January 16-18 -- The RV Life Ain't Always Sweetness And Light, Folks (Written Somewhat Tongue In Cheek)

But before that, here IS some "sweetness and light", courtesy of the Overton Wildlife Management Area, which I re-visted on January 17 -- 

Red-Shouldered Hawk

 Northern Pintails

 A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (he was in the same tree as the Red-shouldered above; they were, surprisingly enough, peacefully co-existing. 

     I was on the road for nearly 2 years, and all during that time I lived in my travel trailer Discovery I. I thought I could travel for years, living in a 16-foot space, but eventually realized I needed 4 permanent walls; I wasn't cut out to be a full-time, year-round RVer. Sure, seeing what this country (and a part of Canada) had to offer was great, and the memories will stay with me for the rest of my life. However, so will remembering its trials and tribulations. So this post will be devoted to listing some of those warts...
     Travels with Discovery nearly ended before it had barely begun. On the very first day out of the Los Angeles area I was on the I-15 in the middle of Las Vegas, towing my trailer, when the guy (I

 assumed)  to my left, in a show of impatience, got up to the bumper of the car ahead of him -- and clipped it. He headed into my lane, which I of course was occupying at the time, so I swerved into the lane to my right, which thankfully was not occupied. If it had been, bits and pieces of me, Tundra and Discovery would probably have been all over the road. Since then I've sworn to avoid going through "Lost Wages" if at all possible. especially when pulling Discovery.
     Driving and living solo in an RV is quite different than if you're traveling with a companion. Everything is on your shoulders; you have no other pair of eyes to help you. For instance, there is no one at the back of the truck to let you know when the ball hitch is underneath the trailer coupling for a successful hitch.  I've become better at it, but it still averages about 5 minutes. And if the ground is not level, then that just adds to the "excitement". And unhitching isn't always smooth, either; there have been many times when the coupling refuses to release the ball, sending both the front of the trailer and the back of the truck up in the air, then the ball finally releases, and truck and trailer come crashing back down. I hate it when that happens. And of course you look around to make sure no one saw you.
     Though driving on the interstate highways tend not to be the most scenic of routes, the many lanes mean there is less of a chance that traffic will be stuck behind you and your rig. Winding, narrow country roads are another matter. First, since your truck and trailer are so long there is less of a chance for you to pull over if, for instance, you see something you'd like to look at, or take a photo of.  And if you do pull over, it can't just be anywhere; pavement is preferable as you run the chance of becoming stuck if you pull over over on dirt. And there is a general rule of pulling over (when possible) if there are, say, 5 or more vehicles behind you; if you don't you run the risk of someone coming right up to your rear bumper in an obvious act of intimidation -- "Move over, asshole!" But, as I mentioned, you have to wait until you find a safe place to pull over. Which means the line of cars behind you may get longer and longer -- and you end up going faster and faster.  Not a good idea while towing a trailer. Then once you find a paved turnout, you have to slow down as they tend to be pullouts for cars, not 30-foot-long vehicles -- and sometimes stop entirely. Which, if you're going fast, means you may run out of room on the turnout. Mind you, that hasn't happened to me -- yet -- but it's always in the back of your mind, and that's almost as bad as actually having it happen to you.
     Two of the reasons I upgraded the 2011 Discovery I to the 2015 Discovery II were to get solar panels and a back ladder. In the case of the ladder, I couldn't have added it on the 2011 trailer as there was no reinforcement on the back end, which is where it goes, so while I had the first Discovery I had to use a ladder that I could lean on the trailer to get on the roof. I was always "concerned" that the ladder would fall over when I was up top -- and if I were to jump off the trailer, I'd probably at the very least break a leg as it's too high up to ensure a successful jump to the ground. So if I was, say, boondocking, i.e., camping self-contained in an area by myself, I'd be marooned. Again, it thankfully never happened to me, but the possibility is there. But now I have a ladder bolted onto the back of Discovery II, I can cross that worry off my list.
     So the RV life ain't all a bed of roses, but in spite of all of the above -- and more -- it's still worth it, of course, and I have no regrets. The positives far outweigh everything I mentioned above. After all, I'm living my dream, and those of others through my blog and Facebook posts. So this post was just an FYI, and actually intended to be only half-serious.  And now we take you back to our regular (mostly) daily blog posts...