Living the good life on wheels
With annual trips to B.C. and memorable snowbirding in the southern U.S., this retired couple from Alberta knows how to live the good life on wheels.
Tell me about your RV. What do you like about it?
Our current RV is a 2005 36-foot Monaco Knight with two slides. It is a diesel pusher with a lot of nice features and it has served us well since we purchased it in 2009. We like the idea that my wife and I can communicate in the front without engine noise, since the engine is in the rear, and it is spacious enough to stay in parks for up to six months at a time.
How much of the year do you spend RVing?
Up until 2013 we were RVing seven months of the year—six months snowbirding in warm places in the southern U.S.A. and one month in Alberta and B.C.
Why do you like the RV lifestyle?
We liked the RV style since the birth of our first daughter in 1971. We purchased hard-wall fold-up trailers, followed by a pull-type with all the features beyond the hard wall trailers. Upon retirement in 2003, we had two fifth-wheel travel trailers and had been using them as our snowbirding homes. The RV lifestyle allows us the freedom to go to destinations of our choice with our home on wheels, our own comfortable bedroom, our own choice of meals—mostly a choice we make spur of the moment.
Where are your favourite places to travel in your home province?
In Alberta we like the Drumheller area, Kananaskis, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and local towns that feature rodeos during the summer months. We travel to B.C. and stay in the Chilliwack area and make stopovers along the way.
What is your favourite RV snowbirding destination?
Our favourite snowbirding place has been in Texas, in the Harlingen area; however, we have spent considerable time in the Palm Springs area in California and in the Yuma, Arizona, area over time.
Describe your most memorable RV trip.
Our most memorable trip was a planned trip to Texas where we took a short vacation into the Copper Canyon with Fantasy Tours. That trip was a caravan of 27 rigs where we travelled into Mexico and we were transferred onto the flatdeck of a train. The trip took us into the Copper Canyon and we enjoyed meeting a lot of different people, learning the culture of the mountain people, and the different events that led us up to the Canyon. We also took a trip to Alaska in 2009. This was also an outstanding trip, taking us through the B.C. interior including Dawson Creek, Top of the World Highway, Yukon Territory, Whitehorse and all the towns in between. Alaska is a beautiful state.
What advice would you have for someone interested in RVing?
RVing is a lifestyle. It is an investment in relaxation, and the discovery of dream places in a home on wheels. It should be shared as a family. It gets us away from the daily work, business and school and allows us to return to these duties refreshed and appreciate life.
I would suggest the beginner RVer start with an RV he can afford and spend a lot of time in it to see whether it is the type of lifestyle he would enjoy. As a retired couple, you both have to like the smaller space.
