As some of you will remember, my husband, Ken, talked me into trying out the RV life. He won me over in our red Travato camper van and we were just about ready to head out on our second weeks-long trip when the pandemic hit a year ago.
When we realized it was going to be a very long time before we could travel again, we sold our camper van. We’ve done some traveling, staying in Airbnbs, which I love, but the bug has never left Ken, and he has been looking for the perfect next rig ever since. It looks like we found it, and this week we flew to Sacramento to check it out…and it turns out, to drive it home!
We bought a 1998 Chinook Concourse with only 52,000 miles on it, and after spending almost a week in it on our way back to Missouri—via, Arizona, New Mexico, and soon through Texas (to visit our sons and family) and Arkansas—we have fallen in love with this rig!
Since we flew to pick up the rig, we couldn’t bring any of our RV supplies with us, so we made some quick stops at Goodwill and Walmart and stocked the RV with just enough for the trip home. I’m pretty pleased with how it all came together and quite a few of the things we bought we’ll keep!
Even though this was a “business” trip to pick up the rig, and we’ve needed to work along the way, we’ve also enjoyed some great times seeing parts of the country we’ve never been to before. The ocean is always fascinating to us, being Kansas/Missouri landlubbers!
I confess that following my husband into his dream of RVing across the country has been a lesson in submission and patience for me, but I have to admit, he’s won me over, and I’m excited to see where our travels will take us next!
Do you like to travel? How do you prefer to go? Fly? Drive? Motorcycle? Take a train? What has been your favorite destination so far? (And it’s okay if, like me, you say “Home, sweet home!”)
Blessings,
Deb~
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What a fun hobby, Deb! So will your bikes fit onboard?
We plan to put a swing-arm bike rack on the back. It’s not ideal for carrying bikes, but it’s about the best we’ll do without towing something. We’ve seen so many great bike trails out west and have wished over and over that we had our bikes with us!
Your camper looks marvelous – the perfect size! I can know you will enjoy it. I love the way you and Ken share so much and work together in so many ways.
We have always loved to travel! One of our favorite destinations was Bar Harbor, Maine – lovely town, beautiful setting, and such nice people. Our favorite trip was a cross country drive from Virginia Beach to Long Beach, CA, to visit our daughter and family. We first did this when our grandson was born in 2009, and then repeated it in 2017 when it looked like we might not be able to drive long distances much longer. My family had taken such a trip when I was 10 years old, and I had always wanted to repeat it. We took a northern route out and a southern route home – seeing so many fantastic places in America. We usually fly to CA each year to visit our daughter and have been so fortunate to see much of that state during our travels. One of the highlights to me was being able to eventually see all 21 of the California missions!
I can tell you will enjoy many future adventures in your new rig. Bon voyage!
Ah, the New England states are on our bucket list! Your trips sound wonderful, Betty, and I love that you were able to check off all the California missions! Ken jokes that he wants to check off all the state parks in the U.S.! Considering that California alone has 284 state parks, I don’t think we’re going to finish that list in our lifetime!
Deb,
You are living our past dream. We, too, bought an RV and took to the road; but my husband’s health didn’t fare too well, and we sold the RV and slid into the next stage of our lives. We moved from MI to FL. Now, I am enjoying our new dream and try to keep my enthusiasm for the RV life to a minimum. But, your photos stirred it up some. LOL! Congrats! You have some great times ahead of you!
You have a great attitude, Linda. I’m glad you’re enjoying your new dream, but know it’s hard to give up past dreams too.
Love seeing your travel pics and cool new home on wheels.
Thanks, Daphne!
What a great find with your new-to-you RV! It looks relatively roomy and in excellent condition. While I love home sweet home, I also like to travel occasionally. I used to love the car trips with my parents after my two sisters married and left home since I had the entire back seat to myself. I could lie down and nap if I wanted or sit up and sight see, read, or whatever. I’ve enjoyed car, train, boat, and plane trips with my husband. I especially love river cruises where you can leave all your belongings on the boat but also sight see while getting some exercise walking at ports along the way. Now that COVID is hopefully subsiding and we’ve had our vaccines, I’m hoping we get to go on a trip we had planned to Canada this summer.
I have warm memories of car trips with my family too. And yes, I hope you get to take that trip to Canada! It’s so wonderful to see things slowly begin to open back up!
The wet bath! Oh dear. We live in an RV. But we don’t get to travel much, as we both work. So the challenge is long-term. LOL We dream of traveling by RV. But by then, we might just want to drive and stay at hotels…who knows? Safe travels!
I hope you get to travel some day soon, Angie. It’s challenging to work on the road with spotty internet and time at a premium. We’ve been talking even today about how we need to tweak our way of travel to accommodate more working hours.
How fun to be back on the road again! You are much more adventuresome than I am. 🙂 I look forward to traveling vicariously with you!
Anne, I’m only adventurous because I married Ken! If it were up to me, I’d be happy as a clam at home with a few short trips here and there. But I’m learning to be glad he pushes me to discover things I never would have otherwise!
I love to travel and I’m excited to follow you and Ken on your future adventures!
Thanks, Becky!
Raneys on the road again – – loved this post, Deb! 🙂 I’ve always enjoyed reading about your and Ken’s RV travels! If not for all the furry residents who share my home, 😉 I’d suggest to my husband that we give RVing a try—I think he’d really enjoy it!
But I’ll admit that for the most part, I’m a homebody at heart. I honestly love being at home (which has been a real blessing since the pandemic hit and we were all supposed to stay home!).
Thank you for sharing your travels with us, and I pray you and Ken will have many happy travels ahead! 🙂
Hugs from Georgia, Patti Jo
Thank you, Patti Jo! If we weren’t traveling, I think we’d have some furry residents at our house. 🙂 I’m a homebody at heart too.
I loved your post! We bought an RV 2 years ago. Last year we used it to get away several weekends. We especially enjoyed Nebraska which is close to us in Colorado.
In the past we did a lot of international travel but our age is making that harder to do. So last summer during Covid we found this the perfect way to get out and about.
Thanks for sharing your story and your photos.
Before we sold our first RV (camper van) we made a few little escapes from Covid. It was great to find a little adventure in the midst of the lockdown. So glad you’ve enjoyed your RV!
Your RV looks awesome! Congrats. 😀
I’m a BIG fan of staying home. Major introvert and homebody. BUT I’ve always loved camping and my dream is to own a camper to drive all over US for long trips. It sounds wonderful to me. I love the idea that with a camper I can bring home with me while I vacation. 😃
We’ve only been in this rig six nights but already it totally feels like home. An RV would be perfect for you, Nicole!
Looks fun! I love to travel & would enjoy this so much! Since I’m NOT a fan of flying & like road trips, my dream vacation is to travel the US on mostly two-lane roads to see life lived in small-town USA. An RV would be the perfect way to go! <3
I’m with you on the two-lane roads, Lori! That’s how we like to go, but this trip, we’ve just been in a hurry to get back home since we weren’t able to bring any of our camping gear with us.
I love to travel. My favorite trips have usually been via plane as they’ve been across the ocean to Scotland and Ukraine, but my favorite car trip was to California and back to Indiana in a car over 10 days with my 2 daughters. Something none of us will ever forget!
That road trip sounds wonderful, Rebecca! Awesome to make those memories with your daughters! Overseas travel is on my bucket list big-time. Don’t know if it will ever happen, but I’ll sure be thrilled if it does!
Well done, you and Ken! That’s a pretty darn cool RV…although I’m wondering if you stand on the toilet to shower. Just kidding! I’m not camper but I think your new house on wheels is the perfect way to travel the country! Have fun!
My husband and I got the bug to look for an RV (much like yours)(Roadtrek) .Shortly after we started looking, we became unemployed for a short time. After the unemployment, we never did go back to that dream. Maybe in retirement we will re-consider this venture! We love to travel. Thank you for sharing!
Your next-to-last paragraph convicted me. I don’t travel well (stomach issues) and am content to stay close to home even aside from that. But my husband is talking about getting an RV for when he retires. Part of his reason for wanting one is to make travel easier for me. We’re talking about renting one to see how we like it before putting out the money to buy one. As much as I’d like to dig in my heels and stay home, I don’t feel I should, at least without giving it a try for his sake. Who knows, maybe I’ll surprise myself and really like it. 🙂