We covered an expansive distance in the last leg of our trip — from Washington to Florida to Louisiana — so I’m going to dive right in but I’d like to first say that I think the New Orleans portion at the end is worth a read. Or, perhaps more accurately, I enjoy reliving it by reading.
Decide for yourself…
I believe losing track of days of the week is a signal of a trip that truly takes you away from the routine of normal life. This happened every summer of my childhood, but it’s been much more than a decade since I’ve asked, “what day is it?”
That changed while we were on the Pacific coast, and it was glorious.
We completely lost ourselves in all the great sights, activities and company in June and July. The time we spent with friends and family was probably the best part of our time out west — we enjoyed great conversations, fantastic meals and deep belly laughs.
Life on the road is good, and I’ve fallen badly behind on the blog while enjoying it. I’m not at all sorry about it, but I do want to catch up on documenting our journey, so here’s what we did with the remainder of our time on the west coast… Continue reading “West coast, best coast? (Part 1)”
Toyo and I crossed into California over Memorial Day weekend … or as our friend Dan put it “Nothing says Memorial Day like Vegas and Death Valley.”
It has been wonderful to smell the salt air again, see some incredible sights and catch up with friends and family. We spent all of June in California and had a lot of ups and downs the first half of the month — thankfully more ups than downs — but I’ll start with the bad news so we can move past it and get to the good stuff. Continue reading “The good, the bad and the ugly”
We’ve received a lot of questions from friends and family members who are excited for us to take this trip. If you have an inquiring mind, read through the below FAQs and let us know if you’re curious about anything else. We’re happy to share!
Why ‘Recalculating…’?
Uncle Toyo and I are both terribly indecisive about naming things. Naming our dog was difficult and our boat is still unnamed after five years, so, as you might imagine, coming up with a name for a blog that chronicles this adventure was a struggle.
We landed on Recalculating… because we thought it represented a lot of what we’re doing here: going off the beaten path for a little while without changing our ultimate destinations. Much like a GPS says “recalculating” when you stray from the suggested route, we’re detouring from our full-time jobs, daily routines and long-term goals, to take what we think is the trip of a lifetime. We’re excited about what’s to come and how we’ll grow together during the trip, but fully intend to return to “normal” life in September.
What kind of RV do you have?
We have a 24-foot Winnebago Minnie travel trailer. This confuses some folks who think all RVs are motorized. Not the case. Here’s the brief scoop on RVs:
RV stands for recreational vehicle and there are two main RV classifications: (1) motor coaches, where the living space and driving space are all together as one and (2) towables, where you pull your living space behind a truck, suburban or other vehicle.
When we first started shopping, we thought we’d buy a motor coach because it seemed more convenient, luxurious and easier to work in while driving. In September 2016, we rented a motor coach, though, and learned that in fact it was too bumpy to work on a computer from anywhere but the passenger seat, so working from a car while driving and working from a motor coach while driving would essentially be the same.
During that trip to Big Bend National Park with the rented motor coach, we also learned that you really have to tow a car behind your motor coach in order to explore the inner parts of some parks. I was intimidated to drive something that’s essentially the size of a bus while towing a car, which again pointed us to the towable. When we started looking into towables and learned they were much less expensive and our current Yukon XL could tow a decent-sized one, the decision was easy.
The experience renting an RV was enlightening in many ways, actually, because we also learned our beloved Grady dog was not cut out for life on the road.
Wait, so where is Grady?
After several weekends and a few full weeks trying to acclimate Grady to RV living, we finally decided to stop torturing him and let him live like a normal domesticated dog again – in a house. That means Grady is summering at his grandparents’ house in Tampa, and undoubtedly having the time of his life playing daily with their golden retriever, Lilly.
Back to the RV … can we see it?
Sure can! Here’s a pic Uncle Toyo took on our drive from Santa Fe to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
For pics of the inside, I’m sharing some from the Winnebago website because they have a nice wide-angle lens that makes it easier to see the layout. Plus, this prevents me from having to put away all the gear we have out on the table and counters. Win-win.
Are you coming near me?
If you live somewhere cool in the contiguous U.S., we are trying to! We haven’t started reaching out to many folks yet because we’re still adjusting our timeline and stops, but please send us a text or email if you live anywhere near the places we’re currently thinking of visiting. We’d love to catch up!
Can we visit?
If we know you, we hope you will! The RV sleeps four comfortably and maxes out at six humans and two dogs. Both of these statements have been tested with our friends, the Grates, and cousins, the Lillys.
How’s it going living in less than 250 square feet?
So far, so good! Uncle Toyo actually commented last night how comfortable it is living in this little space. I think this is a testament to the fact that you tend to consume any space you have available to you because in our 1,500-square-foot townhouse in Austin, we were using every inch of closet and storage space. (Why we have so much stinkin’ stuff may be the subject of a later blog…)
I should note that Toyo said this during our first-ever night of boondocking – which is camping in your RV with no hookups, so all of the power and water you can use is what you brought in with you in your water tank, battery and propane tanks. Lots of RVers avoid ever doing this, but we wanted to visit this park and it was the only camping option here, so we decided to give it a shot.
What’s the plumbing situation … Is this a cousin Eddie-style system?
Only our closest friends usually ask this question, but we figure everyone wonders! Thankfully, Christmas Vacation is a (brilliant) work of fiction, and there’s zero emptying of anything into open air.
We are equipped with standard RV plumbing, which is a tank for fresh water, propane tanks, tanks for grey water (which collects everything that drains from the shower and sinks and is stored invisibly under the RV), and a tank for black water (which collects everything from the toilet and is also stored invisibly).
When camping in a place with full hook ups, you have access to an electrical outlet, water spigot and a sewage drain. Then you just hook up the designated plug, water hose and drain hose, and everything essentially functions the same way it does in U.S. homes – endlessly!
When boondocking, you have to be much more careful about consumption of water and power, and monitor your tank levels (easily done with the touch of a button). When the waste tanks are full, you drive to a dump station to empty them. When the fresh water tank is empty, you drive somewhere to refill. When the battery is drained, you can hook it up to your car to charge. For these reasons, most people we’ve talked to say to limit boondocking to five days or less to prevent driving to empty/refill.
Does the RV have a name?
As noted in question 1, Brannans + names = no bueno. However, our friends and family members have sent a number of very clever suggestions including:
We thought it’d be fun to decide this matter to popular vote, so please submit your votes or suggestions for additional names below. If there’s a crowd favorite, we’ll go with that!
Recalculating... 