Making Friends on the Road

Welcome back to another addition of Just One More adventures in Arizona!  We are so glad you are taking the time to read our blog!  Thank YOU!

I believe I have mentioned in prior blogs that when you become a full-time RVer, you leave your family, friends, and community behind. This lifestyle is not for everyone, and we understand that.  Trust me, this takes a lot of contemplation, discussion among family, and commitment.  It’s  not an easy decision to uproot your world and take off.  This can be lonely.

One of the things I do hear from other full-time RVers is that they are actually visiting their family and friends more since they’ve hit the road.  I get that!  We have family in Georgia, Texas  and other parts of the country that we cannot wait to see.  I have friends all over the country that I would probably not visit if it wasn’t for the fact that, now, my house is on wheels.  I am so excited to be able to work our itinerary around visiting people I haven’t seen in a very long time.  Some people we will be visiting I have never met in person.  We met on zoom and have become quite close.  

One of those friends I met on Zoom is Connie.  In March we will be visiting Connie, who lives in Speedway, IN.  We are having some work done on the RV not too far from her, so we’re making a point to visit her.  We cannot wait for that!!  

In our 7 months of travel, we have met some amazing people.  The very first couple we met at the VERY FIRST RV Park in Salt Lake City on June 30th was Terri & Dave.  That was our first night in the RV.  They also have a Solitude 5th wheel and wanted to come see our model.  We hit it off right away.  They even joined us in Albuquerque for the balloon fiesta last October.  We have kept in touch throughout our journey and were able to visit them in Phoenix where they stay for the winter.  

This past August, in Sutherland, OR, we met Fran & Greg on a walk around a lake.  It was love at first sight.  They introduced us to their friends, took us every Tuesday to their favorite bar for Taco Tuesdays, had us over for dinner, and we even celebrated my birthday with them! We know that we will make it a point to go visit that incredible couple again when we are in Oregon. 

When we were in Driggs, ID back in August we met Adrian & Matt. They were advertising that Matt is a RV Tech in the Facebook Group page of the rally we were going to.  We needed help on a couple of things, so I reached out, and low and behold they ended up parked next to us at the rally.  They are planning on joining us in Bangor, Maine in September! Not only that, but Jerry is also in touch with Matt with many of the RV questions we have. 

We also met Amy and Paul, who were also parked next to us at the same rally in ID. We have also kept in touch with them these past 7 months.  They, too, will be joining us in Maine and Vermont at two different locations.  We tried to get together while we were in Texas, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out.  So, we are excited that we will see them in New England!  

While in Albuquerque, NM at the balloon fiesta, we met Paul and Jean who live in Lake Havasu.  We had a blast with them.  We were on the same pilot’s crew at the balloon festival that week together and we really got to know each other.  Paul even helped Jerry with some solar issues we were having on the RV.  We met them in Lake Havasu for 5 days (see our recent blogs) and they were amazing tour guides.  We know we will meet up with them somewhere down the road.   

Along our travels from Austin to California in November, we met another couple, Dawn and Greg.  It turned out that they were staying in the same 3 campgrounds we were from Fort Stockton through Tucson.  We went out to dinner in Las Cruces, NM and we showed them our favorite Mexican restaurant in Tucson called Rosa’s.  Our niece, Katie, went to UofA and she is the one that introduced us to Rosa’s!  We were able to see Dawn & Greg in Phoenix as well as they are wintering there.  We are hoping to meet up with them in Saint Augustine, FL later in the year.  Actually, they are the ones that told us about Saint Augustine and how much they loved it.  So now we will be there December through April!  

For those of you who know me very well, you know a highlight of these last 7 months was being able to spend 6 weeks in Austin where our niece, Katie, lives.  We will be heading there again after AZ for a little over a week.  This lifestyle allows us to be able to visit as long as we want (or until our family or friends get tired of us).

While we were in Pleasanton, CA for the holidays, we were parked next to Kim and Rodger who also have a Solitude. They are coming on the 14th for a few nights in Quartzsite at the RV Park we are staying at and then they will be joining us for a few days in Austin in March. Very excited about that!

During our stay in Quartzsite, AZ, we met Angie and Ray at a new pizza restaurant. We were the only 4 people there and of course, we started talking. They are from Missouri and are a hoot. We spent quite a lot of time with them at the RV show and if you read last week’s blog and watched our VLOG we helped them decide to purchase an E-Bike. We will be seeing them in a few days in Wickenburg, AZ for Rodeo days. Our plan is to come visit them in Missouri sometime this year

While we were in Phoenix for a couple of days this week, getting the truck fixed (huge dent), we had lunch with the parents of Mikey’s fiance, Kelly (our nephew and future niece).  Joy and John also winter in AZ.  They took us to a GREAT BBQ place in downtown Scottsdale, AZ.   We had a great time getting to know them and look forward to spending more time with them as we will all be a big family soon!  

We have visited with long time friends in Idaho, Louise and Mike who we hadn’t seen in 15 years! Then, in Montana we were able to spend 6 weeks with our dear friends Lisa, Kenny and Aime. They showed us all around Darby and the surrounding areas of MT where they film the show Yellowstone. They were amazing tour guides. We had the best time in Montana with them.

We were able to visit with friends we met in Maui 7 years ago, Margot & Louie in their hometown of Oceanside. We had the best time with them. We hadn’t seen each other for a few years, so we were so fortunate to be able to spend time with them. This lifestyle allows us to travel to friends and really get to spend time with them. To have quality visits, seeing their hometowns, get to know them on a different level.

Of course, while we were in California for the holidays, we tried to visit as many friends and family members as we could.  Seeing our nephew Mikey and his now fiance, Kelly, Jerry’s son Nathan and his family and of course our sisters and brother in laws was a highlight, along with all our friends in the Bay Area we didn’t get a chance to see prior to leaving last June.  That was so important to us.  We will be back to CA down the road as our families are there as well as the community we built for so many years.  Even though our licenses say South Dakota, we are still Californians.  That really doesn’t go away. 

What we have realized is that the RV community is a wonderful community with like minded people.  We are learning that there are new friends right around the corner on our next adventure or even right next door.  You are only lonely if you choose to be.  Of course, missing family and long time friends can and is still an issue.  Thank goodness for FaceTime and Zoom.  That truly helps a lot.  

Just One More….Friend  (You cannot have too many)