Time in Albuquerque

We arrived in Albuquerque at the Kirtland AFB FamCamp on Sunday evening. It was a long 450 miles drive from Greensburg KS but we were glad we made it in one day.

The FamCamp has a lot of new RV sites with plenty of room and full hookups. The sites are level. The scenery around the campground isn't that great but the view of the Sandia mountains is great. The sunrise coming up over Tijeras Canyon shines right into our front window.

My brother Reid and his wife Amy live in Albuquerque. We waited for them to come over so they could watch us set up. Then we spent a couple of hours chatting before we called it a day.
On Monday, Pam did the wash while I did some work online. Later, after lunch, we went over to Camping World. We special-ordered a bicycle cover that zips up and can accommodate two bikes on a rack. We also washed the Honda CRV and then went over to Reid's business: Environment Control of Albuquerque. He has been in the building cleaning/maintenance business for over 30 years.

After work, we went to his house for dinner on the back porch.
And late we had some good conversation with Amy's mom Janette.On Tuesday afternoon, we went for a great 8 mile bike ride at the Rio Grande Valley State Park trail. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and had to rely on some pix from Reid. Those beautiful mountains in the background are the world famous Sandia Mountains.After the bike ride we went over to the Flying Star cafe near Corrales, NM. I had the best enchilada dinner I've had in a long long time. There, we met our cousin Linda and her husband Jim. They retired to Corrales NM and have are vegetable growers in the local produce farmers market.It was a great day and lots of fun to see relatives and catch up. We will be doing more of the same in the next few days.

Thanks for checking in on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Volunteers in Mission - Greensburg

We had seven work assignments in Greensburg, Kansas involving residents who requested help.

Our task was to sheet rock the basement of a house. The basement will be used as daycare after it is finished. Pam and I were with a team of 6 or 7 other folks including my high school friend Kirk. We worked from Thursday afternoon until Saturday afternoon and made a lot of progress.
Most of the work entailed finishing around windows and the basement stairway. Kirk and Pam finished putting wall board up along the concrete wall and stairway that required a lot of angles and a heavy dose of industrial strength glue. It turned out well.

Another project was installing a garage door opener for a homeowner named Janet. That sounded easy enough but wasn't. It provided plenty of frustration for Larry and Chad and Lonny but they also got that job done.The First United Methodist Church at Greensburg was a great facility. Most of the team was housed there and we ate all but one meal at the church. We had plenty of good times getting to know each other around the food preparation and consumption.
On Saturday night we decided to contract with a local BBQ place for ribs, shredded port with beans, potato salad and German chocolate cake. It was the best I have had in a long time and a another way to support a local business.We lined up for another photo before we went back to the church for the evening. As you can see here, it was a good looking crew.

Our time in Greensburg concluded after the morning worship service. We said our goodbyes and hope to meet up with these folks on another VIM effort. It was a great time with great people and why we love doing these things.

Greensburg, Kansas

Pam and I arrived in Greensburg, Kansas about noon on Thursday. We got here about the same time as our friends Kirk and Susan.

We are volunteering with the Chapel Hill United Methodist Church (UMC) Volunteers in Mission (VIM) Project to help with the rebuilding of Greensburg. Two years ago (May 4, 2007) an F-5 tornado ripped through the town cutting a two mile swath that virtually destroyed it. 90% of the town of 1500 was destroyed and 10 lives were lost.

We joined up with the contingent from Chapel Hill and are here for four days. The host church (First United Methodist of Greensburg) has worked with 1,080 volunteers from 64 teams who come into town to help. The current pastor and his wife arrived two months after the tornado.
Our main task was helping sheet rock a basement in a house that has been rebuilt.

Roadrunner Reflections - Part 2

We have been on the road and underway for a little over 3 months. In that time we have logged almost 9,000 miles and have seen a lot. We are really enjoying the lifestyle and learning loads. Along the way we have had some things to deal with and I wanted to share some with you.

This is not bliss~ just a lifestyle we are adapting too and enjoying a lot.

Things we are dealing with:

1. What is the hardest thing about this lifestyle?
I think it is harder to say good bye to our kids. The more we are with them, the more we appreciate them and enjoy them. They are 28 and 26 and on their own but I think it is like going through the empty-nest syndrome again. Saying good bye to Kelly in Texas was tough. Then we found ourselves anxiously praying for Adam when his Pathfinder was on the verge of breaking down. That was when he traveled two days from Wash DC to Croswell MI. But we all weathered the storm and things are good now.

2. What are you adapting to?
Getting use to the idea that we are moving on. My mind was in sensory overload for a while trying to take it all in, trying to remember the interesting things, the picturesque places, the fun experiences.

3. What have you done to adapt to the lifestyle?
One big thing for me is tracking all our expenses. It is a powerful thing to know where we stand in relation to our budget. It has taken almost three months to get into a routine and develop the discipline to keep receipts and enter it all into a spreadsheet but I think it will pay off.

4. What are the downsides of full-timing?
Not sure it is a negative, but we are very much more conscious of how much we are spending and where we can save our retirement dollars.

5. What do you regret most about selling everything, downsizing and moving into your motor home?
Nada, zilch, bamo. We would have kept the electric skillet and our large coffee pot but in terms of giving up the commute, the traffic and the busyness of living near Wash DC---we couldn't be happier 'out here'.

6. What are some of the other issues you deal with?
Every day can bring a new technical issue with the motorhome. It could be a rock in the windshield or a smoldering wire or a crack in the ceramic tile, or the air bags not inflating correctly. We are learning to be more flexible, not to panic, and just work through it. They all seem to get fixed.

7. Are things different than you thought they would be?
In some ways yes. I expected more people to be even more open and friendly. We usually find the talkative ones that are outside doing something with their RV, but it seems like the majority so far keep to themselves.

8. What do you do about going to church and fellowship?
We figured this might be a hard one to work and it has been. We have been to church a few times with NOMADS people and with friends if we are in town on a Sunday. Often times we find ourselves downloading a good sermon and listening to it.

9. Do you wish you had done this earlier?
No - we are still younger that most (56) who do this full time and it was the right time for us and our situation.

10. Now that you've gotten a taste of it, do you wish you still had the house and all your stuff?
Are you kidding? No way! I told Pam we had to do this for at least 5 years to make it worth the money we put into the Roadrunner and everything else. She was thinking more like 10 years. We will see.


Hopefully I will get a chance to put together some more of the pros and cons every 3-4 months to see if things change a lot for us. Maybe some of you out there are thinking about the RV lifestyle. I really believe it is not for everyone, but is the lifestyle for us!

Until next time, be safe and thanks for checking out the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Roadrunner Financials - August 2009

We had a busy month in August.  We spent a lot of time in Canada with visits to Tobermory (near Meghan's cottage) and to Talon Lake to see good friends Jeff and Tiffany.  From there we made our way over to Mackinaw Island which was quite a treat.  Then we headed farther west to South Dakota where we saw Sioux Falls and then the Black Hills.

Here is what our expenses looked for the month of August:

Overall for the month - 

$1600 over budget is quite a ways over budget.   It was not easy to save money when we drove a lot of miles (spending money on diesel fuel) and also hit some higher cost campsites.

Good news are areas where we are under budget- 

Still - we were $429 under budget on our fuel and we spent no money on our propane ($80).

Biggest expenses for the month - 

- $50 over on gas and bridge tolls.
- $455 over on RV maintenance.  We had the air bags checked out and took the Roadrunner in to the dealer in Rapid City.  They did some work on the satellite and TV and DVD connections.

Large 'One Time Cost Item(s)' - 

Gladly, no specific big ticket items this month.

Monthly average since we started tracking in June 2009 - 

At this rate, we are not doing too well on the budget.  After three months at this we are going to have to cut down on some things and maybe park the RV for a while.  It will help a lot when we volunteer later in the year.  We tend to spend a lot less money on diesel fuel, camping and those things.

We will see how we do next month.

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles today.

Roadrunner Reflections: 3 months as Full Timers

After three months as full-timers I thought I give some thoughts on what has been like for us by posting a 'Top 10' List:

The Highlights:
1. RVing with Pam - She is the best! It is a real blessing to share new friends, experiences and places together. If I didn't know better I'd say we were on our honeymoon (30 years and counting).

2. Seeing friends and family - We have had a wonderful time in Tennessee, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Illinois, Michigan, Canada and South Dakota. We have been able to see relatives and old friends and meet a lot of new people.

3. Seeing America and places we would never have been able to see - (and parts of Canada). It gives us a whole new perspective on places we have never been. We have learned a lot of history and have seen some fantastic places in the Midwest (IL, MI, MN, WI and SD)

4. Sense of accomplishment - this is one of the larger, more risky projects we have researched, designed, planned and executed. We have still believe we are on the right track and feel good about our decision.

5. People - It is great meeting new people and seeing people we haven't seen for a long, long time. We could never afford to go to all these places and take time off to see friends and relatives. The lifestyle allows us to do that.

6. Volunteering - we feel as if this is our niche. The three weeks we spent working with other NOMADS opened our eyes. It gives us a very good sense of purpose.

7. Adventure - We needed something to give us some excitement. The idea that my life IS NOT winding down is refreshing at age 56.

8. Simple lifestyle - we are learning that we don't need a whole lot of things. Getting rid of a lot of stuff and living within our means is gratifying.

9. Becoming more frugal - There have been a few times in our life when we pinched pennies, but now we think about every purchase. We track all our expenses and have a monthly goal we know we can afford.

10. The coach - this RV is nice. It has a nicer interior (ceramic tile, corian counter tops, Select Comfort King Size bed, etc) than we are accustomed to. I love driving this RV. With the air bags, independent front wheel suspension -- it is fun to drive!

Another Great Weekend in Sioux Falls

We rolled into town from Rapid City on Thursday. It was a fairly long day (336 miles) but we got to the Sioux Falls Empire/W.H.Lyon Fairground mid afternoon. We missed all the rain and had three days of beautiful sunshine.The next morning I met Steve and others (Friday Guys) for a breakfast and Bible Study at Frying Pan restuarant. It was a good time seeing new friends from two weeks ago when we came through. The intern pastor, Don, did a nice job with the message.

When I returned to the Roadrunner, Pam finished taking a shower and we found a leak in our bathroom. The water was oozing onto the ceramic tile floor and the baseboard was wet. O man...one thing I learned in all our research is that water on floors and walls in an RV is bad news!

I called a couple of RV dealers in the area and they were booked and/or were trying to get their technicians out of the shop early for the long holiday. Then I called the Tiffin Factory and talked with one of the guys in the service department. He suggested the drain on the shower might need to be tightened. How do I do that?

I found another leak in the basement, cleared out all the stuff nearby and chipped away at the foam insulation so I could track down the leak. A little later I found an access point and reached up into the area between the floor and the shower.

Then I came inside and removed kitchen drawers and pulled out a long skinny drawer we use for a spice rack. To my surprise, there was an entire panel that popped out and it was right behind the shower. There was the leak! I hand tightened the cold shower connection and the problem solved! We put two fans on the wet areas and got it all dried out.
Later that morning our neighbor who has been full timing for four years, showed us how to get Direct TV working and also how to set up our digital antenna so we could get local (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox) channels. We have never used the antenna so that was a big deal.

On Friday night we went over to Steve and Therressa's for a great dinner of pork tenderloin and potato salad. Steve out did himself on that one. It was great. We toured the city after dinner and it was a beautiful drive in his convertible.We cruised the downtown area where there were lots of sidewalk cafes and then we went over to the Sioux Falls Park.

On Saturday, we ran some errands, watched some of the US Open and went for a ride on the bike trail along the river. After dinner, we went to church with Steve and Therressa and went out to LifeLight - the largest outdoor Christian concert in the country.It is held every year over Labor Day weekend near Sioux Falls on a big farm. It is like Woodstock (sort of..) where there were thousands of people heard music, messages and hang out. There were vendors and booths and a lot of people.

We got there in time to hear Will Graham (Billy's grandson) finish up and then waited to hear Remedy Drive on the main stage (there are five stages). It was an interesting phenomenon. I don't get it, (loud music, screaming and yelling, dancing/hopping around)--- but then I am not under 30 years old either.

On Sunday we returned for the outdoor worship service and it was great. There were a lot more people there then. The music was good and the preaching was very evangelistic and it was a great way to spend Sunday morning. They were hoping to get 300 thousand for the weekend.We left mid-afternoon, went back to the Roadrunner and packed up. Then we went out to dinner with Steve and Therressa and went by her office. She is an award winning Travel Agent and it was nice to see where she works (Travel Partners). Nice place and 10 minutes from their house.

Next we ran by Menards (like a Wal-Mart/Home Depot) and went over to their beautiful home for a while. We chatted some more and talked about their travels and their church (Holy Cross Lutheran Church). They are very involved and have been for years.
We called it a day and chalked up another great Labor Day Weekend. Today we point the Roadrunner to Omaha Nebraska where we will be for a couple of days.

That's all for this take of the Roadrunner Chronicles. Be safe and thanks for checking in.

Crazy Horse, Custer and New Friends

We are currently in Rapid City SD, but a few days ago went a short distance from Mt Rushmore to see the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is the site of the world's largest granite carving. It is HUGE. Mt Rushmore is big but all four of the president's faces could fit into the area the current size of the Crazy Horse head!The 20 minute film at the Visitor Center was very informative. It shows some early film of the sculptor, Korczak Wiolkowski, started the project (at the invitation of Chief Henry Standing Bear) in 1948. Then it was a one man operation. It still has a long ways to go but it was inspiring and worth the trip.

The Visitor Center has some great displays and is co-located with the Native American Cultural Center and the Indian Museum of North American. All are very well done! In fact, we like this better than the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.After that, we went over to Custer State Park. It has lots of live buffalo which we stopped for along the highway.
We made our way to State Game Lodge Campground and met Fred and Jo Wishnie. We have been following Jo's award winning blog for over a year now and it was a treat to meet up with them. They were very gracious and spent some time telling us about how it has been for them after four years on the road.They are avid bird watchers and a few golden finches were busy at Jo's birdfeed stand. We also were greeted by some lady big horn sheep who jumped the fence and wandered nearby.

It was another great day of seeing beautiful places, meeting new friends and enjoying life in the Roadrunner.

Evening Program at Mt Rushmore

We we were told the evening program at Mt Rushmore was good so we left our campground at about 6:30. We were there by 7:15 and the program started at 8:00 PM.

The visitors were thinned out compared to the crowd we saw there last week in the middle of the day. Still there were probably 300 people.

The Park Ranger began the program with a short presentatin on the importance of remembering the history of the United States and its key figures.

She also gave an explanation of why the four Presidents were chosen to have their 60 foot face sculptured on the granite mountain. After her very well done talk, we viewed a short movie with some information on the sculptor, actual footage of the construction, and a piece on each of the four presidents: George Washingon, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Rooselvelt and Abraham Lincoln.
I took some of the same shots as I did last time but this time it was during a another time of the day and the lighting was quite different.
After the video, the Park Ranger invited all veterans down on the stage. Four lowered the flag and folded it. The Ranger then proceeded to move along the three lines of veterans and asked each person to put their hand on the flage, state their name and branch of Service.

It was quite moving to hear 75 men and 1 woman (Pam) and to honor their service to our country.

Pam and I met and served together in the US Air Force. She served four years, then got out to have Adam and Kelly. I made it a career, retiring in 1995.After the flag ceremony and honoring the veterans, many stopped by and thanked the Ranger for conducting such a terrific program. I was among them.

As we left, I took one more picture. It was quite an evening.

Custer State Park & the Needles Cathedral

We took another drive up to Custer State Park last week while we were in the area. We once we got there we saw a lot of buffalo. Maybe a couple hundred. I hear there are thousands that roam this part of the country but we only saw a few herds.

Some of those herds were small and the buffalo take their sweet time crossing the road. It was a great chance to take a few closeups. These animals are quite majestic.

After seeing our fill of buffalo for a while, we went over to the Visitor Center. The neat thing about that was meeting Geneve who is a volunteer with the State Park.

She got us to thinking about what it would be like to be a volunteer. We may have to check that out for future workamping opportunities.

From there we took a drive through Needles Canyon and took a bunch of photos. What breathtaking views and neat rock formations!

Needles Canyon

Our drive through the scenic canyon was another view of some spectacular sights in South Dakota.

That's about it this time, but thanks for checking out the Roadrunner Chronicles!