Category: The State We’re In

WheRVe we been? Our travels, 1st quarter 2022

We were in only two places, but one of them was way more than one place, we did not get there by RV, and we lived for two months out of two carry-on roller bags and two backpacks — which makes us two crazies!

It was Mexico.
Mexico is way more than one place.

January ~ Texas

We began 2022 the same way we ended 2021, as guests on a friend’s property in Boerne, TX, helping out around the place to earn our keep. And because we unexpectedly bought a truck camper and had to pack and prepare for two months in Mexico, we spent most of January dealing — rather giddily, I must say — with both of those things.

Our fleet
Tex, the 2018 DRV Mobile Suites 38KSSB
Road Island, the 2013 Lance 1050S

February & March ~ Mexico

First, let me disabuse you of the notion that we packed suitcases and flew to Mexico to make our way around on our own. We are brave enough to do that, mind you, but that wasn’t our method for this trip.

Instead, we had places to land, and knowledgeable and experienced guides — specifically, Tim’s parents, who have been spending winters in Mexico since long before I joined the family 30 years ago. We traveled together with them, and also used their expertise to seek out adventures of our own, and it was the perfect blend of reliance and independence for our first lengthy international sojourn.

(Plus, this wasn’t our first trip to Mexico. We’ve flown down for brief visits over the years, walked across the border for dentistry, and even driven to the northern Baja in an RV caravan.)

We spent our first month on the mainland, in Ajijic, an hour’s drive south of Guadalajara, on the northern shore of Lake Chapala. From there, we also took a 10-day road trip with Tim’s parents to the towns of San Miguel de Allende, Angangueo, Valle de Bravo, and Pátzcuaro. Here’s the month in brief: food, people, landscape, architecture.

  • Leg 1: San Antonio to Guadalajara
  • Road trip starting and ending in Ajijic

We spent our second month on the Baja, in San Jose del Cabo, where several members of Tim’s family gathered for a mini-reunion. All the cousins, siblings, in-laws, out-laws, etc. had flown back to their homes by the 10th, so Tim & I had the rest of the month (and the condo!) to ourselves. Here’s another little taste for you.

  • Leg 2: Guadalajara to San Jose del Cabo
  • We went on a road trip from there too.
  • On March 31, back to TX we flew.

We liked this interlude so much that we intend to make it a winter habit. Maybe not next year, and probably not every year, but the more we explored Mexico, the more we wanted to explore, and the more comfortable we became with the idea of doing so on our own. The weather is fantastic, the tacos are cheap, the people are welcoming, and quite honestly, spending two months hopping around between inns, apartments and condos that someone else has to maintain? Pure gold. Respite we didn’t even know we needed.

Wait. Only 2 carry-ons each? EACH?

Pack less, do more.

We stayed in 12 different places, and went on two road trips (one of which crammed 4 adults in a small sedan) so being able to pack quickly and lightly was a necessity.

I won’t bore you with my detailed list, but I will tell you it was a challenge packing for two different climates. We needed winter clothes for part of our February visit to the mainland, during which we spent a week at elevations of 7,000-10,000 feet. Didn’t wear any of those the second month, on the Baja, but then my bathing suit, shorts and tank tops didn’t exactly make it out of the suitcase during that chilly first month.

  • What we took on the plane from San Antonio
  • My suitcase…
  • … and my backpack/purse
  • Made it through with only 2 pairs of shoes!
  • All my clothing, hats, electronics, and toiletries

Yes, there’s a third suitcase in that first picture. The blue one on the left contained items Tim’s parents had requested, as they’d already been in Ajijic since November, and shipping from the states is expensive and unpredictable. It was easier for us to fill a bag and check it — and then donate it to a charity resale shop before leaving Mexico.

Where to next?

We’re currently back at the ranch, preparing to take Road Island (the truck camper), into the upper right corner for the summer. First stop is in northern VA for a wedding at the end of this month, then we’ll travel through the northeastern states, including stops in the four we need to complete our RVing map of the Lower 48 (DE, NJ, RI, CT). Might even throw in a roll through the Canadian Maritimes if time and border policies allow.

As per our typical practice, we’ve made almost no reservations, and have only a vague mental outline of where we want to be and when. We are aware of the risks. But in nearly 7 years of full-time travel, we’ve never found ourselves homeless, even in Tex (our 41′ fifth wheel), even in northern states in the summertime.

Sorry if I’ve made you Capital-P Planners cringe. I just can’t do it your way, any more than you could switch to mine, so it’s a good thing we can all still enjoy sitting around the campfire together, swapping stories, sipping our beverages of choice, and by the way can I pet your dog?

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.

WheRVe we been? Our travels, 4th quarter 2021

December sunset on our friend’s property near Boerne, TX, our current home

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.

We spent the first few nights of October dry camping at a nondescript county fairgrounds complex in OR, just killing time until our next reservation.
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.

  • There were 7 of us this year. Blurry photo deliberately chosen to protect the tipsy.
  • Having a fire pit at your rental house is a good way to learn which of your friends are pyros.
  • This year’s theme: mermaids
  • And here’s Tim’s view of the hills at Hill. Autumn leaves and snow at the same time!

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.
Our friend, Dan, created this clever trailer-style video to capture the feel of the Hangout in one perfect minute.

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.
Have to admit it. That man I married looks pretty damn happy with ranch life.

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.

  • Yellow
  • Molly
  • Ghost
  • Brownie
  • Gracie
  • Penny (with Gracie on the table trying to look taller)

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.