Life in the trailer

It is becoming apparent that we are going to be able to survive living in close quarters!  Yahoo to that, otherwise we'd have issues.  It helps that there are daily walks to take and trips to make to school or the store.  We don't feel like we are camping, but living in an apartment.  There are times when we are tripping over the dog, a stool or shoes, so cleaning up is a must.  This is how we celebrate birthdays (Happy 10th b-day Alex!), no baking required!

Donut cake

We are eager to actually begin the adventure we have focused on starting and it is coming very soon.  Our departure from Oceanside, CA is on June 14th.  We will travel to LA area to be with family for a couple of days, then make our way to Salem.  We are not really planning any extended outings on the road for this leg of the trip, but speeding our way to Salem to enjoy spending time with our Michigan family who will be in town when we arrive.  We'll make our way to their neck of the woods sometime during our road trips, maybe even staying for a bit!
It is with bittersweet goodbyes that we leave the San Diego area.  We are leaving our long-time friends (who will visit us in various locations we hope!), leaving our new friends from school, and work friends.  I finished my last work day in Oceanside, and am now on a 2 week vacation before I start work again in Oregon.  The boys are excited to be starting their last week of school with the many end-of-year activities going on.  We are wrapping up this chapter of our lives it seems.
So packing it all back in is the name of the game now, we hope it all fits back in to all the nook and crannies of the trailer.  There are many unknowns as we finally start out, but that is all part of the adventure.  Here we go!......

Saying bye to all my friends

     Hi this is Alex and i just want to say to all my friends that you guys were the best friends i have ever had!  Here's to Sam, Jared, Trevor, Mason and Issac, I had a fun time with you all.  I also want to thank Mr.Little for a wonderful year.  Please comment and I will try to reply.  See ya!

Our first pick is....

SALEM, OR

We have made a choice of where my first nursing assignment will be.  We wanted to go to Oregon for a few reasons.  First, it's close to family (here we come Uncle Danny, Aunt Janet and Rosemary!), second the summer months should be really nice, third I have a nursing license in that state and fourth we haven't spent much time there and want to go exploring new places!
There were a couple of places we wanted in Oregon, but because of our behemoth of a trailer (hence C.O.W.), we were limited on what RV parks could accommodate us.  We were given options like Hood River, Seaside, Newport, Lebanon, Kalamath Falls and Baker City.  There are so many places to go!  I did a phone interview with a position in Salem, and got it really quick, so here is where it will begin for us.  My assignment will be for 13 weeks which should give us a good time frame to taste what Oregon has to offer (Andre hopes there's Cheeseburgers!).  We are looking forward to traveling all over when I'm not working.  We've got to start planning these adventures!
Meanwhile, we are continuing to enjoy our trailer lifestyle.  Recently, we had the pleasure to have our neighbors help us out.  Alex is learning the guitar, and our RV neighbor just happened to mention that he plays.  Coincidence???  Our friendly neighbor taught Alex some chords and played with him the other night as well as gave us a taste of Karaoke.  We hope the others in the RV resort didn't mind the flat-tuned songs that were sung by the Grosdidier's.    It was the stereotypical camping-nighttime-neighborly-activity-(with electricity)! (Thanks Bill and Lisa!).  We hope that Alex will be jamming soon, and you never know who we might meet while on the road!

Kind of hard to see, but it's Alex and Bill

Still here in CA

We are all getting used to living in closer quarters.  We have adjusted to turning off the water to lather up when taking a shower, making sure that we flush with enough water, and ensure that the holding tanks are empty!  There haven't been many mishaps of living in a trailer yet.  Yes, it rocks when someone walks around and you are trying to sleep (wink wink!) or the oven is often too hot and the cookies end up getting burned.  We are having our normal functions of household life though, so there is comfort in knowing that no matter what we are in, we can still put our mark on it and have the familiarity of sticks and bricks living.  Having a back area with a closed door makes it easier for the boys to play their games or enjoy the back patio and sunshine and it closes them off to us and their noise!.  We are still getting used to where everything is that we have placed in the trailer.  There just isn't enough room for the things you need to put in the right spots (Wine is in the bedroom...where else?).  The boys say that we need to make a map so we know where we have stashed things!
Living in the RV resort has been good so far.  We have met some interesting people who have shared their travel experiences with us.  The ebb and flow of the RV resort is interesting too, always giving us a reason to take a stroll around to check out new rigs and see who has recently vacated or come into the resort.  We are spending our days taking the dog for a long walks, as well as getting the kids to/from school and me to/from work (done on a scooter!). Being so close to the beach, we taking a lot of walks right beside the beach and catching some beautiful sunsets.  There are parrots that come out in the morning and evening which catch our attention by their awkward sounding squawks.  There must be an apartment nearby that houses them. 

Beautiful California Sunset!

We have been eye-ing some potential travel nursing positions in Oregon for our first long stop on our journey which should begin the end of June, or beginning of July.  I am hoping that by next week I will hear more about who needs what and where/when, so I can apply for some of these jobs.  We still have a month left here in Oceanside before we depart, still waiting for school to finish for the boys.  All of us are eager to get this adventure on the road!

See you on the road!

It's begun....

Welcome to Oceanside, CA at Paradise by the Sea!
We've moved into the trailer with all our household goods! (Holy ****!)  We can't believe how much stuff we had and how much we've had to cram into every nook and cranny in our trailer.  It took us 2.5 days to get it loaded.  We have gone from 2500 sq ft, 3 bed/2.5 bath, 2 story into a 43 ft trailer, maybe 430 sq ft!  We have more than I'm sure we need, but it's hard getting rid of so much at one time.  We will be leaving a trail of our journey with our things we decided to off-load along the way!
So, our move went pretty smooth.  We must have secured everything well because nothing fell down on us when we opened cabinets.  We got the RV spot we wanted (the biggest one!), and our set-up went well.  Most importantly, everything works and we are level!  The boys have their set-up in the back with a bean bag, recliner chairs, bed, music and the Wii.

Our site! (see 'da train tracks)

It feels like we are camping at this point.  Maybe tomorrow will be different as I have to go to work and the boys have school.  We will be here until June 16th enjoying the many amenities the RV resort has to offer.  The boys are loving the office area where the pool/hot tub, and Wii game center is.  The beach is just under the train tracks and across the street.  The trains have been tolerable so far, and will hopefully turn into "white noise".  Although a freight train went by last night and it felt like an earthquake!  In a couple of days we should have sunny/warm weather to enjoy the beach being just out our door.

This is a great place to begin the first part of our journey, yet close enough to where we came from, it allows us to ease into our new "normal". 

Cozy quarters

Thinning out

We have been getting rid of, selling, donating or boxing up our house.  It is echoing in every room, so I guess we've done a good job.  There is still so much that we want/need to take with us, but I feel like there will not be enough room!  I am comforted by the thought that we aren't "on the road" yet, because there are going to be many issues to work out before we "go"(which will be mid-June).  It is only 10 days until we are in our trailer permanently!  We've been waiting for this for a while now, and with the excitement of trying something new, the anticipation of issues are surfacing.  I've sent out postcards with our new information and am trying to change all bills and mailings to our new address or going "green".  You would think that I've got this down after 12 moves!
Jason has done some building in the trailer already for additional storage and shelves which is difficult due to lack of room and weight issues.  The walls which are made of the thinnest wood can really only hold sticky hooks.  There will be much more to be modified once we are all living in it daily.  We've been taking the trailer out of storage 1-2 times a week to put more stuff in or to build, so Jason is getting really good at towing and backing it into a parking space.  I'm getting more used to it too.

Second time....

We have been waiting weeks to get our trailer back from the dealership.  They finally figured out what went wrong with our hydraulic lifts, and fixed things.  Thank goodness this happened so soon after getting the trailer and not on the road yet.  The second time picking it up, all went well.  We made sure they pushed every button and things did what they should do when you push that button.
Pulling the trailer for the second time around, was not a big deal as the first time (at least not for me, I'm the one writing...:)).  We had to put the trailer in storage for a few days until we were ready to take it out for it's maiden voyage.  Wow, there are some tight spaces the storage place wants you to get your 43 ft 5th wheel backed into.  We had to change spots, it was just too tight.  And even if we got it in, what about getting it out again without taking out the support beams?!!  Jason, has some patience let me tell you.....
Our first trip was planned for Spring vacation.  We wanted to be in good weather to check things out and see how well everything worked, and if we remembered how to do it all.  We traveled 1 1/2 hrs south to Borrego Springs, south of Palm Springs.  The road there was the curviest and steepest, what a great start on this voyage!  90* turns and 8% grade (aptly named Montezuma Rd.)  Jason is a great driver; I was holding on to the door handle and shifting my weight with each turn.

It was hot, we were in heaven!

The Springs at Borrego is an RV park, with high ratings.  Well kept grounds, washing room, plenty of showers/bathrooms, pool, rec rooms, gym, and best of all a 9-hole golf course.  

The first day, we set up, everything worked, or we got it to work.  The air conditioning units work really well!  That night, being in the desert, we saw the most amazing star-studded night sky.  I could've laid out in my chair star-gazing for hours!

Day 2, we thought we'd take a drive to Palm Springs, only to find out that it's almost a 2 hour drive!  Oh well, back to the RV park and into the pool!  We did drive past some amazing metal sculptures of a dragon, camel, scorpian, and field workers.  All this in the middle of the desert plains.  Very interesting.  

Day 3 we took a road trip to the Salton Sea, hearing about it from time to time from Huell Howser or Anthony Bourdain.  Let's just say, we drove, we saw, we turned around and went back to the RV park.  A very interesting history, but nothing to see presently.  As Andre said, "the highlight of the Salton Sea was the bright yellow high school we drove by".    

Back at the RV park, we were gearing up for some golf!

We all had fun, but definitely need more practice.  Thank goodness it was in the early afternoon and business on the course was dying down, there were only a couple of people behind us, who played through.  The boys had more fun driving the golf carts than actually playing the game.  

After getting there, getting back home was a breeze.  The drive went well, but I couldn't bring myself to  read my book or any of the manuals I brought with me; I kept watching out the rearview mirrors at how close we were to the edge of the road, and of course, leaning in my seat!

Living full-time in the trailer will be hard, but we will get used to it and used to dealing with having less things around us.  There are some modifications we would like to make, but none that need to be done right now (another air conditioner, make the microwave a convection microwave, take out a cabinet, etc.)  There are a lot of hooks to get placed and shelves to be made, which is all hard considering you are nailing into thin particle board.   (Thank you Uncle Joel for your words of wisdom about gearing ourselves up for trailer living!) 

At home, we are getting rid of, storing, or selling on craigslist.  We are counting down the days (25!), until we need to be out of the house and set-up for living in the trailer full-time.  Things to do list seems daunting, however also freeing and keeps us moving in the right direction.  Speaking of direction, we are planning to  make our first trip to Oregon, somewhere between Portland and Salem.  When we have further information, we will post it.  We have our Texas address and will be mailing out information cards soon.  

Our 4-legged family member joining us on our adventure, Elwood!