As the sun sets on this year, we are looking toward a 2022 in which we will not be full-time RVers.
Eyebrows down. It’s really not as dramatic as all that.
We’re not coming off the road; we’re just exploring it via alternate means for a couple of months, and I’ll get to that in the “Where to next” section, I promise. No clickbait here — just a little suspense.
Let’s start like we usually do, with a map of our travels since the last quarterly update.
From there, we traveled to UT, then NM, then TX, where we’ve been since Nov. 1.
RV miles traveled this quarter: about 2360
(Map does not reflect exact routing.)
Utah/Virginia ~ October 4-14
Tim and the RV babysat each other at Hill AFB, while I flew to coastal VA for my 27th (mostly) annual girlfriends’ weekend — at which no babysitters are allowed even though there is no actual adult in charge. We eat, drink, and spend too much, don’t sleep enough, laugh until we pee, and regret nothing.
Hobbs, NM ~ October 18 to November 1
The minute registration opened for the Escapees Habitat for Humanity Hangout back in June, my fingers were on the keyboard. Two weeks of construction work for the greater good? Sign us the hell up and take our money.
There were two main projects at the affiliate in Hobbs. Not only did Hangout attendees get the home building experience that everyone pictures when they think of Habitat for Humanity, but we also helped move the ball significantly forward on renovating a recently purchased church building into their new multi-purpose headquarters (offices, meeting spaces, and a ReStore) — all of which will help further their mission and benefit the Hobbs community.
Many of us learned entirely new skills: tiling, mudding & taping, hanging drywall, reading blueprints, framing and standing up walls, and more. We also had a team of kitchen volunteers who prepared and served hearty hot lunches, the cost of which was budgeted into our Hangout fees, on most work days.
It was emotional, exhausting, and gratifying, and in addition to bonding with so many new friends, we all have an open invitation to return to Hobbs on our own, park our RVs, and raise our hammers any time we want to put in a few days or weeks of work.
Hangouts Director Rob delivered the orientation and safety briefing. 
New tees! Yay! We are forever rotating out the old ratty ones. 
Tim inspecting the drywall 
Me on Day 1 of mudding & taping. My skills had improved somewhat by Day 5, but I have to admit it’s not a favorite. 
When we arrived, the concrete slab hadn’t even been poured. Ten days later? This. 
The whole crew beside the duplex we helped raise. (photo: D. Knowles) 
A Habitat tradition: writing prayers and good wishes in the walls. 
The family gets to read the messages before the drywall is hung over the many blessings, each one a permanent reminder of loving, helping hands.
Texas ~ November 1 to present
We spent a week at one of the crown jewels of the Texas State Parks system, Palo Duro Canyon, which is near Amarillo. But… the black tank valve got stuck, necessitating a multi-day, messy and expensive repair effort, leaving us with only one day to go on a hike, on which we got separated, and Tim spent an hour searching for me because I thought he’d know I’d return to the truck, but it turns out he didn’t know that at all. We are almost to the someday of “someday we’ll look back at this and laugh.”
After that, we rolled onto a friend’s ranch property near charming Boerne, TX, and other than two brief side trips, we’ve been here ever since. From here, it takes us only 40-60 minutes to get where we need to go in San Antonio to visit family, doctors and dentists, plus we get scenic views and quiet nights, with almost no traffic on our little ranch road.
We really hadn’t expected to be here this long (our original plan involved spending more of this winter boondocking in the desert), but lengthy gaps between follow-up appointments are keeping us anchored to San Antonio through January. Thankfully, the issues are merely pesky and not serious, and we’re near tons of family, friends, tacos and margaritas, so what’s not to love?
Tim on the trail at Palo Duro Canyon while I could still see him… 
… and me on the trail while he could still see me. Sigh. 
Home, home on the ranch, where sometimes there are cows in that field behind us. 
An extra thankful Thanksgiving: both of our sons were with us for the first time in nearly 4 years. 
A side trip to Canyon Lake brought peaceful views… 
… and Christmas dinner with friends, most of whom we’d met at the Habitat Hangout in October. (photo: D. Knowles) 
Glad tidings from my Frosty the Dough Man, a Christmas potluck hit.
And then there were the dogs
As I was reviewing photos for this post, I realized we got to give lots of ear scruffles and lap snuggles over the past three months. Here. You can meet them all too.
Where to next?
Did you think I’d forgotten that thing I said up there about not being full-time RVers in 2022? It’s true. We’re leaving the truck and RV here on the ranch and flying to Mexico for two months — at least, that is the plan unless things become utterly f*cked by the continuing pandemic, in which case I might not be writing the quarterly update I expect to write come April 1.
But if it happens, we’ll be spending February on the mainland near Guadalajara, and March on the Baja near Cabo. I’d love to tell you more, but in our typical “meh, it’ll all work out” fashion, all we’ve got locked in so far are our one-way tickets to Guadalajara on Feb. 1, which leaves me with just one thing left to say.
Hasta la vista. Maybe?
We started full-timing in August of 2015, but I didn’t think to do an annual review until the end of 2016, and it was just a listing on Facebook of places we’d visited. After that, I started using a quarterly format.
- 3Q 2021
- 2Q 2021
- 1Q 2021
- 4Q 2020
- 3Q 2020
- 2Q 2020
- 1Q 2020
- 4Q 2019
- 3Q 2019
- 2Q 2019
- 1Q 2019
- 4Q 2018
- 3Q 2018
- 2Q 2018
- 1Q 2018
- 4Q 2017 (doubles as 3rd installment of our Amazon Camperforce write-up)
- 3Q 2017
- 2Q 2017
- 1Q 2017
- 2016
