Motorhome/RV Living Update

Jordan Lake Parkers Creek Campground - late November

I have been wanting to write a post giving an update and status of our ongoing transition to RV/Motorhome living and I have found it more difficult than I expected.  Perhaps because our transition included more than becoming full time "RVers"; it's retirement, selling our home, and being away from family and friends in Michigan for a longer period for the first time.  Whatever the case, the last 3 months or so have been very good and we are learning a lot.  Here are some current thoughts and an update. 

Jordan Lake near campsite

As previously mentioned, we have been enjoying some extended time in North Carolina since mid October.  We started out at Jordan Lake State Park and then went to a private park closer to Raleigh for a month.  A few days before Thanksgiving, we moved back to Jordan Lake State Park - Parkers Creek Campground for a couple of weeks before we head to Michigan for Christmas. This location is closer to Cheryl's than where we were staying previously.  The scenery is better too.

We were fortunate to have the flexibility to come to North Carolina several weeks before the birth of our granddaughter, and even though she arrived a couple of weeks later than expected, there was no pressure to leave and we've been able to spend time here with Cheryl, Darren and Ellie.  At the same time, we have our own place to come home to at the end of the day. While traveling on the road with our home is great, we can also stay put near family for extended periods of time and still be at "home".

Overall, we are very pleased with the new lifestyle.  We feel like we still have a lot to learn and need to go through a whole year or more to better evaluate and reflect.  Since we have kept very busy, I have to say we haven't missed our jobs, just the friends and family.  The feeling of freedom from time restraints, home ownership responsibilities, along with the ability to drive to places we want to see in this beautiful country is everything I expected and more.  We have only scratched the surface.

Prodecotech E-Bike - "Stride" Model

E-Bikes:  Recently we made the decision to purchase electric assist bicycles.  From our travel experience so far, we think we can make good use of them, especially in the parks and small towns we visit.  After some research and test drives on these bikes, we were sold.  We chose bikes manufactured by Prodeco Tech with a rear hub motor powered by a Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery. The bikes can be operated just like a regular bicycle; equipped with 8 speeds and disc brakes.  The electric assist part can be used when needed with a turn of the throttle on the handlebar.  Depending on how much you use the motor, they have a range of 25-30+ miles per charge. 

Folding Bike model

Bike ride - Jordan Lake

One unique feature,  and a factor in our decision to buy from this manufacturer,  is they are "folding" bikes. The frame folds in half and we are able to transport them in our car or RV without the need for a bike rack.  Since these bikes are heavier than regular bikes, it would require a heavy duty rack probably attached to the RV.  This along with the bikes being out in the weather when we are traveling led us to consider the folding bike option.

Travel Planning:  When we are traveling, I still like to do quite a bit of planning.  I know part of the RV lifestyle appeal can be to go where the wind takes you and be spontaneous, but for us it hasn't been that easy.  Maybe we will get better at this as we gain more experience, but for right now we plan.  From looking at the driving routes we want to take, to where we want (or can) stay, to area attractions, we research and plan.  The biggest challenge for us has been finding spots to park that are available, can accommodate our size rig, and are reasonably priced.  Again, as we gain more experience I think this will get better.  We have already gotten some tips from other RVers.

We are a little picky on where we want to stay and we have come to enjoy having some amenities available most of the time. This is part of figuring it all out and I know we will get better at it and perhaps become more flexible. There are also seasonal crowds in some areas of the country that impact availability of RV sites especially on short notice.  Regardless of the park (National, State, local, or private) you have to plan ahead in certain areas at certain times.  All have different policies for reservations and cancellations.  Some you can book up to a year in advance, others 6 months; and there are various fees for cancellations (mostly nominal if you cancel far enough in advance).

Living in the RV:  The RV has performed well both mechanically and functionally.  We feel very comfortable and at ease both on the road and when parked.  I've included a few pictures for those who haven't seen our home, so you can get a feel for the space we have.  We tried to incorporate some familiar personal items into our limited space, especially pictures and small items we were used to having in our home. (Reminder - you can click on the pictures to enlarge.)

From household chores (cooking and laundry), to sleeping, to entertainment (TV's, satellite, internet) we have no complaints.  I'll say again, having the regular oven and washer/dryer has been wonderful.


On the mechanical side, we will be adding a steering damper before we go to Florida in January and we have also looked into a rear stabilizing system.  Both of these items will help with driving and rear sway; making going down the road easier and more comfortable.

When the weather is cold, it is a little bit of a challenge to keep a constant temperature throughout the RV, but with the two heating options (electric and propane), we stay comfortable.  This is one of the reasons we decided not to drive to Michigan in December; not completely sure how we would do in very cold Michigan temperatures.

Tentative Plans:  After we spend most of December in Michigan; we will return to North Carolina in early January, and then head to the Florida panhandle area until early March.  Looking ahead to 2018, we have tentative plans to visit the northeast (Arcadia National Park in Maine) in the late spring and heading west again in the late summer/fall. (Glacier National Park in Montana is high on the list, hopefully 2018 or 2019).  We will have a trip or two with our Michigan granddaughters over the summer as well as spending time during the year in Maryland, Michigan and North Carolina with family.  Doesn't get much better than that!

I plan on doing some posts from Florida; thanks to everyone for your interest.

Thanksgiving, Family & BABY!

Meet Ellie Meredith Brown

Parents: Darren & Cheryl (Johnston) Brown











As many of you know by now, our granddaughter arrived November 9th.  We waited patiently as she came a couple of weeks later than expected, but definitely worth the wait!  Ellie Meredith is doing very well and we are enjoying a little more time here helping out and spending time with Ellie and her parents.











The rest of the family from Michigan and Maryland came to NC for Thanksgiving.  So great to have everyone together.  A time to give Thanks! 

Uncle Dan

Aunt Beth & Uncle Kevin

Megan, Anna & Ellie

Aunt Christie

North Carolina - Apex, Raleigh, Durham area

Downtown Apex, NC

We have been in the Raleigh/Apex, NC area for a couple of weeks now waiting the arrival of our third granddaughter.  We have enjoyed the family time, and opportunity to explore the area and go back to some favorite places we've been to during previous visits.  The late October early November weather has been very nice and I can see why this is a favorite time of the year here.

Scrabble Game - Daisy sitting in for Cheryl
(I may be able to beat Daisy....)

Daily walk - Bond Park, Cary NC

We have enjoyed helping Cheryl pass the time with daily walks, Scrabble games, a little shopping and a few naps (for Cheryl of course).

Mathews Campground, Raleigh

After our stay at Jordan Lake State Park, we relocated to Mathews Campground, a privately owned park just south of Raleigh.  Dan and Lisa Mathews own a nearby business doing custom work on Airstream trailers and opened this small park initially for their customers.  They have seven sites with full hook ups, are in the process of adding a couple more and decided to open the park to others as space allowed.

Lucky for us they had an opening and we can stay here as long as needed. It's about 15 miles from Darren and Cheryl, but the price is very reasonable and we are getting better at finding our way around the area.

Wheeler Lake Park, Raleigh

The campground is near Wheeler Lake, so we checked out the park just down the road from us.  Wheeler Lake Park, owned by the City of Raleigh offers fishing and other recreation opportunities.  The large deck area, complete with rocking chairs, make for a relaxing spot.  The whole Raleigh/Apex/Cary area has done a good job at adding parks and greenways as the area has grown.

Anna's Pizzeria - Apex, NC

As we have become more familiar with the town of Apex we really like what we see.  With a small "historic" downtown area you still get that small town feel, with several easy to walk blocks that feature specialty shops, restaurants, and other businesses. Anna's Pizzeria not only has excellent pizza, but a full menu of Italian dishes. Other restaurants we tried include Salem Street Pub, Blistered Pig Smokehouse, and Peak City Bar & Grill.

Salem Street, Apex

Once you leave the downtown area, there are numerous housing developments and shopping centers springing up in every direction, much like this whole area is experiencing.  A few people we talked to attribute part of the growth to a 2015 Money Magazine article that named Apex the number one place to live in American for towns between 10,000 - 50,000 population.  Some weren't that happy about the article attracting even more people to the area, but I think the secret was already out.

Durham Bulls Baseball Stadium

One of our favorite places to visit is the Durham area, about a 30 minute drive north of Apex.  Home to Duke University, the Durham Bulls AAA baseball team, and American Tobacco Campus, it's a fun place to visit.  We stopped by the Durham Bulls Park and visited the team store.  The Bulls are the 2017 AAA baseball champions, so they had items for sale with those bragging rights.

Old Durham Bulls Baseball Park

We also visited the old Durham Bulls ball park that is now owned by the City of Durham.  Of course this is the park featured in the baseball movie "Bull Durham" and is a landmark worth preserving, complete with the small wooden ticket windows and concessions stands.

The old park is very well maintained and is used as a minor league training field as well being home to the North Carolina Central University Eagles baseball team.

If I understand correctly, the Durham Bulls name and logo come from the Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco manufactured in Durham beginning in the late 1800's and featured the bull logo in their advertising.   The tobacco factories were located in the area across from the current baseball stadium and are a big part of the area's history as you will read below.

American Tobacco Campus, Durham NC

The American Tobacco Campus is a collection of large brick buildings that were brought back to life after the American Tobacco Company (and other tobacco companies) vacated the factories and warehouses in the late 1980's.

Lucky Strike Water Tower

After thriving for 80 years,  changing attitudes toward tobacco and competition in the marketplace forced the closures, leaving the building abandoned until purchased by Capital Broadcasting Company (owners of the Durham Bulls baseball team) in 2001.

We shared - BBQ chicken biscuit, 

BBQ beans & sweet potato biscuit

American Tobacco Campus

American Tobacco Campus opened in 2005 as a mixed use development, including residential, office and restaurant space.  It has been a great success and transformed this area of Durham.  We ate lunch at one of the restaurants, Maybelle's Biscuit and Barbeque, which was very good.  They make a sweet potato biscuit that was excellent! This area is just a nice area to walk around in.

Another positive remnant from the tobacco industry in this area is The American Tobacco Trail.  The over 22 mile long trail was developed from the abandoned railroad bed originally built for the American Tobacco Company.  Cheryl has taken me to the trail a couple of time and it is a popular recreation choice.

We also spent some time at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens on the Duke University campus.  As you may remember, this is the site of Cheryl and Darren's wedding a couple of years ago.

Duke Gardens Visitors Center

Duke Gardens

With over 50 acres of gardens and 5 miles of walking paths, it is worth repeated visits.  There is a small visitors center and gift shop.  Tours are offered daily, both walking and by trolley.

There is plenty to see and do when visiting this part of North Carolina!

Asheville, NC; Jordan Lake, NC; Eagles Concert

We arrived in North Carolina about a week ago.  Great to be near family again as we wait for the arrival of our granddaughter (Cheryl and Darren are both doing fine).  We will be here until the end of November or so; it feels good to stay put for a while.

Jordan Lake State Park

Arriving at Jordan Lake State Park near Apex, NC, (just outside of Raleigh, NC) we had our pick of several campgrounds positioned around this large sprawling lake.  Some of the park's campgrounds start closing down at the end of October here, but they keep at least one campground open all year.  We picked "Poplar Point" campground since it is RV friendly and has water and electric hookups.  It was a little busy on the weekend, but cleared out a lot by Monday.  We've had some beautiful days here; October is a great month to be in NC! 

Poplar Point Campground - Jordan Lake State Park

We will stay here for about 10 days and then move to a private RV park a little southeast of Raleigh where we will be able to stay through the month of November.  (Note:  North Carolina State Parks have a policy that you can only stay in the same park a maximum of 14 days in a 30 day period.)  An interesting dilemma we had is finding an acceptable park in the area where we could stay for longer than the 14 days the State Parks allow.  We didn't think it would be that difficult, but this area proved to be a little bit of a challenge.  We preferred to stay in one spot if possible, fairly close to Cheryl and Darren, and have full hookups.  (Maybe a lot to ask for!)  We finally found something that will work, just kept digging around and making phone calls.

Smoky Mountains - Blue Ridge Parkway

On our way to the Raleigh area, we stopped in Asheville, NC for a couple of days.  Asheville is known for its' location in the beautiful Smoky Mountains, the grand Biltmore Estate, and other attractions.  We opted for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway between Asheville and Marion, NC.   The Blue Ridge Parkway is part of the National Parks system and is referred to as "America's Favorite Drive".  Mount Mitchell (in Mount Mitchell State Park) along this section of the Parkway, is the highest summit east of the Mississippi River at 6,684 feet.  (Very limited camping available here.)

Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway stretches 469 miles from Virginia to Tennessee, connecting Shenandoah National Park and Great Smoky Mountain National Park and is closed to commercial vehicles. With sharp curves and low tunnels, the Parkway is generally not suited for large RV's, so the short section we drove was in the car.  You can pick up the Parkway in many locations and drive as little or as much of it as you want.


There is a Blue Ridge Parkway Visitors Center in Asheville with driving and hiking maps available. The scenic drive provides a slower pace, with lots of overlook areas to pull off on, points of interest, and hiking opportunities.  A beautiful and interesting drive since one minute you can be in complete sunshine and the next in the low clouds that make the mountains "smoky".
 

Greensboro Coliseum

Shifting gears a little; we were very excited when the timing of our NC arrival worked out for us to go to the Eagles Concert in Greensboro on the 17th.  It seemed only fitting since the blog name is a tribute to our favorite band; one of their hits being "Life in the Fast Lane" (which they played as their final song before encores).  The Greensboro Coliseum is only a little over an hour from Jordan Lake.

Deacon Frey - new "Eagle"

T.B.Schmit, V.Gill, D.Henley, D.Frey, J.Walsh, S.Smith

You'll have to indulge me while I get a little carried away writing about the concert. As you may know, after band leader and co-founder, Glenn Frey,  passed away last year, the band's future was uncertain; but with the addition of Glenn's son, Deacon Frey, and country artist Vince Gill, they are able to put on quite a show.  Along with long time Eagles, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh, they played all the old favorites and left the sold out Greensboro Coliseum (mostly baby boomer) crowd very happy.  The "Hotel California" encore was terrific as they are getting ready to release a 40th anniversary edition of the Hotel California album in November.

"Tequila Sunrise"

The older members of the band are about to turn 70, if you can believe that.  We loved the concert and enjoyed talking to other "baby boomers" seated around us. 

"Already Gone"

"Already Gone" performed by the Eagles is another favorite.  Maybe a little wisdom in the lyric?:

    "so often times it happens that we live our lives in chains; and we never even know we have the key"


Everyone has different life passions and dreams; remember to consider the possibilities.

"Work Station" - Jordan Lake

Back to Jordan Lake; we had our first dinner guests over since leaving Michigan.  Cheryl, Darren, and Darren's parents, Sharon and Sylvan stopped over on a beautiful evening for hot dogs on the fire and s'mores.   We got to show them the motorhome and enjoyed stories and laughs around the fire.

We have logged over 5,000 miles since leaving Michigan in early September and have enjoyed every one.  It will feel good to spend the next month or so here in NC.  Posts may be a little less frequent, but still plan on passing along experiences and information on the RV lifestyle.