I think they do but it doesn’t matter, they are completely sold out as well.
My family did rent a Winnebago during the summer of 1973 - remember that? Gas exploded to 42 cents a gallon!!! Mom / Dad had to make reservations at gas stations to save XXX gallons to fill the Winnebago in the route from Dallas, TX to Colorado and back. It was a really nice RV and we had a good time until we started climbing the mountains and it quit running. My dad, not mechanical at all, didn’t know that you had to adjust the carburator if your RV is set for sea level and you want to climb to 14,000’! Had to stay in hotel 1 night until a mechanic could reset it. I forgot, that was a fun trip, other than worrying about the gas - availability and cost! Summer going into my senior year
I haven’t been able to sleep in a queen bed in decades. We tried once after we got our king and said “ never again”. We don’t stay at hotels without king beds.
How do you park those huge things? Or stop at a gas station for gas?
We like to, ahem, “camp” at state parks. We go out to the ocean, along the Columbia river, down the Oregon Coast.
A queen bed is a step down, but we make do — this has a residential-sized queen and we put on a decent mattress. Two AC units so we’re comfortable in warm weather. H had a nice nap this afternoon. He closed the bedroom door and I was in the living area. Hard to do in a normal hotel room.
It’s ~33 ft long, which is at the lower end, size-wise for a 5er. H is a good driver, we have the appropriate tow vehicle, etc., and he doesn’t mind doing the dumping at the end.
We started this with tent camping with the girls when they were little. This is our 4th, the others we shared with my sister and her family.
I love a hotel. King bed, nice amenities. Our regular travel is all about that. I’m currently in heavy discussions with H over hotels vs VRBO when we do our Europe trip. Part of it is set at 2 weeks in a nice villa, but the rest is TBD.
One one Alaska trip, my brother (who lives in Anchorage) rented a RV for the group of us. He did a lot of the driving.
We are staying tonight in a hostel sitting on a river at the start of a cycling route in Japan. They had some double rooms that were booked two months ago, so we rented four slots so we could have our own room. Earlier in the week, we stayed at a fabulous hotel in Kyoto with a great exec lounge and huge breakfast (free for me because of my status) with Western, Japanese and Chinese dishes. Happy to have a variety. After the sensational meal a couple of nights ago, last night we had Onigiri from 7-Eleven (the 7-Elevens in Japan are remarkable) and tonight we had Hiroshima style yakitori in a restaurant which was in the back room of a liquor store. We have a Michelin star restaurant reserved in Seoul for my birthday. I don’t think I want to drive an RV, but I don’t mind modest roughing – my back is no longer up for backpacking.
We ran into a retired Australian couple that spent a year living in Florence and now is the middle of 6 weeks or 3 months traveling in Asia. They also at at the 7-Eleven.
Sounds like a memorable birthday and trip!
I lived in a coworker’s RV for weeks at a time during my postdoc and it was great. Now I work away from home a lot and recently thought seriously about buying one (I’d have a free place to park it on someone’s property), but even a cheap one wasn’t in our budget. I see it as a practical thing but my spouse was really excited about it for other reasons. I think we wouldn’t end up using it much as a couple partly because we’re just too tall for it to be very comfortable for recreational purposes. I think (work use aside) it wouldn’t get used much and wouldn’t be worth the expense and upkeep.
This was something we considered carefully, but we’ve been very happy with the headroom in our small teardrop trailer (6.5ft+ except above the bed). It’s been ideal as a couple, and doable with one of our kids at a time:
Oh I love teardrop trailers! Sadly, we have 3 family members in the 6’4"-6’9" range. Even fitting in some cars is an issue . Our friends got such a cute teardrop trailer and we are definitely jealous.
We had 10+ years towing a beloved popup tent camper, mostly for weekends and short trips. It would be rather cumbersome to put up/down on a long road trip, but at a single campground/site we had a lot of fun with the kids! Well, they said not “real camping” since not a tent. But so nice to have real mattresses and to stay dry!
I would love to drive/ride an RV cross country and visit national parks but there is no way I would want to drive one, or even pull one - I’m too spontaneous in my driving. The scariest thing for me on the highway is seeing one of those Cruise America rvs because I figure it’s the driver’s first time driving one. DH maybe would be ok but would probably attempt roads that aren’t suitable. But my son and his girlfriend rented a Jucy van to tour Australia and I think that would be fun. Has a bed and a kitchen and not much bigger than a mini van.
Yes, I think driving a vehicle about the size of a minivan is much more do-able for a wider range of folks than an RV.
This is a different type of post.
I do like where I live. Lots of active things to do, the area is beautiful. The weather is great in the summer. Cost of living is very low. People are generally nice.
But…
I find that it’s hard to make lasting friendships. People are nice. They aren’t particularly intellectually intelligent. Their political opinions are drastically different than mine. Most of the people I’ve been friends with are 15 years older and their lives are slowing down and mine isn’t.
I’ve tried joining groups and golf leagues. Tried to do things to meet people. People are nice but I’m not meeting people I want to be friends with. Acquaintances, great! Friends, not so much!
I don’t even know what the answer is. Moving somewhere else and finding others who share what I want to seems to be a pipe dream. Where would I move? Don’t say Florida or any other southern state. I’m not interested, politically or climate wise.
Maybe I should be satisfied with having people to do things with and forget about having people who I have a lot in common with.
I understand your situation, which I realize is particularly difficult due to where you live (I know the area well enough to get it). I don’t know the answer, but I can empathize. H and I are feeling out of place where we live, even though we’ve been here 45 years. At this point, we’re not sure where we fit. It’s an odd time for us, and we’re just waiting to see what the future brings.
I feel for you.
Any chance there’s a place closer to your kids that would work well for you, assuming they are likely in their “forever locations?”
In thinking of moving, I realize how lucky I am to have a fair number of friends where I live now, and I know I might have trouble making new friends elsewhere.
Pickleball was something totally new for me when I retired, and I’ve made some good friends (and some just acquaintances) through that. I don’t know if that would be an option where you live.
I don’t think we could really afford to live where they are. I don’t see it being an option.
Well if you ever visit Colorado, I’ll be a vacation friend If you play pickleball… even better… my pb acquaintances (some becoming friends) will make you laugh.
Does your local library offer any lectures, book clubs?
How about yoga/Pilates/mindfulness? I’ve met more liberal intellectuals through those activities than anywhere else.
Political activities or groups? Do you have any rec centers that offer birding, hiking or bicycling groups? You don’t have to love the activities but it’s a way to make new connections. I hesitate to mention houses of worship, but again, a new avenue.
Can you think of one person you’d like to get to know better? Invite them to breakfast. You have to take a risk and put yourself out there. It’s hard, I know.