We set out on our first trip in the RV, in October 2019. The anticipation I felt was giving me anxiety. But all that anxiety was quelled that first week when I realized this way of life felt right for us. It’s not for everyone, and there a lot of difficulties that come with fulltime living in an RV. But there are also many rewards. And it has been a fun adventure ever since.
We first stayed in St. George Utah. Not too far away from “home” and it is such a beautiful city. If you haven’t been to St. George Utah, I really recommend it along with Zions National Park that is close by. We stayed in a dispersed, free camping location. There were no hookups for the RV - just barren desert landscape. But this site was close to grocery stores and anything else we needed. Perfect for our first time especially because we needed to make many trips for generator fuel.
Our plan was to use generator power until we could save money to purchase solar panels. But we quickly realized that the need to get fuel for the generator was becoming a burden. So, we rushed to Flagstaff Arizona in November (brrr it was cold!) and got solar panels installed. And it was the best decision we made. I am so glad we didn’t delay. Solar power is really helpful if you are not going to be staying in RV parks with this lifestyle. I also love that using solar power for our electricity is free and helps us to simultaneously be off the grid. It’s empowering to be able to provide our own electricity from the sun and it gives us peace of mind because we are immune to power outages.
We only spent 2 weeks in St George as we got used to what it's like to live in an RV. While in St George, we celebrated Halloween and went “trick or treating” at the mall and explored the area around our camp site. This was their first time with anything Halloween and they had the best time getting candy from stores at the mall. It was easier on us too.
Ryder and Charley also have developed a love for running, going on walks, hikes and all things nature. And it makes my heart happy because I think it is so good for our bodies to move and play outside in nature whenever possible. But because it's best for the RV to be in warmer temperatures to avoid freezing pipes and to avoid using up hundreds of dollars in propane per month, we try to stay in locations year round with overnight temperatures around 45 degrees or higher. So the one thing we are missing, is playing in the snow. Snow used to be our favorite before we had kids. We would go cross country skiing multiple times a week and we always looked forward to the winter. And I hope as time goes on, we can find opportunities to enjoy cold, snowy weather - even if it's just at our parent's homes for the holidays. But for now, we spend most of our time in mild to warm weather. And we are loving life together on the road.
We loved our time in St George, and I can't wait to go back and spend more time there in the future. If you have visited St George Utah, what are your favorite things to do there? If you have any recommendations about what to do in St George, let me know in the comments. We will add them to our list for our next visit.
