Road Tripping in an RV – Part 2 September 2, 2011

In Part 1, I mentioned the general costs associated with renting an RV and listed additional expenses one might encounter. Here’s the details on those additional expenses:

• Campground Fees: Prices vary greatly from campground to campground, as do your surroundings & amenities. You may more for premium sites with full hook-ups (electric, water, & sewer). I think I paid an average of $35 per night. I discovered late in my trip that some RV stops like Flying J offer free overnight parking. So you can pull in & sleep. They don’t have hook-ups, but in moderate weather it would be great.




• RV Dump Fees: One thing you have to do periodically…or regularly with 5 people…is dump the RV waste storage tanks which are called the Black Water & the Grey Water. That’s toilet & shower/sinks, respectively. If you’re paying for a full hook-up site at a campground, it’s included in your overnight cost. If you’re parking in your sister’s driveway at night, you need to find an RV dump at a gas station like Flying J or at a campground. Flying J is $10 for non-card holder & $5 for card holders. Most campgrounds are $10.
  
  

  I want to pause for a moment to tell you a funny story. We left my brother’s house in Birmingham on August 30th. I had dumped the tank in Chattanooga on Sunday morning the 28th. So, I figured there would be a dump station somewhere along the freeway early on our drive. I was wrong! We were 2 hours out of Birmingham & still no Flying J or other site. I was trying to locate a station with Gas Buddy on my Android to no avail.
  
  

  I pulled over at the next rest area so I could do a Google search for a dump station. It was still coming up with nothing! I must have sat there for 15-20 minutes trying to locate an RV dump along our route.
  
  

  Finally, I gave up & headed toward the rest area exit. Would you believe that there was a FREE RV Dump station right there at the end of the rest area??? We were 16 days into our 16 day trip. I laughed at only now discovering free RV dumps at rest areas (not all rest areas have these). And I thanked God for providing an RV dump when we really needed it. (I didn’t want to lug all that water waste on a 10 hr drive as it’s weight cuts down on fuel efficiency.




• Propane Costs: To tell you the truth, I was terrified of the propane. I used it sparingly because I feared having to refill it and being clueless. What I discovered was that, at least at the Flying J, they refill it for you. I paid $3.09 per gallon. I used about 1/3 of the propane I started with in 18 days.




• General Maintenance (oil changes, tires, etc. these are reimbursed): It is possible to have to take the RV rental in for an oil change if you are driving long distances. Tires, of course, can always be an issue. I had to take our rental in for a tune up…which is basically unheard of, according to the man at the rental center. It was annoying, but I didn’t have to pay out of pocket (Not typical! Usually you will pay out of pocket & get reimbursed at the end of the trip.)




• Air for Tires: This can range from free to a few dollars.




• Potable Water: This is generally free at RV stations like Flying J, campgrounds you stay at, and any home that you can get a garden hose to the water tank. There are some places that will charge for it, so my advice is fill it with free water whenever you can.




• Generator: The on-board generator runs off your fuel and also has a meter. Cruise America charges $3 per hour of usage of the generator. You also have to add oil to it. It was one of those things I avoided out of fear of not knowing what I was doing. It isn’t a “necessary” thing in most cases unless you are camping in a primitive area and need to run everything electric at once or long-term. Most things in the RV run off an on-board 12-volt battery or the propane.




• RV Toilet Chemicals: After you empty the black water tank, and before you use the toilet again, you have to put a toilet chemical into the black water tank. I think I paid $10-15 for a bag of 15 packets and I still have 4-5 left over that I left in the RV for the next person. The chemical indicated you could add it to the grey water tank as well, but Cruise America never advised me about this and I dumped the tanks regularly (daily as I could). This chemical packet breaks down all of the waste & toilet paper sitting in the tank and manages the odor as well.




• RV Toilet Paper: It’s typically sold in small, 4-pks for about $2.99. It’s single ply and easily breaks down in the black water tank to avoid clogs in the system, hose or sewer drain.




• Ice: Coolers are recommended for frequent access to cold drinks, so ice tends to be a necessity. It paid anywhere from $1.47 to $1.99 for a small bag and up to $3.99 for a large bag.




• Drinking Water: Even though you connect the RV to city water or fill the water holding tank, it’s not considered safe to drink or use for cooking. So, I purchased both bottled water (for the cooler) and kept 2 gallons of drinking water on hand for cooking & rinsing tooth brushes. Bottled water was generally less than $4 per 24-28 bottles and the gallons were usually under a $1 each.

In my next RVing post, I’m going to talk about the things I really liked & some things that I did not like.

Anne-Marie

Christian wife & homeschool mom to 4 in NE FL.

Road Tripping in an RV – Part 1 September 1, 2011

It all began a few months ago. Another homeschool mom who has her children enrolled in the same private school for unschoolers as I have mine enrolled in, asked if any other families enrolled in the group lived in an RV and traveled about the country.

Until that day, I hadn’t even considered an RV for our travel needs. And I’ve done a lot a traveling with my kids (with and without my husband). I really started thinking about renting an RV when I decided to take my 4 kids to Indiana. There is only 1 hotel where we were going. I’ve stayed there once. It wasn’t that great and now I would need two rooms at an outrageous $90 per night. (Trust me, the place is worth $35 TOPS!) After considering hotels outside the area (a minimum 30 minute drive each way), I started to wonder about renting an RV.

I didn’t know much about renting an RV, but I did recall Lisa Whelchel writing or talking about traveling for a year in a Cruise America RV. So, that’s where I went first to check it out. I then searched for other RV rental websites; contrasting & comparing prices & other details. Eventually, I decided to book with Cruise America.

So, that’s the long & short of how our RV adventure started out.

Along the journey, I had people everywhere we went ask me questions about renting the RV. Mostly people wanted to know how much it cost. In simple terms, you have a per night cost, plus a mileage rate. Of course, you have to pay for gas too. Oh, and insurance coverage is included in your rental fee with Cruise America (I can’t speak for anyone else, but this could be the standard in the industry.)

But there are other expenses an RVer can encounter.

• Campground Fees




• RV Dump Fees




• Propane Costs




• General Maintenance




• Air for Tires




• Potable Water




• Generator




• RV Toilet Chemicals




• RV Toilet Paper




• Ice




• Drinking Water

In my next post, I will go into more detail on those expenses.

Anne-Marie

Christian wife & homeschool mom to 4 in NE FL.

RA Update: Meet JAK July 27, 2011

Imagine you have a headache. It’s bad enough that you fumble through the medicine cabinet for your typical pain relief choice.

Now imagine that the bottle of pain relief boasts “Reduces pain up to 20%”.

Ponder that for awhile, I’ll come back to it.

Last week, I finally had my appointment with a new (to me) rheumatologist. I haven’t formed an opinion of him yet…entirely. Communication is definitely better than with the other rheum. He seems to be staying educated & informed on rhemu stuff.

Still, the first treatment option he mentioned was Methotrexate. Uh, yeah. I wasn’t comfortable with Plaquenil (an anti-malaria drug), so I’m definitely not comfy with a chemo drug. However, he went on to tell me about the latest in RA treatments…JAK Inhibitors. He said he attended two different medical thingies for RA in that past year that discussed JAK Inhibitors.

So, he sent me home to do my research on JAK Inibitors. And this is where I come back to the 20% relief I mentioned earlier. I did my research…even called one of the drug manufacturers. It’s still in clinical trials (which he told me), but the news I found was interesting. There was all this excitement in the medical world because the JAK Inhibitor in trial for RA is showing a 20% relief.

I guess it doesn’t take much to excite doctors and pharmaceutical companies these days. Twenty percent? Would you bother to take that headache medicine if it only promised to relieve your headache up to 20%? I know I wouldn’t. I want 100% relief & I don’t think I would even notice 20% less pain.

To be fair, I researched it further and found that the ACR (American College of Rheumatology) has this % rating system. I’m not sure I understand it completely, but this new RA med has a 20%, 50%, 70% & a remission rating. That means that different people experienced different levels of relief at varying levels of dosages. (But it was the 20% relief that had the pharmaceutical company dancing a jig in the 1st article I found.)

Right now, I’m not sure where I fall on the optimism scale for JAK. On one hand, my pain is increasing weekly. But I’m not sure I’m ready for hard-core medications. I am especially not comfortable with taking anything without a plan. I know they want to be aggressive early on, but I just haven’t seen enough…or any…evidence that any of these drugs do anything. So this is all up in the air for me right now…which is fine.

Tomorrow, my regular doctor will be reviewing (with me) my latest bloodwork drawn earlier this month. I’m curious to compare it to last year’s. Then I will review that bloodwork again with the new rheum in about two weeks. He may order more bloodwork. Oh joy.

Worse than the pain is feeling like there are no good choices. No, there is something worse than that. Being frustrated by well-meaning advice-givers who don’t understand that Rheumatoid Arthritis is not “just” arthritis. It isn’t “just” joint pain or inflammation that can be helped X, Y or Z. It’s an auto-immune disease. My body is attacking my body and I am being tormented by all the miserable options to control it or modify it or live with it. And it’s even much more than that…

Anne-Marie

Choosing Joy & Patience July 23, 2011

Yesterday, I had to make a journey to New Smyrna Beach. It’s easily 45-minutes (at 80 mph even). Knowing I would be making this trip, I planned to also stop at Sam’s Club. Even though gas prices & couponing keep me from going as often as I used to, we still keep our membership up-to-date. We do enough business to make our $35 membership worth it.

Just like everywhere else this summer, it’s H-O-T & m-ugh-y. Arizona State University once did a study to see if temperature played a role in driver frustration. It does. Go figure. And it was all too apparent yesterday. Each person was clearly in their own private hot & muggy hell and not willing to share their space. And not just on the road.

At some point in my venture around Sam’s, I encountered an elderly lady who was content to be in my way. I wasn’t really in a hurry, but it’s still annoying to be behind the oblivious…and the painfully slow. Still, I waited, trying not to show my annoyance.

I was just about finished loading the back of my SUV when that same slow elderly lady pushed her cart around to her driver’s side door…which was next to my passenger door. Again, she was in my way. I was just about to take my few grocery items to my passenger seat. I thought she was just parking her cart there…too slow & elderly to put it in the corral that was directly behind me. As I loaded my passenger seat via my driver’s door, I noticed that she was loading her passenger side, one or two items at a time from the cart. I have no idea why she was walking around the front of her car to do this, but she was.

As I finished, and prepared to take my cart to the corral (which I ALWAYS do & you SHOULD too because it annoys the heck out of the those of us who would never be so thoughtless to leave the cart just anywhere in the parking lot when the corral is right freaking there!!! ), I decided to do something simply absurd. I sweetly asked this elderly lady if I could return her empty cart for her.

Well, it was empty except for her purse (another big No-No I can’t believe women still do). She was making her way back to the empty cart to retrieve her purse and get in her car. I told her that I would return her cart for her as soon as she was done. I returned my cart and by the time I came back she was just making her way to her door.

“If you’re done, I’ll take your cart.” I said to her. I can’t tell you exactly what she said because I was surprised at how she went on and on to thank me for being so kind. As I took the cart, I noticed how good it felt to be patient with her, to do something nice for her. We had both been blessed.

Now, I didn’t tell this story to toot my own horn. I was in no mood to be nice to anyone in that muggy heat. I had been irritated by this same woman in the store. I had been mumbling unkind and bad words under my breath all morning. I had uttered more than one deep sigh, rolled my eyes, and passed horrible judgments on others.

But for some reason, I choose to show some things I wasn’t feeling…patience, joy, kindness…to name a few. I’m sure God was speaking to me even though we didn’t have one of those long, drawn out discussions where I argue with Him about why I shouldn’t do what He’s asking me to do. It was a quiet and very quick moment from, “Grrr…she’s in my way again and moving slower than pond water.” to “I’ll take your cart for you.”

I don’t know what that means…and don’t know how much to ponder it. I think I learned all I needed to learn in that moment. Christ really does give us the power…His Power, to choose love over all else.

Anne-Marie

While I Was Fasting from Social Media January 31, 2011

There’s joy…great joy…in obeying God.

Maybe fasting from social media doesn’t seem like a big deal. Maybe it even seems silly. And maybe if it had been my own idea to fast from social media it would be silly. But nothing God asks us to do is meaningless. Even when we don’t quite understand what or why He is asking of us, if He’s in it, there’s a good reason.

The actual fasting…abstaining from posting on Twitter & Facebook…was easier than I thought. At times I felt..for lack of a better word…tempted in the areas of Twitter and Facebook when I was reading a news report or blog and I would see the icons to “share” on Facebook or Twitter. If it was temptation, I didn’t entertain it long. Typically I would see the icons and say to myself, “Oh, darn. Can’t share it.” That’s about as far as I allowed that temptation to go.

Looking back though, I can see some outright temptations. The first came in the form of an email. It was a comment left on my Facebook wall. It seemed to be mocking me…mocking my fast…almost making me appear to be a hypocrite…a liar. I remember feeling very frustrated because it was the first day of the fast and already a misunderstanding was happening under my nose and I felt helpless. I vented to my husband, but I knew I had to let it go and deal with it after the fast. Funny. Today I read that comment on my wall and I see it in a different light. What had frustrated me on Day 1 wasn’t even worthy of a reply 22 days later. I had been misunderstood, but 22 days later I just don’t care.

Other times during the fast I would click on a news link or some other link of interest only to be thrust into Facebook. I would quickly close the tab. Again, I didn’t let temptation grab my attention.

Several times I received emails that wanted me to go to Facebook for one reason or another. I had to pass on some seemingly good deals, extra points, discounts, etc. But I did it. I made a commitment to God & myself and I wasn’t going to blow it over the “chance of a lifetime”. Whatever I missed, I know that God can bring it back 100 fold if it suits Him to bless me in that way. He’s done it before. I didn’t sweat it more than “That figures…while I’m fasting.”

The only “regret” I had during the fast was not being able to Tweet the things my kids say. Those funny, silly, crazy moments I’m used to Tweeting are gone forever because my brain just doesn’t keep up like it used to. They said some pretty funny things during those 21 days, but still I’m content to obey God. I didn’t tell the world what my kids said for 10 yrs. I’m sure the earth is still spinning on it’s axis.

That’s not to say I didn’t miss connecting with everyone over those 21 days. I missed asking questions and getting feedback. I missed chatting about politics and homeschooling. It was especially tough not being able to participate in the church Facebook group for the fast (isn’t that ironic?). What made it tough was that I received every post to that group via my email. I didn’t read them all. I let God bring bring things He needed me to know to my attention as I would scan my email. I deleted the rest.

So, while I was fasting from social media, the world kept spinning. And I learned a lot…more than I can even put into words on this blog. I know that God was in it & He used it to teach me the things He needed me to learn.

There’s joy…great joy…in obeying God.

Anne-Marie

Koupon Kids January 25, 2011

My children are very supportive of my couponing. They regularly alert me to coupons on boxes, in boxes, and elsewhere. Sometimes they just bring me coupon-like gifts like in the photo here. Q cut it from the piece of paper it was printed on. Very thoughtful.

Stockpile to the Rescue January 22, 2011

Day 14 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

I started seriously couponing in June of 2009. A year later my cupboards were full, my pantry was bursting, I had added new shelving in the mudroom to handle my stockpile & I had purchased a used freezer for $60 when I could no longer put anything else into my regular freezer.

Not adhering to any stockpile plan, I was just happily accumulating food. It gave me great comfort to know I had 8 bottles of ketchup on the shelf when the last plffff from the open bottle was heard during a cookout. Before I started couponing, someone would have been running to the store…and probably more than once for such an occasion. And if it was husband who went to the store….OUCH!…someone would have to sell a kidney.

Sooooo….fast-forward to Fall of 2010. I found myself falling into a depression. Actually, I found myself suddenly in the depression. The 6 weeks prior to the end of 2010 and coming into the New Year, I didn’t coupon. I still collected my coupon fliers, but I never sat down once to go through my typical grocery routine. I ran to the store for milk, bread, coffee, and small things, but that was it. A weekly task that had been routine for more than a year was whisked away by my lack of desire to do it.

I knew I was missing sales…missing opportunities to buy things I needed to stock up on. But my Giva Dam was broken. I recognized it…tried to deal with it…and still the weeks went by and I didn’t coupon. I literally could not bring myself to do it.

Though in a funk, I took comfort in my stockpile. I had (have) plenty of food…everywhere. No one was going hungry because Mommy didn’t feel like grocery shopping. Imagine my added stress if I had to force myself to grocery shop during this difficult time. I would have been back to crawling in bed after every little task. That’s where I was a few years ago, so I know how bad it can get.

As much as it annoyed me that I couldn’t just jump back into being me, being able to shirk a few responsibilities for a time helped me work through the depression. I’m still not couponing like I was, but I’m working on it. I didn’t do too bad on my last trip to the store.

If you’re wondering what caused the depression…it’s hard to say. But Christmas stress and being in constant pain from RA are probably good guesses.

Anne-Marie

A Few of My Unfavorite Things: Movies I Hated January 21, 2011

Day 13 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

This post will be short, but not very sweet. It’s a post about the movies that I have seen at the theater and absolutely HATED!

1st up: District 9
The movie would have better if it had no dialog at all. It practically had no dialog aside from the F-word, but no speaking at all would have been a significant improvement. Oh, by the way, we saw this when we went out for our anniversary date. At least dinner at 95 Cordova was worth remembering.

Next on my “movies I hated” list: Silent Hill
I routinely assure my kids that the fears of childhood fade as we become adults. The Freddy Krueger’s & Jason’s just don’t scare us like they used to because we have real fears to deal with like…politicians. AHHH! But it’s not just that I’m immune to scary movies, this movie was just not scary. It was weird, I’ll give it that. But, oh, such a waste of time & money.

We were on our way to the theater one night (it was my birthday), meeting a group of friends to share the evening with too, when my daughter in AZ called me. She asked what movie we were going to see. When I told her, she replied to the effect that the movie was pornographic. She had read the Plugged In online review. Since I wasn’t taking the kids, I hadn’t bothered to look up the reviews. And it was just another movie about a comic book. In hindsight, I guess it would have been nice to have been forewarned a lot sooner than when I was on the road of what The Blue Limpy Watchmen contained. Uh…yeah. Seriously? A scientist gets mutated & suddenly he can’t wear clothes…unless he’s in public, but yet the audience gets to see him in full-frontal blue limpy mode throughout the movie.

The blue limpy was only one of many things I hated about this movie. And it could have been such a great movie, but they just ruined it with all the in-your-face junk.

I’m shocked that I can only recall seeing 3 movies at the theater that I hated. I even asked my husband. He couldn’t think of anything else either. I supposed we’re pretty picky about the movies we see in the theater (and at home). We mostly go to the movies with the kids, so we I do a lot of research before we do take them to a movie.

What about you? What’s the worst movie you’ve seen in the theater?

Anne-Marie

A Few of My Favorite Things: BBC January 20, 2011

Day 12 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t get British humour.” ? Or perhaps that’s you saying it now. In any case, today I’m going to share with you a few of my favorites from the BBC.

Once again, this all started with my husband. It’s always his fault. He’s used it. Anyway, he would talk about how much he enjoyed watching this British show “Waro” in years past. It sounded vaguely familiar…and old. Somehow he tracked it down even though the man had the wrong name…and we started watching Poirot. Perhaps, he used the little grey cells, no.

We had watched several episodes when all of a sudden it struck both my husband and me…Monk. We’ve never been able to confirm it, but Monk shares a lot of similarities with Poirot so we think there may be some Agatha Christie influence in Monk. There’s murder, mystery, quirky people in a historical setting…what’s not to like.

A friend of my husband’s often lends & borrows movies & series. A few years ago he shared his Cadfael collection with us. Murder, mystery, and a monk sleuth. He’s surrounded by the “When you find ‘em in the river, the cause of death is drownin” mentality seen in Sleepy Hollow. It’s medieval CSI.

Another series borrowed from previously mentioned husband’s friend was Chef!. I loved the first season of this show because it centered on the chef in his kitchen. Apparently they didn’t think that had enough depth to carry the show & wrote in all this horrible drama in the 2nd & 3rd seasons. There still are some great episodes all throughout.

Okay. Here it is. Bad, Anne-Marie, bad. But I have to say that my husband and I loved watching Coupling…yet another borrowed series from husband’s trouble-making friend. Yes, it is ABSOLUTELY not family-friendly. We locked ourselves in our bedroom to watch the series…all 28 episodes.

So there’s a few of my favorite things from the BBC. Do you have any BBC favorites?

Anne-Marie

A Few of My Favorite Things: Old Movies January 19, 2011

Day 11 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

I’ll admit I wasn’t too excited when my husband started ordering movies from the 1930′s on our Netflix account. But it wasn’t long before the whole family eagerly piled on the leather sofa in family room to watch these old movies.

My absolute favorite movie series from the 1930′s is Nancy Drew. Bonita Granville plays Nancy with such excitement. She’s simply awesome! There is just so much to love from these movies that today’s audiences would be demanding more movies. Sadly, they only made four. But they are such a treasure.

Nancy Drew: Detective (Nov 1938)
Nancy Drew: Reporter (Feb 1939)
Nancy Drew: Trouble Shooter (June 1939)
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (Sept 1939)

Charlie Chan has become a family favorite. How many children do you know personally who rave about a 1930′s character?

Technically, he’s not a 1930′s character. The character’s first appearance in a “talkie” was in 1929. Prior to that he had been in silent movies & featured in mystery novels by author Earl Derr Biggers as early as 1925.

Nonetheless, there were 21 Charlie Chan movies from 1931-1939 alone….and many more to follow. IMDB has a list of all the
Charlie Chan Movies.

Next up, Peter Lorre’s Mr. Moto. He is another crime-solving character. It’s interesting to note that Mr. Moto predates Casablanca. All of the Peter Lorre, Mr. Moto movies were made in the 1930′s.

Last, but not least, The Thin Man. More murder-mystery from the 1930′s with awesomely fun dialog between Mr. & Mrs. Charles. Hmmm…IMDB has an “in production” listing for The Thin Man in 2013. With so many remake failures & flops, talk about hard shoes to fill.

So, what about you? What are your favorite old movies?

Anne-Marie