Things About Full-Time RVing that We Didn't Expect

We're four months into this venture, so I thought this would be a good time to present a few things about full-time RVing that we didn't expect.  Some good things.  Some not so good things.  Nothing terrible, just surprising in some way.

First of all, one of the main things about full-time RVing that we didn't expect is just how much we would absolutely LOVE it.  Having never spent so much as even one night in an RV in our lives, we were guessing/hoping we would enjoy it.  But, truth be told, we absolutely LOVE it.  We both love the simplistic life we now live.  We love having very little in the way our household responsibilities -- no lawn to mow, no mortgage or utility bills to pay, no big house to clean (it takes me only 1 1/2 hours to clean my entire home, top to bottom, including windows!).   We love having fewer things, and more time to enjoy the things we do have, such as the very nice features which came in our very new RV, including our multi-media entertainment system and inordinately comfortable leather LazyBoy recliners.  We actually really enjoy living in our close quarters.

Secondly, we have loved the huge amounts of time we've spent outdoors, which has more to do with the fact that we're in the comfortable summer-on-Lake Erie climate than simply RVing.  I had fond memories of wonderful summers growing up in Cleveland, but having not lived in this region for 29 years, I had forgotten just how delightful the weather could be this time of year.  I have made a point of praising God for this amazing weather every single day that we've been up here.  Even John has had to admit how stunning the weather has been the past 3 months.

But before it got warm and beautiful, we had some very chilly nights and mornings, which gave us a chance to marvel at another aspect of our RV -- the amount of heat that our little electric fireplace kicks out!  We were a bit curious as to whether or not we would enjoy this not-so-usual feature of our particular RV, but I can honestly say that we've loved it as well.  We'll be especially thankful for it whenever we're in a colder climate.

But some of the other aspects regarding the weather have surprised us as well.  Like how much the RV shakes in a strong wind.  And how noisy it is when it is hailing  (we had 2 hailstorms early in our season here, and we could barely hear ourselves talk!  It was LOUD!).

And speaking of noise, another of the things about full-time RVing we didn't expect, at least in our particular camper, is how noisy the air conditioner is when it's running.  Thankfully we haven't needed it very often this summer, but when we do have it on, we have to turn up the music or TV several levels to hear it over the noise.  In the future, we'll definitely research this aspect of any RV purchase more adequately.

And speaking of noises, we've heard many, many more sirens this summer than we ever would have expected up in this quiet little town of Marblehead, Ohio.  To tell the truth, I think they've mostly been firetrucks, rather than police cars.  Just yesterday we heard quite a few firetrucks screaming past us, in the direction of Bay Point.  I have no idea what was going on.   Department of Homeland Security Border Patrol agents have also provided their share of screaming sensory input.

And I would be remiss if I failed to mention another surprise -- skunks!  I can honestly say that I think I've smelled more skunks during the summer up here than in all the combined past years of my life.  Or at least in the past 20 or 30 years.  I haven't seen very many -- just smelled them.  And we smell them all.the.time.  Sometimes a couple times a day.  We drove home from south of Cleveland one day and smelled five!  I'm not complaining.  Just saying.  It has definitely surprised us.

But we've also been delighted to see bald eagles!  Four times so far this summer!  Having never seen a bald eagle in the wild before coming up to Marblehead, such sightings will never grow old!

And finally, though we expected to enjoy our days off together, we didn't really appreciate how wonderful these times would be until we started doing things together on those days off.  Things like walking, biking, and kayaking.  Things like exploring this wonderful region and learning about its history and some of the famous people who have called this area home (people like Thomas Edison and Rutherford B Hayes).  Things like going into Cleveland and spending time with my Mom, helping her in the yard, etc.  And, of course, Cedar Point.  I used to measure my summers by the number of times I got to go to Cedar Point.  By that standard, my five visits make this the best.summer.ever!