This Post Has Been A Long Time Coming
Life has been a whirlwind. Here's why.
This past fall we pretty much had decided we'd buy a cargo trailer, and build our own RV. Everyone is doing it, it seemed, and it was intriguing to us as the cost would be low (or COULD be low depending on how you went about it), as the builders we could ensure great quality, and we would have the personal satisfaction of creating something pretty monumental, our home on wheels.
We rolled out our plans. Our apartment lease in Kerrville TX was up end of December so we would drive out to Arizona to free camp in a big family tent on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and spend time visiting with my sister Harriet in Tucson. As well, we'd be with our friends Alan and Charlene who were on a tiny "island" of gravelly BLM land in Tucson. They, too, are full-timers, and travel/live in a beautiful motorhome we affectionately call The Mansion!
Our goal: tent camp in AZ (Tucson and Quartzite) until April 1 when we'd be ready to commit to purchasing and building our RV. Good plan, yes?
Well, no.
We had cheerfully drawn up plans for the RV, not having any real building experience, like plumbing, electrical, framing, and installing tongue and groove walls, windows and doors. But, we were excited and ambitious. And a little out of our league.
We came to this realization when we reached our camping spot in Tucson, in early December, set up our huge family tent (remember it's 4 cats traveling with us), unloaded the boxes marked TENT that contained our possessions for this adventure, and organized our living space. A few hours later, with our arthritic body parts screaming, we mutually decided that there was no way we would be spending months building our dream RV. It's extremely humbling to experience these body health changes. Admitting your limitations because of them is downright depressing.
Starting each day with cowboy coffee and a chocolate chip pumpkin muffin baked by my sister, Harriet, made for a happy camper!
In a nutshell, we lasted about 4 weeks tent camping. Most days were lovely, and most nights were freezing. Thank goodness for propane heaters and Michael's creativity inside the tent reducing our sleeping space with artfully arranged tarps. Although nights were never warm, these arrangements reduced the amount of air space that needed to be heated. Plus sleeping on foam cushions was a killer! Should've bought those cots we looked at. Tucson dust was everywhere. Literally. And every night, locals jumped into their cars and the incredibly loud drag racing would begin. Did I say loud? And on and on. Kudos to Michael who maintained relative calm throughout this Tucson month. And to the cats. We had no idea what troopers they are! Me, as much as I hate to say it, my sense of adventure in my late 60's isn't what it was, and I longed for a hotel room and the hottest shower ever.
We knew we had to re-group and re-plan.
We would search for a RV ready built.
Stay tuned.
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