Most of you may not be aware of what has been going on with us this month. Usually, Mark and I get the RV packed up and leave home sometime during the first week of November, but Mark was trying to make sure everything was working right, and there was a problem with the RV. He ordered a part but it wasn’t going to arrive until last Monday, so we figured we might just be a few days later…

The part arrived on Monday and Mark put it in, but that didn’t help. He tested everything he could think of and bought more parts and put them in, but by Thursday, it seemed fairly obvious that our 17-year-old RV was dead.

We quickly decided to jump into our car and drive down to Green Bay to see if we could find a new RV. The dealership we went to is the one that Mark has been doing business with for the last few years, but the only used RV they had on the lot cost more money than what we currently owe on our house. As the saleswoman was showing us the place (it was beautiful!) I knew that we aren’t the kind of people that can afford that kind of luxury. I asked her if we could have a moment to talk, so she headed back to her office, and Mark and I sat in the RV to discuss our options.

I had an idea as we were looking at the RV and I said to Mark, “You’re business van used to be a U-Haul truck. What if we packed everything into your truck and towed the car behind it to Tucson? Then maybe we can find an RV down there that’s more in our price range.” Mark’s eyes lit up and he said, “Yeah, then I could bring my motorcycle too!” He had been prepared to either go without or borrow one in Tucson to ride on occasion, so this idea appealed to him!

We spent the last several days packing up almost everything we usually carry in the RV, and believe me, it was almost like packing up to move out of a house. I went to our local Piggly Wiggly store and asked if they had any boxes we could use and they gave us 6 really nice boxes. Mark also bought a couple of wardrobe boxes and 3 other boxes from U-Haul.

It has been snowing and very cold the last couple of days as Mark has been doing all the outside work and I’ve been packing things inside the RV. We finally got everything packed in today and Mark had to winterize the house and the RV. Then he had to hitch the tow dolly onto the back of the truck and get the car set up on it. I boiled the eggs that were left in our refrigerator and turned all of our celery into celery with peanut butter and packed as much of our refrigerator food as possible into the refrigerated cooler we have. I left most of our condiments behind.

As Mark was finishing up a few details, I took a couple of pictures of our back deck. It was around 7:00 in the evening when we left, so the pictures are a little dark.

We finally got the animals into the back of the truck with blankets on their beds and closed the door. We hated to put them back there, but there was no room for them with us in the cab. We only intended to drive as far as Green Bay tonight, so we hoped they could survive for a couple of hours.

However, as I was looking for hotels in Green Bay that allow pets, I couldn’t even find a room at Motel 6 for less than $200, and other hotels went as high as $500 for the night. I guess there was a Green Bay Packers game today, so the hotels were gouging the game-goers. Since Mark was sore and hungry and tired, we stopped at Walmart for Subway sandwiches and decided to see what was available here, and we found a room that’s still over $100, but Mark said to just take it. His back was hurting.

So, we haven’t even made it out of Door County yet, but it’s good to finally be on the road. We had been concerned about where we are going to stay when we get to Tucson because we don’t have an RV to sleep in, but a kind friend of ours who has a trailer and a van has offered to move into her van and let us use her trailer until we can find an RV.

In the meantime, prayers would be much appreciated. We will be in possible snowy weather for the next couple of days at least. If possible, I will be writing every night this week, so watch for my nightly reports!