Back in the old "home base", huge difference between year 1 and 2
NWescapee said
06:41 PM Jun 26, 2015
Last summer we returned to our old "home base" area for 8 weeks, 3 art shows, TONS of family / friends / old neighbor gatherings, shrunk our storage room, did all our annual doctor, dentist, vet visits, etc. and left totally exhausted. We really didn't want to do that again, loved seeing everyone but by the end of our stay we just wanted to get away.
We're now 2 weeks into this year's visit to the "old home base". This visit feels so much different, even though this time we're only here for 6 weeks, with our niece will be flying in for almost a week of that time over the 4th of July weekend, we only have 2 art shows this summer in Western WA, and we've made it really clear to everyone (with the exception of my Dad) that they only get to see us once. Sorry, just can't spend every night socializing, we need some "down time" for us. So even with a trailer tire replacement, a hydraulic repair, a bit of purging from the RV / Truck into the storage room, rearranging the art booth to lighten the load for the next year, it's already feeling like this is a much, much more relaxed visit to the old home area.
Some of the changes we made to make this year's visit a little less stressful:
Lessened the number of gatherings
No gatherings at our home on wheels, we're meeting at local parks for picnics / beach outings or going to someone else's house this time. This year we get to be the guests instead of entertaining multiple gatherings at our rig.
Simplified the meals with picnics, potlucks and Papa Murphy's Take and Bake pizza.
Staying in less locations, gave up on the Western WA state parks and parked ourselves at the Fairgrounds for most of our visit, not at all scenic, but we can stay for more than 10 days at a time.
It's nice to be back, fun to see everyone, still not 100% sure if we'll be headed back here in Sept or Oct due to my work situation, but right now we're treating this as if it's our only Western WA stay this year and we are enjoying it so much more than last year's visit.
We have no desire to "go home again", but Western WA is still a great place to visit in the summer and this year we are reveling in being visitors vs. former residents.
Camper Chronicles said
09:37 PM Jun 26, 2015
That's encouraging and I appreciate the update on your second visit home.
bjoyce said
09:10 AM Jun 27, 2015
We are in Western Washington also, but find almost no one comes to our RV to visit. That makes it really easy to control the gatherings.
NWescapee said
08:00 AM Jun 29, 2015
Bill - I think it's much easier this year, last year many of our friends wanted to see the modifications we had made and how we were really "living" in the rig. I suspect it will continue to be that way in the future, they've seen it, but realize we don't have enough room to entertain inside when it's more than 2-4 more people.
Trabuco said
06:39 PM Jun 29, 2015
Ruth - we'll be up in your area Sept, October and Nov. park hoping through all the Thousand Trails parks. We'll wave on our way by. Enjoy spending time in the area.
DebbieM said
11:49 PM Jun 29, 2015
Also good to know Ruth as we just spent 8 weeks at the 'Ol Home Base. And it was stressful also. More like feast or famine as naturally most work so they all wanted to get together on weekends. We'll be back end of this year for Nov/Dec (holidays). Should be more low key. We'll see.
Last summer we returned to our old "home base" area for 8 weeks, 3 art shows, TONS of family / friends / old neighbor gatherings, shrunk our storage room, did all our annual doctor, dentist, vet visits, etc. and left totally exhausted. We really didn't want to do that again, loved seeing everyone but by the end of our stay we just wanted to get away.
We're now 2 weeks into this year's visit to the "old home base". This visit feels so much different, even though this time we're only here for 6 weeks, with our niece will be flying in for almost a week of that time over the 4th of July weekend, we only have 2 art shows this summer in Western WA, and we've made it really clear to everyone (with the exception of my Dad) that they only get to see us once. Sorry, just can't spend every night socializing, we need some "down time" for us. So even with a trailer tire replacement, a hydraulic repair, a bit of purging from the RV / Truck into the storage room, rearranging the art booth to lighten the load for the next year, it's already feeling like this is a much, much more relaxed visit to the old home area.
Some of the changes we made to make this year's visit a little less stressful:
Lessened the number of gatherings
No gatherings at our home on wheels, we're meeting at local parks for picnics / beach outings or going to someone else's house this time. This year we get to be the guests instead of entertaining multiple gatherings at our rig.
Simplified the meals with picnics, potlucks and Papa Murphy's Take and Bake pizza.
Staying in less locations, gave up on the Western WA state parks and parked ourselves at the Fairgrounds for most of our visit, not at all scenic, but we can stay for more than 10 days at a time.
It's nice to be back, fun to see everyone, still not 100% sure if we'll be headed back here in Sept or Oct due to my work situation, but right now we're treating this as if it's our only Western WA stay this year and we are enjoying it so much more than last year's visit.
We have no desire to "go home again", but Western WA is still a great place to visit in the summer and this year we are reveling in being visitors vs. former residents.
Also good to know Ruth as we just spent 8 weeks at the 'Ol Home Base. And it was stressful also. More like feast or famine as naturally most work so they all wanted to get together on weekends. We'll be back end of this year for Nov/Dec (holidays). Should be more low key. We'll see.