Sooo….we bought an RV last week!

Wait, what?

I thought we were going to leave in June…

Well, we went and did it. We bought ourselves an RV. We went to a place in Alvarado, TX last Wednesday and found an RV we were ok with. It had what we were looking for…it was a diesel, had a bed for everyone…it was a class C. But, it was kind of lacking in the size department. It didn’t have a washer/dryer, the refrigerator was on the smallish side, and to be totally honest…it was a little more than what we were wanting to spend. We ended up staying the night in Alvarado and going back the next day to look some more.  We were really set on getting a diesel so we didn’t even entertain the idea of looking at the Class A gas RV our sales guy, Justin, mentioned. He said it was perfect for us. It had everything we wanted but it was gas and not diesel. What model was it? It turns out it’s the same model that another RV dealership mentioned to us on the way to Alvarado the day before. I should mention here, that there’s not many Class A models that have both a bunkhouse and a bed over the drivers cab. They’re pretty darn rare. So, after we made Justin drag us all over that RV dealership (it was huge!!) and we were about to give up I asked to see the gas model he had mentioned. I was curious. Two different sales guys from two different stores brought it up so it was worth a look, right? We walked in it and thought…oh, this is perfect! But it’s not diesel. I happen to know a very fine mechanic (hi Dad!), so I started asking him questions about it. The final verdict was that this absolutely-perfect-for-us class A gas RV would work. It’s not going to be the powerhouse we were hoping for, but it will pull our 4Runner and get us where we want to go. It was the last one of these they had on the lot. The next year’s model was getting ready to come in and the price was going to jump back up to a level we were trying to avoid. So, we bought it! Why not?! We’re not ready at all, but hey, this whole trip is supposed to be about adventure, right?! The dealership did the paperwork in record time, got our new home ready to go and out the door we went!

We ended up leaving the dealership around 6PM with about a five hour drive ahead of us.  For those of you who know me, you know this was not something I wanted to do. I really hate to drive and driving at night is my worst nightmare. You can see in the picture I snapped that it was already getting dark as we were pulling out of the dealership. It got dark pretty quickly and I spent a long six hours following behind our new house.

Here’s the layout of our new home! Pretty snazzy, right?! Look at all of that room! Don’t worry, I won’t be offended if you’re asking yourself, what room? It’s actually pretty roomy and the best feature…my absolute favorite thing about our new home…it has two full bathrooms!! Two! Not one and a half, but two FULL bathrooms!! I don’t really have a good shot of the outside. I’ll get one and post it up for everyone to see. I did get one of the five of us in front of it while we were at the dealership.

I know, I know… it’s really early to buy an RV when we’re not leaving until June. That’s why we’re rushing around like maniacs trying to get everything organized and ready to go. I’ve got boxes and piles in every room. Piles for storage, piles for donation, piles for our moving sale, and piles to go with us. I’m paranoid I’m going to mess up and get rid of a pile that is supposed to either go to storage or go to the RV. We keep looking out the window to make sure the RV is still there. It’s always there, right where we left it.

Well, I’ve got about a million things to do, but I wanted to update everyone on the new development!

See y’all down the road!

Those of you who really know me, know how much I love my books. My books are as much a part of me as my green eyes and short legs. I’ve known for over a year now that I would have to pack up all of my books and store them. It’s been over a year that I’ve had time to come to grips with the fact that I would be living without a single actual book while we’re on our most excellent adventure. It was still so hard to pack them all up though. My books are like breath for my soul. They’re old friends I frequently visit. So, when I taped up that last box full of books…it was a little emotional. I’m not gonna lie…it was hard. I kept thinking…maybe I’ll just sneak in a few, but when you’re packing up your life and downsizing to an RV every single ounce counts. The few books we’re taking are all educational and go with the fifty states workbook I made for the boys. We all have kindles…It’s not as though we’ll be completely without books to read…it’s just…there’s something so right about an actual, in your hands, book.  I keep reminding myself they’re fine. They’re nicely packed. They’ll be in a controlled environment storage facility.

I’ll be fine.

Really.

Out of everything in our house the hardest things for me to leave are my books and my pictures. I hadn’t really thought about leaving my pictures. I’m a bit of a picture-holic. Ok, more than a bit…more like a lot. Pictures for me are like little memories frozen in time. I don’t always have the best memory so looking at old pictures is kind of like a walk down memory lane. It’s amazing how many little details I forget over the years. And yes, while many of my pictures are digital now and can easily come with us, there’s a good portion that aren’t. The hardest ones to leave behind are the ones on my walls that we had taken over the years and don’t have digital copies of. I have three particular ones in mind. They’re 16X20s of each boy on their first birthday. While I’m determined to have a few of my favorite pictures come with us and hang somehow on the walls of our new home (RV), I just don’t see that happening with three 16X20s.

While these things are (I’ll admit) trivial, they’re big things to me. My books and my photos have kind of defined who I am for so long. It’s hard to leave them behind, but it’s also kind of freeing. I get to find out who I am without them. Maybe I’ll discover a new passion or rediscover an old passion. I guess we’ll find out!

What things would be the hardest for you to leave behind?

See y’all down the road?