Tale of Two Blogs

Chronicles of our travels through Bend, Crescent, stunning Crater Lake and on to Roseburg can be found at Bullwinkle's Travels.

Yeah, for right now anyway, we're keeping these two blogs separate. Bullwinkle's Travels is about the places we go. We think of it as our travel blog. The Great RV Escape is about what we're doing: fulltiming. 

This will be the place where we tell you the honest to goodness truth about life on the road. Throughout our fulltiming preparations, I remember devouring each and every fulltimer's blog I could find. I had interest in the sights they were seeing, of course. But, what I really wanted to get the scoop on was how it was to be a fulltimer. So, for those of you with a unquenchable thirst for inside info about this lifestyle, this is your place. We'll provide links to Bullwinkle's Travels from time to time so you can check in on the places we go. And, if you're more interested in where we go than how we're living, that's OK, too. Bullwinkle's Travels is the perfect place for you. 

Is maintaining two blogs a little nuts? Maybe. But, heck. For once, we have the time! If we could do this when we were toasty workaholics we can definitely do it now.

That said, the topics for this blog are piling up. There's so much to share! Now that we're here in Port Orford for more than just a couple of nights, I'm eager to catch up.

Much more very soon.

Revelations

Now that we're fulltimers, and we're no longer employed, we figured it was time to reveal our true identities. Boris and Natasha are actually Paul and Mary. And, while our RV is named Bullwinkle and our toad is named Rocky and that all seems to fit perfectly, we must warn you. Our first cat's name was Peter. So, when it comes to Peter, Paul and Mary, we've been there, done that and definitely have the t-shirt.

Our trip from Mt. Shasta to Bend was eventless. Just the way we like them. That said, we did have a wee bit of excitement as we followed the mapquest directions off the highway rather than the handy dandy directions provided on the RV park's website. And, guess what? That was a big mistake!

We were 1/2 mile from our lovely RV park when we came upon an overpass that stated a sign with 12 feet, 10 inches of clearance. 

Uh huh. Well, actually, no!

We are at least 13 feet tall. So, no matter how we approached that low-hanging bridge, we weren't gonna fit. And, by the looks of things, dozens of AC units, antennas and front ends of motorhomes had met their maker on that overpass.

We did what we were instructed to do when we bought our moose: We stopped, got out, and sussed it out. Bottom line: We needed to unhook the Jeep, turn around and find another entry to the park. 

Paul commenced with the unhooking while I did my best to direct traffic safely around us. Within minutes he had the squirrel separated from the moose. Meanwhile, a car of angels showed up. This lovely pair knew of our plight. Actually, they had been here before. They offered to lead the way to our RV park. We were SO grateful. 

Turns out they are fulltimers from southern California who have been traveling the country for the last year or so. They were thrilled for us that we were just beginning our fulltiming adventures. 

With Paul following our new-found angel friends, I followed behind in the Jeep and we found our way to the Crown Villa RV Resort. It's way fancy.  And, we're so pleased to have arrived here safely. This is one great place to hang out for a few days.

So, we'll do exactly that!

Cheers!

Significant Life Events

They say that, for us humans, significant life events - good or bad - cause stress.

Oh, really?

Time for a quick "life change inventory".  So, I checked the web and found the Holmes & Rahe Life Events Scale. I scanned the list, checked everything we've experienced in the last year, or are in the middle of, and discovered I'm a high achiever.  And, no surprise, so is Boris.

What's our average score?  308.

And, the interpretation of our results?

Your score means a significant amount of life change and a significant susceptability (about 80% probability) to stress-related illness. However please keep in mind that there are many variables that interact on health including positive factors such as support from family, friends or work associates. If you are concerned about your stress levels then you should seek the assistance of a qualified counsellor or health practitioner.

Us, concerned? 

Not anymore.

We know exactly what we need to do to slow down and get our stress in check.  

We'll be there soon!

The Short Story

Meeting all of our new Winnebago/Itasca friends this weekend, we heard one question more than once.

"So, how did you get started?" they asked.

Boris crafted the very short story of our adventures to date.

"We turned 50 last year and decided we needed to have more fun," he said. "So, we went Hawaii, bought a Jeep, went to Australia, then we bought an RV."

Yep. That sums it up!

Our "Public" Blog

At the risk of developing multiple personalities, we've created another blog about our RV adventures.

We'll continue to post here about our thoughts, dreams and plans of becoming fulltimers whenever inspiration strikes.

Now that we actually have an RV (Yeah!), we have friends, family and co-workers who are eager to read about it and our adventures. They tell us they can't wait to read our blog.

They're not talking about this blog. (They don't know about it!) In fact, we don't want them reading this one. While we definitely have the support of our family and a few friends, this whole fulltiming idea is something our co-workers don't need to learn about until the time is right. So, let's keep this blog just between us future and current fulltimers.

We cordially invite you to come on over and check out our weekend adventures at Bullwinkle's Travels. We look forward to seeing you over there, back here and on the road soon!

We're Doin' It!

Natasha broke the news to her favorite sister-in-law yesterday.

"We bought a motorhome," Natasha said.

Silence. Followed by an extended burst of absolutely hysterical laughter.

"Oh my gosh!" the SIL gasped between breaths. "I can't believe you actually did it."

After the howling quieted down the two sisters-in-law got to common ground where phrases like "How fun!" and "Congratulations!" were exchanged.

Moments later, the truth was told.

"Lots of people talk about doing stuff," the SIL said. "You two go out and actually do it."

Cool!

Whoooooosh!

Faithful readers of our blog, if you started at the beginning with us some two-and-a-half weeks ago, you may be wondering what the heck happened to make us move from "zero" to "coach" in such a short time.

Allow us to provide a bit of context.

What started all of this?

Well, we turned 50 last year. And, like a few million baby boomers born at that generational peak, we decided it was time for us to start seeing the world.

So, we visited Hawaii. While there, we toured Maui in a Jeep. And, of course, we loved it. We came home and - guess what - bought a Jeep. And, once we had a Jeep we yearned to go off-roading. We quickly learned we needed to have a GPS to do that. So, we bought one and acquired another obsession: geocaching. It's the perfect hobby for a couple of folks who like to hike and bike and jeep!

Then, we ventured to Australia and New Zealand for three weeks over the holidays. While we were there we saw lots of people "caravaning" in RVs across the countryside in both countries. It looked like lots of fun to us.

Finally, we decided it was time to take a vacation on the mainland. So, we copied the Aussies and rented an RV for a 10-day voyage to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. RVing was something we'd both thought about. And, though it sure sounded like fun, we'd never done it. After our trip to The Big Ditch And Back we were hooked. There, in the dusty mesa of the desert, the seed was planted.

And, my how it bloomed!

We returned that trusty rental Class C just seven weeks ago. Since then, the joy of being out on the road has stuck with us. We've dreamed of what it would be to fulltimers one day, and weekenders right now. We've done as much research as our fingers and feet would allow. It's been an amazing time.

And, in just a few days, we'll have a lovely Class A of our own. We won't have to call for reservations to drive it, or keep it out for a 5-day minimum. It'll be ours to take out whenever, and wherever, we want.

So, here we sit, with our recent travels resulting in a delightful coach, a perfect toad and a hobby that matches perfectly with both.

Yeah, life can come at you pretty fast. You gotta love the "whoooooooooosh".

Boris and Natasha

Who are we? Our Blogger profile tells you a very little bit. But, for obvious reasons, we’re keeping our identities a secret for the very simple reason that most people – including the people who pay us – have no idea of this plan we’re hatching. And, we really want to keep it that way.

So, let’s keep this not-so-little secret just between us for the time being. OK?

We are P and M, aka Boris and Natasha. We’re a couple of Baby Boomers who just turned 50 and have no interest in joining AARP but a growing interest in seeing the world in general and exploring North America in particular. With no kids, much of our adult life has been about work. And, frankly, that’s not as satisfying as it once was. We’re a couple of toasty workaholics in need of a lengthy sabbatical. Right now, we’re living nearly 2,000 miles away from the place we called home until a few years ago. Most of our family and friends are there. And, we’ve planned from the beginning to move back that way eventually. So, we’re relatively free from any ties that would bind us where we are right now.

This wild idea of hitting the road for awhile is starting to sound like just what the doctor ordered!