Planes, boats and bicycles--sv & rv Odin: Random thoughts from the last month in the RV

"Odin the Winnebago is self-contained: Water tank, bathroom, stove & fridge work off propane and a generator. With cooler evenings, we're finally taking advantage of a free night at a WalMart parking lot. Bought $135 worth of groceries. Got permission from the manager. Streaming TV off our phone. No slide. No levelers (but we're pretty level!). Two other RV's and several semis are over in the corner with us. Then we'll be off first thing in the morning!"

I'm WAY behind on the blog. Although the last month in the Winnebago was fun, it didn't feel "exciting and new". I didn't feel compelled to put my thoughts down "on paper" for eternity. However, as I look back through the photos and FaceBook posts, I see some funny moments. Since I don't trust FaceBook to archive my memories without randomly losing things, I'll do a quick catch up. (For those who follow along on @svOdinTheWanderer, there's nothing new here. Check back for a quick post on "Storing the Winnebago!" then we're back to the boat!)

On the road from Colorado back to Missouri:

Twitter: “Gusting to 30 mph! I just saw a tumbleweed! No $h!t #WelcomeToKansas”

Twitter: Rest Stop Goodland, KS “Two rest stops for The Colonel today. Windy!”

“Good morning! I stood in the WalMart parking lot in my pajamas to get this picture. You're welcome.”

Twitter: “Topeka here we come! Winds NW @ 4”

Russell, KS 24/7 Travel Store: “RainX doesn’t help with the bugs! Gas & lunch stop…”

FB: “I never thought I’d utter the words, “Topeka is a nice town!” Honestly, The Colonel said it first. What an interesting perspective you get travelling by RV!"

"Mama is so neglectful."

FB: “We've taught the cat an unfortunate new morning routine. She likes to look out the screen door each day before going back to bed. She doesn't care if it's 50F out, or RAINING like today! (Luckily, we have an awning over the door). I'm not sure why, but when I forget or get too busy, I get the "I'm so disappointed in you" face. Today, in my haste, I neglected the slide the handle cover closed and came back to this! Hey, where are you going little lady?!”

"Hey, look! A hole!"

Deer Creek Valley RV Park, Topeka: “A beautiful Kansas sunset. Ironically, I had just changed into my jammies after a shower. Maybe I'm onto something…"

The WalMart stop was partly to justify paying for two nights at Deer Creek, one of our favorite stops. There was a forecast of rain anyway, so no sense spending the day driving our house in the rain. The Colonel did get in a bike ride including the epic hill just past the entrance to the RV park. He discovered Lake Shawnee State Park (originally nixed because it was too far from the highway). He confirmed "bigger rv’s than us" were there and next year we should "plan a stay for a week..." Roger, that!

Back on the road again...

FB: "Saw the aftermath of a terrible accident on I-70. We were diverted off onto the outer road. A “semi lost his rear axle! He ended up in the median. Semi behind him was damaged. Several cars in the debris field. I bet the CB chatter is educational. I just learned the rear axles are adjustable at a rest stop the other day!”

Twitter: “Our new driving games--reporting fuel prices on GasBuddy and traffic slowdowns on Waze!”

St. Louis, MO/IL:

We spent a week at Cahokia RV Parque because we were babysitting the Grandbaby. It was a little weird. The Colonel grew up in this area, but it borders on a questionable neighborhood now. We decided to give it a try since it was a highly rated Good Sam park and our only decent option on the Illinois side. The staff was nice. The onsite restaurant was decent. The wifi was terrible and our T-Mobile was not much better. I can't quite give it a bad review because we felt safe enough, even wandering to the nearby grocery store a few times. However, I wasn't comfortable going for a walk. It felt awkward that the other transients (especially arriving after dark!) may not have been aware of their surroundings.

Our first dedicated "rv lane" in Wentzville. Sweet!

And this is how I got behind on the blog! Busy, busy...

Reason #62 we love living in Odin the Winnebago: Leaves we don't have to rake. Score! #WeHateYardWork!

FB: “Back in our happy place. LOVE #StateParks. The windows are open. The birds are chirping outside our bedroom window. The leaves are starting to fall. $23/night to live in a protected wilderness. Happy, happy.”

And today's blog is by Grandbaby, who, when she runs out of hands while reaching for the keyboard...

xydioflwkerngoidysoidg

Working on planes...

The Colonel was fortunate to arrive just in time for a big King Air inspection that was due. We scheduled our trip to Colorado so that he would be back. (He wanted to make sure I posted an airplane pic!)

Sneaking the Winnebago onto the airport for the weekend...

And of course, some "boys working on cars & drinking beer"...

Purge #2. We agreed to revisit our storage unit after a year and reevaluate. As we plan to return to the boat in Nov and RV life is agreeable, everything that doesn't fit in the RV must go!

Odin gettin' some love. So shiny I can see myself!

The Colonel takes a pic! "MAMAMAMAMA!"

"Grandpa, are you really not sharing any more green beans?!"

Last stop--Sundermeier's RV park

AND we're back in historic, downtown St. Charles. Our second favorite spot after Babler--right on the Katy Trail (The Colonel photobombing my pic--his new hobby…)”

A morning bike ride with family on one of our regular routes. The Katy Trail from downtown St. Charles & across the Boone Bridge to Creve Couer

“It's been fun to come back & reconnect with family and friends. When we left Missouri to live on a sailboat over a year ago, a majority of them were positive we had gone "bat-shit crazy" (although most were polite enough not to say it to our face!). Buying an RV received more support, but still seemed "a little crazy" to some (still polite, but lot's of head shaking!)--until we remind them we don't own a house. It's not a recreational vehicle we use on the weekend or for vacation--we've lived in it full-time for almost 4 months! (Other rvers: "Are you full-time?" Sit down. We'll explain!) It's nice to have a backup plan. A crash pad when we want/need to come back stateside. It is our HOME. We have two actually. Not that is slightly embarrassing…”

Woo hoo! I went to the Freightliner Owner's website to buy a t-shirt for The Colonel, and stumbled on the fact they have listed their classes for Camp Freightliner 2017!

Let me back up (and a reminder, we're nerds...)

When we bought Odin the Winnebago in FL, we learned about chassis classes they teach at the factory in South Carolina--"on our way to Missouri!"

School?! Sign us up!

They were all full for the season. Boo!

"Should I call about a wait list?" We'd have to drive back to SC. Bummer.

BUT, now they're doing two classes FOR Winnebago's at the Winnebago factory in IOWA! Sign us up! (And the copilot gets to sit in the class for an extra $50--and we get t-shirts!). Score!

Oops, it's right after the big rally. I may have accidentally signed us up for the rally also--don't tell him! He hates crowds!”

As mentioned in the post, "RV Project, TV", I got some more pics scanned. In case, your new to our blog, here's the "plane" portion of our life...
1) Engaged, we flew this C152 from St. Louis to Longmont, CO to break in the engine. A 6-hour flight ended up taking two days, but we came back still a couple! (I'm pretty sure they had a pool going on the airport...)