We’re on the road! FAQ about RVing with BB

Well, that happened fast.

Seven weeks after my husband and I talked seriously about a plan to purchase a motorhome, we’re currently on the road in our new-to-us Class A.

In fact, we left our house in Colorado on August 29, and here it is August 31, and we’ve already traveled more than 600 miles to Custer, SD, where we’re currently happily settled at a campground working remotely and seeing the sights.

Wait, working? Sightseeing? What’s a Class A? What’s a BB?

Did you sell your house? Where are you going? What’s the plan?

I figured the best way to quickly catch peeps up on our empty-nest adventures this fall was to do a little Q&A.

Yes, I’m interviewing myself.

How’d you find your rig?

Our Class A motorhome is a 2004 Fleetwood Southwind. We found it on RV Trader. We had very specific criteria when searching:

• Class A or Class C
• Year 2000 or newer
• Less than 65,000 miles
• Under 35 feet long
• Under $35,000

My husband traveled to Utah and Wyoming to test drive rigs before we hit the jackpot with this Fleetwood at a Colorado Springs dealership. It had only one owner, was in great shape, and had a couple of extras we liked, such as the dining table with chairs instead of dinette seating, as well as a built-in desk in the slide-out bedroom.

Does your rig have a name?

Yep, she’s BB, for Beige Bettie (no disrespect to my dad’s sister, Aunt Betty). The interior decor leaves a lot to be desired (so. darn. bland), but we’ve definitely already made some custom improvements.

What changes did you make to BB before setting out on your maiden voyage?

She did need all new tires, so we replaced those. We tore out the tan leather recliner behind the passenger seat, as well as the ugly olive green couch, replacing that sofa with an ottoman from IKEA that turns into a single bed (except only some of the ottoman parts were available in the Denver store, so we need to do some shopping for a backrest and more cushions at IKEAs along our road trip.

The massively huge and heavy television sets in the front of the rig and the bedroom were also removed, along with an ancient DVD/VCR player and 6-CD and a 5-CD changers. Super vintage! The radio was an AM/FM cassette player (!) so that got the boot and we bought a new one with USB and Sirius XM compatibility. Whew.

Are you towing a vehicle?

Yep, we’ve got our 1981 Jeep CJ-7 with us on this adventure. We figured there will be times when we’ll want a smaller vehicle for exploring. Or, say, I’m working in the RV (more on that below!) and my husband can run to the laundromat or grocery store.

Where are you going on this trip? For how long?

First of all, we most definitely didn’t sell our house. Our stint traveling with BB is just that — a stint, not a full-time lifestyle. Just two weeks ago, my dear childhood friend Kevin drove from the East Coast (in an electric car!) to house and dog sit. We’ve told him we’ll be home by October 18 — that’s 7 weeks. (He’s all in!)

We’ve got a plan:

One reason why we bought an RV was to be able to travel safely in this ongoing pandemic to New Hampshire, where we’ll stay with my mom (in her brick-and-mortar guest house!) for about a week.

I haven’t seen my mother in 8 months. Since I’ve gone to college at age 18, we haven’t gone more than 5 months without seeing each other face-to-face (usually it’s closer to every 3 or 4 months — even with my living in Colorado and she in NH and CA). But the pandemic put a kibosh on spring and summer travel plans (bigtime!). BB the RV is helping me see not only my mother, but also my dad (they’re long divorced) in NH, and my brother and his family in NYC. We’ll also swing by to see my daughter in college in upstate NY!

The itinerary we mapped out also includes three states I’ve not been to yet: ND, SD, KY. And we designed the plan to include national parks and national monuments. I love, love, love our national park system, and I’ve been to many sites out west. Eventually, I’d like to hit them all. On this trip, we plan to knock out:

• Devils Tower National Monument (WY)
• Theodore Roosevelt National Park (ND)
• Badlands National Park (SD)
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial (SD)
• Indiana Dunes National Park (IN)
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park (OH)
• Mammoth Cave National Park (KY)
• Shenandoah National Park (VA)

The map above was generated from the RV Parky app, which is what I’m using to plan out stops and find campgrounds along the way. There’s a big stretch with no waypoints from KY back to CO, but that doesn’t mean we’re not stopping! Just means I haven’t thought too much about it yet.

There are many more waypoints in WY, SD and ND, since we’ve already stayed in those areas and started seeing the sights — or have specific plans to soon.

What’s up with work?

I’ve worked remotely as a copy editor for a health and wellness website since July 2018. During that time, I’ve worked from my home in CO, and I’ve also traveled and worked from NH, VT, NY, CA, and Mexico (typically combining vacation time and some work days). This time, I’ll just be working from BB the RV instead of, say, my mom’s house in Palm Desert.

Through the FB RV groups I’ve pored over in the last few weeks, I’ve learned you can’t count on included Wi-Fi at campgrounds. Indeed, where we’re parked right now, in Custer, SD, the signal is weak — we’re not that close to the office — so I’m using my cellphone’s hot spot, which is working great! (Knock on wood.)

My husband is also working remotely. He’s the production manager for a couple of magazines that he co-owns. (He’s been working from home since the pandemic outbreak in mid-March, though prior to that he’d gone into an office for 18 years.)

Regarding more customization of BB, in place of the recliner behind the passenger seat, my husband creatively constructed a little hinged desk/table, where he’s set up his mobile office, complete with a second monitor and printer!

My office is in the small built-in desk in the bedroom, where my second monitor will live, though I’m thinking I’ll be taking Zoom calls from my laptop in the dining room table. Will be more fun for colleagues to see what’s outside my window vs. look at my bed!

Have you ever traveled like this before?

That’s a hard no.

Well, we had a pop-up camper when my kids were younger, and we’d use it to go on weekend trips around Colorado and Utah. But definitely no semblance of long-term travel/camping.

My husband traveled with his mom and siblings in a motorhome across country — 35 years ago. He’s a phenomenal driver, accustomed to backing up horse trailers and boat trailers. He feels very comfortable behind the wheel. He’s super handy when it comes to fix-it stuff. He wired our new radio…. understands how to deal with our grey and black water. (Ick.) He’s already made a delicious potato skillet meal on our 22-inch Blackstone Tabletop Griddle (the current product du jour among RVers).

But he’d never driven a motorhome…. and I had no idea how to outfit an RV kitchen (or bathroom, or any other “RV room” for that matter). This lifestyle of RVing — sleeping in our rig, cooking in a tiny kitchen, peeing and pooping in a tiny toilet (and dealing with sewage!), arranging an itinerary and booking multiple campsites (or boondocking) over the course of several weeks — is brand new to us.

Made any rookie mistakes yet?

Bwah ha ha ha! So. Many. Mistakes.

First, my navigation skills need a LOT of work. There are a ton of RV GPS apps out there, but right now I’m using Google Maps to direct Quent where to go. Sometimes I get distracted, and don’t realize Google’s sending us in a new direction — or along paths that aren’t ideal.

Yesterday morning we ended up on a washboard dirt road for 8 miles — pretty farmland, lots of cows, but not great for the rumbling RV. Later in the day, Google had us going north, when I knew the southerly route was better. But I wasn’t paying attention… we had to backtrack a bit.

I also totally screwed up by booking a wheelchair-accessible only campsite our very first night. We weren’t sure how far we were going to get into Wyoming on Saturday, so I was booking a spot while we were driving along. I’d seen a few spots at the state park website on ReserveAmerica.com labeled with a wheelchair icon, but somehow missed it on the one I booked. I wondered why the spot was so big with a concrete pad…. I felt really bad; we clearly didn’t need the accessibility, but there were other accessible spots available at the big state park.

We forgot to pack a few things. My husband’s keyboard and mouse… the gourmet Parmesan cheese for the pasta we’d cooked and froze and cooking oil for the griddle…

Based on last night’s temperature drop, I don’t think I packed nearly enough warm clothes.

There are things we didn’t know we needed, but now want: a 6-inch level (the RV’s built-in level isn’t great), a better cup-holder system up front, a wall clock, more drawer dividers…

Perhaps more significantly, we’ve had to fix things on the fly. Unfortunately, the mechanic who wired the tail lights for our tow-behind Jeep did a crappy job: They don’t work, and the wiring actually drained the Jeep battery! We had to jump the Jeep, so we could disconnect and I could drive it to our current back-in campsite.

A few cupboards and cabinets swing open while we’re driving, so Quent had to tighten the latches on those. (No biggie.)

Quent’s speaker above his head doesn’t work all the time — but we might be able to fix that.

I’m bummed we discovered only after setting off that the passenger-side window is foggy — can’t be cleaned. Which means I don’t have a great view of passing scenery (thankfully the front windshield is clear as day — well, except for dead bugs). We’re going to look into replacing the glass once we’re in NH.

So, all good so far, overall?

Yes, despite these minor snafus, I’m as HAPPY AS A CLAM.

Seriously, I haven’t been this jazzed about an adventure — or anything in months, really. We’re talking giddy happy — clapping my hands with glee on the hiking trail at Devil’s Tower monument. Breaking into happy tears last night when I realized we actually pulled this off!

Yeah, things aren’t always going to go well. We’re learning along the way (like, we figured out we should shut the bedroom door last night so we wouldn’t hear the heater turn on every 30 minutes or so when the temperatures outside dropped to 35°F).

Our planned itinerary may go to pot if one of us gets sick… if we’re called home for some reason (fingers crossed both kids remain on their college campuses with no big COVID-19 outbreaks)… if we hit some bad weather.

But overall, both Quent and I are pumped that we’ve made this empty nest adventure happen. We’re psyched to explore areas of the country, seeing friends and family (safely) along the way.

I promise to share more pix of BB — or make a video tour — soon, and I’ll detail more of what we’re doing and seeing, but for now, follow along on Instagram!

Thanks for reading!!