Hello to all fulltimers and those who dream about it!
My name is Muriel and I am originally from Paris, France. Well I was born in the capital but was raised about 30 minutes south of it, in a small country village named Saint-Arnoult...
I came to America in 1996 cause my husband was from Central California. In 1998 he became my ex-husband and I decided to stay by myself in the US.
Since then I lived in few different states like CA, but also South Dakota and Oklahoma. In 2006 I decided it was time to live my very old dream and moved up North to the "Last Frontier", Alaska. I have dreamed of it since I was a little girl back in the old country and I think Jack London is greatly responsible for it!! I read pretty much all of his novels, in french version then of course, but still, I became addicted then. My first book by him was the famous " Call of the wild" translated in french as "L'appel de la foret"... I was 6 years old!
That love story with London lasted many many years. While married I even visited his ranch in Napa Valley, Ca and it was like being home to me!
So anyway, like I said below, I moved to AK in 2006 and I have been here now for 7 years. I drive a school bus for special kids here in Fairbanks and I have been driving buses since I started in Oklahoma, back in 2002. Prior to that new career I was working in Corrections...
Life is hard here, expensive, extreme but it is Alaska so I guess it makes sense...somehow. Our winters are very long, very cold [we've had few years back one night 75 below zero!] but usually it is between 40 or 50 below zero... And we spend those long icy months in almost total darkness for about 21 hours a day...the rest is spent in a foggy kind of daylight, not very bright cause the sun is too low in the horizon, so it is not warm either...
But as I am writing you all this, it is summer time and now, we are in total daylight for 24 hours a day. This is why this state is also called "The land of the Midnight Sun"... I do not mind, I am able to sleep anytime, but I know for some people, especially the tourists, it is a difficult adjustment, and in their travel trailers or motorhomes, they have to cover their windows with whatever work for them, in order to block this "pesky" daylight... Imagine wearing your sunglasses at 0300 in the morning! That was quite an experience for me, the very first time I did it!
Anyway if I am on here it is because I thought it would be nice to share my experience[s] with other fulltime RVers here in Alaska or anywhere else... I live since May 2013 in a vintage travel trailer called "Old Lady", a 1978 24ft Holiday Ramblette, and I will still live in it this coming winter... Live and learn I guess... I have heard of a couple spending an entire South Dakota's winter in their trailer and I know because I lived there, SD can be very cold too... Not as extreme as Alaska can be, but still, quite cold, close to 38 below zero... For now, I live in the woods, no water nor power around here, on my two best friends land, where their sled dogs also reside... If I need power I run their generator, as for the water I have to bring my own but a lot of people around here do that too, cause just a few have houses with running water, due to the permafrost, it is impossible to dig very deep in the ground, so a lot of people, carry huge water tanks in trailers behind their cars, or in the bed of their trucks...
My only neighbors around here are my friends howling dogs that remind you of wolves, once in a while the usual moose, some foxes, squirrels, ravens, and my friends goose and her ducks tribe... No humans around here, not even my friends who live closer to town in a nice big two stories log cabin that looks like some Switzerland "chalet"...
So if you also live in your trailer or motorhome, but not necessarily travel, if your RV is your home all year, I would love to hear from you and your experiences, wherever you are... Actually I can't wait to hear from you "gypsies" people!!
Enjoy your camping life and share it with me, if you feel like it... I look forward to hear from you far away friends...!
TODAY, 08/09/2013, I CREATED A NEW PAGE ON FACEBOOK CALLED "HOLIDAY RAMBLETTE TRAVEL TRAILER" AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU ALL JOINING ME ON IT, TELLING ME YOUR STORIES, SHOWING ME YOUR PICS, ETC. ALL TRAVEL TRAILERS TYPES OWNERS WELCOME!
-- Edited by MURIEL1965 on Friday 9th of August 2013 12:06:51 PM
Lonney Wade said
09:34 AM Jul 23, 2013
Welcome Muriel to RV-Dreams, man I thought I had it bad here in west Michigan, I'm 6 miles from the big lake and it does get cold here, sometimes -30 wind chill and very little sun, we always have clouds here, I need the warmer weather and lots of sun, so we are going west for the winter, I just can't see us going to that kind of weather in Alaska, It makes my bones hurt just thinking about it, when my hands get cold it takes awhile to warm up again, getting old is not all that fun anymore LOL!! So to help stay young I have been working my way up to walking 9 miles a week since 2005, it also helps with my high blood pressure, in 2005 my blood pressure was at 270 over 170, that was the past, now my blood pressure yesterday was 119 over 61 and lost a total of about 42 pounds, I am so excited to see all the numbers go down, it's been a long hard road for me.
I really don't know how you do it, you are very very brave lady to live in Alaska, it would be cool to hear more about you life in Alaska. I guess I'm just not all that brave anymore, LOL!!
Lonney
scrappy said
12:56 PM Jul 23, 2013
First, welcome to the forum!
Second, WOW! I guess when it gets to the very brisk 40* (F) (above zero) here............I wont complain!!
GENECOP said
02:08 PM Jul 23, 2013
Welcome to RV Dreams, very well written for your second language....you sound like a person who loves adventure (like most of us here) we will share our stories if you share some of yours....good to have you!!
WestWardHo said
03:57 PM Jul 23, 2013
Welcome Muriel!
Wow is right!!!! One of the things I love about this forum is the diversity of people and rigs living all different kinds of lives! I just want to know how you keep your rig from freezing solid?!
We're spending the summer in the foggy and cool Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. When the sun comes out, it's awesome. In the gloom, not so much!
Sherry
Terry and Jo said
01:38 AM Jul 24, 2013
Muriel,
Welcome to the RV Dreams forums. I'm proud to say that for some time we "shared" the state of Oklahoma with you. Jo and I live in the Oklahoma City area and have been living in our 38 1/2 foot Mobile Suites for the last two years. We've managed to survive temperatures as high as over 115 degrees and as low as 14 degrees. I'm not sure that I'd want to risk minus-degrees, even in our well insulated unit, so I've got a profound amount of respect that you are willing to winter in a trailer as small as yours.
We look forward to your comments with regards to living in such extreme temperatures.
Glad to have you as part of the family.
Terry
MURIEL1965 said
03:14 AM Jul 25, 2013
Hello Terry,
thank you for your friendly answer... I used to live about an hour south of OKC in Lawton/Fort Sill, not too far from the Texas border... Way too hot for me though...
I will keep everybody updated about my life conditions when the weather here becomes "ugly"... I will have to find a place to park my trailer sometimes in December, where I will be able to plug it for good... I think the fact this trailer isn't that big is also a plus, cause of course, it will be easier to keep warm, or so I hope... Well as long as I do not turn into a giant popsickle, I will keep on writing to you all my new friends!
MURIEL
MURIEL1965 said
03:17 AM Jul 25, 2013
Hello "Scrappy",
first of all let me tell you, your dogs are gorgeous!
Thank you for your friendly answer... It is great to hear from other who have that RV living bug already!
Tell me more about where you are at and what is going there.
Thank you new friend!
MURIEL
Papermaker said
01:11 PM May 2, 2015
Hi,
I just came across your profile and I have to say that you are living quite a life. You must be one hardy soul to live that far north. I've always wanted to visit Alaska, just not sure that far north, but you never know.
Hello to all fulltimers and those who dream about it!
My name is Muriel and I am originally from Paris, France. Well I was born in the capital but was raised about 30 minutes south of it, in a small country village named Saint-Arnoult...
I came to America in 1996 cause my husband was from Central California. In 1998 he became my ex-husband and I decided to stay by myself in the US.
Since then I lived in few different states like CA, but also South Dakota and Oklahoma. In 2006 I decided it was time to live my very old dream and moved up North to the "Last Frontier", Alaska. I have dreamed of it since I was a little girl back in the old country and I think Jack London is greatly responsible for it!! I read pretty much all of his novels, in french version then of course, but still, I became addicted then. My first book by him was the famous " Call of the wild" translated in french as "L'appel de la foret"... I was 6 years old!
That love story with London lasted many many years. While married I even visited his ranch in Napa Valley, Ca and it was like being home to me!
So anyway, like I said below, I moved to AK in 2006 and I have been here now for 7 years. I drive a school bus for special kids here in Fairbanks and I have been driving buses since I started in Oklahoma, back in 2002. Prior to that new career I was working in Corrections...
Life is hard here, expensive, extreme but it is Alaska so I guess it makes sense...somehow. Our winters are very long, very cold [we've had few years back one night 75 below zero!] but usually it is between 40 or 50 below zero... And we spend those long icy months in almost total darkness for about 21 hours a day...the rest is spent in a foggy kind of daylight, not very bright cause the sun is too low in the horizon, so it is not warm either...
But as I am writing you all this, it is summer time and now, we are in total daylight for 24 hours a day. This is why this state is also called "The land of the Midnight Sun"... I do not mind, I am able to sleep anytime, but I know for some people, especially the tourists, it is a difficult adjustment, and in their travel trailers or motorhomes, they have to cover their windows with whatever work for them, in order to block this "pesky" daylight... Imagine wearing your sunglasses at 0300 in the morning! That was quite an experience for me, the very first time I did it!
Anyway if I am on here it is because I thought it would be nice to share my experience[s] with other fulltime RVers here in Alaska or anywhere else... I live since May 2013 in a vintage travel trailer called "Old Lady", a 1978 24ft Holiday Ramblette, and I will still live in it this coming winter... Live and learn I guess... I have heard of a couple spending an entire South Dakota's winter in their trailer and I know because I lived there, SD can be very cold too... Not as extreme as Alaska can be, but still, quite cold, close to 38 below zero... For now, I live in the woods, no water nor power around here, on my two best friends land, where their sled dogs also reside... If I need power I run their generator, as for the water I have to bring my own but a lot of people around here do that too, cause just a few have houses with running water, due to the permafrost, it is impossible to dig very deep in the ground, so a lot of people, carry huge water tanks in trailers behind their cars, or in the bed of their trucks...
My only neighbors around here are my friends howling dogs that remind you of wolves, once in a while the usual moose, some foxes, squirrels, ravens, and my friends goose and her ducks tribe... No humans around here, not even my friends who live closer to town in a nice big two stories log cabin that looks like some Switzerland "chalet"...
So if you also live in your trailer or motorhome, but not necessarily travel, if your RV is your home all year, I would love to hear from you and your experiences, wherever you are... Actually I can't wait to hear from you "gypsies" people!!
Enjoy your camping life and share it with me, if you feel like it... I look forward to hear from you far away friends...!
TODAY, 08/09/2013, I CREATED A NEW PAGE ON FACEBOOK CALLED "HOLIDAY RAMBLETTE TRAVEL TRAILER" AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU ALL JOINING ME ON IT, TELLING ME YOUR STORIES, SHOWING ME YOUR PICS, ETC. ALL TRAVEL TRAILERS TYPES OWNERS WELCOME!
-- Edited by MURIEL1965 on Friday 9th of August 2013 12:06:51 PM
Welcome Muriel to RV-Dreams, man I thought I had it bad here in west Michigan, I'm 6 miles from the big lake and it does get cold here, sometimes -30 wind chill and very little sun, we always have clouds here, I need the warmer weather and lots of sun, so we are going west for the winter, I just can't see us going to that kind of weather in Alaska, It makes my bones hurt just thinking about it, when my hands get cold it takes awhile to warm up again, getting old is not all that fun anymore LOL!! So to help stay young I have been working my way up to walking 9 miles a week since 2005, it also helps with my high blood pressure, in 2005 my blood pressure was at 270 over 170, that was the past, now my blood pressure yesterday was 119 over 61 and lost a total of about 42 pounds, I am so excited to see all the numbers go down, it's been a long hard road for me.
I really don't know how you do it, you are very very brave lady to live in Alaska, it would be cool to hear more about you life in Alaska. I guess I'm just not all that brave anymore, LOL!!
Lonney
First, welcome to the forum!
Second, WOW! I guess when it gets to the very brisk 40* (F) (above zero) here............I wont complain!!
Wow is right!!!! One of the things I love about this forum is the diversity of people and rigs living all different kinds of lives! I just want to know how you keep your rig from freezing solid?!
We're spending the summer in the foggy and cool Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. When the sun comes out, it's awesome. In the gloom, not so much!
Sherry
Muriel,
Welcome to the RV Dreams forums. I'm proud to say that for some time we "shared" the state of Oklahoma with you. Jo and I live in the Oklahoma City area and have been living in our 38 1/2 foot Mobile Suites for the last two years. We've managed to survive temperatures as high as over 115 degrees and as low as 14 degrees. I'm not sure that I'd want to risk minus-degrees, even in our well insulated unit, so I've got a profound amount of respect that you are willing to winter in a trailer as small as yours.
We look forward to your comments with regards to living in such extreme temperatures.
Glad to have you as part of the family.
Terry
Hello Terry,
thank you for your friendly answer... I used to live about an hour south of OKC in Lawton/Fort Sill, not too far from the Texas border... Way too hot for me though...
I will keep everybody updated about my life conditions when the weather here becomes "ugly"... I will have to find a place to park my trailer sometimes in December, where I will be able to plug it for good... I think the fact this trailer isn't that big is also a plus, cause of course, it will be easier to keep warm, or so I hope... Well as long as I do not turn into a giant popsickle, I will keep on writing to you all my new friends!
MURIEL
Hello "Scrappy",
first of all let me tell you, your dogs are gorgeous!
Thank you for your friendly answer... It is great to hear from other who have that RV living bug already!
Tell me more about where you are at and what is going there.
Thank you new friend!
MURIEL
Hi,
I just came across your profile and I have to say that you are living quite a life. You must be one hardy soul to live that far north. I've always wanted to visit Alaska, just not sure that far north, but you never know.
Be safe & take care.
Greg ....... 🌞