There were a few unexpected bumps for me (Laura) on our first epic journey. First of all, it takes a few days to get used to a smaller space with pets. For most people this wouldn’t be too difficult but I have a dirty little (or not so little) secret. I have large feet. By large, I mean I have clown feet. I fall down a lot at home because I trip over my giant banana toes. By day 3 my left foot was black from the 3rd to the 5th metatarsal to just below my ankle. Since it was also swollen, footwear was uncomfortable so I stayed barefoot and my foot continued to slam itself into everything that got in its way, or wedged itself under anything with a sharp edge. My takeaway – I would recommend steel toe shoes for the first few days if you can find them in the appropriate clown college orange color and leave your rubber clown shoes at home.
2 pair of sandals aren’t enough when you have swollen clown feet. Both pairs of sandals broke, my cheap sandals and my Birkenstocks. My takeaway – have a husband as nice as mine take you to the outlets to buy 2 pairs of Merrills. Your feet will love you for it.
I knew I’d be working on this trip. Generally I use dual monitors for most daily work activities, so to keep in the spirit of home office, we purchased a clamp on monitor stand for the table. It works wonderfully when your not moving, but it started to swing wildly on curvy roads. No matter what we did we couldn’t keep the little swinger in it’s place. What kind of worked was me using both of my laptops on a no skid pad on the table.
A computer mouse has no place on a table when the RV is in motion on rough and mountainous roads. I couldn’t point at anything, it saw more action than that hooker at the truck stop a few miles back. We did bring a lap desk for Todd to use in the event I was hogging the table. I stole it from him when he was asleep and used it for my mouse and keyboard. The mouse is more steady on a lap table since legs tend to dampen vibration. I also drew a little heart on Todd’s butt when I robbed him in his sleep (just for funzies).
If you have 12 pounds of hair or more like I do, use the campground shower to prevent running the RV out of hot water. The tanks in RV’s aren’t terribly large and it takes about 90 seconds per pound of hair to properly wash and condition. Also, bring rubber flip flops that you can wear in the shower and help protect your clown feet from sliding or slamming into the shower wall. (and away from the other guck left over from past showerees)
My nails, I don’t paint them because I’m vain, I do it to keep them from splitting vertically and causing me pain. Colors cost as much as clear so I use color. It’s much easier to pack nail polish remover pads than to bring a bottle of polish remover. My take away – wait until the cool evening when you can open the windows and get some ventilation.
Bras – My take away, who really needs them anyway. (Todd’s take away – take them away)
I did get motion sick while working when we traveled from Kansas to Nashville. I had to take the next day off because it didn’t go away when I woke up. My take away – motion sickness or anti-nausea medication would be a must have if you’re planning to work or read while in motion on hilly and rough terrain.
Stay longer and enjoy where you are. Moving around a lot doesn’t give you time to take in the flavors of every place you plan to visit. The exception would be Oklahoma and Nebraska. Nothing to see, nothing to do. Move along, nothing to see here.
