Category: Uncategorized

By: Kevin

Greenville, OH. Our first travel assignment.

It took a little while to really get moved in, everything arranged, and into a normal routine. We discovered a sharp learning curve exists when transitioning from a house to an RV. We learned that everything must serve multiple purposes and occupy minimal space since we downsized from 2,000 sq. ft. to less than 300 sq. ft. We learned that the hot water heater has bypass valves that must be turned to fill the tank after winterizing, and that the element will in fact melt and burn out if turned on with no water in the tank.

I started living at Arrowhead Campground before it officially opened for the season, so I found the nights at the camp to be very quiet, and very DARK! There were no security lights around our site, so a flashlight became a necessity after sun-down.

Once other campers started to move in for the season we started developing friendships and the kids were quick to find play companions around the camp.

We enjoyed the outdoor pool at the campground, and explored Richmond, IN which was actually closer to the campground than the city of Greenville, OH where I was working. We found a number of city parks around Richmond, IN including Richmond Falls. There was also a very nice bike trail that we rode multiple times over the course of our stay.

Below is the view of the campground from our RV door. The second picture is the large wooden deck at our site complete with rope lighting that was left by the previous campers. I really enjoyed sitting out on the deck at night with the lights on. It was very peaceful.

While in the area we visited the KitchenAid Experience which included the retail store as well as a small museum detailing the history of KitchenAid mixers. It was actually more interesting than one may expect. We also visited Dayton, OH and the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY.

In addition to exploring the area and working, I was working on my BSN which required a good deal of study time, which sometimes proved difficult in such tight quarters. I used two bedside stands as a makeshift desk. With my Crazy Creek camp chair, this setup seemed to work fairly well for me.

By: Kevin

We started thinking of traveling back in 2014 when my mother-in-law suggested travel nursing as a means to a higher income within the field of emergency nursing. We discussed and evaluated our options, and decided to go for it. We started looking for an RV that would fit our needs and after researching tiny houses, school bus conversions, Class As, Travel trailers, and Fifth wheels, we decided on a used 2008 Forest River 32SRV fifth wheel toy hauler. We went to look at it, offered cash, and towed it home the same day. However, our travel plans were put on hold due to the quickly approaching Northern Ohio winter, as we purchased it at the end of the season. The RV sat in the side yard of our rented 2,000 sq. ft. farm house until spring. However, we did perform some upgrades over the winter, such as changing all the interior 12-volt lighting to LEDs to reduce heat and energy use.

In the early spring we started moving items into the RV with an anticipated launch date of May or June 2015. That abruptly changed when I was offered my first travel nursing contract starting in mid-April in Southern Ohio. With the bare essentials moved into the RV, I moved the RV to a campground 3 hours away to start my first contract. This move was made possible thanks to Heather’s grandfather’s diesel truck, as my truck was currently in the shop getting major bodywork done. Apparently telephone poles don’t move much….oops.

For the next few weeks Heather sorted the majority of what remained in Mansfield, OH and organized a garage sale. The garage sale occurred over three days, one of which was sunny, one was rainy, and one day it snowed. That’s typical Ohio weather for you! We shuttled our remaining belongings one vehicle load at a time to Southern Ohio, and officially moved in to the RV as a family around the end of April. I should note that over these few weeks I was working 36 hours a week in Southern Ohio as well as running back and forth to Mansfield which made for a busy schedule, especially since I had started an online BSN program.

And so started our RV travel adventures…