We bought an RV just 6 weeks ago...a 1995 Pursuit Motorhome. We decided to take it on it?s first voyage with its new owners (us) soon afterwards. We ?gassed? it up and was to say (not the least) surprised that it took over $90.00 to do so. We pointed it southward from our home and took off for the beach town that we love to visit.
We pulled into the park--one that has horses that you can rent for $75.00 an hour and rabbits that run all over the campground in all different colors. The people that were parked in the next spot informed us on arrival that they were ?full time RV-ers? and were very comfortable! I wondered what is a full-time RV-er and is it possible to be comfortable as a full time RV-er?
Well, we stayed close to a month parked next to them, and indeed they did seem to be comfortable. They walked their dog every morning, they stayed inside most of the time, maybe because they had a satellite system with 100 plus channels evidenced by the dish that was parked next to their RV like a flag staking out a claim on a mountaintop. Whereas, we found ourselves outside mostly in sun or rain, either cooking on our Coleman stove or just visiting with other campers or each other in our deck chairs under the ample awning that came with our RV.
At night it was quite interesting, we saw people with Christmas lights laced over the top of their campers or awnings in different colors, camp fires burning, and people on horseback going out in a long line for their horse ride at the beach. They went behind the tent section under a bridge that crossed the river and out across the dunes to the shoreline for their hour-long jaunt.
During our time on this memorable trip we met people from all over the world. One man was an Irishman that had come to the West Coast for a trip to California with his family. A Scotsman that we met who was on his vacation (or holiday as the Brits say) to see his sister who lives in Washington State, who was in the laundry room at a resort waiting for a machine to come open.
Two people who had moved to Canada from South Africa and was down driving the coastline for their much coveted ?two week? vacation, and a German woman who singly was driving in her van that she bought with her babysitting money that she earns in New York to travel with-- as she told us. She was selling greeting cards along the way that she had made with homemade photographs attached to colored paper and ink designs around the perimeter of the card. What an interesting eclectic company of people that we met with some very interesting stories.
On one occasion we went to a beach park to do some ?on location? painting since I paint oils and my husband paints watercolors. We set up our easels and began to paint the scene that was in front of us. Mine came out pretty good and so I found a frame for it when we got back and hung it in our booth that we have in an antique mall for sale near where we live. My husband?, on the other hand, didn'?t go so well and he decided to scrap it after trying to rework it several times.
During our stay we planned to go the town?s theater one night, a promised treat to ourselves, and finally got our tickets and went. It was a delightful evening milling with the locals and the tourists at this beach theater-house decked out with red velvet curtains on the stage that was built in the early 1900s that had been remodeled recently. It had a lobby with a wooden window in the alcove of the wall where they served coffee at the intermission. The curtains opened to reveal a 1920?s decorated living-room of a bed and breakfast house with nothing newer than 1920?s furniture and lamps and trinkets on the tables.
In came the cast all dressed in obvious 1920?s garb and they began the play in loud voices no microphones needed since the theater was about 30? x 30? in its entirety.
As most vacations, this one came to an end. We had plenty of fish and chips, a well- burnished sun tan as if we had come from the Caribbean, and plenty of fresh air. The people we met were one of the best highlights of our RV vacation, and the town that we stayed in was left no less the wear for our visiting - truly, we will keep the memories for ever as a treasure in our box of travels and experiences.
So we found out that you can be comfortable in an RV and that you can be ?permanent RV-ers?, it just remains to be seen if that is what we will do. Our hats are off to you permanent RV-ers and happy camping to you all!
