Story – Page 2 – Roving Dutchmen

Happy New Year!

4 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-01-03 2022-01-03

We’ve been escaping the cold down in Winterhaven, California this week, which is next to Yuma, Arizona. So technically, we crossed our first state line!

Pilot Knob RV Resort, our refuge from the cold

We had our first small parking mishap. A very rusty water spigot suffered, but we were able to shut it off immediately. A good lesson in communication, and thankfully not an expensive one!

We made one major upgrade this week: our mattress! We went with a Purple Mattress Queen, and it’s a great combination of support and comfort, while not being too heavy (110lbs) nor too tall (9″), both of which are important for using it on our Happijac Bed Lift system. We’re still on the lookout for a welder to produce a custom aluminum frame, which will let us turn the bed 90 degrees, and gain some space, but we’re sleeping much better already!

Putting the kids in prison, Yuma Territorial Historic Prison

We will be heading to the Xscapers Annual Bash next week, where we’ll be “boondocking” for about 10 days. That means we’ll be surviving self-contained: no water, sewer or power hookups; we’ll rely on our own battery/solar, generator, and holding tanks. It’s a bit intimidating, having that as our first boondocking, but at least there will be plenty of support around!

Merry Christmas!

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-27 2021-12-27

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a lovely Christmas, both at our new home in the RV, and at my sister’s house with the rest of Eric’s family.

With a cold weather front closing in, we’re adjusting our travels slightly, heading south towards Winterhaven California, rather than Camp Verde Arizona, but we’re still planning for the Xscapers Annual Bash in Lake Havasu in just under two week’s time!

First Travel Day

1 Comment / Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-23 2021-12-23

Last week was our first “Travel Day”. That’s the common term used for days when you pack up your campsite and RV, and haul it down the road to the next location. Now, that may not sound like much, but you’re essentially packing your house like it were luggage, and then subjecting it to a series of small earthquakes for a few hours.

We stressed about it for a couple of days, but the day arrived! All the water and sewer work, which takes a fair amount of waiting time, we managed to do the afternoon before. Dirty jobs, done dirt cheap, and all that.

Everything went without a hitch. No, wait, there was definitely a hitch involved. But smoothly! We stopped amongst the truly Big Rigs for a pitstop about halfway through our 3h20m drive, and then backed in to our new spot in one good “swoop”.

Our site, at the Desert Tortoise Campground at Lake Pleasant, Arizona, is absolutely gorgeous. It has only two downsides: no sewer hookups, and it’s very un-level. Lack of sewer hookups only means we’re reliant on our own onboard holding takes, and so need to be a bit more conservative (since we’re here for 2 weeks). The un-level site however meant that things inside are a bit trickier. So, Aidan and I went shopping! In the meantime, Nadine and Tyler started working on the boy’s room: step 1, rip out the old bed!

We’re here through the holidays, slowly getting the hang of everything, still futzing with the stereo and other random projects, and meeting some very friendly neighbors. We even popped back down to Avondale for a family visit, and saw some very fancy Christmas boats!

Until next time, Merry Christmas!

Welcome, Home!

4 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-14 2021-12-15

We got it! Our 2022 Grand Design Momentum 397TH was delivered to us on Friday morning.

A big thanks to Brian from Roadrunner RV Inspections, and RV Driving School, who helped us inspect our RV before accepting delivery, and then teaching Eric how to drive the beast! Eric drove the RV right off the delivery lot and into the sales parking lot, before we even signed for it! His first time towing anything at all. Then off to driving lessons, and then to our first camping spot at the KOA in Tucson, Arizona. We’d been staying at that KOA for a week in a cabin, but now it was time to move in to our RV!

We’ve been very busy sorting through everything, and figuring out where things should go, and more importantly, how this thing works! Who knew how much time we’d spend thinking about water and sewage! Nadine’s been doing a fantastic job making it feel like home, too. Pancakes & Christmas lights, amongst other touches, go a long way!

There have been a few minor build issues we’re dealing with, but on the whole, nothing major. The stereo hisses, for example, but more annoyingly, the Lippert OneControl system, which controls our whole rig, and you should be able to access on your phone, isn’t working. We’ve made progress on both items, especially with some great support from Grand Design’s Rockford Fosgate technician on the stereo issue, who walked Eric through a full diagnostic over the phone! We’ve also been busy installing extra bells and whistles: a backup camera, and a tire pressure & temperature sensor system.

That aside, we’re very happy with our new home! It’s gorgeous, spacious, and I hope will treat us well (so long as we treat it well!). The kids have been loving the back patio, and so have the parents: enclosed play space! Tyler’s been making friends with the neighbors, and really asking about everything; endearing, but exhausting!

Our first “Travel Day” is coming…!

Full-Time Waiting

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-03 2021-12-03

We got our first taste of full-time RVing, at the Full-Time Families Hangout in the White Tank Regional Park. There were about 18 families “boon-docking” at the group camping area there, which means they were running without “shore” power nor water and sewage. Instead, they relied on batteries, solar, or generators for power. Tyler and Aidan were amongst the youngest participants, but had a blast… Especially when they hired a bouncy castle!

We didn’t have our own RV yet, so we stayed at a nearby farm we found on Airbnb. This turned out to be a great location for us as well, as the host family had a son well-matched to Tyler, who taught him how to handle 1-week-old piglets, and how to properly climb a treehouse. And how to keep the adults out, by means of a trap door. In any case, a great time had by all, and we met some amazing full-time families whom we hope to meet again soon on the road!

The boys admiring the farm animals. That’s Kevin Bacon in the middle.

We’re now waiting impatiently for our rig to arrive in Tucson, Arizona. We’re hopeful that it will arrive this week, though it will still be next week or so until we could possibly drive it off the lot. But it’s so close!

We Got Our Truck!

3 Comments / Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-11-13 2021-11-13

Our 2022 Ford F-350 DRW King Ranch arrived, and we’re very happy with it!

Now we’re waiting on the trailer, which is being built this week, but it’ll still likely be some weeks until we can see it.

Jetlag!

1 Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-11-10 2021-11-10

We’ve arrived safely in Arizona as of last week, but we’re still a bit worse for wear. Jetlag in a pair of toddlers is a helluva thing!

We had a bit of an unorthodox travel itinerary: from Zurich, we stayed a week in Amsterdam to visit Oma, and then we flew to Calgary (YYC), stayed 17 hours, and then finally flew to Phoenix (PHX). I’ll refrain from deciding if the stayover in Calgary was the right call or not, as it’s very much a toss-up, but we did stay at the in-terminal Marriot hotel there, which was quite pleasant. And beyond that, we discovered that YYC has some fun playgrounds, for when you’re wandering the empty halls at 2am in your pajamas.

That was only the beginning of the journey, however. We did eventually arrive in PHX, sans one bag–still lost, a week later–but the middle-of-the-night adventures only reached a fine middle. We know exactly which businesses are open at 4am in the Phoenix area, and I must say, disappointment! Turns out, “Dutch Bros Coffee” is not a place for coffee: there’s nary a drink without whipped cream, and when we asked for two latte macchiatos, the legitimate response was “frosted or whipped?” But no matter, Tyler wanted “fries and an ice cream without a straw”, which seemed an entirely reasonable request, so adventure-ho! McDonald’s? Nope, no fries, only tater-tots. Jack-in-the-Box? “We only accept mobile orders” (which they helpfully told us over the order-taking intercom of the drive-up we were at…). The winner? Wendy’s! Frosty’s and Fries! (Apparently the only thing they were able to produce at the time, too.)

The kids are slowly adjusting to the new clock though, thankfully. That first week was really rough. This past week we’ve stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge, which is a hotel with a built-in water park… but we chose it primarily for the cozy sleeping quarters for the kids!

Next up: we’re getting our truck! It arrived at the dealership today, so we’ll be picking it up very soon!

All Our Bags Are Packed

2 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-10-24 2021-10-24

… we’re ready to go. I’m saying goodbye to our house in Langnau am Albis this week, but Nadine and the boys are already in Amsterdam visiting Oma, while I’m finishing up in an ever-increasingly-empty house. Thankfully, I still have a bed to sleep on!

I’ve been making time in the evenings to say goodbye to friends; it’s been fun. It’s hard to know what to say: I’m sure many feel abandoned, which I can understand, with us moving a whole continent away regardless of the RV aspect. But, we’re moving “into adventure”, and I’m sure I’ll see them again in the not so distant future.

Tyler helpfully showing off his newest artwork from his last day at McTot’s

Sappy bits aside, we’re go, go, go! Truck was built and is being shipped, to arrive shortly after ourselves. The Rig is still on-schedule for an 11/11 build. So, off to Amsterdam to meet with the family, then we’re US-bound!

Downsizing, continued

3 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-10-14 2021-10-14

We’re at T-minus 2 weeks until we’re written out of Switzerland, and things are emptying out rapidly! We’ve been sending visitors to our home away with carloads full of stuff, and we’re now eating off of our fold-up outdoor table.

We had a pleasant lunch at Fischer’s Fritz today, well, once we wrangled in the children. It’s a restaurant along the lake, but also a “Camping”; it was interesting to see the European variants of what we’re headed towards, and the many differences in vehicle choices! So much smaller, and almost no slide-outs.

The days are ticking away! And it sounds like our new 2022 Ford F-350 DRW truck might even be ready for us in Arizona during the first few days!

Downsizing, Internationally

2 Comments / Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-09-22 2021-10-14

It’s been a whirlwind these past weeks, as we go through the process of “downsizing” (read: sell everything), and prepare for our international move. A very stressful whirlwind! Did I mention that our plan was to fly with only 6 suitcases? Well, we’ll also ship a few boxes, but there’s no “big shipment” following us.

Thankfully, the actual selling has been relatively drama-free, but so far it’s already involved sales to more than 50 people, and that’s a lot more social contact than we’ve had in the past 18 months! It also feels pretty weird helping someone load up your sofa into their van, knowing that you’re not replacing it, either. We’re also down to nearly nothing left in the kitchen, so we’re getting more creative with our serving and eating dishes!

Our eldest, Tyler, has been very understanding… perhaps even excited, but I think it might be because he thinks it means he can buy entirely new toys. He’s not exactly wrong, but there will definitely be fewer of them! Quality over quantity, right? He also knows that America has Monster Jam, so there’s that.

We’ve also had a few panic-moments with the scheduling of our truck and RV, which have not helped our stress levels! We had to drop the “full-body paint” option off of our RV, because with it, the RV was only going to be available in mid-February… but without? End of November. That’s an insane delay for paint, and it’s also expensive ($12k or so), so this way we save the money, and we can instead use it to get a custom paint job down the line if we decide we need a little pep to our step.

The truck’s production scheduling also went through some hiccups; first being moved back by more than a month, and then a few days later, being brought forward by a week. So now it’s not going to be there to greet us, but hopefully only be a week or two behind. And still ahead of the trailer, which is pretty important. Fingers crossed that there’s no more slippage!