Newbie Nomads in the Desert

Today's post comes from Vesna of the blog Mudakiller. For those who don't know Muda (無駄) is a traditional Japanese term for an activity that is wasteful and doesn’t add value or is unproductive. So, instead of wasting time on things that aren't important to them on a deep level, Vesna and her family took to the road to spend their time on the relationships and experiences that matter to them.

We are a nomadic family of 5. We started this new life in January, 2011 after a two year awakening to what is important to us in life. We came to the conclusion that the mortgage, and all the ‘things’ piling up in our home, were not what mattered to us on a deep level. What matters to us, more than anything, is relationships and experiences. Since our career is in software, and we have the ability to work remotely, we eventually came to the conclusion that we could travel to where the people we love and the places we want to visit are. And so our journey began in January in a pop up trailer after selling everything we own (including the house... the longest we’ve ever lived anywhere in adulthood 4 ½ years!). We will be purchasing a C or A class later this year, but the pop up was to get us started traveling across the southern States for the winter/spring. Upon our return to the Toronto area in May, we’ll be heading out to Europe for the remainder of the year until we come back to travel the southern state circuit again.

Snowbirding Season Challenges
After spending over a month in California, we moved on to travel across the desert. Finding places to stay in California was pretty easy and reasonably priced. We started meeting people our age with and without kids who had just come from east to west across the desert. The stories about finding camping were not good. There were age restrictions, and just plain not-so-great camping places. The great places we were told about, Big Bend in Texas, etc. were places we had every intention of going to. But, with our work, and not having satellite internet, or a gray water tank or bathroom, we really needed to stick to RV parks more than state parks. Next year’s circuit will include a *lot* of state parks!

As soon as we hit Arizona, park after park after park was for age 55+. And if the age restriction wasn’t there, they were not accepting pop ups. And if they were accepting pop ups, they weren’t accepting the add-a-room we have. This wasn’t particularly a big deal, but it makes for a difficult longer stay.

Tombstone, AZ - One Gem of a Find
We did find a decent park just outside of Tombstone, called Cochise RV park. We stayed there for one night. The view in the morning was breathtaking with mountains all over. It was a nice park, but in a suburban setting and even without the age restrictions, it was quite obviously not for the non-retired. Not that they were unfriendly, but we did get a few eye brows raised. We spent the next day exploring the town of Tombstone and the site of the OK Coral. We read all about the town and founder online (thanks Wikipedia!) before checking it out for the day. The kids had a blast at the Boothill Cemetery and in the town of Tombstone itself. We learned about the 30 second long gun fight, the founder, and the silver mine he built the town around. We went down into the mine on a tour and is was quite fascinating! Great history for the kids!

We were off towards the Carlsbad Caverns we’d heard so much about in New Mexico. However, the drive was too long, so we tried to find a place in the first part of New Mexico. We don’t like showing up and setting up too late at night – especially for one nighters. But, we found a place online called the Hidden Valley Ranch RV park. From the descriptions online, it looked nice and far from any town. 10 miles away from anything all around to be exact. Since we weren’t ready to travel too far off the trail with the pop up, this place looked pretty good. And it had wifi! Even though we have an air card, it’s still good to have park wifi as a backup.

We were a little late getting there, so we turned off the main road in Deming quite a bit after sunset. Pretty soon the road turned to gravel...and then dirt. The comforting city/town lights were dimming quickly, and the GPS was having a hard time figuring out where we were and finally quit. As did our air card. The road was bumpy and dark and there were signs about an ‘open range’. The kids started wondering and getting nervous. As the trailer bounced behind us, I too was getting nervous. I had thoughts of flat tires (we’ve had a total of 5 on this three month trip alone!) in the middle of nowhere. The 10 miles of slow driving seemed to take forever. We entered a valley with what looked like hills around us and finally saw a single light in the distance. We rolled up to the gates just when I was about to give up. I was so relieved at the gates that I did not see the “Welcome to an adult community” sign that Mike seemed to be focussed on. We sat there idling in front of the gate and pondered. There were definitely campers inside the gate, but everything looked all dark and closed up. I didn’t want to have to drive all the way back out and look for somewhere else (for there was nowhere else....a hotel perhaps??) this late at night. We decided we were setting up no matter what. We found info about after hours set ups. The next morning we found out that it was indeed ok that the kids were with us. The adult part was for the long-term campers. WHEW! With the star filled nights, the road runners, the hiking up the hills, and the complete silence of the desert, we stayed there two more nights for a total of three. There wasn’t a pool or playground, or anything else of the sort, but it was a wonderful experience to be away from everything.

We then headed out to the Carlsbad Caverns area at the Carlsbad RV Park. Great place for kids – amazing playground, indoor pool, game room, etc. and of course the Caverns nearby. There, we met up with another nomadic family we had met on Twitter. We stayed longer than expected and enjoyed their company. The Caverns were incredible! It was quite a trek to walk around the entire area, but it was amazing! The kids got their junior rangers there as well. Unfortunately, we were too early for the bats. That really sounds like it’s an amazing experience and we do hope to catch that at some point in the future. Prior to visiting the Caverns, we learned about the boy who had stumbled upon them and explored them with a friend.

A Rough Texan Start
From there, we headed to Texas. After deciding to skip Big Bend (which we will catch the next time!), we drove straight to San Antonio. The intention was to stay a few days at the Travelers World RV Resort right in town and see San Antonio, the Alamo, etc. We did not get a good feeling from that park. It seemed nice and clean enough, but there was a gut feeling about safety that we did not like. It was raining the first day and was so humid in the trailer (especially after the dry desert) – everything was wet. We just wanted to move on along. So, we left early the next day and completely missed the Alamo, but will definitely return the next time around.

We drove to an amazing state park in Corpus Christie – Mustang State Park. The wifi was sketchy, as was our air card, but it was enough for a week. It was a complete relief to be on the coast again after being in the desert so long. We got the surf board out, did some surfing, camp fires on the beach, and just enjoyed being steps away from the water. We hadn’t camped that close to the water the entire trip! March break was starting and kids were starting to show up, so the boys had friends to play with. It was a wonderful week!

The next stop was a wonderful RV resort called the Jamaica Beach RV resort. It was just across the street from the Gulf of Mexico, had mini putt, pool, hot tub, horse back riding, etc. all on site. We stayed about a week there as well. Surfing on the beach, went horse back riding, and lots of spring break friends coming through for the boys. It was another fantastic week at a fantastic park!

Since then we stayed for an extended 3 week stay in Titusville, Florida, and are currently heading up the east coast before heading to Europe for the remainder of the year. Next January through April, we intend on taking our time through the desert and hitting quite a bit more state parks, as well as staying at some of the RV parks we’ve already been to. We’re very much looking forward to going back!

Vesna's RV Parking Picks

Cochise Terrace RV Resort, Benson, AZ
"If I was a senior who wanted to be around seniors and not have a ton of kids running around, I'd rate it a 5." Read more.

Hidden Valley Ranch RV Resort, Deming, NM
"This park was awesome... It's nice and small and we stayed there for a few days before we hit the road again."

Carlsbad RV Park & Campground, Carlsbad, NM
"Clean, great laundry, indoor pool (avoiding the wind/dust of the desert), awesome game room for the kids and an amazing playground." Read the rest of this review plus two others.

Traveler's World RV Resort, San Antonio, TX
"It was clean and right in the city, but the area of town seemed sketchy and we were warned about keeping stuff locked up at the park." Read more.

Mustang State Park, Port Aransas, TX
"Very small and pretty much right on the beach." Read more.

Jamaica Beach RV Resort, Galveston, TX
"Great wifi, great laundry - BEST BATHROOMS EVER!!" Read more.

Stay tuned for another "RVing with Kids" series post next week. Stephanie Mulac of Mulac Family Marketers will share celebration spots and free attractions in Las Vegas.