Day One Tip: Don’t break off the one door handle you have to your motorhome.
When Jeremiah and I looked at Class A motorhomes, my first concern (thought unstated) was, “What happens when we need a second door?” After living on our own land in the motorhome for six or seven weeks without ever having a real problem, I thought my fears were unjustified.
Then, came day one of The Exodus.
By hour four, day one, I heard these words: “You tore the door nob to our house off.”
Jeremiah was not wrong. In my excitement to consume burgers and fries while we parked in a defunct car wash parking lot in Grants Pass, Oregon, I had grabbed at the door handle of our RV and pulled it straight off. I like to think one of two things here: that I either have hulk-like strength, or that the handle was already on its last legs (er, last hinges.) What actually happened is that I pulled the door handle at a strange angle and voila! In my hand rested the entry to our entire house.
Jeremiah quietly walked away from our Home On Wheels, swearing a little. “We’ll deal with it after lunch,” he said, while I quietly found myself about to vomit with anxiety-that’s a common theme in my life though, so don’t think too much on that.
This is it, I spiraled. We’re homeless – all of our belongings are packaged tightly in that RV and we now have a 2000 Ford Explorer that we live in. My life now consists of me searching for spare change along dirty sidewalks, while Bernadette begs for dog food. Jeremiah is going to leave me after nearly 9 years, and we’re going to be vagabonds with disheveled rags of clothing.
About 30 minutes later and needing to pee from chugging lemonade, I was grateful that we hadn’t fixed a window that wouldn’t quite lock closed- an issue we had chatted about that morning. (I vote we never fix that window, now.) Donning ourselves with our handy extendable ladder, Jeremiah hoisted himself through the window over the couch.
It wasn’t how we expected our first day to go, but I don’t think either of us will forget it – especially when I stop to think of Jeremiah’s feet sticking out of a window 6 feet high.
As for where we stayed that evening, we ended up settling at Valley of the Rogue State Park. Since this is our first blog – one of my goals is to give a brief rundown of the places we stay.
If you want to hear more about HOW we fixed the door handle, I’ll let Jeremiah explain that in later blog. If you’re looking for stories on some crazy antics I never mean to get into, I’m your girl. If you’re looking for information on how to fix everything that comes from those antics, tune in to Jeremiah’s blogs.
Tips from Today’s Blog: Invest in an extendable ladder like this. Lock your door while driving (that’s another story…) And finally, avoid ripping off door handles if possible.
Campsite Review: Valley of the Rogue State Park
Location – about 10 miles South of Grants Pass, Oregon, right off I-5 – it’s actually an exit.
Spacing – This was tight. Not only are the spaces fairly difficult to navigate into initially, the spaces were very close together. Length wasn’t an issue. We went during the “off season,” so in the summer months we assume that the other circles are available. Circle F, which was not full hook up, had some huge spots!
Spot we stayed in – C12
Level: The spot was fairly level – we didn’t use our jacks since we were only there one night. Type of Camping: Full Hook Ups
Price – $39 including the reservation fee. (It’s $31 a night, plus 8 bucks for the reservation fee.)
Trails & Entertainment – There was a trail right along the river. This isn’t a river you play in, by the way; it has a very strong current near the campground. There’s also a rundown volleyball area – it was sad looking, at best.
Reservations, Walk Up, Boondocking – Make sure to make a reservation. You can do this online here.
Would we stay here again? Maybe. We would not stay in D or C loop though. It was too tight. The campground had some beautiful views of the river, and tons of space for biking and walking.
