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Meet Charley, our RV

May 18, 2013 – We are now the proud owners of a 30′ RV and there’s no turning back. You could say we are NOW COMMITTED to our dream of getting Out There!

So this is it… er, him… Charley –  our new ‘home’ for the next two years!  We took the name from Travels With Charley: In Search of America, a travelogue written by John Steinbeck depicting the trip he took around the United States in 1960.  While Charley was the name of Steinbeck’s French Poodle and not his ride [he called his camper Rocinante, the name of Don Quixote’s horse], the name Charley resonated with us and it became a certainty that this would be the name of our rig.

We’ll update this page once we get Out There and actually live in Charley a little bit.  The photos will then show a fully-stocked motorhome and perhaps some more panic on our faces as we will have realized the magnitude of what we’re doing – selling our home, putting everything in storage, and deciding by our own free will to live in just 220 ft² of living space for two years!

Here we are in our new rig. In a year or so from now this will be our only home and we’ll be full-timers – oh my!
Charley with the bedroom slide extended
Charley with the sofa+dinette slide extended
From the cockpit looking back; sofa+dinette slide extended (right side) to provide more living space
From the bathroom looking forward with the slide out on the left
Left of the dinette, the not-very-large-for-one-who-loves-cooking pantry for food & kitchen storage
I am looking forward to turning out some really good chow from this little kitchen!
From the bathroom looking forward with the slide out on the left
Our queen size bed… and note the above-bed storage cubbies – THIS is where I get to put my five pair of shoes!
From the head of the bed looking at the hers and his closets – each of us has three drawers beneath, as well.
A pretty roomy head with decent cabinet space
Ample shower with sunroof
With the slides all in, from the bedroom looking forward… this is what the space will be like when we’re traveling down the road
Bedroom all the way at the rear – it will be through this panoramic window that we get our first glimpse of what kind of day we’re going to experience
Fred enjoying camp life sweet camp life

4 thoughts on “Meet Charley, our RV”

  1. Sharlene and David

    After intruding on your conversation at The Great Fountain and bumping into you at the restaurant, it certainly was a pleasure meeting you. David and I have talked about living out of an RV only for a few months but after hearing your story, it certainly has made us eager to get the ball rolling. We hope to make it to our first RV Show on October 10th in Atlantic City. Unfortunately for us, our next NP trip wont be until Spring of 2016. I think that time we will rent an RV just to test out the waters. Question, what model/type of RV is Charlie? I prefer to go with something people HAVE done before than go blinded. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the rest of Yellowstone and catch a Milk Way shot over The Great Fountain for us :)

    Reply
    1. Laura

      Hi Sharlene and David — I’m so glad to have met you at Yellowstone, and happy to hear that in some small way Laura & I are inspiring you to get ‘out there’ and do some living in an RV. It really is a fun lifestyle. I will email you offline with a bit more detail about our rig and how we came to choose it, but to answer your question specifically, it’s a Newmar Baystar 2901. More to come offline. -Fred

      Reply

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