This might be long so for those of you who don’t like reading long posts here are the cliffs notes on the trip:

Bought an RV. Took a long trip.  Fun and funny things happened.  Got a granddaughter. Learned some new things about myself.  The end or maybe it is the beginning?

For those of you still with me, here is the epilogue on the first trip out in the BBoW.

First, let me say I really did love it.   Oh sure there were some trials, some little annoyances and some learning opportunities but over all, I loved it.

This is our first RV. We bought it without much forethought or the usual research we do when making a large purchase ( though I’m sure OHD will say he researched).    We just went out and did it.

In hindsight there  might be things we would do  differently or things we might want in an RV if we were to do it again but as a whole we were very happy with the living experience in the one we have.

Driving Dave did all the driving.  Almost 6000 miles of it.   He did a great job.   I noticed coming home he was much more relaxed and self-assured  than he was going out.   This could have been because I spent most of the trip home sitting in the back…….

(That was learning opportunity number one…….if it makes you nervous…..don’t look)

What else did we learn?  Well…….

1.   We took too much stuff but not enough stuff.    I had too many shoes but I didn’t have a blow up hot tub.

2.   It’s fun to sit behind the sunshade (where nobody can see in but we can see out) and watch other people unload their clown car, laugh and comment and then make a list of the things we absolutely need to buy. ( If I ever buy a blow up hot tub you can make such fun of me.  I will however buy more privacy fence and some dog fencing)

3.   Food in the pantry migrates to the back while driving where it tends to spoil because I have freakishly short arms and bad eyes.

4.   Food in the refrigerator will fly out and hit you on the foot if you aren’t careful. Somewhat like the overhead bins in an airplane the standard ” Use caution when opening the overhead bins as items may have shifted” applies.   The top of my foot met the rim of a can of Diet Dr. Pepper as we were flying down the road at 65 mph.   The resulting string of swear words nearly made Driving Dave run off the road.

5.   Most of the people in RV parks are friendly, helpful and considerate.   Some aren’t.  Just like everywhere else.

6.   Most drivers don’t consider that the giant RV they just pulled closely in front of can’t stop on a dime.  Now I know why truckers get so mad when a car pulls in front of them.  Duly noted.

7.   I don’t care for overnight in anything but a full hook-up RV park.   Travel Dave has written this down in his notebook and may have it tattooed on his hand.

8.   Even after 41 years of marriage we are still learning new things about each other.   We learned we each have many people living inside us.    Dave has Old Husband Dave, Driving Dave, Travel Dave the Dervish, AntsInHisPants Dave,Grocery Shopping Dave and a host of others.    I have the High Strung Redhead, Planning Kathy ,Weeble Wobble Kathy (closely related to Nicotine/Caffeine Deprived Kathy), Sarcastic Kathy and Sensitive Kathy . I’m sure if he could comment he would add several more.

9. The “black tank” (sewage) is always 3/4 full.   Either empty or 3/4 full.   How two people could be so full of……..well…….you get it.     We learned we need to dump that tank at each campground.    We didn’t stop at a campground the last two night home so the shitter is full (as Cousin Eddy from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation movie would say)

Cousin Eddie in the movie National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. I am going to buy Travel Dave that outfit..

Too much information?  I should probably add a warning in here somewhere about that…

10.  Las Vegas is hot.   Leaving  BBoW parked and not plugged in to power causes things to melt.  The refrigerator ran on propane but barely kept things frozen and cold.

11.  Don’t eat things that have been in a refrigerator running on propane that aren’t frozen or very cold.    See #9 above.

12.   It is very hard to pull over to take pictures.   Most of my photos were taken through the windshield or window as we were barreling down the highway at 65 mph.   Usually with me yelling “dammit Dave! slow down!” and him yelling “I can’t!  There is a truck ( or a fiat) on my ass”.

Here are some of my photo memories: ( sorry about the formatting, I tried and tried but just couldn’t get it to tile, I need WordPress for Dummies)

This one was taken sitting still. Our first nights stop at a rest stop. I wasn’t so sure I liked it yet.

Our first planned stop and our grandsons

This is the second night. We had to leave quickly because of a storm and I didn’t get to take a picture so I drew one using my awesome art skills…

What we didn’t want to happen to us.

Newport Beach.

The reason for the whole trip. Sunny Dylan born 6/12/15

Colorado

It was a wonderful adventure.   We can’t wait to do it again.   In fact I think I heard Travel Planning Dave say something about next weekend.

Stay tuned……….