Choosing our RV

When Christy first suggested the RV life I thought it was a pretty crazy idea. I had already been planning to transition to working full time for the company I started with a friend back in 2014 which meant working from home. Her reasoning was that if I could work from home, why couldn't I work from anywhere? My parents had a camper trailer when I was a kid that I have fond memories of but at the same time I couldn't imagine living in that thing all the time. People do that? I had no idea.

Nonetheless I tried to keep an open mind about it, figuring we would come to the conclusion that it wasn't really for us. Shortly after she came up with the idea Christy discovered there was an RV show in downtown Denver, not too far from where we lived at the time. Turns out that was incredibly good timing, as that was the only (or at least the last) show of the year in our area. I agreed to go. It seemed like a pretty small price to get this idea out of our system.

The more time we spent walking around and through RVs at the show, the more we could start to see how it might actually work for us. Going from being complete noobs about the various terms, we learned a lot that day! We pretty quickly zeroed in on what's known as a "Class C" RV. Here's a breakdown of the different motorhome types:

Class As are the large, bus-like RVs with the flat front ends:

Class Bs are the smallest of the 3 types and are based on a van chassis:

Class Cs are in-between and based on a truck chassis like the F-450:

The class C seemed like plenty of room for our family of 3 and offered a good balance of living space and maneuverability.

There are also 2 types of tow-behind RVs known as fifth-wheels and travel trailers, but for various reasons we had our hearts set on a motorhome and didn't really spend any time looking at those.

We wrote out our wishlist of features for our new home which included:

• An over-the-cab bed for Lorelei (she was really excited about these after seeing them at the show)
• A full size residential refrigerator. Many RVs have a smaller fridge that runs off of either propane or electricity. While it is an advantage to be able to run these without electricity, they are smaller, don't have ice makers, and are much slower to cool down.
• A washer / dryer. We have a hard enough time keeping up with laundry as it is without the added hassle of lugging piles of clothes to and from campground laundromats constantly. I can imagine us giving up on this endeavor pretty quickly under those conditions so this was a "must have" for us.
• A work space for me. As a software developer I spend a lot of time sitting in front of the computer and to work effectively I need a nice pair of wide-screen monitors, a full-size keyboard, and a mouse. I can work for short periods on a laptop but it feels like I have 1 hand tied behind my back the whole time. We thought about just setting up my work space on the dinette but that would mean breaking it down frequently for meals and travel, plus it left no space for Lorelei's school work and projects. I needed a desk!

As we began to look for a floor plan that met all our needs we discovered that due to space and weight constraints, there were very few class Cs that offered a washer / dryer. Of the ones that did, exactly zero had a good spot to put a desk. Despite the trepidation over driving something so large, we realized we would have to move up to a class A if we wanted all those features.

After lots of research, we decided the Forest River Georgetown 364TS was one of the only models that would check all the boxes:

The "bunk beds" area in the middle we figured would be a good spot for my desk so we ripped those out and installed one. I'll do a post on that process later. The refrigerator shows a pantry beside it but that's only if you choose the RV fridge option. If you get the residential option (as we did) then the pantry space is used up by the fridge.

This model also happened to have 2 full bathrooms which is pretty rare. We really like having 2 toilets and bathroom sinks, but honestly having 2 showers is kind of silly. There's not enough water pressure or hot water for 2 people to shower at the same time.

We placed our order for a new unit on April 12, 2016 from RV One Superstores. They had the best prices of anywhere that we could find. The only catch is that you have to make your way out to one of their locations to pick it up: NY, FL, or Des Moines, Iowa. We opted for Des Moines as it was in reasonable driving distance from Denver. The RV was actually ready a little sooner, but we ended up picking it up on July 15.

We have been pretty happy with our decision. There are trade-offs with any RV you pick but I think we made the right decision for our family of 3. Now that that is set to increase to 4 later this year we will have to see how long we keep making this work!

Hanging with friends on Long Island

Lorelei and Melody sea kayaking at Greenport Beach

We have been in New York for a little over 3 weeks now.  I'm loving that we are getting to see a variety of what the state has to offer.  We started out on Long Island.  I wanted to head there to visit with my friend Marianne whom I met in Las Vegas when Lorelei was a baby.  Her son Dylan is about a week older than Lorelei and they get along great.  He taught her how to sea kayak and paddled her around on his Mom's paddleboard.  Dylan and Melody (his little sister) got to have 2 slumber party nights with Lorelei in the RV.  I think the kids had a fantastic time together and Lorelei has already started planning what she wants to do with them the next time she sees them.

Lorelei and Addison

In addition to hanging out with Dylan and Melody, Lorelei also made some really good friends at Eastern Long Island Kampground who she is hoping to see again in the future.   I didn't end up taking any pictures of her with her new friends but her friend Addison's Dad texted me one with the 2 of them together so at least I have one of them, thanks to him!  I need to make an effort to take more pictures of Lorelei with her friends.

Movie time before bed 

Video game silliness

Paddleboarding at Meschutt Beach

Sea Kayaking at Meschutt Beach

Saturday night dance party at Eastern Long Island Kampground

Lorelei eventually let Dylan have a turn

Drone spotting

Lorelei taught Dylan how to fly the drone

A Lott on the road... with friends!

Blueberry Picking

Blueberry Eyes

Today, Lorelei and I visited Kelder's Farm and picked blueberries, tomatoes, and a cucumber. We had to cut our visit short because of a thunderstorm but I think Lorelei enjoyed it a lot more than she thought she would.  She was a bit reluctant to go but once we started picking she didn't want to leave and now she wants to go back another day to pick raspberries.  The farm is just around the corner from our campground so hopefully we can make it over again before we leave in a few days.

Our farm loot.  We picked up a few peaches and golden plums from the
market, as well as 3 ears of corn to throw on the grill!

We are hiding inside our house on wheels right now, waiting for this thunderstorm to pass. Perhaps I can get a few blog posts knocked out... David noticed last night that I have 8 unfinished posts. It will be a minor miracle if I am actually able to publish this one today since I never seem to start and finish one on the same day.

It's kind of blah out... I'm glad we were able to
make it out to the farm before the storm hit!

Finding our Routine

Wow!  It's been a while since I've updated.  We've kind of gotten into a routine and blogging has not been on the schedule...  I guess I should work on that!

First, the big news:  Lorelei made dinner the other night, pretty much all by herself.  No whining or complaining, she just did it.  We've come up with a system that if you cook dinner or help cook dinner you don't have to wash the dishes.  David has been out of town the last few days so she chose to make dinner so she wouldn't have to wash dishes (which she hates doing).  It wasn't anything fancy, pepperoni pizza on a pre-made crust, but still... she did it willingly!  I'll take that!  When we started this almost a year ago, asking her to do that would have certainly ended up with her throwing a huge fit and crying and screaming for an hour about what a mean mom I am.  Thank goodness she has gotten past that and was able to make the pizza with a smile and a good attitude!  She also helped make the Greek salad last night!

And now, our other big news:

I think we finally got the right mix of our genes to create a new monster.  Trying to make a perfect baby in our late 30s has definitely been more difficult than it was in our late 20s.   Hopefully we won't hit too many speed bumps on our journey with this little one.  We are calling her Fannie Mae for now, but I'm pushing for the name Ansley.  Too bad I can't get David on board with that name.

Lorelei is so excited about becoming a big sister!  She was devasted after the first miscarriage I had back in 2015 so we waited until I was pretty much showing to tell her this time.  I think the miscarriage was harder on her than it was on me.  She even had to miss a day of school because she was so distressed.  Fingers crossed that everything turns out fine with this little bugger.  

I found out a few weeks ago that I have placenta previa, which means the placenta is attached at the bottom of my uterus, completely covering my cervix.  The MFM specialist who told us about this said there was a 50/50 chance it would move but the OB who sent me to the specialist said in his opinion there is only a 40% chance of it moving since it was diagnosed at 22 weeks and completely covering it instead of partially covering it.  I get to have another ultrasound at 28 weeks to check to see if the placenta has moved away from the cervix.  If it hasn't, that means I'll need to have a C-section at 36 or 37 weeks.  This is a definite speed bump since I was really hoping to TOLAC this time around since I had a C-section with Lorelei when she refused to come out (stubborn from the start).

We are enroute to Canada for our 2nd Fulltime Families Rally and the original plan was to slowly make our way south from Canada, arriving in Georgia around 35 weeks or so.  I've had regular OB appointments as we've been traveling, and I've picked out a practice and hospital in Georgia that I want to deliver with.  If I have to have a C-section, I am probably going to come up with a new plan and we might end up skipping Canada and heading back to Georgia a bit sooner.  I've been feeling fine but there is a very high chance I will end up bleeding at some point in the future if this doesn't go away.  That means I am supposed to know where the closest ERs & NICUs are at all times in our travels just in case little "Fannie Mae" decides to make an early appearance.  I also could be required to go on bedrest at anytime, so that could make traveling a bit difficult.  Fingers crossed everything falls into place! No stress, right?  =)

Here's our Plan A Route that we hope to cover in the next 12 weeks or so.  It would also include a flight from Boston to Nashville to see the eclipse on August 21:

If we find out at 28 weeks that I still have placenta previa, we will have to switch to Route Plan B.  We still hope to swing through Nashville for the eclipse as long as everything is still "normal" but we want to be in Georgia so we are closer to our families closer to the 30 weeks mark:

So that's what's going on since I last posted.  Everything is going well in our travels and we are having Lotts of great times on the road!

Waiting for the Braves vs Nationals game to start during a rain delay at Nationals Stadium

Still waiting...

3 hour rain delay was totally worth it since I "caught" a foul ball hit into the stands behind us!  We also got to move from our nose bleed cheap seats to the lower level since a majority of the people left due to the delay.

Waiting 9 hours for the fireworks to start is much more tolerable when you have a tree
to climb and friends to play with on the National Mall in Washington DC

We sat near the Washington Monument.
There were a few small rainstorms that kept us cool during the day but nothing worth running away from.

It took a while before the lawn filled up because of the storms but the crowd
finally arrived just in time for the show to start.

Lorelei enjoyed the show but thought it was a little short (just over 20 minutes long).  She concluded it must have been because of budget cuts so Trump could "build his stupid wall."  Smart girl!  ;-)

Happy Birthday America!

Finding Happier Days

Lorelei loves the disc swing hanging
from the pecan tree on the Lott Farm

I keep sitting down at the computer to work on the blog and find myself getting distracted with one thing or another.  It is important stuff, like paying bills and trying to make travel arrangements for the next leg of our journey but I also have all sorts of fun adventures that I want to share.  And I also feel like there is so much on my mind that I just want to write about but that isn't really the purpose of this blog.  But, this is my blog and I can do what I want, right?  I mean, if you are reading this, it is because you want to know what is going on in my (our) life right now.  I already wrote my "confess all" posts so I might as well follow up and keep going so you know my (our) life is getting better.

Lorelei & Izzi; Lake Hartwell

I have been feeling pretty relaxed lately so that is a nice change.  We are staying at David's parents' farm for a few weeks (in our RV) and plan on getting back on the road in the beginning of April.  Our first stop is going to be SE Georgia so we can check out Cumberland Island, Okefenokee Swamp, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and other various places in that area.  We are planning on slowly working our way north from there, eventually passing through Washington, DC and New York City.  There is another FTF Rally coming up later this year that we are hoping to make it to in Mattawa, Canada. The rally is in September, which seems so far off but if we stick to our ideal travel plan of staying in each spot for 3 weeks that only gives us 8 stops to make from SE Georgia up to Canada over the next 5 months.  Please let me know if you know of any can't miss spots in the comments below.

Lorelei seems to be noticeably happier lately which is a huge relief.  I think going to the Full Time Families Rally helped immensely, and I am sure my demeanor has changed as well.  She seems to be smiling more and doesn't argue quite as much as she used to and seems to be getting over her anger of missing her friends and school. I'm not expecting her to forget about any of her life in Colorado, but I was getting quite worried since she seemed so angry about how we disrupted her life to go on this adventure.  She still talks about how she misses her friends but now she does so with a sense of longing instead of fury.  We went on a 3 mile walk Sunday along the Hartwell Dam Trail and I think she almost enjoyed it.  She complained about a pain in her heel for a while but she pushed through and eventually forgot about it.
She seems to finally be settling into her school routine. I'm not as worried about her progress anymore since I feel fairly certain we will be on the road for at least 1 more school year.  I felt like she had fallen quite a bit behind in math but she is quickly catching up now that she doesn't hate doing her lessons as much as she did in the beginning.  We found an on-line program that we both like and she actually does her lessons without arguing and grumbling (most of the time).  Perhaps I'll write more about that another time if anyone is interested.
So that's life for now.  We are looking forward to getting back to traveling but it is nice spending time with David's parents and relaxing on the farm.  Don't forget to share your Eastern US travel suggestions in the comments below!

Another happy day on the farm

Disruptions in our RV Life: Part 2

Life continued on, mostly without me, but I still managed to have almost daily struggles with Lorelei. We would argue; she would get
angry, I would yell at her; she would cry, I would cry, she would carry on forever about how much she hated me and what a terrible mom I was... and eventually David would smooth things out.  I briefly mentioned in my previous post that I wanted to stay hidden in my room at my parents' house.  This is because we basically moved in with them after dropping our RV off for minor repairs at Open Roads Complete RV in Acworth, GA.

Let me give you a little back story about that whole debacle:

We had arranged to drop our RV off at Open Roads a few weeks prior to our arrival in Georgia and when we made our appointment they informed us they were running about 2 weeks behind for scheduling.  We told them that would be fine since we wanted to drop the RV off on Halloween, which was a little over 2 weeks away.  When we arrived in Marietta, my parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins helped us unload pretty much the entire RV and move everything into my parents' house.  We figured we would be there for a few weeks, maybe a month and a half at most while the RV was being repaired.  This worked perfectly because we wanted to be with my family for Thanksgiving and figured around that time we would get the RV back and head to Hartwell, GA to stay with David's parents on their farm for a while and then head back out on the road after Christmas.  

When we arrived on Halloween to drop the RV off, we were once again informed that they were running about 2 weeks behind.  We reminded them that we had made an appointment (over 2 weeks ago) to have the work done starting on that day so they could start right away on our rig, right?  Apparently, in the RV repair world, that isn't how things work.  They wanted us to bring it in so it could sit on their lot for 2 weeks before they even looked at it...???   &*$^*@%)&*  SERIOUSLY??  We felt a little powerless but we left our house there and headed back to our temporary home away from home to wait it out.

A few weeks passed and I finally had my appointment.  The psychiatrist determined I was depressed (you think?), anxious (possibly), and OCD (hmm, not too sure about that one, but whatever).  To make things all better, he gave me a prescription for Zoloft.  I was supposed to gradually increase the dose by 25-50 mg every two weeks or so.  As time passed, I still wasn't feeling much better.  I still didn't want to get out of bed.  I was going to bed early. I was always exhausted but I could barely sleep. And, I was still crying (or felt like I needed to) almost all the time.  

Thanksgiving came and things didn't seem to be getting much better.  Our RV was still in the shop and we were still at my parents' house. My parents were being super supportive through all of this.  They weren't giving us a hard time about being there but I was still feeling incredibly guilty for disrupting their routine.  A few more weeks passed (with little to no progress on the RV) and all of a sudden, it was Christmas.  

I always look forward to Christmas with my family.  All of my cousins and their families, aunts, & uncles, my brother, his wife and kids come over... We get together to celebrate and throw wrapping paper at each other.  Christmas just isn't the same for me unless I can be around all that chaos.  This year was different however.  As people began to arrive, I started feeling  overwhelmed.  I couldn't handle the chit chat and chaos of my family, who I normally love to be around.  I ended up retreating, once again, into the safety of my bedroom.

After a few more visits to the psychiatrist and a few more tweaks to the medication, I finally began to feel "normal."  I am currently taking Zoloft (to make me happy), Wellbutrin (to give me energy), Adderall (have I ever mentioned my ADHD?), and Trazadone (at night, to help me sleep).  I really don't like taking all these medications, but I guess for now, it is what my brain (and sanity) needs.  Hopefully I can eventually go back to being "normal" without so many drugs but with all the changes and uncertainty that has been going on in my life I suppose it is OK to have a little help.

We finally picked up our RV and headed out on the road again, but unfortunately, we are just on a short jaunt to Florida. We began our trip with our first RV rally, then spent a little time outside of Orlando with a trip to Legoland and we are currently in the FL panhandle so I can spend time with my Grandma Betty.  We are heading back to Marietta in a few days to celebrate Grandma Lucy's birthday on Saturday and... big surprise here, drop the RV back off at Open Roads for them to FINISH the repairs they were supposed to do over 3 months ago.  Oh well, that's why I'm taking medication: so I don't have to get upset about $h!t like this!

Disruptions in our RV Life: Part 1

Wow, I can't believe how quickly the last few weeks months have flown by.  I feel like life has jumped from early October to mid February in the blink of an eye!  Hmm, that must be the medication talking.  Yup, let me explain...

When I came up with the crazy idea of downsizing and traveling around the country in an RV, David jumped into it pretty quickly but Lorelei wasn't too keen on it.  I figured once we got on the road she would embrace it and everyone would have a great time.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.  Lorelei is a homebody.  She likes her routine & predictability.  She does best with a schedule and needs to socialize with other kids her age.

Before we left, I began researching various homeschooling options and decided that I would go with an on-line curriculum called Time4Learning and supplement with various activities as we travel.  I envisioned frequent hikes, zoo & museum field trips, and having Lorelei complete the various Junior Ranger programs at the National Parks we would visit.  It didn't take long for before I realized that this wasn't going to work.  Lorelei refused to do the Junior Ranger programs.  She had no interest in exploring the museums and would pretty much shut down anytime we would go out; whining, complaining, and constantly arguing to make sure everyone was as miserable as she was.  In addition to disliking any adventures we tried to enjoy, she was also extremely unhappy with the curriculum in Time4Learning and had a very difficult time focusing and getting anything done.

Everyday was getting more and more difficult to get through.  Lorelei was frequently melting down and I was beginning to feel horrible for uprooting Lorelei from her happy life in Colorado and forcing her to travel without her friends.  I was dreading getting out of bed in the morning and was completely drained from all the arguing and yelling going on between myself and Lorelei.  I eventually began to feel that this was a horrible mistake.  Our house still hadn't sold in Colorado so our savings was just about depleted from basically having an additional mortgage payment (campsites & RV payment) while still making payments on the house.  In addition to all of this, David's job wasn't going quite as well as we had anticipated and it looked like he was going to have to find some contract work to do while he waited for his company to start making a bit more money.

In mid-October, I shut down.  I went to bed and couldn't get back up. Life had become more than I could handle and I had a minor major meltdown.  I shut everyone out and slept and cried for about 30 hours (or maybe a bit longer.  I can't really remember how long I stayed in bed since time was passing so quickly).  There is never a good time for this to happen, but my timing was pretty horrible because it was David's birthday.  David managed to drag me out of bed to go out to dinner for his birthday.  I sat at the table, feeling numb, not touching any food.  I eventually couldn't handle the stimulation around me of the noisy restaurant and retreated to the car while David & Lorelei finished their meals.

It was around this point that David began to realize something really wasn't right; that I couldn't just snap out of my "funk."  He decided I needed professional help so he began researching psychiatrists in the Atlanta area and made an appointment for me to see someone soon after we arrived.  He got the soonest appointment available, but it was still a few weeks out.  Over the next few weeks, I was still pretty miserable.  I was crying a lot, always tired, and didn't feel like being around anybody.  I would have been perfectly content to stay holed up in my room at my parents' house where we were staying while life continued on without me...