Ten Tips to Surviving Life in an RV

This little short video is done in a way that makes a very good point. For those that ask/tell me that they would love to live my lifestyle, these 10 "points" are essential! I pretty well live by them. Except it is just me, so don't have much of a "personal space" issue. And the limiting what you have with you in the RV is an essential point! 

As for the miles driven each day...I'm in a slightly different category. I'm a "full-timer", so miles driven each day depends on what I find and see. I had some campers at Sunny Gulch last year that told me they were "2X2X2'ers"!  LOL!  200 miles, parked by 2pm, stay 2 days!  I love that! But, I'm more of a "1.5X2X2+'er"!  150 or less miles, always parked before 2pm & I try to spend 3+ days somewhere!!  But for me this is a way of living. If you are taking trips and vacations, it won't work very well for you!

That being said, I'm still in Alabama. I've almost gotten Europa back in "roading" condition. Have purged more stuff (and loaded in more stuff - temporarily ). But the top-end motor rebuild seems to have been a good one. Have gotten most of my "fix-it" list completed for Europa. Have repacked and rearranged things in the house so that everything has a place (actually still working some of that out) & have gotten into the habit again of putting things back when I get them out and I'm done with them.

And, yesterday, while cleaning/packing a storage pocket, I saw a "hose"...pulled it out and n the end of it was a valve stem cap...I thought..."Really!"...it goes to the suspension airbag on the passenger side of Europa! So...all this time that I thought I was airing up both airbags at one time (which is what I was told)...I had been airing up the driver's side airbag...I bet I have much better handling now!!!!  It is a learning experience having a motorhome without an Owner's Manual!!!  LOL!

Abbie has her two spots that she has pretty well gotten into the habit of getting into so that I will stop stepping on her!! She has the habit of being under my feet, just as close to me as she can get. Well, she is slowly outgrowing that! She has a spot on the sofa and the bed that she settles into where she knows that I won't be trying to step over her. Makes us both happy!!

Snickers...well, she just finds spots that are VERY out of the way...under the sofa, front dash when I'm parked, driver's floorboard when parked...wherever she feels like she can see things and escape quickly to another area when necessary!  LOL!

As for "my" space...well, it is limited for the next few months. I have a couple of projects that are taking up some of my space...such as part of the bed...and the passenger floorboard...in other words...my space is crunched for a while. Even poor little Sidekick is packed to the hilt!!  

But I can now honestly say that I have started this next chapter in my life...full time on the road and shooting video and pics of the backroads of the US!!!

I've been outside working on Europa, and decided to take a break and finish this update. Looking like tomorrow will be my day to go to Pell City.

Make sure you keep up with us...we are about to start our travels in earnest!!

C'ya later!!🐸👍⛺🚌

Watching Harvey!

I have been watching the coverage of Hurricane Harvey...it is just amazing! It is really doing some damage to the coast of Texas! It almost makes me glad that I'm still in Alabama!  But...it also means that the price of gas is about to make a temporary jump up!! Not good for my travel budget!

I've gotten just about my whole list of things to do to Europa done, taken care of most of my other list of things to do, so will be trying to head north by Tuesday...or Wednesday...or whenever!!!  I'm watching the price of fuel right now...that will determine my travel days for the next few weeks.

That about covers it for this week!  LOL!  Not a whole lot happens when I'm parked for over 72 hours!

C'ya later!

Getting Europa ready for the road

 I've been parked in AL all week, with a "To Do" list for Europa that I wanted to get done before we got back on the road for the rest of the year. And I only have about two or three things left to get done!

 On of the main things that HAD to be done was to reseal the roof. Had been doing "research" on the different types of roof paints, and believe me, there are a whole passel of different paints and sealers available out there! But I needed for it to be "elastomeric"...in another words, it has to stay flexible and I needed it to insulate somewhat. Well, settled on a certain brand, and so far I think it is going to do the job!

 You can tell from these first pics that the roof was in dire need of being painted. And I had just a couple of very tiny leaks...so whatever I used need to be able to seal the roof also. 

 I ended up with getting a paint that I am real happy with as of now...time will be the real test for it! But it went on very easily, covered real well & man, is it "cool". The rear part of the roof is in the sun from sunrise to about 2pm each day. Before getting the "first" coat on you could not put your hand on the roof for more than a couple of seconds. The first coat was probably much thicker than they say to do, but I was actually able to get a lighter second coat on with the roller, so it is much more uniform in coverage and color. And now you can put your hand on it and it actually feels cool!  

And I can already tell a difference inside! it is at least 4-6 degrees cooler in here, so it looks like it is going to do what I had been hoping for! Which is going to make warm weather travel much better!!

Also done this week...timing on the engine set, all new belts, the headlight switch replaced, think we got any vacuum leaks, aux batt issue taken care of (one of my batteries had gone bad, so one new battery)-left every light on last night for over 6 hours and the water pump, and still had strong 12v power.

And I still have two doors and one vent that I'm going to seal up with some styrofoam insulation and that will also help keep the cool/warm in Europa as we travel. Right now they are open to the outside to the point that I can see daylight when I open some of my storage doors...that will be fixed this afternoon and tomorrow!!

So the next two days is for getting stuff put back up in Europa to be ready to roll. Still purging some stuff, it's amazing just how much crap you accrue even with you live in a "very tiny" tiny house on wheels!!  LOL! But I keep purging and clearing out stuff. Getting closer to done each day!!

Be sure to keep up with us (Me, Abbie & Snickers) as we are finally getting ready to really start our travels!! Between now and Nov 15th we are going to be covering close to 3,000 miles! 

My two little companions are good travelers, they settle in pretty quickly and almost act like they enjoy the ride!

And don't forget to check out my FB page "America, you need to see it" and my YouTube channel of the same name. I hope to be getting short videos of our travels up load soon and on a weekly basis.

Take Care and C'ya out here!!

In Bama

Made it to AL. Europa made the run just fine. Still need to do some tweaking on her, but she's doing pretty well. I'll be in AL a week or so, then on the road in a northerly direction! ⛺🚐👍🐸

Back in my house!

Back in Europa! She's running...still will need some tweaking, but that is going to happen in AL. But I'm a happy camper! She seems to be running well, she's back in one piece...& the critters &I are back in our house! 👍🐸🍻  It's almost 11pm & I've almost got everything out of the U-Haul. That will be done in the morning after I get, rather, try to get everything out back up tonite & I get some sleep. I'm trying to remember where all this stuff went! LOL! Too much stuff for so small a space! I feel a purge coming on! More in a couple of days! 😉👍🐸🤓

COFFEE!!! The Elixir of Life!! 😉🐸

https://www.warriorcoffee.com/news/2/12-health-benefits-and-6-disadvantages-of-coffee-smashing-it