Come and take a tour of our 5thwheel home, deck and outside sitting area!

This is our story of living in a stationary 5thwheel RV in East Texas, and the path we took at retirement from volunteering with the National Parks System to six acres of land in East Texas! Welcome!

Living in a stationary RV is legal in ten states, including our home state of Texas. 

But that is not why we started living in an RV or how we came to choose one for our permanent home, here in East Texas. Let's take a quick look back 7 years to when I retired and we decided to travel the U.S.A. and be part of the group of volunteers needed by the National Parks Service. 

First we sold our 1400 square foot home and began the large process of small-ing down. Which was not as easy as it sounds! We had a lovely, well appointed home with furniture and household goods in each room. Plus we had about 5,000 books. Seriously! I am not kidding, I had over 3,000 cookbooks and my husband had at least 2,000 (probably more!) novels...

From there we needed a home, now what? 

We had set a budget for both purchases because we did not want any payments in retirement. We found a wonderful older low mileage, blue, one ton dually truck and a like new, but older Holiday Rambler 32ft 5thwheel.  We moved in got settled and started volunteering! We did our first assignment at Fort Vancouver National Historic Reserve in Vancouver WA. From there we went to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument a UNESCO site outside of Ajo, AZ almost on the border with Mexico. 

These two positions were a commitment of over two years time with traveling and needing to stay put until winter was over and the passes were once again safe to travel back to Washington state with an RV in tow. That first year away, our kids flew to Arizona to spend the holidays with us!

Along the way, I learned to break down my kitchen in 1 hour to be road ready. I was responsible for the inside breakdown, and my husband the outside breakdown and connecting to the truck. Once we were both ready, we would re-attach the truck to the 5thwheel and the next leg of the journey would begin. The same set up to put the kitchen together, took over 2 hours. This process was repeated each time we stopped for the night so that we could cook dinner and have coffee and breakfast the next day! 

Traveling from one park to the other often took 3 to 4 weeks, needless to say, I was always glad to arrive for our next assignment! During our time in Ajo AZ, we were stationed in very rural setting, with out of the way places for grocery shopping. I learned to be very creative during this time! And honestly we eat better for it to this very day.   

After these two assignments we took a bit of a break from volunteering. 

We returned to Washington state and decided to partner up with our adult children and move out of Washington. But first we had another house to sell, and lots of household goods to pack for the move. All four of us settled on Montana, as our destination. Once settled in Montana, my husband and I started searching for a smaller, easier to pull 5thwheel so we could once again join the ranks of the volunteers. We settled on a 26ft 5thwheel. Ironically the kitchen was better in that small model than the Holiday Rambler, but OMG the bedroom, not so much! But we managed to volunteer for the entire season at Three Frogs Campground in Darby Montana.  

We had a few moments of excitement like when my husband saw a lightening strike, start a fire in one of the trees way up on the ridge. With no cell service in the park, he had to drive about 5 miles into town until service showed up on his cell to call and report the fire. Back at camp we then helped to escort out and redirect campers and hikers from going to the area where the fire was an active burn, as helicopters were busy dropping tons of water on the fire.

Then one final assignment before moving to Texas! 

For our last volunteer position we volunteered at Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction AZ. For this last assignment we volunteered along side our kids. Now with our grandson in tow! For this position there was one thing we needed from the park management team. My daughter and I could not have overlapping duty times, so one of us was always available to be with the baby. With all of this time living (on and off) in a 5thwheel, I knew what worked for us and what did not! 

Unfortunately while we were in Arizona waiting (again) for the passes to clear, we learned our home in Wyoming had sustained great damage during a cold snap of -35 degrees. All of a sudden we had no home to return too! We managed to get all of the repairs completed as we lived in one RV park after another. Working with the contractor by phone and email. 

Once back to Wyoming where we had moved the summer before, we knew that living in an environment where you had to escape the winter to be happy was not where we should be living. Since we had spent so much time on the road while the house was being repaired, I knew where I wanted to finally settle! Yes, right here in East Texas!

Once in Texas, a stationary RV seemed like the easiest solution!

So we started looking! It took awhile and honestly the entire process was a bit exhausting. My husband had grown weary of driving for a couple of hours to see homes that were advertised with photographs that were definitely not recently taken. Or we would get there and even with an appointment set up in advance, it was already sold. And while I was not above purchasing a home that needed some work, I had a list of must haves, and I did not want to have to take a pass on any of them: 

• a bedroom large enough for a king size bed, we each needed enough room to sleep in comfort. 
• a kitchen with a workable layout, because nothing had changed, I still cook almost every meal we eat.
• and enough storage spaces throughout the entire home, so things would be put away and our living area is not cluttered looking. 

And we did find the home we needed, so...

With all that back history, are you ready for the tour?

Let's start in the kitchen, because to my way of thinking, the kitchen is the heart of the home, no matter the size of the house. 

You are looking into the kitchen from the living room. Remember this "Welcome Home" chalkboard when you are in the kitchen looking out onto the living room...

This is the countertop to the left of the double sink. It's not super big, but it does get me by! There is a counter top section that fits into the sink if I need more space, but so far I have managed to make this work...

My appliance line-up to the right of the double sink. We use most of these everyday so instead of digging them out of a closet or off of a shelf, they have been given free rent on the counter!

Continuing right, my stove and microwave. This stove top is three burners. But three is plenty for most meals. Currently the oven is non-operational. One repair is still needed, but in the current heat, I am not baking much of anything...

Here in East Texas we have some very friendly ants, so we use our microwave for storage of short term foods, like a bag of organic bagels. or this package of cake, my husband had picked up at the store. My husband truly loves his sweet snacks! 

This was a very pleasant surprise, a double refrigerator! I had made due with a standard RV fridge for all those assignments, so this is a real luxury in my book! The small cabinet to the left of the fridge is a pull out shelf unit, it holds wraps and plastic storage bags. 

I wash dishes 2 or 3 times each day. Even so, I have learned to stack them high! When we have more dirty dishes than the usual amount, I also stack them in the sink...as shown.

Remember the "Welcome Home" chalk board? This is the back side, as it sits on the kitchen counter. It keeps my dish soap, hand soap and pan scrubber out of sight, for those sitting in the living room. I taped a piece of my favorite poetry on the back, where I can enjoy it while washing the dishes...

Also in the kitchen I have a scrap bowl for the hens. I toss all the peelings, and such in the bowl as I cook, then after dinner we take the bowl out to the girls. They love it when they get strawberry tops and corn cobs...

I also made room on the floor, for a little cannister I use to collect egg shells, these are dried in the oven and made into grit for the hens. The spray bottle sitting next to the egg shells is a mild vinegar and water solution for spot cleaning. The garbage can has a lid, which we keep closed almost all of the time, only opening to add garbage. 

This pantry is just to the right of the refrigerator. It holds basics on top and pots and pans in the section below. There is a third set of door up very high, I only keep long term storage items up there. I am happy for that uppermost storage area, but it is not as convenient as the middle and lower storage spaces available. 

This model RV trailer originally came with a stacked laundry pair just off the kitchen. I turned the space into an overflow pantry. And because this closet is equipped with hot and cold water as well as a drain, I have toyed with the idea of a counter top dishwasher....it could sit on the top shelf of the wire shelving unit. Trust me, I would find new territory for those items that would be displaced for the dishwasher!

Our dining corner! We look out onto our property. We have 6 acres that we share with the kids, and that tractor has been more help than I could have ever imagined! Almost everything is covered by a roof here in Texas, to protect what sits under the roof, from hail damage.

Even in our tiny house, I like to change things up a bit! 

We decided to break away from tradition in our little home. In place of standard RV furnishings, we each have a comfortable chair with the needed side table for a coffee cup or glass of water. Also I love having the electric frame with photos of the grandson! 

RV window treatments tend to keep the living areas dark, one of the first things we did was remove the side curtains to let in more light. We did leave the valances to keep the day and night shades, dust free. 

This chair is my husbands, there is also a bookshelf behind the chair. His chair is a power motion recliner, which has proved interesting if he is relaxing and the power goes out...and it does when we are in storm season. Sometimes for an hour, but often for a day or more. 

I have a small desk in the living room, and I love it! I do my blog writing here as well as pay bills, etc. The drawers hold the usual assortment of legal paperwork we all tend to gather along a lifetime of living!

Continuing to the right, we have the usual entertainment tower, with a component cupboard at the top, the TV in the middle with a large horizontal speaker and an electric fireplace at the bottom for a quick removal of the chill in the morning. So far the fireplace remains unused...you can also see the backside of the kitchen counter and the appliance line up, so we have come full circle, in the living room. 

Heading upstairs to the bedroom suite, the first thing you notice is this king sized bed! Rolling into spring and summer, we are down to sheets only. But in cooler weather we have the usual bedspread and decorative pillows in place. 

Originally, a frilly fabric headboard was attached to the wall. Which was not our style as well as being soiled, we took it off and replaced it with aged wood found right here on the property. My husband found the wood in an old outbuilding that had been used for an office, which he also dismantled. We are natural born recyclers and will salvage and re-use any and all materials when ever possible. 

We also replaced the standard RV light fixtures with the smaller ones you see, they are rechargeable and work great for just about any area. While we still had the factory electrical wiring available to hook up new bedroom lights, we like the low profile of these rechargeable ones. Then we hung our favorite painting of the beach to finish it out! 

 

Continuing to the right we have the usual double closet, I have all my clothes here, along with a few linens hanging on hangers. I love the cloth shelves that hang right on the closet rod. I have had these for over 20 years...yes all you see are jeans and shirts. I made myself a promise that in retirement, jeans would be my new daily uniform!

To the right of the closet, is this linen closet. We keep towels, a huge first aid kit (orange tool box) along with vitamins and pantry overstock. You can also see the corner of the built in chest of drawers, the chest of drawers holds all my husband's fold up clothes. 

I like having this chest for my husband's clothes. It is easy with each drawer holding like kind items. All of his other clothes needing a hanger are kept in the smaller personal closet below. 

Perfect for jeans and button up shirts.  

Also in the bedroom suite is the usual large-ish walk in shower, a sink vanity with storage cupboard below and a separate water closet.  

But that is not all of the storage available! If there is one thing the RV industry did an excellent job of, it was making great use of space for the storage of the needed items each person may have! 

The slide room has a row of cupboards end to end! These hold dishes and serving wear, along with a few smaller appliances, such as a stick blender and a coffee grinder. 

Plus this bank of cupboards above the large picture window behind my husband's chair. We have dry goods stored in these cupboards.

And lastly there are a couple of smaller cupboards above the desk area...

We are in the process of building a deck, and I can't wait until it is finished. I love having the additional outdoor space!

And here is the hail cover over our Caravan, I love the sound it plays during a rain storm!

UPDATED: 08.08.2024, we now have a deck and outside sitting area!

And now, we have a finished deck! We have so much space for sitting areas out side, we have turned the deck into a mud room, if you will! Let's take a look...

Our door bell, for visitors! I might need to put a red bow on the striker to make it easier to be seen!

The walkway to the deck and outdoor sitting area. 

Since we live on layers of sand and clay, we decided to continue with a thick mulch of wood chips for the walking surface of the outdoor area and to the steps for the deck. 

There are a couple of benefits in this choice. Less lawn to mow and no more sand tracked into the caravan. I do need to go around with a rack from time to time and groom the chips, it seems they are also a favorite place for the hens to visit for a little scratching and forage activity. 

The steps to the deck are to the right of the outdoor sitting area. This little corner is perfect for a little relaxing!

Heading down the deck towards the door we have two chests that hold our shoes, along with a chair to sit and put our shows on, or take them off!

And at the far end of the deck, right outside the door, we have our grill. Being under cover means we can (and do!) grill year round...plus another chair for a relaxing rest on a breezy day!

And lastly the view from the deck to the sitting area. 

08.27.2024

And as much as I enjoyed having the deck in working order, I was champing at the bit to have hubby get the siding completed. Once that was done, we also leveled and sat the stairs in their permanent place. I love the clean, finished (and tidy) look!

09.24.2024

The best part about living stationary in an RV is that you can use standard sized furniture, because (for the most part) the weight of the furniture does not have any bearing, because you are stationary. One of the reasons we went with full sized chairs for each of us. Most RV furniture is smaller in size and light weight for traveling. 

We decided to use our favorite wooden dining table instead of the smaller square one you see above. We also decided to move our chairs beside each other and make the large window area our new dining room. 

Our chairs side by side, we also share a small table between us for drinks. 

And I love our new larger dining table! Lots of room for a fruit bowl, cloth napkins, and ourselves. 

With one more update!: 

After had a visit from Tropical Storm Beryl in July of 2024, we realized that our hail cover needed to be able to support more than just hail! We have very tall, very old trees surrounding us. And quite a few large limbs come down during the storm. We were blessed in that only the front edge of the hail cover was affected by a falling limb, that for the most part missed us! But we might not always be that lucky. With that in mind, we decided to beef up the center of the hail cover with some heavy duty planking that will take a large limb or two...the outside measures of the cover are 60 ft. long by 20 ft. wide. That center would always be our weak point if left as just a hail cover. 

This was a bear of a job to do after the initial build. 

And we actually (my husband and I) walked the planks up the ladder, step by step. Using the dump bucket on the tractor to raise the other end of the plank as we put it up to the next step. 

Don't try this at home kids, we did and it was not easy. 

When the bucket on the tractor could not be raised any higher my husband climbed up the ladder and put the end of the plank on top of the Caravan and we (he, I and the tractor) pushed it slowly onto the roof of the trailer. Once assembled, and in place, I can honestly say, we are ready for anything!

I hope you have enjoyed this tour, and the update once the deck was completed, and as always, thanks so much for stopping by!

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