Purple Anniversary

9-23-2022 – San Luis SWA Campground, Mosca, CO 

EJ and I were discussing that we had been RVing a good part of the time since 2010, when we bought our second motorhome, “Big Guy”, a 34 foot Winnebago Itasca Meridian Diesel Pusher. “Big Guy” was named thusly since he was almost twice as long as our previous RV, a 19 foot Class B Roadtrek named “Roadie”.

Just for fun we decided to tally up the amount of time we have actually lived in our Motorhomes since we really started RVing in 2010.

The numbers show that we have lived in our RVs 65% of the time over that 11 year period.Wow! That’s enlightening. So for 11 years we have been paying property taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, HOA fees and who knows what else for something we only live in 35% of the time. But that is a thread for another time.

As those of you who follow this blog, you already know we spent a good deal of time in 2019 and 2020 taking care of my Dad and handling his estate after he passed away. That convinced us of two major things. 1), live life to the fullest while you can. 2), we all have a bunch of stuff that we don’t need.

So in 2021 we spent the year getting the townhome ready to sell and getting rid of everything we absolutely did not need. It was not an easy task as the things you hang onto have emotional meaning and memories. But we finally got it done.

So as we were discussing our RV lives we decided we needed to define the moment we became full timers. To us, fulltime means you are living in your RV, sleeping there and eating there. So we needed a milestone to identify when that happened. We decided it was September 23, 2021.

Why that particular day you ask? Well it involved a wrestling match. Our opponent emulated a 160 pound slab of Jell-O that was so wide in 2 dimensions that there was no way for us to grab it. It was so limp, there was no way to pick it up. It would just there like a puddle of pudding if you tried to lift a corner or a side. It was so heavy we could not carry it even if it had cooperated with us.

We finally decided the best way handle this beast was to hog tie it. This thing was 6 foot 8 inches by 5 foot by 1 foot. So we wrestled and grunted and sat on it and finally got it rolled up and tied up only to discover it would not fit through the 28 inch wide doorway in the RV.

Cursing our opponent, we took a break to consider a new strategy. There are only the two of us. And neither of us was particularly strong and at our ages, the likelihood of us getting any stronger real soon was remote. So, we were going to have to man up and tough it out. Our bodies will pay the bill tomorrow. While our opponent was trussed up, we drug it from the house to the door of the RV. (On a moving pad of course as we wanted to leave no evidence of the struggle).

Once at the door, we untied the varmint and tried to get it to stand up. Imagine if you will, trying to stand a cooked spaghetti noodle on it’s end. It doesn’t work. And similarly our opponent was incapable of supporting itself in anything but a horizontal position. We were going to have to be lifting this thing if we needed it in an upright position. Which, of course, is necessary to get it through the RV door. Oh, and to add to the challenge, the floor of the RV is 3 feet above ground level. So not only do we have to wrestle our adversary through the door, we have to lift it 3 feet in the process, and lest I forget to mention, go around a 90 degree corner. I’m about plumb wore out just reliving the experience.

So we grunted, we pushed, we swore, we lifted, we cursed, we pulled, we sweated, we said foul things about the ancestors of our adversary but in the end we persevered and somehow managed to get this 160 pound slab of Purple Jell-O into the RV and onto the bed platform in the bedroom.

This item, this thing, this adversary that almost did us in, is the most comfortable mattress we have ever slept on. It is the Purple 2 queen size foam mattress with a 2 honeycomb layer on top that supports you in ways you never thought possible. For this reason we fought this battle and knew we had to succeed at all costs. Our muscles and joints would be delivering their opinions the next day.

We had moved the Purple into the motorhome in preparation for a trip to Kansas to meet family and scatter my parents ashes. We swore, this being the second time we moved the Purple into the RV, that we would never move that mattress again.

The townhome now being bedless made easy the decision that from this date forward we would be sleeping in Miss Mosey. Thus, September 23, 2021, became the first day of our full timing lives.

Obligatory cat picture follows:

 

 

 

Well, That Was Disappointing!

September 3, 2022 – Lonsdale, AR

 

You all know my preference for nano-breweries. While staying in Hot Springs, AR I thought I had found one that checked all the boxes. It was small, check. It was out in the middle of nowhere, check. It had a small, but interesting, variety of beers, check. It looked like the perfect example of what I seek.

The StudDuck brewery is about 10 miles outside of Hot Springs, AR. As we drove there on a Saturday afternoon, the day was almost perfect. Sunny, a little but not unbearably so, and we were with new friends, Johnny and Tina Roush. As we neared the brewery the last turn off the paved road took us down a single lane tree covered gravel road. This fit the dream, the image I had of a small brewer tending his hobby out of his spare room or garage.

Upon arriving at the parking lot there were four other cars. OK, this is a good sign. It means other beer lovers are here so it can’t be too bad.

The premises consisted of three 40 foot metal shipping containers arranged in a u-shape.. They housed the brewing equipment, a seating area, storage and a big opening cut in one of them to create a stage for visiting bands.

StudDuck normally offers 7 selections. They were out of two of them. Does this mean they were so good they couldn’t brew them fast enough? Thus encouraged, we ordered a flight of four that had interesting descriptions. There was a Hefe, one with 3 spices, a nut brown ale, and another I don’t remember. As it turns out the owners were excellent wordsmiths. The descriptions they created for each beer almost made your mouth water.But there wasn’t even one beer I would order again.

So my hopes of finding the perfect nano-brewery in the woods were shattered. Instead I got beer that tasted slightly off, even a little musty, with definite leanings towards being of the sour family that none of our group liked.

But I have to applaud the brewer and his wife. They are pursuing their dream. We wish them well and hope they find customers who appreciate what they’ve brewed. They welcomed us with open arms, told great stories and had lots of friendly dogs (always a plus). They just didn’t have any beer I liked. But the worst part was that I drug EJ and our friends along for this little misadventure. My apologies.

Obligatory cat picture follows.