958 and 959 - #50

 I really give Charlie and myself credit for getting so involved not only in our Skyline Ranch community ("Texas Skyliners") but our town, Bandera, as well.  There is just so much to do! With all kinds of classes, games, get togethers, sites to see; we are taking advantage of as much as we can - but at a slower Texan pace. After all - we do have 5 months! So what have we been up to?

Once we settled in, we started meeting fellow campers right away. Our immediate neighbors are a really nice couple - recent full-timers - from south Texas. We have been swapping spices, books and movies.  Just from taking a walk, throwing out the trash, or doing laundry -  we have met and continue to meet new people. Skyline Ranch hosts many events - the daily meet up to play bean bag, game nights, weekly luncheons-out, biscuits and gravy breakfasts, we have signed up for Thanksgiving Dinner.  We also just found out that ice cream sundaes will be in our future! Our park actually has it's own FB page just for residents: we are notified of what's going on, updated on events and news and we can make suggestions and comments. Now that we have been here two weeks, I have actually been greeting new arrivals: I am enjoying meeting other "first timers" spending the winter with us.

Bandera may be a very small town but it happens to have a great senior center - Silver Sage.

I have already joined a weekly full body exercise class (Wednesdays) and yoga (Mondays).  Bingo is played some afternoons - a great option for something to do if the weather isn't great; they also serve a free lunch (donations) everyday in their cafeteria, which we tried one day.  For Charlie - we checked out the weekly jam session - but I don't think it's his cup of tea. I'm hoping he will feel comfortable eventually to bring his keyboard to the ice cream sundae days and play; maybe it will encourage other camping musicians to join him. Silver Sage also sponsors some concerts, trips - so much! I love having their calendar with so many activities to choose from. 

Bandera Chamber of Commerce also puts out a weekly calendar of happenings around town; I have belonged to the Bandera Happenings FB page for a year, monitoring the goings on in town. Last weekend we checked out "The Second Saturday Flea Market" and viewed the Veterans Day Parade and festivities by the courthouse. 

While we aren't out and about everyday ( today I washed the trailer floor; Charlie fixed a light that wasn't working and is gradually waxing the whole trailer in sections - I'm working on cleaning the awning...) I have been baking cakes and sharing them at get togethers and working on some small craft projects.  I love just walking around Skyline - seeing the animals, views of the hills and river. Still having 70 and 80 degree temperatures is wonderful. 

 My motto is "seek and you shall find".  I know we will be experiencing a lot over the next months!

So Happy Together, How is the Weather? - #49

One of the most important things I monitor when RV living is the weather.                                                  

No one likes to drive a big rig in the middle of a thunderstorm, heavy downpour, snow or ice - but wind is a huge factor as well. There was a recent case where a wind gust knocked a truck pulling a travel trailer off an overpass; the truck hung on for dear life with it's passengers inside - held on by just the trailer hitch!  Luckily, they were saved! Wind can be a big issue when you are parked as well.  Besides putting away and securing all your outdoor living furnishings, closing up your awning, and sometimes even pulling in your slide-out, in really severe winds, staying in your RV may not even be the safest place to be. It's nice to have trees around for shade; the last thing you'd want is one of those nice big branches to come through the roof of your trailer or motorhome. While these are the same issues you may have with a brick and mortar home - I can tell you that it's a lot more unsettling to be inside a trailer during a wind storm! There is a lot more movement, rattling and shaking.

No way you can sleep through that! In one situation in our past, Charlie and I left a parking area in the middle of the night and went to lower ground where we were surrounded by higher land to cut the wind.

Cold is another big issue for an RV.  Most of these units are not insulated well enough to handle below freezing temperatures. While our unit is insulated and has very nice heat, a big concern is freezing our water pipes and hose. (When we are home, we winterize our unit by blowing out the pipes and adding RV anti-freeze) When camping, all our "utilities" are exposed - water, sewer and electric. Monitoring the weather gives us an opportunity to prepare.  If a freeze is in the forecast, for us it means filling our tank with water and disconnecting our water and sewer hoses, closing up all our exterior openings except electric. At that point, we need to run our trailer as if we are boondocking. We need to keep all the cabinets with water pipes exposed opened, to allow heat from the main cabin to flow in. We even brought an extra portable heater for our outdoor kitchen, which has a sink. If an extended freeze is in the forecast, at that point we will use the parks facilities (showers and maybe toilets) to help conserve our own water. 

So how did we learn all this stuff? YouTube is a fantastic resource. It is important to join RV groups on FB and follow other RVers on YouTube.  Not only is it interesting to connect with others enjoying the same lifestyle, but you learn so much from each other - and it is important to keep on learning!

Bandera! - #48

 On Monday, November 1st we arrived at Skyline Ranch RV Park; our home for the winter. I have to admit, I got a little choked up when I saw the sign and we made the turn into the park. 

We had been 31 days on the road - 2266 miles Stoughton to Bandera with an additional 500 or so miles for extra driving exploration. Charlie has driven exclusively to date.

We had 14 stops; 14 Campgrounds, RV Parks. Boondocking = $1600.  With 14 gas fill ups - total of 283 gallons of gas totaling $850. We estimated about 10 miles per gallon with a fully loaded camper and truck; $3.00 per gallon was the average cost. Total $2450; which surprisingly was $50 under my lower estimate range of $2500.

It was such a relief to be here! Our travels were without incidence - which was fantastic! I was prepared though.  We have Good Sam's RV Road Service Assistance ... just in case. $100 for the year, it is good insurance.  Even though we also have AAA - which is great for our truck, we would need something for the trailer. (Good Sam's actually covers our truck too)

Firstly Texas Hill Country is beautiful. It is definitely different from the flatter areas in Texas, which are more commonly known.

My initial thoughts and first comment to Charlie when we entered Skyline Ranch was "Gee - everything looks so much smaller than the photos".  (You know the feeling you get when you visit your elementary school as an adult and everything seems so small) Anyway - that feeling would soon change. We settled into site 45. Our set up was a little more thoughtful than the temporary sites where we previously stayed.  We share two nice big trees with our neighbor; our site is also gravel, which is great for drainage. It is fairly level - always a plus. We are located well; near the office, the rec hall most commonly used (there are three); the exercise room (it is very limited; there are a few pieces of equipment which is so much better than nothing - but there is space for me to do my video routines - more room than I have in the trailer) The laundry is spanking clean (as are the bathrooms/showers should we need) and very reasonably priced.  Everything is very spread out here; I estimate the size of this park to be about 2 square miles. Half the park is where the RV's live; the other half is like a nature preserve. Herds of deer romping through the woods as you walk the trail down to the Medina River. As we started to uncover all of these amenities and beauty - we became more pleased and so happy we had found this place!

In the northeast, camping season is spring, summer, fall; in Texas it is fall, winter and spring; the summers are just way too hot. Most of the Winter Texans start to arrive after Thanksgiving. The park is fairly sparse at this point; we understand they are fully booked for the winter.

We have now been here a week and just love it! We have already been talking about returning next year. Every afternoon between 4-5/5:30 is a meet up in the small rec hall. We play bean bag (called corn hole up north). It has been so much fun and we have met a lot of people that way. We currently only have neighbors on one side of us right now and we get along well. They will only be here for two months though. We have already signed up for Thanksgiving dinner; Skyline is providing turkeys and ham; the campers will each bring a side dish to share. Tonight we are playing Card Bingo(a variation on regular bingo) and next week we also signed up for Ray's famous biscuits and gravy, which he will be preparing for those of us that opt to get up for it at 8 am.  I will have to set the alarm for this!

Charlie and I have been riding our bicycles down to the river and I walk a lot everyday. It is nice to have such a big park with so many roads. We have enjoyed going into town; so many cute shops and great restaurants.  We have to pace ourselves! 

We love just hanging out at the campground and I don't foresee us being bored this winter at all! Today is 77 degrees and I am sitting in shorts and flipflops.  Doesn't get much better than this!

Awesome Austin - #47

 We loved our visit to Austin... for so many reasons. It has a young and hip vibe, lots of green space, waterways, beautiful gardens - restaurants galore, food truck parks, and so many things to do!

One of the major contributing factors to our great time was the location of the RV park where we stayed - Pecan Grove RV Park - right in the heart of downtown Austin. Once we parked, we didn't need to use our truck again during our stay.  There were restaurants, shops, food trucks literally right on our street!

We had two full days to explore and the weather was fantastic. The first of our days we walked through Zilker Park to the Botanical Gardens. It was so lovely and tranquil with some nice views of the city landscape. From there, we walked across to the lake, rented a double kayak and paddled our way to Lady Bird Lake - enjoying the beauty, watching the turtles sunning themselves on logs, and taking in the spectacular view of Austin. This was definitely a highlight of our trip! Although I STILL did not get my fried chicken, we had a mid-afternoon meal at the Green Mesquite. I had delicious, melt in your mouth brisket and hush puppies. Day two - we took an Uber (first time together!); we had to go a little further - and we boarded a double-decker bus to take a guided tour of the city.  It was very informative and gave us a good overview of Austin. From there, we walked over to The Museum of the Weird - the perfect place to visit on Halloween! Such a fun and interesting place.  I knew Charlie would like it; I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would!

Zilker Botanical Gardens:

 

               

Kayaking: 

Midday Meal at Green Mesquite:

Austin Double Decker Bus Tour

    Museum of the Weird:                                             

  

As our brief stay came to a close, the most exciting part of our trip was yet to come. We were headed for  Bandera.  Our fingers were crossed this was a good choice. We would see very shortly!

A Month Of Togetherness In A Small Space, Etc... - #46

 I wanted to address some of the questions friends and family regularly have asked me. One of the most common is about the two of us living together in a 21.5' by 7' travel trailer- how can we stand being together so much, what about personal space? I am asking Charlie to weigh in on this as well.

Eileen - Most of the time with RVing - you are someplace warm; therefore, you spend a lot of time outdoors. However, you can never predict weather - rain, cold, etc... We find our common living space just large enough for us to be comfortable if we have to be inside. I have my own chair, Charlie has the couch. If I want some separation, I go into our "bedroom". I can watch TV there or read or play with my phone -out of his view (and him out of mine). There are ways to create private time and space.  I like to go walking, I like to cook, I am always looking up things for us to do. I get in my own head. So far, it works for us. Also, fellow-RVers are very friendly people so we do get some social interaction even while on the road. We are all interested in where we are all from and where we are all going. Everyone is on the move and  happy to share information and experiences.  More and more we meet fulltimers. It is a good life! It is simple, less complicated.

  

Charlie - I always find things to do. It's not like you're stuck in looking at four walls - you get creative and somehow find things to do. I'm never bored. I have my HAM radio and will be able to my practice my keyboard once we get to Bandera.  Eileen is good company and not demanding. The time goes by really fast, there is always something different. Different views, landscapes. Our bed is a very cozy nook and don't forget, we have Minnie as an interferer. We also work together as a team.  Even with driving - I may do all the driving but Eileen is the navigator. It's all new territory for both of us.

To sum up - all I can say is, so far, so good. Charlie lets me lead in many areas and I depend on him in others. We do a lot of activities away from our tiny home, so we actually look forward to returning. I think the two of us are homebodies by nature.  I hope when we ultimately reach our winter home in Bandera, we will be doing more things separately; developing a social life and making some friends.

How did you figure out your route for this trip and decide on the stops, pick the campsites, etc...?

Firstly, I love the planning aspect. This trip was originally scheduled for a year ago so I wasn't sure it would ever happen.  We haven't had very good luck with long range plans in the past. I still have to keep telling myself  now "It has really happened!!

Firstly, I picked our ultimate destination - Skyline Ranch in Bandera, TX - from recommendations of other RVers. I had certain criteria I was looking for - warmer winter location (not necessarily "tropical" but no snow); affordable - full service RV campground (social activities, clubhouse, laundry, bathhouse, etc,,,) proximity to interesting sites and fun venues. Skyline Ranch, what I read from their website, as well as reviews from other campers - sounded like a good fit. Hopefully we will be happy there!

The getting there was simple. I went to  Google Maps - plodded in Stoughton to Bandera - and voila! A route!  Basically, that was the route I went by, with some modifications. I then looked at the total mileage - approximately 2200 miles - and picked about 14 stops - limiting travel days to between 150- 200 miles. We decided to leave on October 1st - giving us a month to travel slowly. I also looked up campgrounds in the locations we were planning to stop..  Some locations - like Shenandoah, Hot Springs - are more well known; there are a lot more campgrounds/RV parks to choose from as well as things to do. The smaller or lesser known places, like Fort Chiswell or Matamoras or Tyler - although fewer campgrounds  - were not as booked; I just Google things to do in the area - there are always fun things to do! Since I did not book much beyond the first few stops before we left, I proceeded to book everything within the first week and actually had to change a couple of stops because places I had planned for had no openings.  There are always options!

How do you get your mail, pay your bills?

We have a great home base (as is referred to in the RV world)! Living in our in-law apartment in Brooke and Rakib's home- gives us a lot of flexibility. We know when we are away, someone is there looking after things as we do for them when they are away (when we are home). Since we do not own a home anymore - we have very few bills. And the bills we do have - insurance mostly - we pay annually. We get very little postal mail (besides junk) Brooke will open the mail, let me know if it is anything is of importance. If it is - she takes a photo of it, texts it to me, and I can handle from that point. I pay my credit card electronically, I do all of my banking electronically. The internet has made life so easy!

How do get your prescriptions, see your doctors?

One thing we did this past year was get all our doctor visits in.  We both saw our primary care physicians within a few weeks of leaving and asked for hand written prescriptions for all our meds  to take with us. Even Minnie had her vet appointment and shots (we have a copy of her records with us, just in case she needs to be kenneled; some campgrounds even require proof of vaccines)  Of course I did my research; Bandera has a CVS, which is where I have my scripts filled; I did have Charlie's transferred during the year from Walgreens to CVS to keep things simple. I also called the CVS in Bandera to make sure we would have an easy transition. It should go seamlessly. We did get our regular flu shots before we left and plan to get our COVID boosters in Bandera.

Do you eat out at restaurants a lot?

In the past four weeks, I have prepared all of  our meals except a handful.  We try not to eat out that much for a few reasons.  The main one is health (the cost would be second).  I have to be very careful about watching what I eat as I can easily gain weight. I try to reserve eating out for something special I want (like than damn fried chicken I have yet to have - I think it will be in Austin!) I also try to exercise.  I have not been doing as many workout videos or weight training like at home; I am hoping once I get to Bandera I will have more of a routine (plus they have a fitness room!) I am getting in my walking most days.  So far, I have been maintaining my weight and I feel good about that, but it is very challenging. (Yes! I did bring my scale)  I also really enjoy the cooking.  When you are relaxed without a lot of pressures, cooking can be very enjoyable. I try to vary up all our meals everyday.  It has been a fun, creative outlet for me. I have lots of recipes I plan to try as well - and now with my new toaster oven - baking will definitely be in my future!

 

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The RV world has all it's bases covered. There are many resources and even a community - called Escapees - that offers assisted living to fulltime RVers who reach that time of life when they can no longer care for themselves but still live in their rigs. I follow Podcasts and YouTube shows produced by fulltime families, who share a lot of information, experiences and great tips; some we have implemented into our living - everything from getting a surge protector for our electrical hookups  - to getting better gas mileage when pulling our trailer. We keep on learning new and better ways to improve our living space and this way of life we have chosen.