RV Full-Timer's Blog

We’ve moved our blog to a better location… Please join us there!

rvfulltimers — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:51:38 +0000

To all of you who are email subscribers:

We’ve moved the rest of this blog to our website so that we can bring you much more content and have more flexibility. You can find all the original postings, combined with our alaska blog here:

http://www.alaskainmydreams.com

What Is Termination Dust?

rvfulltimers — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:36:11 +0000

What Is Termination Dust? It is a dusting of the tops of the mountains with a very light snow when it rains in the lower levels. The rain freezes and makes something that looks like soft ice cream on top of the mountains. This means fall in Alaska is OVER. This film was made about 4 years ago and shows LOTS of termination dust for your enjoyment. (and relaxing music). You also learn the definition of a “sludge cup.”

Fluffy

rvfulltimers — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 04:21:07 +0000

I knew it was going to be early this year. The summer was rainy, overcast, and cold. And the fireweed barely bloomed at all.

Fall Is Here in Alaska ….oops! There It Goes

rvfulltimers — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:23:46 +0000

It doesn’t last long at all. Suddenly, this week all the trees turned all kinds of colors. And the leaves will be falling very quickly thereafter. We took a trip to the historic Independence Mine area near Palmer, Alaska. It was nippy (about 40 degrees) and breathtaking as always.

We made 3 more Alaska Bucket List films. Coming up!

Fall on the Matanuska River

Historic Buildings in the Independence Mine area

Moon over the Matanuska Valley

Sunset and Moon over Matanuska River

The Alaska Bucket List Part 1 and 2 – Things To Do in Southcentral Alaska

rvfulltimers — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 22:10:26 +0000

I try to keep a close eye on what people search for on this blog so that we can provide you with things you are looking for. Recently, a reader was searching for “Things to Do In Alaska In July.”

What a great opportunity! I love to make films, and this gives me the opportunity to make some films I may not get to make again. For the most part, I’m going to be filming new footage of my bucket list. These are places in Alaska that Dan and I feel you just cannot miss in southcentral Alaska. This is the area around Anchorage, Wasilla, the Kenai and Seward.

Enjoy!
Here’s Part 1 – the Introduction..

Lynne

Here’s Part 2: Eklutna Tailrace

What Does The Lack of Sun Do To You?

rvfulltimers — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:14:27 +0000

After living in Alaska for the past 9 years, I understand fully what the lack of sun does to me. I am sure it would do the same to other people. I’ve been thinking it over a lot the past week because after a summer that had 4 months of almost complete rain everyday, I am feeling grateful for the sun we’ve gotten lately.

This time of year normally is really rainy and depressing, but the past week (and this week coming up) has been nothing but sun and 60s. Guess we got a gift just before we get dumped on with our usual 70+ inches of snow.

I’ve tried the S.A.D. lamp, and I’ve tried Vitamin D supplements. The supplements gave me severe stomach aches, and the lamps are something you have to be consistent with. And the light has to go into your eyes, at least indirectly. So you have to sit and read and have your eyes at least facing the lamp.

Now when we have days like we have had recently, I just go driving. Everywhere. Doesn’t matter where. With no sunglasses and the sunroof open.

What does it feel like when you’re Vitamin D deprived? You feel like you want to sleep all the time, and you feel disoriented and cranky about every little thing.

So, if you’re feeling like you’ve been indoors too much lately – go! Drive, hike, camp. Take care of your body. It needs Vitamin D, and it needs a lot of it to store up in your tissues. This gets you through the winter.

We took the drives this weekend, and here’s what we saw.

Cute Mailboxes with Fall Foliage

Hiland Road's foliage is always ahead of ours because of its altitude

This mountain probably never lost its snow

(Note: click on panoramas to see full size)

Fireweed in its last days panorama

Hiland Road Eagle River Alaska panorama

Have never gotten this close to a porcupine to take a pic. This baby was so cute! He kept turning his back to me

Here’s a short film we did with information about S.A.D:

We Bow Down To You All and Two Places On Our Bucket List

rvfulltimers — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 19:45:52 +0000

I’ve been making a detailed Bucket List for our full-timing adventures, and there are two places on that list I must see. I thought about this a lot today while thinking of those who died in the September 11th tragedy. It reminded me of another tragedy on a Spring day in 1995 that I was so close to.

Having been a mile away from the Oklahoma City Bombing and then emotionally devastated by the 9/11 bombings like all other Americans, I wanted to post this as a dedication.
It is a commercial that Budweiser aired only once as a dedication to the people who died September 11, 2001.

Someday on our trip around the U.S. we will visit Ground Zero and put a white rose there. and the Oklahoma City Memorial at night. God Bless.

Here is my collection of 9/11 and Oklahoma City Bombing mementos, carefully saved on my hard drive all these years:

Oklahoma City Memorial

The Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial is one place on our full-timing adventure that I must also see. I’ve never been back there since I took pictures right after the devastation. They have built it into a beautiful museum and have developed a “Lessons Learned” part to their website that is intended to help those who have experienced tragedy. You can find the website here:

http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/

You’ve Got To Test It and Yourself First

rvfulltimers — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:06:23 +0000

I’ve been hearing a lot about people buying an RV one week and then setting out on their RV full-timing trip the next week. Now, this is just my opinion, but this might just be the worst idea ever. It doesn’t matter if your “new” RV is new or used, it is probably going to have some little things that need to be fixed. Setting out on your trip right away before making sure your systems are working is really risky.

After RVing for about 4 years total, we have gotten the chance to get used to all the systems in both of the RVs we’ve owned and were able to get it to the repair shop to get everything tuned up.

For the first year after you buy a new RV, you will have a 1 year warranty to get everything fixed. In the first year, you should camp more than any other time, and it is the best time to prepare you, your family, and your RV for the full-timing life.

This is just a little video I made talking about that. It is from our new series of Full-Timing videos as we get ready to take off for our new life. Hope it helps you in some way.
Greetings from Alaska!
Lynne

Mad At Me – Getting Your Pets Ready For Your Full-Timing Adventure

rvfulltimers — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:31:02 +0000

When you’re getting ready to go out on the road permanently as an RV full-timer, it is good to really have a lot of time to think things through and plan everything as much as possible.

We have been planning this really intensely for about 7 months, and we still have so many things we haven’t even thought of.

This especially includes your pets.

Pets can run into hundreds of things out on the road that could hurt them or kill them. This video is about being prepared by planning ahead for one of those things.

Starring my chihuahua “Hope” or “Hopie”

Other things that are good to plan for your pets are things like shots they may need (they’ll be around a lot of other dogs in campgrounds). Tags for their collars. Getting them chipped. Their health certificate if you’re going to cross back into the U.S. after being in Canada. These are just some of the things.

What I realized about full-timing, retirement and being together

rvfulltimers — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:57:34 +0000

Fall on Turnagain Arm, Alaska

My husband Dan and I have always been very independent. We always had our own vehicles and our own computer rooms and computers that we called ours.

We realized something today that I never thought about before. Full-timing in your RV and/or retirement from a career is a huge change for a couple. This is something I’ve talked to my counselor at the VA about because I am not sure exactly what to expect. It is starting to kind of sink in what it really means.

This weekend, we traded in two huge trucks for a small car that is going to be our “toad” (tow vehicle). See the previous post about dinghy towing. In the 12 years we’ve been married, we always had our own trucks or cars. We always used the expression of “My..this…or my that.”

I have noticed that when I see old married couples at RV parks how so in tune they seem to be. They are a quiet, comfortable pair of people who have merged their lives together and look in the same direction. You see them puttering around their campsite, taking care of little tasks. They just seem to know exactly what the other one is going to do.

This is HUGE step to take for a couple who has always been very independent and had their own careers. You suddenly (or gradually) put it all aside and merge as one person. How is this done? I have no earthly idea, but I am sure it is a process that develops as you go along.

If you’re considering full-timing, have you thought about how much time you’re really going to be spending together? What habits or idiosyncrasies are you willing to let go of in order to do that?

I’m still mulling this over a lot these days. I really look forward to finding out just how to do this. Though I’ve already been retired for 8 years because of an injury I got during my service in the military, I still have not completely retired with my spouse.

I am sure it is going to be interesting to find out what that will be like.

Happy Motoring!

Lynne