This was not our first RV, we had owned a small trailer before this purchase. We are getting close to retirement age and have enjoyed our RV vacations so much we began wondering what the full-time RV life might be like. We own our own home which we would likely sell before becoming full-time RV but, would we like this extended life-style?In April, 2005 we chose to try an experiment. Gwen quit her job as a baker and accepted a position at Howard Prairie Lake Resort.
This resort is in the Cascade Mountains about 2,500 feet above Ashland, Oregon. The commute time for me to my work in Medford, Oregon was 45 minutes, nearly the same as my commute from our home. I learned that the mountain driving was different from the freeway driving however. Howard Prairie Lake Resort was our first choice since I had lived at Lake Tahoe in California for 13 years and Gwen had lived in Klamath Falls most of her life. Both are mountain or rural recreation areas. So the plan was for Gwen to work at the resort while I continued to commute to my "day-job" in Medford. We would live at the resort in our fifth wheel full time and occasionally visit our home in Grants Pass, Oregon to mow the lawn and check on things. By doing this, we would learn about full-time RV living and if it was for us. At the same time I decided to write a Webpage with daily entries concerning our experiment.Our experiment began in April, a very cold month in the
Cascade Mountains then ended the last day of October, also a risky month for cold weather. But there were some very nice days in between those cold months. One of the first things we discovered was that our experiment had some flaws in the planning. If we were truly full time RV, we would likely be moving several times each month finding a new surrounding when we did. We would also not be going to work in separate directions each day, instead living within 300 square feet of each other most of the time. Those seem like pretty big questions that would go unanswered with our experiment. On the other hand, we did prepare and eat most meals together and learn to store, wash and dry our clothes in a small space. We own a Golden Retriever and cat and needed to know how they would take to the RV lifestyle too. Both pets loved this lifestyle and Morgan, our Golden, even wrote several stories about her adventures.We have learned much about full time RV living even though we did not move for the seven months we were at
the lake and both Gwen and I had to continue our "day-jobs". As I was writing the stories for our Webpage I made a list of advantages, disadvantage and problems needing solutions. One of those problems was major for us. We did not have Interent access at the lake and knew it must be solved. We chose to install mobile satellite Internet in our trailer. Although this required substantial investment, we now have 24/7 connection from anywhere we might happen to pull our fifth wheel.We have already committed to another season at the resort but this time we will rent our home (the next step) and probably not return to this house until we are ready to sell and retire to travel in our RV.



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You may want to read Radical Retirement - Take The Money And STAY here on Gather. Also, airstreamlife.gather.com.