As we are now more than half done with the GTW, I thought this would be a good time to assess how it has gone so far. Kind of a mid-term report card. I will start with two subjects that relate to the work we did prior to the start of the trip:
- Preparation: A-
- Jett and I both did a fabulous job of getting the house ready to rent.
- Putting the RV in NH for the summer was simply brilliant. It was both fun and great training for us.
- Our packing of the RV was darn near perfect, mostly thanks to Jett. I have the clothes I need. I have the tools I need. We have a few things we haven’t used yet but overall I am very happy with the collection of “stuff” we brought with us.
- I got enough training in driving the rig that I could do so competently.
- We both got our computers well prepared and our finances arranged so that we wouldn’t skip a beat on anything important.
- We should have paid more attention to the tires. We really had no reason to think that we would have blowouts, but we should have found out what the correct tire pressures were and checked them more religiously. And it was a major error to leave without getting the pressure of the interior tires on the truck checked.
- Planning: A
- The general plan, to drive one day and stay 2 nights, has worked well.
- The target distance between stops – around 200 to 220 miles – has worked very well.
- The selected campgrounds have been, with few exceptions, very nice.
The next two subjects concern how well the rig has done so far:
- Truck: B+
- The truck has proven to be capable of pulling the RV.
- It provides a comfortable ride for all of us, dogs included.
- The hauling mileage has been disappointing: around 9 instead of the target of 10 mpg.
- The bad battery gave us a few gray hairs.
- RV: C
- The RV has provided comfortable living quarters.
- The interior systems – lights, refrigerator, furnace, fireplace, stove, air conditioner, TVs – have all performed flawlessly.
- But we have had intermittent problems with both the front landing jacks and the rear stabilizers.
- The #2 slide has been sticky and one of the cables finally popped.
- The tires were horrible – the blowouts were shocking and dangerous.
These two subjects grade me alone as I have been responsible for the budgeting and the blogging:
- Budget: Incomplete
- I won’t know until I run the numbers at the end of the month how well we are adhering to our budget. I know that we are totally screwed on the “maintenance” category as we have spent way more on tires and repairs than I expected. But other categories may not be so bad. I will report on this in a few days.
- Blogging: A-
- I have blogged nearly every day.
- I have taken some darn good photos to include.
- I sometimes feel that with just a little more effort I could have made it even better.
Of course, the final grade in “blogging” will come from you, the readers.
These two subjects rate Jett and my team skills with the rig:
- Setup/Teardown: A-
- It took some practice, but we are getting really good at it.
- There were a couple of times when Jett saved my butt by catching something I forgot – chocks still on, doors not locked.
- Driving/Navigation: B-
- We haven’t had anything close to a collision with another vehicle (knock on wood).
- The use of Google maps has generally been successful, but the GPS conflicts are mighty confusing. We have regretted relying on the GPS several times.
- That telephone pole/fence incident the first day out is a big blemish.
- Ditto the tire blowout from hitting the curb.
The final subjects describe how we are doing in this new lifestyle:
- Health and Wellbeing: B
- We have generally been healthy, though Jett continues to have sporadic stomach pains and the driving hasn’t been kind to either my hands (arthritis) or back.
- We are eating pretty well. We have home-cooked meals about 80% of the time. The rest of the time we either dine at restaurants (mostly Cracker Barrel) or get subs or take-out from KFC. We have not been to Burger King or McDonalds at all. When on the road we mostly eat sandwiches that Jett prepares before we go.
- I have been snacking too much and exercising too little.
- I can’t convince Jett that a nature hike is a fun activity.
- Companionship: B+
- We haven’t killed each other yet, so we have exceeded our expectations. And most of yours, too, I suspect.
- There have been some heated arguments, but we are assured by other full-timers that this is very normal.
- Enjoyment: B
- The first two weeks, with the blowouts and the telephone pole incident, was a close approximation of hell.
- We have had a lot of fun since.
We have gotten approval for a long-term stay at an RV park in San Jose and Jett is looking forward to that. I think we will still be enjoying the lifestyle when the travel ends and we set up a more static home there, but we will see. It is most definitely a work in progress.