Surprise! You are an RV owner.

With only a two day test camping trip, we decided that the RV life was for us, and began preparing for our semester on the road. We took the RV in to be inspected, by two different shops, since apparently the “Coach” or house part is one specialist and the “Chassis” , or the mechanical vehicle is another one. Reassured that all was in perfect order, we began loading the RV for our long journey.

Of course, at the same time, we were moving all of our household into PODS for storage. Purge, donate, eliminate, store, or pack in the RV. We packed the RV with just the essentials: 4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 forks, 4 knives, 4 spoons, cooking utensils, minimal clothing suitable for all seasons, and 4 cases of wine.

Away we went, and sailed happily into the sunset…Okay. You know that life is not quite that easy, right? Before we even left California we had a flashing error code. DEF. DEF. WTH? Lesson 1: Read the manual! We resolved the Diesel Exhaust Fluid challenge and headed to our first stop, Redding, CA. Arrived at midnight to smoky skies and the closure of the major interstate due to wildfires. Lesson 2: Be flexible in your route. We took the alternate route to our second stop, Bend, Oregon. Lesson 3: Spend more than 1 night at each location and allow time for set up and tear down of the campsite. We headed to Wenatchee, WA for our third stop where are Coach batteries failed, and the generator needed to be repaired. Lesson 4: No matter how well you think you are prepared, always have a good RV shop near your stop. A few hundred dollars later, and we were on our way again.

Lesson 5: Still searching for the satellite replacement for the RV, since the existing one is outdated and we can not get DISH or other service.

And, finally, Lesson 6: So you want to be a blogger on the road? Good luck getting reliable internet. Stay tuned as we enter week 2 of our journey. More lessons are inevitable!