Full Time Motorhome Travel - Part II - The Journey

In our previous travelogue Full Time Motorhome Travel - The Back Story Part I we shared how we came to the decision to travel in a motorhome. This week we review our journey.

2006 - The Test Run

Our full time motorhome travel began on August 15, 2006. However, we did not know we were full time travelers. We just wanted to see some of America. Our 2006 travels were a "test run" to learn how to live in the MotherShip without a house to return to.

2007 - First Big Trip

Having visited 11 States in 2006, it was time to see the rest of the Lower 48. Our 7-month trip covered the remaining 37 States. Ellen, born in Los Angeles, had never ventured East of the Mississippi River. Pete was born on the Mississippi River in Burlington, Iowa, and has a vague memory of visiting Chicago at young age. He moved with his family to California in 3rd grade. So the East was a new adventure for Ellen and Pete. And it was fabulous!

2008 - Northwest and other Western States

By 2008 we realized that we were full time travelers, not occasional trip takers. This year we wandered slower than 2007, visited many family and friends. This included traveling with our Atascadero neighbors, Ben and Sid, to Vancouver Island, British Columbia and visiting friends and family in the western states.

2009 - Alaska, The Really Big Adventure

This was the best trip ever or ever will be! Alaska is the Last Frontier and is truly amazing. Every photo is worthy of a post card or picture puzzle. This should be on everyone's bucket list.

2010 - Addiction Takes its Toll

Addiction can be a terrible thing, except if you're addicted to pickleball. We learned about pickleball in 2006 in Arkansas and started playing in 2008. By 2009 people told us we should play in a tournament. Our first tournament was the Huntman's World Senior Games in St. George, Utah. We played, we lost but we were addicted.

2011 - The Year of the Elks

We played 11 pickleball (PB) tournaments in 2009/2010 and won many medals. We continued in 2011, but first we darted to Kentucky to replace our diesel engine. On the way from Kentucky to St. George, we adopted Mandy who is now 11 years old, wow! In 2011 we moved to South Dakota to save 1,000's not living in California.

2012 - 33 and Done

Our 3rd year of PB tournament we completed our 33rd tournament with many Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals. This kept us in Arizona and Utah for PB, then back to California to be with family and house projects. Our pickleball addiction only occurs during the Winter season as we travel in the Summer. Still in 6 short months we manage to play thousands of game and wear our joints out. So while our tournament career was halted, we continue to play socially as often as we can.

2013 - The Year of the Home Stays

For a variety of reasons, in 2013, we stayed at the homes of 15 different families. We stayed to help work on house projects, to provide home care assistance, to visit, to play in pickleball, to design client websites, to prepare a wedding and to fly to Hawaii. We always warn people, when you invite us to your home, don't give us the address unless you mean it!

2014 - Cruising the West Coast

Taking time off from our pickleball addiction, we cruised up and down the West Coast. Lots of family visits and stays at new RV parks. Continuing to create websites for RV parks and other businesses.

2015 - Following Health Care

The move to South Dakota in 2011 was great. You can complete the move in two days and save a lot. However, by 2015 we needed a good health plan and the South Dakota plan required all services in that state. That doesn't work for full time travelers, so we moved to Texas to get a great nation-wide plan. This move is not easy. It takes a lot of planning as our website explains.

2016 - Golden Village Palms RV Resort

Ellen was a paralegal in Atascadero from 2001 to 2006. She retired to get on the road. Pete continued his accounting software for ten years. In 2015-2016 we spent eight months in Hemet, California at Golden Village Palms RV Resort. This time was spent converting our largest client to another software system. Up to this time our longest stay was one month at any RV park. We really enjoyed our long stay as we have dozens of friends from this park. After this stay we cruised the Northwest as a reward!

2017 - Selling the Farm

We had rented our house for 11 years and now wanted to sell. To avoid state and federal capital gains taxes, you must live in your house for 2 of the last 5 years. So we moved back to California, as our domicile. To our surprise it was not the most expensive state to live in (we can explain). We spent over six months at our house and traveled in the other months. Our daughter Melissa moved to our house allowing us to travel.

2018 - Status Quo

We did many home upgrades per Melissa demands. Then we spent the other six months traveling. Knowing that we would sell and no longer have to return to find new renters, made traveling all the more relaxing.

2019 - Year of Cheap Travel

Obviously camping at our home in the MotherShip is cheap. In addition, we spent the rest of the months, staying as cheaply as possible. This doesn't mean dry camping at Slab City. But, we did collect RV park discounts at rallies and got a lot of free or low cost stays. You can't do this staying at the same park for lengthy stays. If a park offers one free week to try it out, they hope you'll stay longer. This year we did not stay and reaped the rewards of being Full Time Travelers.

2020 - Goodbye to Atascadero

We moved to Atascadero in 1977 when we built our house. In 2020 we were ready to sell the house that was home to us and our six children. We decided to sell it ourself not through a Realtor. It was fun. We loved showing the home and did not get emotional about it. If a buyer said "After I buy it, I'll bulldoze it and built anew." Our response was "Give us the money and we'll drive the dozer." We stayed at the home for the year, up until our move out date of August 3rd, our 46th anniversary.

2021 - Free at Last

Over the 15 years of renting the home, we had five renters, all good! They all paid on time, took good care of our house. We never even had to repaint! But now relieved of the burden of returning from out-of-state to re-rent, we were delighted. We revisited many RV stays and lots of new ones. To be near Pete's sister, Donnalee, we spent the last four months at Far Horizon's RV Resort in Tuscon. There we met many new friends and became close to several. Far Horizon is a small but nice park and we loved it.

2022 - Home to Palm Creek

However, in January 2022, we moved to Palm Creek Resort in Casa Grande. We had spent some amount of time at Palm Creek every year since 2007. And it is the RV Pickleball Capital with 32 courts and 900 players. Most RV travelers spend a year or two traveling the US and Canada. Then they settle in at one or two locations and become full time RV occupants, not travelers. Well, it has taken us a little longer. We just signed a 3-year lease at Palm Creek. We will spend 6 to 7 months at Palm Creek and the other months visiting family and friends.

All Years Travel

To recap, here are all 17 years of travel (but note, there will be more to come).


Next week we'll share highlights of our journey.

With love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy

Photos from 2006-2022

The Full Time Motorhome Living Guide

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