Tag Archives: Bakersfield

Our Last Full Month of Full-Time RVing: Winding Down Life on the Road (Month 37)

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Did you just do a double-take when you read “our last full month in the title? Well, it’s not a click-bait gimmick or an April fool’s joke. That would be weird and totally unnecessary. But it is totally true because…

WE’RE BUYING A HOUSE IN NEW MEXICO!!!

My days of full-time RV life are numbered (literally 12 left), and I’m a messy mix of emotions over it. We’re beyond ready for a next phase, a new adventure, and something totally different to throw ourselves into. At the same time, it’s pretty terrifying for a lifelong renter and RVer to make as big of a commitment as her first real adult house and transition away from something that has come to define her for over three years now.

More on the house situation in a bit, but before I get ahead of myself, here’s a quick recap of this past month’s batch of homes on the road.

Bernalillo, New Mexico: Home on the Road #124

After the Great Summer Midwest Road Trip, we made a plan to stay in Bernalillo for really one reason: to house shop in Placitas nearby. We stayed at a historic site campground 10 minutes away from where we had focused our real estate search so that we could really start diving into our post-RV life phase. Ironically, we actually put a bid on our house the very day we rolled into town, which was our three-year anniversary of RV life. So, with that out of the way, we used the next two weeks to pretend like we were locals and scope out the things we’d do regularly in our future home region.

  • Highlights: Swimming laps at the Rio Rancho Aquatic Center, Climbing at Stone Age Climbing Gym (which we learned is opening up a second location even closer to our house!), beautiful storms for monsoon season, painted kiva at the Coronado Historic Site, Bosque Trail for biking in ABQ, Indian vegan food at Annapurna, finding dog-friendly indoor things to do (antique store, book store), mountain biking and hiking in the forest that’s practically in our new backyard, comedy shows and bowling at the nearby Santa Ana Casino, frequenting our new local brewery (Bosque Brewing)
  • Lowlights: Multiple trips to the laundromat (but I’ll have my own washer & dryer soon!), super hot and steamy days, public showers, second-guessing the whole house commitment thing and being all wishy-washy

Winslow, Arizona: Home on the Road #125

*Well I’m standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona*

Yep, I did that. And I also learned to crappily play the song on guitar and even more crappily sing along to get into the local vibe. We camped nearby at Homolovi State Park, which was all 100-degree days but had peaceful desert scenery that made up for it, for me at least.

  • Highlights: Walking around ancient Hopi structures, local history museum in Winslow, playing guitar outside where no one could hear/judge me, checking out the famous Meteor Crater landmark
  • Lowlights: Over 100 degrees every day, public bathrooms full of crickets, only safe time of day to go running was insanely early in the morning

California Summer Road Trip: Home on the Road #126

As one last big hoorah, we’re in the midst of our second summer road trip to see family and friends – this time to the Bay Area of California. From Winslow, we embarked upon three days of grueling RV driving in the hottest temperatures I’ve ever experience in my life, with overnight stays in Needles and Bakersfield.

  • Highlights: Bragging rights of being in one of the three hottest places in the world at that time (others were Saudi Arabia and Algeria), oddly feeling like I was on another planet when it was pitch dark and still 107 degrees for Monkey’s bedtime walk, having 2 working air conditioners in the RV, takeout pizza in Needles, Temblor Brewing and sushi night out in Bakersfield
  • Lowlights: 117 degrees actual temperature – enough said (went down a degree before I could capture the pic below), Camper rattles and shakes so much that I’m pretty sure it’s going to collapse in on itself before we close on this house, not being able to really work in the RV because of how insane it drives, Jeep air conditioning that still doesn’t work well, how shaking and miserable Monkey is while riding in the RV so long

Bay Area Days (so far)

The Bay Area is a pretty terrible place to try to go camping; there’s really no way around it. You’re either paying insanely high prices, packed in like sardines into a parking lot, or sitting through traffic no matter what. In the past while visiting the husband’s family, we’ve stayed at two different campgrounds in Napa and a state park near Oakland. To try something different this time just for the heck of it, we’re giving the Alameda County Fairgrounds a try in Pleasanton. It’s cheap for the area but little more than a parking lot with sewer hookups and about 10 inches between you and your neighbor. It’s the kind of place that makes me ready to be done with camper life, which I guess is a good thing since it is almost done. No complaints about the food or friendly company though 🙂

  • Highlights: Golf driving range nearby, temperatures in the 60s that feel downright cold in the evenings, fast and free Wi-Fi, meeting up with a few local friends, learning the art of acrylic paint pouring with the sis-in-law, easy routes so I could rock 5.10ds at the Diablo Rock Climbing Gym, biking across the Bay Bridge
  • Lowlights: How dumbly sore my right bicep and left rib get after hitting just a couple golf balls, back into the 100s again, lots of not dog-friendly activities to work around, always traffic

Paintings, not food

Looking Ahead to Next Month

Okay, so back to the house.

Where in New Mexico, you ask? Well, I’m glad you did, hypothetical question-asker.

Our soon-to-be home is in a magical land called Placitas, an incorporated village of less than 5,000 people between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It’s in the mountains and where the desert meets the forest, with a couple acres of our very own land and plenty of wide-open spaces all around. It feels rugged and remote, while still being within 30 minutes of the ABQ airport and 45 minutes from all the quirky artsy stuff in Santa Fe.

Sneak peek at my soon-to-be, very own backyard

The house itself is in great condition but a bit older, so we’ve already started a long list of YouTube-fueled DIY upgrades to make it our own and help fill the void of not traveling full-time. I’ve gotten mixed reactions from people I’ve told so far about the house news, but mostly positive and encouraging.

Folks who know me well aren’t surprised by my choice to try living in New Mexico out of all the places we’ve temporarily lived in over the last few years. Yet others are disappointed that I didn’t pick a place closer to them or that I’ll be giving up a lifestyle I’ve been so “lucky” to pursue for something more ordinary. First of all, luck has nothing to do with it since I’ve busted my ass to build a profitable career from the ground up that I can do anywhere. While I wouldn’t trade my full-time RV experiences for anything, the RV lifestyle is over-rated and over-romanticized by sexy Instagrammers and delusional types with their heads in the clouds. I’ve tried to provide balanced coverage of what it’s really like out here on the road, but honestly, it’s mostly just working at a makeshift desk in the passenger seat of the RV while staring at the back of other campers, with a few fun things squeezed in between that are photo-worthy. I’m sure that shifting to a lifestyle with a stable home base will be a shock to my system, but it’s not the end of adventure – it’s the start of a new one – one of getting to know the Southwest like a local, traveling internationally, and having a more well-balanced life with hobbies and learning new skills.

My post next month will be all about this transition since about half of it will be on the road and the other part moving into a non-wheeled home. So, Month #38 will be my last “home on the road” series post, a monthly tradition of sorts I’ve managed to keep up with since July 2016 for some reason. But don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll come up with something else to endlessly blabber on about to fill the void!

Have a wonderful month, my dear blog-reader, wherever you are.

Catch up with the journey: