OUR 1 WEEK RV-ERSARY

Well, we made it a week and we have survived! Some people doubted us (no names mentioned here, but you know who you are) and they wondered if we could drive this much and live in small quarters without killing each other. This first week has been a lot of driving and stopping in campgrounds for 1 night at a time with the exception of Regina, Saskatchewan where we spent 2 nights and took in a few sights. This is not how we plan for the rest of this trip to go. Once we hit Alaska in 1 week we will stay in one place for a few days and do a lot of exploring before moving on to the next town.

In this post, I am going to share some of my RV “must haves” for living full time in a small living space and a pickup truck. First up is the solution for the lack of a nightstand in an RV. The head of our bed is located in one of the slideouts and we have small windows on each side.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I like to have my phone beside me and a place for my chapstick, jewelry, and cough drops (if I need them). I bought this holder made of netting that you would use in a bathroom shower and it came with suction cups. I removed the suction cups and attached it to the blackout curtain that I made prior to the trip. Problem solved!

While driving for 4 hours plus without stopping to eat at a restaurant or fast food place, it is important to have your supplies of food and snacks. I have been using an empty shoe box and loading it with nuts, jerky, protein bars, chips and candy.

Another item I love using is my seat belt pillow. I originally bought this for the grandchildren but decided it would come in handy for taking little catnaps while we are on the road. It stays in place and you don’t strain your neck while using it. I can easily slide it down when not in use.

We love having a digital weather station. This one serves double duty – it posts the temperature and happens to be the only clock we have in the RV. It hangs just below our picture of Harley, above the table. He was going to make this trip with us, but we lost him to cancer 6 months ago. The only problem was finding somewhere to put the outdoor temperature sensor where it would stay relatively dry, not be in direct sunlight, and be outside the RV or truck. The solution – gorilla tape it inside one of the wheel chocks!

I can’t skip Darin’s one big necessity on this trip. He bought a drone to take some awesome pictures. I am sure there will be plenty to post here and share with everyone. He tries to fly it at each stop, but the wind has been bad in some places.

Another super cheap storage idea is a plastic basket so stuff doesn’t fly around the RV during transit. I put sticky back Velcro on the bottom and attached one to the top shelf of the entertainment center and another on the bar height table. That was definitely $1 well spent.

Lastly, we use our travel maps, books, and iphone apps a lot. Since none of this trip had been planned after our campground in Bismarck, we are figuring out the stops as we go. Right now, we only have reservations through Saturday night and I need to call a few more campgrounds for next week. Only 1 more week until Alaska! Stay tuned…..