A beautiful send-off
The McSweeney family officially began our One-Year RV Family Adventure at 6:40pm on Thursday, June 8, departing from my parents’ home in Derwood, Maryland. The weather was picturesque, the hugs and well-wishes were warm and meaningful, and the dream we’d worked toward for many, many months finally became our reality. See our video of what is involved in closing the outdoor kitchen and pulling in the slides.
First Stop–Masontown, WV!
Late Thursday night, we arrived in Masontown, WV, at the home of my childhood friend, Regan. Her husband, Jason, wins the prize for the most encouraging, gracious, and helpful middle-of-the-night rig-parking coach. Quote of the night: “So they really didn’t give you any kind of course on how to drive this thing?”
After a good night’s sleep, a sweet morning visiting with Regan and Jason, letting our kids get their doggie and kitty-fix, thrill-riding in Jason’s Razor, and watching Sarah drink her body volume in sweet tea, we headed toward our next stop–Trenton, Illinois.
Walmart Parking Lot to the Rescue
After a few hours of driving, the cumulative effect of so much lost sleep began to catch up with John and he informed me it was time to find a Walmart. We’d heard that Walmart will let RV’s spend one night in their parking lots if you go in and get permission from the manager. Once we found a spot that we had confidence we could extract ourselves out from in the morning, we set up for the night and went to bed. Seriously! From “exhausted and uncomfortable traveling in the truck” to “pajamas and my own cozy bed” in under an hour. My giddiness was uncontainable!! Of course we made three requisite trips INTO Walmart for supplies and groceries–I think the deal is a win-win for travelers and Walmart both 🙂
The learning curve is steep…
Let me just say, our rig is big. Really big. This is not an easy trailer to haul, and we are new at this. Forward is much easier than backwards, truck stops are more accessible than regular gas stations, and mailboxes do best to move out of the way. We are learning quickly, however, and the Lord has His hand on us!
You were almost out of gas or he could hardly stand up any more. I am not very good at humor! ONWARD!!!!!!!
Both!
You couldn’t find a gas station with lanes you could get the RV into?
That was a big part 🙂
He was “thungry” for gas?
Funny! I didn’t see that till you pointed it out 🙂
You found a station with diesel? It looks like a Sheetz-you found out about the card that saves you 3 cents a gallon?
Close!
It must have been “Hug a gas pump” day, and John, being the joiner that he is, went at it with gusto. Either that or he nearly ran it over with the RV and this was his way of giving thanks that it was still standing.
WINNER!! Not cause you were right, but cause you got the biggest laugh out of me 🙂
It’s inexpensive?
Nice guess!
Not necessarily…
Who let Sarah drink that much tea?? She told me she has TTB…(teeny tiny bladder )
Exactly. I don’t think she asked 😉
I like Jeff’s response the best. Very good!
Yes, he made me laugh!
I have a question. Why do you have to stop at rest stops? I saw the built in bathrooms in the trailer. is it to conserve water to avoid the task of changing the water, or something else?
Christopher, these are excellent questions. We have to pull over and get out of the truck to use the bathrooms. We also stretch our legs and let the dog out. If it’s mealtime, we pull out the slide for the kitchen and we make sandwiches, just like we do at home…cause we ARE at home, even on the side of the road!! And to answer your question about conserving water, yes, it is good to use public facilities when we can to conserve our water supply in the rv, but more importantly, to slow down the filling of our waste tanks.
Thank you for all the comments. I am working on my next post and promise to tell the story behind why John is hugging the gas pump! Just gotta figure out how to word it so I won’t freak out my mom 😉
I laughed at the sweet tea! 😀 I am guessing you needed to fill your tank and couldn’t find a gas station.
Good guess 🙂
it was so nice getting to meet you in the meat market 🙂 My daughter asked every time she sees a 5th wheel if its yall coming to visit again. we look forward to seeing you again some time! I hope yall are safe in your travels.
Meridith, I am SO happy to see you found my blog! We had a very nice stay in Vega, and I especially enjoyed meeting you and your butcher’s-helper-by-day, dancer-by-night little girl. Oh and your aunt in the Post Office! You made us want to come back. We will def let you know if we pass through again–preferably during a cooler time of year 🙂