had a new tire and was squeaky clean! The guys also washed my little car for free. After all was said and done, someone drove by and yelled at me to take a shower as I was walking back to the RV. I was so confused, but after the day I had, I probably needed one! I drove the RV back to the Walmart and parked there for a few days until I got kicked out, then rented a space at a Flying J/Pilot.
Isaac had flown to SC to have surgery on his ankle (an injury from falling out of a tree in Alaska), but ended up delaying the surgery due to a variety of factors. Instead, he drove his truck, that couldn’t go over 45 mph due to overheating, through tornado ridden Georgia and Alabama, back to Phoenix, making it about 30 minutes out to where the truck couldn’t take it anymore. I had to go pick him up with the RV and tow dolly. After a long day, we made it back to our spot at Pilot.
The next morning, Isaac was working on his truck that was still hooked up to the dolly and, on what I can only assume to be her break from kicking puppies and taking candy from babies, the Pilot manager came out and yelled at Isaac for a few unfounded things. He decided not to fight, he even went in to apologize (which she just ignored), and we took off elsewhere to get the truck working. After a couple days, Isaac was able to find and fix the issue, so we headed out to the land to start clearing it out!
Isaac has been stockpiling water totes so we can have plenty of water on the land. We’re looking into getting a power supply, and finding a solution for dumping our tanks. We’ve discovered just about all the wildlife is venomous, so we’re taking caution in clearing away shrubs. It’s very peaceful!
At the end of March, Isaac finally had surgery on his ankle (he’s recovering slowly, but well) then a week later had his wisdom teeth removed. One incision kept bleeding (A LOT), so a nice dentist was called in and we spent an hour or so that evening getting the bleeding to stop.
We’ve found a church we’re trying to get involved in, but it can be difficult when we’re in and out of town so much (and sometimes staying an hour and a half away).
So that’s a year in a few paragraphs, with nothing and everything happening in between.
I really do love the scenery in Arizona, the plant life, the mountains. The only drawback is the heat. And for a cold-weather person, it’s a pretty big drawback. Also, the tap water is like drinking sand. It’s pretty terrible.
Well, that is all. See ya!