Jefferson County Fairgrounds, Colorado --training wheels!

  

After wintering at the Clear Creek RV park, we relocated to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Jefferson County.  A decent place to stay.  It has water and electricity, but no sewer.  Just a dump station.

Bear Creek Lake Park, Morrison, CO

We stayed there for two weeks while I tested our fresh water tank capacity and how long we could go on the gray and the black.  With five people, we could go about three days without dumping.  But if I did laundry (in the bathtub), then I dumped after four loads.

We moved on from there to Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, Colorado...

We were excited about this particular place because it was the first campsite we were able to visit in Denver outside of our normal two places.

Lotsa Fun.

They have lots of trails to hike and bike. The kids loved swimming in the lake and we were close enough to walk!

Bear Creek Lake Park swimming 

As it turned out, we had to pay for showers and the dump station/water refill station were far away.  So this truly was a test of my little tanks.  I am cheap and refuse to pay for showers.  So, we discovered we could squeeze in six showers (done Navy style) and a couple loads of dishes.  If I decided to do laundry that day, then I dumped twice.  Whew!

On the plus side, my driving skills improved IMMENSELY...  Having to pull out every two days to fill up on water and then drive to the dump station (they weren't together) and then backing up and leveling made me very comfortable...

Adjusting to a small space

The weather was inclement through April, so we spent the nice weather days working and playing outside. The first thing I discovered was that we still had too much stuff. So more things went to my mother-in-law's garage and more bags to charity.  I also installed extra shelving in and around the rv to hold spices.  I have found that it doesn't take long to move into your rv. But it takes a few weeks to find a good spot for everything. And continue readjusting after that.

I gave Bill most of the wardrobe space in the beginning because he had more stuff to store. We discovered that he didn't use it all and I moved him over and consolidated so I could make more room for me.

Hanging curtains over the kids' bunks helped to create a sense of privacy. And since we were used to sharing the bathroom, that wasn't much of a stretch.  Except for the fact that we can hear every sound and bodily function...

The biggest challenge is having less floor space to move around in.  Only one person working in the kitchen area and we are on top of one another.  It gets cluttered and dirty faster. But it also cleans up faster.

All in all, we are pleased with the class c.

Merry Christmas to All

We are nestled back in Clear Creek RV park for the winter.  Our trailer backs up to the creek and if the joggers along the trail are very lucky, they can see us eating lunch through our living room window...


Once fall passed, we were left with brown everywhere.  Brown mountains. Dead brown trees with exposed squirrel nests.  Muddy brown banks along the creek.  And piles of dried brown leaves rustling in the whistling wind that blows hard through the valley.  The wind, piercing and cold --take-your-breath-away cold.


We spent Christmas Eve with Bill's family: brunch at 11 and then we opened presents.  Jessica wasn't feeling well all day, so she participated as much as she could.  But by the Christmas Eve service, she just wanted to curl up and sleep.  We went to their church at 2 and enjoyed some carols and the nativity story.  After which, we went to my mother-in-law's house for the evening.  We watched silly tv shows and helped her make a cake. 

But for Christmas, we got a glorious blanket of white laid down to cover all the brown.  Soft flakes falling in the night, twinkling against our headlights as we drove home on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning.  Three inches of snow.  Frozen kitchen sink. Three impatient children who waited patiently for three hours until dad finally woke up.

In the meantime, I had to wash dishes by importing water from the bathroom sink and heat it up in my new electric water kettle. Then made apple and pear cinnamon pancakes for breakfast. 

living in a small space while it snows

I nearly lost it several times trying to unpack while climbing over legs and laptops.  Jessica and Bill unpacked most of the boxes and settled them in cupboards.  I managed to shove all our boxes of books and miscellany in the front cab, but desperately raced to get stuff settled.

The first week of living in our new RV was excruciating.  We shoved everything in boxes and black plastic bags.  Though it took an hour to transfer everything from the old to the new RV, it took a few days to unpack. 


Eventually, we worked out a manageable system and sending most of our keepsakes to my mother-in-law's one-car garage gave us the breathing room so desperately needed.

I still have to breathe deeply and realize that as much as my husband adjusts to sharing his space with everyone (working on school projects with noisy children clamoring about and not taking over every flat surface with his gear), I have to adjust to sharing my one-person kitchen with him and not being anal-retentive about cleaning cluttered spaces.

We were used to almost 400 square feet of space in the old trailer during the winter and would often spend days holed up quite comfortably.  With thirty percent less space and spring arriving, cabin fever sets in much faster.  And keeping our family suitably settled and entertained consists of XBOX games, Ipad games, movies, and books and respecting what little privacy we have.  

Now, I'm off to dump for the first time, in our new location, and fill up on propane.  One downside to the Class C is that the propane tank is permanently attached.  Can't throw tanks in the back of the car and drive them down to a local propane place.  Have to pack up the whole kit-and-kaboodle...