This morning Mike announced we were going to Grants Pass and spend the night. It's very nice to sleep in a regular bed now and then! It's a quiet town, mostly retirees I was told by the hotel clerk. Since it's Sunday, most of the downtown stores were closed, but we wandered around and found a few antique stores open. I scooped up an old scrapbook of greeting cards from the 1930's and 40's - it's a gem! And a couple more books for altering. Mike was checking out the medals in the glass cases. I plan on hitting the stores again tomorrow when they open.
We had our junk food fix for lunch (Wendy's, the new hand mixed strawberry shake was yummy!) and then hung out until time to catch the new Indiana Jones movie. It was a "B" in my book, but Harrison and his leading lady (not the ugly Russian chick) look darn good - maybe there's hope after 50 after all!
We had a lite dinner (still pretty full from popcorn) and settled in for the night. Ahh, air conditioning, a private shower and real mattresses - they feel like luxuries. He does know how to spoil me ;-)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
An abundance of sisters
Today is my baby sister, Mary Beth's birthday. MB, for short, is the brightest and most outspoken, which says a lot, being she's one of us! She puts up with us older sisters and a slightly younger brother most of the time. She's always been well-connected (the picture is with the governor of Arizona, Mary Beth is on the right) and passionate about life. Most of all, she works very hard and always give 120%.
Happy Birthday, Little Sister!
Living in small places
There are pluses and minuses to living in a 23 foot 5th wheel that Mike suggested I cover in this blog, in the interest of full disclosure (!) Suffice it to say, being respectful of each other goes a long way.
The RV has about 250 square feet of living space. To put this in perspective, recent statistics reveal that people are increasing their household space per person, not only through larger homes, but primarily because of fewer people per household. The average living space for the poor in the U.S. is 1200 square feet per person. Most of the world's population live in much smaller spaces, even though there was approximately 7 acres of land available on earth per person in 2000 . The recommended minimum living space per person is 3.5 square meters . (I'll let you do the math). Now on to how we live in our small space.
Pluses -
This space is easy to clean. Twenty minutes tops, including mopping the floor and scrubbing the bath and kitchen. Our home is pretty air tight and it's not dusty out here like in the desert. I plan to tackle the windows soon.
Maintenance is pretty simple. Emptying the holding tanks regularly (I put a reminder on my Palm handheld PDA), keeping the pilot light lit for the hot water is about it. When we got here Mike scrubbed the bugs off of the front and I washed down the other areas. The hooks on some of the utility doors are weak and we'll be replacing those. Our tires are new and we aren't covering them here as they get little direct sun.
Small spaces require organization, not one of our's strong points (guess who?) We've added hooks in strategic places and a couple small shelves. The main organization technique is to not acquire any more stuff, and I am constantly purging things I find we don't use. Still, the gazebo, picnic table and vehicles hold their share of items that we don't want or can't fit inside.
Minuses
The one we seem to bother with the most is having only one bathroom. Timing is of the essence, if you get my drift. We keep filtered water in a Britta pitcher in the refrigerator, so a separate filtered water spout on the sink would be handy and would free up refrigerator space.
The living area has a fold out sofa bed and bench dining seats. Neither are very comfortable for two to watch TV. Easy chairs and a movable dining set are on the list for the next RV. So is a pop-out area to widen the space once we're parked. Of course, we could both just loose some weight and passing in the hallway wouldn't be such a tight squeeze!
To get a little separation when we're in the RV at night, I will sit up on the bed while Mike commands the sofa. I bought a "bed chair", a chair back with arm rests, that supports my back while surfing.
So that's a little insight into living in a small RV. A final BIG plus is that we would rather be outdoors exploring, prospecting or sightseeing and after a full day's adventure, it's a cozy spot to come home to.
The RV has about 250 square feet of living space. To put this in perspective, recent statistics reveal that people are increasing their household space per person, not only through larger homes, but primarily because of fewer people per household. The average living space for the poor in the U.S. is 1200 square feet per person. Most of the world's population live in much smaller spaces, even though there was approximately 7 acres of land available on earth per person in 2000 . The recommended minimum living space per person is 3.5 square meters . (I'll let you do the math). Now on to how we live in our small space.
Pluses -
This space is easy to clean. Twenty minutes tops, including mopping the floor and scrubbing the bath and kitchen. Our home is pretty air tight and it's not dusty out here like in the desert. I plan to tackle the windows soon.
Maintenance is pretty simple. Emptying the holding tanks regularly (I put a reminder on my Palm handheld PDA), keeping the pilot light lit for the hot water is about it. When we got here Mike scrubbed the bugs off of the front and I washed down the other areas. The hooks on some of the utility doors are weak and we'll be replacing those. Our tires are new and we aren't covering them here as they get little direct sun.
Small spaces require organization, not one of our's strong points (guess who?) We've added hooks in strategic places and a couple small shelves. The main organization technique is to not acquire any more stuff, and I am constantly purging things I find we don't use. Still, the gazebo, picnic table and vehicles hold their share of items that we don't want or can't fit inside.
Minuses
The one we seem to bother with the most is having only one bathroom. Timing is of the essence, if you get my drift. We keep filtered water in a Britta pitcher in the refrigerator, so a separate filtered water spout on the sink would be handy and would free up refrigerator space.
The living area has a fold out sofa bed and bench dining seats. Neither are very comfortable for two to watch TV. Easy chairs and a movable dining set are on the list for the next RV. So is a pop-out area to widen the space once we're parked. Of course, we could both just loose some weight and passing in the hallway wouldn't be such a tight squeeze!
To get a little separation when we're in the RV at night, I will sit up on the bed while Mike commands the sofa. I bought a "bed chair", a chair back with arm rests, that supports my back while surfing.
So that's a little insight into living in a small RV. A final BIG plus is that we would rather be outdoors exploring, prospecting or sightseeing and after a full day's adventure, it's a cozy spot to come home to.
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