Hard-Learned Lessons From an RV Newbie: Part III
Day Eight | Luray, Virginia
If you’re just getting started, you can catch Part I of this series here: Hard-Learned Lessons From an RV Newbie: Part I
The next morning we awoke to a gorgeous break from the rain (and from the flies now that they no longer sought shelter in our temporary home). After several days of being relatively cooped up together, I discovered a few cleaning tricks to help me maintain my sanity amid 400 square feet of boy-ness.
Staying on top of the mess is crucial in a confined space. A few scattered articles of clothing and stray dishes can mean the difference between feeling at home and feeling suffocated. For me, a cluttered space equals a cluttered mind, and a cluttered mine equals an irritable wife and mom. Not fun for anyone. Our Montana fifth wheel came with ample closet and cabinet space, and I took every advantage of it. This meant staying on top of the boys to put their messes away as they made them—which only did so much good. In the end, I chose Byron Katie’s approach as I recalled a passage from her book, Loving What Is:
“The reality was that day after day, they left their socks on the floor, after all my years of preaching and nagging and punishing them. I saw that I was the one who should pick up the socks if I wanted them picked up. My children were perfectly happy with their socks on the floor. Who had the problem? It was me. It was my thoughts about the socks on the floor that had made my life difficult, not the socks themselves. And who had the solution? Again, me. I realized that I could be right, or I could be free.”
I decided to toss “good parenting” aside on this trip for my sanity when necessary. And I realized quickly that it was necessary in the tiny bathroom.
HARD-LEARNED LESSON: Wipe down and around the toilet multiple times per day if sharing an RV with boys. Otherwise, the bathroom will smell like a pub stall faster than you can sneeze.
Days Eight - Nine | Shenandoah National Park and James Madison University
We lucked into a Ford dealership two miles from our campsite, so we took advantage of having a few days for the knackered truck to get repaired. On day eight, the five of us piled into our tiny rental—only slightly larger than a golf cart with a hard top— and left our campsite for an outing. We were able to spend a long, leisurely day touring James Madison University in nearby Harrisonburg and chowing down on a fabulous patio lunch at Rocktown Kitchen.
Our last day in Virginia was spent hiking (finally!) the Stony Man Trail in the Skyland Area of Shenandoah National Park before enjoying a picnic overlooking the spectacular Blue Ridge Mountain vistas.
That evening, we spent our last hours at Outlanders River Camp dining on local, grass-fed burgers and skillet peach cobbler. This time, with rain out of the picture, we cooked the burgers outside on the small propane camp stove!
HARD-LEARNED LESSON: Don’t cook inside the RV (especially stovetop) unless you have to. The confined space and minimal ventilation can lead to a smoke-filled room in minutes!
Turbo diesel truck repaired and ready to go, we hit the road bright and early Saturday morning to visit family in North Carolina. While the local dealership assured us that the truck was now ready to tackle the mountain ranges, we opted to play it safe and found a valley route out of the campsite and onto the highway. The trip was largely downhill from there, so we kept our fingers crossed and our eyes on the prize—a house with multiple beds and bathrooms, quality time with the grandparents, and a break from the constant duties of RV life.
As a side note: I came across this wonderful artwork on Etsy shortly after returning home from our trip. Illustrator Amber Share turns bad Yelp reviews of national parks into posters that are sure to make you laugh!
She’s also on Instagram @subparparks
My boys have become National Parks junkies in recent years, so I foresee a collection of these adorning our walls in the not-too-distant future.
The final segment of our trip can be read in Part IV: That unexpected, death-defying travel moment, a brush with Covid-19, and thoughts about our future in a recreational vehicle.
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