Too Much Rig? // Where do we Fit? // RECON for Orion // RV Lifestyle // RV Fulltime // C Class RV

We've been locked into our home with no handle. All right, oh my, what are you doing? Run and jump. There you go. In 2016, we left our desk jobs and retired from corporate America, sold everything, and sought out the wide open spaces of America in our new home. Voyager, a 2016 Volvo 780 that takes us to many places. Orion, our 2019 custom-built home on wheels, and Pathfinder, a 2016 smart for two, you might say the yin to Voyager's yang. The names were taken from NASA missions to explore the final frontier, so we too have a passion for discovery. Our curiosity is a driving force in the places we go, the routes that will take us there, and the sights that we'll see and experience. Out of this desire to explore, it was only fitting that curiosity was born to our RV family. Traveling across this country, our journey is the destination, so come along with us to discover what's next. First time in a motorhome, just like with our very first fifth wheel. It was a Sunday afternoon. We had no idea what we were doing. None. Now we know a little bit more, so we're a little more dangerous than we were the first time. When we hooked up our fifth wheel for the very first time, our DRV, the pin didn't latch on the hitch, and David very slowly moved the truck forward, and if he had just done things normally, we would have dropped the nose immediately. But that's why we go super, super slow the first time we do anything. Yeah, yeah. All right, here we are starting the process. Yep. All right, so for the first time, we're going to hook up our jeep, Artemis, to Curiosity right there. Never done this before. We've loaded a smart car on the back of our HDT, but we've never flat-towed a vehicle before, so we're getting ready to, once again, brave new territory. We ready for the maiden voyage? We're ready. I think everything is hooked up, connected, disconnected. We did a walk around, and everything's in. The awnings are in, the door step, the steps in, there's no handlebars. Wow. Oh yeah, the jeep's still following us. Well, it's pretty easy. They say, this is exciting. It's different. Remember when we first picked up Voyager? That was scary. That was scary. We'd never really driven a truck before, and the dealer just handed us the keys and said, here you go. Are we ready for the inaugural launch? No. Voyager? No. I don't know if I am here. Okay, just get out of the parking lot. Lord help us. My husband, the truck driver. This is big. Driving like a pro, like you know what you're doing. But yes, I am in the truck. We have our first message. Huh? We have our first message, low fuel, is our first message on our DID. Oh, this isn't the right road. That was exciting. This is exciting, not as exciting, I guess, because I don't want to say RVing is becoming old hat to us, but this is pretty cool. What was that? All right, so that was the Jeep. Didn't rear end us, did it? No. So the Jeep's gonna break Curiosity? Can you adjust the brake? Yeah. But do you have to do it from the Jeep, or can you do it from the Jeep? I'll do it from the Jeep. Oh, okay. Our first night in Curiosity, neither of us could sleep because it was just different noises, and it just, it felt different, but we're pretty much used to it now. It's really cool. And we're off. Bye, General RV. So normally I'd be freaking out right now in Voyager. We're at a state park, and it's water electric only, so we're gonna go ahead and dump. Wow, look at that fancy bag. Where'd that come from? Did that come with the, uh, the sewer? Uh, oh yeah, that's right. Yeah, it came with the sewer. We didn't pay for this. So what's that blue hose for in the bag? Oh, so what's that? I'm sure I know that's not the freshwater hose that's sitting right next to all the sewer stuff, right? Actually, oh my gosh, that's why it's in a bag. But it's got holes in it. How do you? Fresh air holes, so it aerates. Brake is on. Just got here, and David's setting up. We still need to check out the campground. So David has some Lego blocks that he's going to put under the pads. Now what? Level. First walk about the campground. So I have a question for you. Have you ever considered this state park before in Orion? I did. I looked at it, but I couldn't really see, according to Google, what the interior looked like. You know, the roads, all the trees, and the sites, because there's so many trees, and I didn't really know what the height was. Yeah. So I had read where the sites were large, but I could not confirm, so I wasn't bringing the rig down here. Now there are some pretty big sites down here, and I think this is something that Orion can definitely fit in, and oh yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna come back here if we can get reservations. It's a really popular campground. Well we saw dolphins last night, and we saw them again tonight. We just didn't get any pictures or video of it tonight, so it doesn't count. It counts in here. Home somewhere. It's possible next week I may not remember it. That's true. That's why we need pictures of everything. That's true. Our second campground in Curiosity, the Chasahawitzka. I think you like saying that. River campground. It's like the Piconomi. Piconomi. Piconomi. Piconomi. Piconomi. That's another good place in Florida. And so we're here with Curiosity, and we knew we would not fit in Orion here, but the reason we came here was to do the springs. Yep. Yeah, not Crystal River, but we're near the Crystal River area, but the Chasahawitzka River and the Seven Sisters Springs, and then something called The Crack. The Crack. Yeah, so it's supposed to be really cool. So we're going to do some kayaking. All right. We're going up the creek, but I've got a paddle. But you're not using it. Get it? Up a creek without a paddle, up with a cup. Yeah, okay, yeah. So I'm taking this opportunity to video and let Sandra do the work. And don't crash us. So we're going up this creek, and we're going to what they call The Crack. It's a, I guess, a geologic feature where water is coming up in the spring here at the Chasahawitzka River, and I might be. And so we're heading up. We talked to some kayakers at the head of the creek here, and they said we're heading in the right direction. And Sandra's got the map and kept us at a snapper hole, which was the first creek we paddled up. So we're going down. It doesn't look like much right now, but they say it's really pretty. Yeah, very swampy looking right now, so we'll see what it looks like later on. But we did find out this is not manatee season. They apparently migrate, so they're all up in the northeast. Who knew? I didn't know they could swim fast enough to get further away. So they do have some about 40 summer residents, and then they get about four to five hundred that come back in the wintertime. In the wintertime. So this is the place for the wintertime. Yes, it is. So we're excited to be here and check things out. Yeah, so far Curiosity's been doing good. Yeah, and continue to outfit it. There's a Home Depot about, what, eight miles from here, and a Walmart about three or four. So we'll be making lots of trips. We're taking a little break from our outfitting of Curiosity. We think we deserve it. Yeah, but it's a break. It's a lot of fun though. It is, and we've done really well with our projects. Yeah, and we haven't like really hit it hard either. It's been a nice pace. It has been. So we're gonna take a little break today, and we're going to go on an airboat ride. Yeah, now we've done this before several times. A lot of fun. Yeah, this will be in Crystal River. Hopefully we'll see some manatees and some other wildlife. You never know, but it is summertime. So that's true. It may be a little thin. Yeah, but at least it won't be cold. Hello sports fans. We're here in the Amazon forest. We're doing a laundry check. So for months, Sondra's been hashing over laundry. Now, not whether she's going to do it or not. Oh, it's got to get done. Because it's got to get done, and she does a great job of doing it in Orion, but now we're in Curiosity. And for Orion, you know, we're thinking of when we dry camp, maybe there's a little more efficient ways of using water or not using water. Right, and usually when we're dry camping, we're like way out in the middle of nowhere, and we don't want to have to drive, you know, 30 minutes to an hour into town. So we're gonna experiment with... Yes, so we got a couple of items that we're gonna see, you know, will they do laundry and can they dry? And this is actually a worst case scenario because it's, I don't know, 85 degrees outside and about 99% humidity. I wasn't kidding when I said in the Amazon. No, it's just blah out here. Very humid. Sorry, and bugs. So we're gonna see how it goes. So the items that we're using on this experiment are pretty much tried and true. Yeah, that's our hot, that's our water heater. Multi-purpose, multi-purpose. So we got the Wonder Wash, and we've got some detergent and a little shot glass. Don't read anything into that one. This is not, it's a measuring cup. It's And let me show you the other apparatus that's crucial to this. This is, believe it or not, a dryer. It's a, it's a ninja dryer, and actually it spins the heck out of clothes. Yeah, we tried it just experimenting, and man, water was like just pouring out of there. So we're gonna wash them in the Wonder Wash, and then we're going to dry them in the ninja, and we're gonna see, you know, they're not gonna get dry obviously, but they're gonna get a lot of water get taken out, and then we'll hang them up. And because in, you know, curiosity behind me, we got our ACs going because we're on hookup, that not full, well we are on full hookup here, but we have no washer and dryer in curiosity. So that's why we're doing it here, and then this may go over into Orion to save on water. Well, you are shaking that table. I don't know if this table was ever designed for this. No. All right, now the dryer, quote-unquote dryer, it's actually a spinner. It's not just a spinner, it's a ninja. You're supposed to do three cycles, a wash, a pre-rinse, and a final rinse, exactly. So that's how the wash machines did it. And so is this our final rinse? This is our final rinse, yes. All right. And I just turn it on, and it slowly starts, kind of does a self-balancing. And we're going to do this for about two minutes. Two minutes, or thereabout. Yeah. Well, here is two loads of laundry, minus the unmentionables, unpictured, or not in the picture. We've got six shirts, three pairs of shorts, two pairs of socks, and four pairs of unmentionables. Pretty good. Well, you are shaking that table. I don't know if this table was ever designed for this. For curiosity, you're at the something, something, something campground. Okay. There we go. I did. Whoa.