July 11, 2023 – Leelanau County, MI – Written by Jim
It is said that an individual or couple who takes up full time RVing sticks with it an average of five years. Some people make it a year or two, while others stay on the road indefinitely. Our full time journey clocked in at 3190 days…very close to 9 years.
That began on August 11, 2014 in our RV space next to our house in Wyoming, Michigan. It was the day we moved our pillows to the RV and slept there. I won’t say it was the first time we slept there, as we had been RVing in some fashion for most of our married lives. That day was when the RV became our primary residence.
Fast forward to May 6, 2023. With our cabin finished and ready to move in, we finally were able to move our pillows out of the RV and sleep in our new home for the first time.
Our primary residence is now firmly anchored in Leelanau County, Michigan. Our RVing journeys are far from over, so we will continue to bring you our discoveries as we uncover them.
With that said, our first order of business in our new home was to move in! You may recall that a snowstorm in October delayed our departure to Florida, and we were able to order a few pieces of furniture that we needed. The local furniture store was kind enough to hold it for us as it trickled in, and it was all waiting for us when we arrived. But before we had that delivered…
…we hosted a family get-together! Diana’s sister and her family stopped by, as they were in Traverse City for the weekend. It was great to see them!
Our other project was to empty our storage room in Grand Rapids and bring all of our belongings to one location for the first time in years! After picking up the boxes we shipped to my sister from Florida (after downsizing RV’s on the road), we proceeded to dig in.
Diana said, “This is either like Christmas or kind of like a flea market”. Honestly, we are extremely happy we had that room. Even our king Select Comfort bed survived. We had stored that in shrink bags. After our second trip with our 16 foot utility trailer, I told Diana that I thought we could get it all in one last load if we drove both vehicles.
Here we are, packed up. Did we get it all in???
We did!!! What a great feeling.
This summer will be spent slowly unpacking, as we want to enjoy our place and kick back a little. We have been in construction mode for three plus years now. Time to stop and smell the roses …
….and savor the sunsets.
Until next time, safe and happy travels to all!
exploRVistas 
We just finished a week at Wild Cherry and were thinking about you two. Glad the build is complete and you can relax and absorb summer! Happy for you guys!
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Thanks, Wanda! You and Tim will have to give us a shout next time you are up. We’d love to see you guys!
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You chose a great location for your cabin. Enjoy!
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Thank you!
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Congratulations on getting fully moved in! I never counted our actual days, but I think in was right around that 5 year mark.
That sunset is gorgeous!
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That sunset photo was taken at Peterson Park, which is one of our favorite spots up here. You guys have covered a lot of ground since your full time days!
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Congratulations for nine years on the road, completing your new home and leaving the storage unit behind. I’m glad to have followed the journey for so many years as you wrote about it. I’m looking forward to future posts. Mark from Missouri
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Thanks, Mark!
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Congrats!! We were also on the road for almost 9 years before we bought our winter home base in Tucson. Still so much to see and do, we’re enjoying our continued travels on a part time basis in a smaller RV.
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And congrats to you two, Ruth! We are loving our smaller RV. 🙂
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Congratulations on finishing the house and getting the storage unit emptied. I know what a great feeling that is. I indeed felt like it was Christmas unpacking box after box. Enjoy the summer in your new home!
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Thanks, Ingrid!
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Lovely news. There is a lot to be said for part time rving and time to kick back and savor the results of all your hard work. Congratulations.
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Congrats on home base completion and move in. Just finished our 3rd year, and we just bought 9 acres near Mountain Home AR with nice south and eastern view that will eventually be our home base.
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That’s awesome, Brian!
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Congratulations on moving in! We have 3 more years to catch up on your fulltiming record!
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Congratulations on moving into your new home. I can only imagine how exciting it was. You’ve certainly worked hard and your place is gorgeous. Can’t wait for the tour video/photos!! Lovely sunset:)
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Thanks Pam! Come see us and we’ll give you a tour!
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Boy, we do love that area for sure. Too bad it is so darn far.
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Unpacking the storage unit is like Christmas or a flea market, LOL!!! That’s the truth. We’ll be doing that in about a month. Congratulations on settling in! We’re so happy we got to see you guys and your beautiful home last summer. You did good! 😊
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Thanks, Laurel! It definitely is easier to get rid of items when the ‘have you used this in the last six months?’ test has stretched out to nine years!
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I love that the moving of your pillows makes it official! How fun to unpack into your new space – I bet it feels like home already. And you got to share it with family already 🙂 What a glorious sunset!!
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It really does feel like home now, Jodee! 😊
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