FAQs from a life on the road
Questions, questions, questions. As mostly full-time RVers, we get an array of queries: What’s it like? How can you both spend all that time together? And the occasional stumper like… what’s with your hair?
Here’s a sample of our frequently asked questions.
Q: What’s your favorite national park?
A: You’d think this would be easy to answer, but it’s not. We’ve been asked this so many times that we’ve had different answers each time. Once, we said Big Bend National Park in Texas. Another time, we said Grand Canyon National Park. But if we’re taking five years of travel into consideration, we’d have to say Olympic National Park, which has everything from a wild coastline to high alpine wilderness.
Q: What’s your favorite state?
A: We got this softball recently from a friend who lives in Arizona. We think she was expecting us to say, “Why AZ, of course!” But no, it has to be California. Miles and miles of gorgeous coastline, high Sierra scenery, wonderful desert to explore and lots of national parks, too — what’s not to like? Of course, all this beauty attracts a crowd, so you need to pick your travel times and places carefully.
Q: OK, so what’s with your hair?
A: We’re sassy seniors, that’s what! Leslie has gone pink for the last seven years and John hasn’t had a proper haircut since 2020 and has been admitted to the ponytails-are-fun club. When you get to be our age, you might as well have a little fun with your ‘do.
Q: Do you like dry camping or being on power?
A: As RVers, we enjoy both. That said, having power, particularly in winter, is pretty much a necessity. We can stay off power comfortably for only three days.
Q: When you are traveling, how many miles a day do you drive?
A: We limit it to about 300. After that, Leslie gets cranky.
Q: What’s next on your list of big RV adventures?
A: Our first year, we saw everything, going through the West, then heading across the South to the Eastern Seaboard and finally returning in spring across the Midwest. Since then, we’ve stayed in the West. But we’re considering another cross-continent trip east through Canada and then heading south along the Mississippi River.
Q: You talk a lot about getting a new rig. What’s holding you back?
A: Money, baby. As long-time RVers, we can’t help but be attracted to what’s new and cool. But what’s new and cool is also six-figures expensive.
Q: How do I get started as an RVer?
A: Rent first. We started by renting a few VW camper vans from Outdoorsy. Then we rented a bigger Class C from CanaDream in Vancouver, British Columbia, and finally settled on something in between with our 23-foot Class B-plus Thor Gemini.
Q: What’s your favorite state park in Washington?
A: As volunteers for Washington State Parks, we are rightly proud of our state’s amazing park system. Spencer Spit State Park on Lopez Island might be our favorite, mainly because of its idyllic location in the San Juan Islands.
Q: How do you live in such a tiny place?
A: The outdoors is our living room. We spend as much time as possible living outside in the beautiful places we park.
It’s RV showtime
Another weekend, another RV show. Check out the latest and greatest in recreational vehicles at the Inland Northwest RV Show this weekend at Spokane County Fair and Expo Center.
