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Will's 5 Fun Facts About RV Trips

7/26/2018

8 Comments

 
Hello to all! I thought I would do 5 fun facts about RV trips. Everybody likes fun facts! So here they are:

1- "I gotta go to the bathroom" is a lot harder than normal. Instead of zipping into a Chick-Fil-A, using their bathroom, grabbing a milkshake, then zipping back onto the highway, we have to find a pit stop with a large parking lot, like a rest area, use the bathroom, and carefully merge back onto the highway. (There aren't even good milkshakes at rest areas!)

2- Taking turns is a lot harder in a fifth wheel. Not only are sharp turns out of the question, but roundabouts too! The last thing you want to see up ahead is a road block. Talk about a 180! 

3- "Too tall to ride." Not many of us have heard that before! But the RV is 13' 6", and we can't fit it under low bridges. Luckily there are apps that tell us where the low clearances are! My mom bought a trucker's road map that tells which roads are and aren't safe for tall vehicles. 

4- Keep all RV windows closed when driving! Thankfully, the window didn't get damaged, but we had to pull over, and I had to climb and squeeze my way through the compressed RV to close it. Remember, we have 4 slides which slide in when we're on the road. 

5- The RV has it's own set of brakes! When we hook up to the truck, the RV brakes are controlled by the driver. If the fifth wheel is pulling us back, then my dad will loosen the brakes, and if it's pushing us forward, he'll tighten them.

I hope you've enjoyed the 5 fun facts about RV traveling! Stay tuned for The New Itinerary!                                                              
8 Comments

Taking it for Granite

7/14/2018

23 Comments

 
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What a great week at Stone Mountain that was! Our campsite was quite close to the lake in front of the mountain. You couldn't directly see the mountain from our site, but a short walk would take you to a breathtaking view. We went to the recreational part of the park for a 2 days, drove to the grist mill and walked around, learned about the quarry, and had good times at the campsite itself.  

​When we arrived at the amusement park type part of Stone Mountain, we had a blast! Nate went on all three levels of the SkyHike ropes course
and climbed the 25 foot tall rock wall four times! Great job Nate! We enjoyed the eighteen hole adventure mini-golf tremendously. What we think to be a new addition to the park was a 50’ inflatable obstacle course, in which four people race through trying to jump on their mat at the end first. (The mat stopped the timer.) This course came with ups and downs, as I got smacked in the nose by a runaway vertical beam, and Beth got 2 large rubber burns. Player beware! Another hit was the train. This was a great break from the hot day, but was still interactive with all ages. 

We were so excited to see a giant Connect Four game this trip! It was outside the "Marketplace", the restaurant near the train station. We saw it on the first day at the "amusement park" part of Stone Mountain. If you don't know, we chose the name Connecting Four because we realized we needed to connect more with each other, and connect more with God. You can see what we did with it in the slideshow below!

The grist mill, which included a small splashing area in the creek, was fun for all of us. The older three of us enjoyed learning about the mill, and Nate enjoyed playing in the creek. The joke of the week was the sign at the grist mill, which you can see below. We also visited the Carillon Bells, which are played by a lady every Saturday and Sunday. She's been doing it for 40 years!

Both sets of grandparents visited us at the campsite, and we had lunch with them. Beth's parents came on Wednesday, and Ash's parents came on Friday. It was a blast!
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Our new griddle works great, and we had a great breakfast of pancakes and bacon that was cooked on it.

Our one problem was the leveling. The campsite upon which our RV sat was not very level. Thus, our jacks pushed the RV up too high, and two of our wheels were off the ground. For those of you who don’t know much about RVs, this is not good at all for the jacks. We finally fixed the problem with leveling blocks! They look a bit like Legos.

A few fun facts about Stone Mountain: Stone Mountain is the largest piece of exposed granite in the world, 
and it stretches for over 12 and 1/2 miles underground!

This trip was very nice. We went adventurous with the SkyHike and rock wall, and we relaxed with a short hike around the grist mill. We had a great time with grandparents, and we ate a great breakfast on the new griddle. Enjoy the slide show below!
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Top Ten - Lessons from Ash

7/11/2018

26 Comments

 
So after 5 weeks into our RV adventure, let me share my Top 10 list of what I’ve learned so far:

  1. RV living requires a wide span of knowledge across a variety of topics. Electricity, plumbing, HVAC, gas/propane, vehicle maintenance/safety, etc. I’m no stranger to being conversant across a variety of topics in a business or social setting ; however, the range of questions and considerations in RV living is staggering and never just one or even two dimensional. My regular slate of questions now consists of “how full is my black tank, is my fifth wheel level or why isn’t it level, what was that noise, where else can we critter proof our RV, what is that smell, do I need to torque my lug nuts, what kind of torque wrench do I really need, which way do I turn to make the RV go the way I need it to, can I fit in that space?....the list is endless and yet I find great pleasure in knowing this is how the term Renaissance Man came into existence centuries ago. ​
  2. Owning a diesel truck with six wheels has been critical to our early wins in our journey. After much consideration, we landed on a F-350 to pull our fifth wheel. 16,000+ lbs of RV weight requires a serious tow vehicle and our dually has not and will not disappoint. I am blown away by its sheer power and feeling of reassurance that gives me on the road. ​
  3. Cooking with propane - what’s not to love? We just bought a 22” Blackstone griddle and I LOVE it...I can absolutely see us cooking many breakfasts, lunches and dinners on this thing over the next year. I’ve always enjoyed cooking and this is especially exciting for me to use this adventure as a learning lab for experimentation and sharpening skills.
  4. Dump Stations or Sewage Hookups are a necessary evil. This one had me most concerned when we first decided on taking this adventure (picture Robin Williams in the hilariously funny movie “RV”). After all, we’ve always had indoor plumbing where nothing like this was ever seen or dealt with on the back end. Early lessons on this one- recruit Will to help , wear good disposable gloves, move quickly but not carelessly, recruit Will to help (did I mention that?), try and get sites with sewage hookup AT our future campsites.
  5. I married very well (worst kept secret on earth). Beth has been amazing on getting us organized and setting up our new home in a way that makes it feel warm and really like home. From the arrival and departure checklists (indoor and outdoor) to the hooks, rods, shelves and baskets to store all of our stuff, she is organizing us in a way I could only dream of...I am grateful because I have zero sense about outfitting and decorating a tiny house (barely much more sense for this in our larger home).
  6. My kids think it is a weekend day , every day....my wife might too. I’ve lost track of days and since I am not regularly working, the boys think every day could be a weekend day. I find that my sense of purpose and success on a daily basis has certainly shifted from a largely corporate setting to an exclusively family setting. I need to remember that this is a unique and temporary moment in time so I need to savor every day with Beth, Will and Nate.
  7. Life is slower...even though we’ve not pushed off officially yet. There’s something to be said about managing a 400 square foot home, not sitting in work traffic, not traveling through an airport, being able to cook, eat, clean up and not worry about getting to the next activity, practice or meeting.
  8. People living the RV lifestyle are very friendly and quite helpful. No crazies yet...everyone we’ve met so far has been extremely supportive, encouraging and helpful to us newbies. From our neighbors at the RV parks to the park managers themselves, we’re finding that RV campers are a pretty good bunch of people. We’re connected in to a couple of private Facebook groups with fellow RV travelers and owners and they’ve been equally helpful and encouraging to us at the beginning of our journey.
  9. Living in tight quarters has been much better than I had expected. The boys each have their own respective areas and of course, Beth and I have our own bedroom. That said, each of us is finding our way in making sure we are not on top of each other as a course of our daily life. Ask me about this when we get to a place where it rains several days in a row...😀
  10. God continues to show up at every turn. He has not only provisioned for us to pursue this dream, but He also knows what we need as a family and the timing of when we need it. Despite a series of unexpected delays that have kept us in Atlanta a little longer than we wanted, we are still confident of His sequence and timing of activities for this adventure.
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26 Comments

The First Journey

7/5/2018

15 Comments

 
     After a slight break following the purchase of our RV, we decided to take a short trip to Cartersville, GA for about a week. Will and Nate stayed at Beth's parent's house for the first 2 days while Ash and Beth took an RV driving class in Kennesaw, GA. The boys joined them after the class was finished. Upon arrival at the KOA Journey campground in Cartersville, we were highly impressed with the facilities, which included a pool, playground, basketball hoop, horseshoe pit, corn hole boards and a volleyball net. We enjoyed these immensely. Our joke of the week was a sign in the campground which stated, "Speed Limit 4.92 mph. Strictly Enforced." Gulp. 
     We also took a day trip to the Tellus Science Museum, which was less than ten minutes of a drive from the campground. It was a lot of fun! Everything from astronomy and geology, to the replica of the first car to be able to drive in reverse was there. Will's favorite part was the transportation exhibit, especially the space travel area.
     Ash's school friend Mitch and his wife Lori had just opened a restaurant called Honeysuckle Biscuits and Bakery in Kennesaw, and we attended the grand opening. Amazing food all around! We were so glad we got to be a part of the beginning of their adventure.
     Hey, while we're in the RV, we might as well try out our new oven, washer and dryer, and TV! We had a difficult time lighting the gas oven, but once lit, it worked like a charm. The pork tenderloin was delicious.
    Another highlight of the trip was the friendliness of the neighbors around us. We had some very kind ones! The campsite hosts were also quite friendly and helpful. Something we have heard and are now learning is how friendly people are in the RV community.
     Overall, our first trip was a fun experience. We tried out new features in the Solitude and met new people. We learned about rocks and stars at the Tellus Museum and enjoyed the amenities of the KOA campground. We hope to have more experiences like this soon! Stay tuned!
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Picnic lunch under the awning!

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The ribbon cutting at Honeysuckle Biscuits and Bakery was fantastic!
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Will and Nate at the Tellus Museum next to a real space shuttle tire!
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Nate playing in the kid's section at the Tellus Museum.
15 Comments

    Author

    Will is 15, and enjoys running track, writing,
    building with Legos, making movies, fixing things, and hanging out with his family.

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