by Erin
Even though we don’t get to see spectacular sights on these in between days, they are just as important for us. These are the days we go grocery shopping, get the van in for an oil change, buy parts to fix broken things or upgrade them to suit us better, go to the dump station, wash laundry, and many other odd jobs. On these days we also sometimes do fun things, like going to a park or getting ice cream!
In general, every 3-4 days we need to empty our black and gray water tanks and refill our freshwater tank. We’ve learned to be water super-conservationists as we wash and rinse dishes with a narrow stream of water, and some of us have needed to decrease our preferred frequency of showering. The girls have learned to be content with a shower every 3-4 days, and the boys have reluctantly consented to weekly (although they’d prefer less often). The shower is not a time for enjoyment but for business. The water is only flowing when necessary for rinsing, so it’s very much an on-and-off experience. Once in a great while, we get the treat of staying at a campground that has showers.
We go about a week between laundromat visits. Laundromat visits are actually quite efficient and even enjoyable. With jumbo machines and plenty available, we can run all our clothes through washers and driers and be done in an hour and a half. We sometimes use that time for school or Matt will stay at the laundromat while Erin does groceries.
We have planned our trip to stay 2-4 days in one spot and then drive 2-4 hours to the next location. As you may imagine, there are multiple steps to both taking down and setting up the camper. Everyone’s got jobs to do, and we’re getting more efficient. Typically, the travel days take all day because it’s when we do the errands and business described above.
If we’re traveling on a week day, Erin does the driving so Matt can work. These days are quite fragmented and road conditions aren’t always conducive to keeping a steady gaze on a computer screen, but he does what he can, and it’s more than he could do if he was driving.
A note on driving: Erin’s confidence has improved. The first days of driving on narrow and winding Tennessee roads were terrifying, but now driving through the challenges of city traffic or mountain roads feel like a matter of course for the most part. Since leaving Tennessee, we have been thankful to mostly have at least a bit of pavement on the other side of that white line, before it drops down into whatever ditch or abyss is on the other side. This brings down the anxiety level considerably.
Our athletic laundry assistant
Abel’s school desk on one particular afternoon
A good lunch day. I brought our sourdough starter along, and our oven gets barely hot enough to bake it. Makes the best sandwiches.
If you zoom in, you’ll see a figure on park bench to the left of the playground. This is Matt’s office today, while the boys play and Eliza and Erin go to the laundromat and then heft the clean clothes a few blocks down the street to the mechanic where the van is getting an oil change.
Walking from the park shown above to the grocery store, where Matt will pick us up once the van is finished with its oil change.
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