Week 89 - North County Stay 1 - 04-27-2008

Greetings from North County,

This week we returned home to the North County of San Luis Obispo. We want to thank Ellen's sister Janice and her husband Frank for letting us stay at their house. We are home to see our boys and prepare for Emily's wedding. As such we did not take any side trips or get any new photos. This week we are going to answer some of the most frequently asked questions that we receive. These come from friends and even from other RVers that are not fulltiming. We have come to find out that our travels are rather unique. We have met RVers that have been traveling 20 to 30 years. But most of these are still returning home or staying at RV parks for months at a time. Our travels have us staying one day, two days and in a few cases a week and then we move on. We are still exploring. God has blessed the USA with beauty and vastness and we have just scratched the surface. FAQs:

1. What is your favorite place? Arkansas! At least this was our favorite RV park. This was early in our travels and since, have found dozens of wonderful places to visit. Our favorite now is the USA, all of it. Everyday brings a new and interesting adventure. We have been to too many great places to name only a few favorites.

Arches National Park, Table Rock Lake Arkansas, Outdoor Resorts Indio, American Falls (Niagara)

2. Doesn't the price of fuel keep you from traveling? No. In 2006 we were paying $2.50 to $3.19 per gallon of diesel. Last week we paid $4.49. In two weeks we will go to San Diego for Emily's graduation. By car, the cost for three days, two nights and fourteen meals would be $340, fuel $120, total of $460. By our motorhome it will be $80, fuel $340, total of $420. Assumptions: Hotel 100/day Meals Out 30/day/person, Elks 20/day, Meals In 6/day/person. You save huge on meals and overnights in the motorhome. Plus you get your own bed, bathroom, full kitchen, laundry, no packing and always a clean no-smoking room!

Hotel, RV Park (might have pool also)

3. How do you get your mail and pay your bills? We pay all bills online or by telephone, some with credit cards, some with transfers from our checking account. We have tried to stop all incoming mail. What we get goes to Ellen's sister Janice and she reads or faxes to us anything important. (We receive email, voice mail and faxes on our computer). This year we emailed our tax PDF files to our lovely and gracious Enrolled Agent Harriet Boonisar. Harriet prepared our personal and business returns. We were home to sign them, but she could have mailed them to us at an RV park or a general delivery post office (as of 2010 and onward we can sign them electronically).

4. How do you decide where to go and where to stop? We only plan our general direction. On travel days we try to stay under 150 miles and travel on highways not freeways. You see America on the highways and primary roads. We avoid reservations and are willing to ad lib if a RV park is full. (In over two years, only one park in Casper, Wyoming was full!) This allows us to stay as long or as short as we wish. This is the best decision we made so that we can meander around without having to rush or stall to meet a deadline. The night before we are ready to move on, we search the web for the weather, our next destination and camp. When we get there, if we do not like it, we travel a little further or stay at a Walmart, truck stop, rest area or other safe place. The next day we travel again.

5. Don't you miss your family? Of course! But we can see our children more this way. In Emily's first year at Point Loma Nazarene University, she came home about four times for a total of eight days. Last year we spent over five weeks in San Diego visiting Melissa and Emily.

6. What do you like the best about traveling? The people you meet and the weather. We do follow good weather if possible. But the people we meet have been the most amazing, fun and hospitable imaginable. This includes family, relatives and those we have met at the RV parks. We have dozens of RV friends that we feel close to and will meet again.

7. How long will we do this? Until we stop!

Until next week, love, Pete and Ellen

Photos from Apr 2008