Once we picked up our 5th wheel from Vermont and drove back to Massachusetts, we needed a place to put the camper. We were still staying at our condo, but there was no room to park a 5th wheel there so we needed to find some place else to put it.

We signed up on the Boondockers Welcome website, which allows campers to stay on people’s properties overnight. It’s like Airbnb, but you stay in your own home on someone else’s property. It is typically a free place to stay overnight, but some sites request payment for the hookups for electricity, water or sewer. Not all of the sites have hook-ups, which is why it is called “boondockers” welcome. Boondocking is a term I recently learned while doing my research throughout this process. Boondocking or dry camping means camping without electricity, water or sewer.

We found a place about an hour away that had a 30 amp electrical hook-up, water and sewer. We weren’t ready to boondock at this moment since we were still figuring things out. Plus, it was mid-July so we needed the AC’s to keep it cool inside.

At this time, we were in the process of packing up our condo so we could put our belongings in storage. My parents were going to sell the condo since we no longer needed it for a place to live. When we got back from Vermont, we brought the camper to the Boondocker’s site in New Hampshire, about an hour away from the condo. We decided this was the best option for the next couple of days so we could easily move the things we wanted to take with us into the RV. Then we had a moving company transport the remainder of our belongings to Easthampton so our stuff would be nearby my parents. That way if we ever needed them to get something or check on everything, it would be easy for them to do so.

The site we were keeping the 5th wheel at was a short-term site. We needed to find a more permanent solution. We weren’t ready to leave on our trip just yet because we wanted to take some time to get the logistics figured out for living in and maintaining the RV. We thought about staying in Chelmsford, but the only campground nearby was Boston Minuteman Campground in Littleton, MA. It was a very nice campground, but it was too expensive to stay there until we took off for our road trip. I was still not working so we didn’t have any reason to stay in town. My job had offered me a couple of hours here and there, but we couldn’t afford to stay in Chelmsford, paying the cost of the campground with only a couple of hours worth of income.

We ended up staying at the best place ever! 

MY SISTER AND BROTHER-IN-LAW’S NEW HOUSE!

They had recently bought a home and it just so happens they have a big yard that is perfect for a couple living in an RV to mooch off! 

So on July 20th, we moved to Ashley and Luis’s new place. We hooked up our electricity to an outlet in their garage, which gave us 15 amps. It wasn’t much for voltage, but it worked well enough. We just had to make sure we turned the AC off every time we used the microwave or we would blow a fuse.

It was great staying with them. I loved being so close to Ashley. Since she was working from home while we were there, and I wasn’t working, we spent a lot of time together. Often times, I would be in the RV, unpacking and organizing everything when the front door would open and Ashley’s head would be poking inside. 

We loved being close to Ashley and Luis and to my parents. I also enjoyed being so close to my childhood best friend, Shaina! Since going to college, Shaina and I usually only see each other once every couple of months. It was fun being close by again, so we could get together every couple of days. Ashley would also join us so it was a lot of fun having us all get together. Shaina was also the one who encouraged us to write our blog!

While we stayed at Ashley and Luis’s, Ryan and I decided to go for a bike ride at Ashley Reservoir. Ashley and Luis came with us and they walked around while we rode our bikes. We had never been there before so it was a spectacular place to discover. We went back often as it was the perfect places to go to exercise and enjoy the fresh air and warm breeze. That was one of my favorite places to go and I miss it. Everything about the place relaxed me. The scenery, the wildlife (we saw a 2 deer and a couple of beavers), the sun sparkling against the stillness of the water, the wind blowing when I rode my bike… It was the perfect place to go to unwind. 

We also enjoyed getting together with my parents when we were in the area. We would go over for dinner or go swimming. My dad and I spent a while designing and creating a litter box house for our kitties. Since Ryan and I are now living in a very tiny space, the litter box is more likely to cause our home to smell. We needed to find a way to minimize the smell. We also wanted to make it look nicer since Ryan was sharing his office with the litter boxes. Seeing the litter boxes isn’t the most appealing aspect to a room so we tried to find a way to make it look nice in our home.

I found a style of a litter box house I liked online but it was made out of cardboard, which I figured didn’t make sense because it would just soak up the urine and smell. So my dad agreed to help me build the box out of wood. We spent a while working on it together and he taught me a lot about wood working. It was definitely interesting and was a great way to spend time with him.

For the litter box house, we decided on a specific type because we thought it would work best for our cats. I have seen a lot of the enclosed litter boxes with openings on the top of the box for the cats to jump into. Our cats don’t like jumping so I knew they wouldn’t go in that type of box. That is why I chose the style where they could walk in on the side.

For the box, we gave them a small entryway to walk into. The wall separating the entryway from the litter box area only extends ½ way toward the back of the box so this allows them to walk into the entryway and access the litter box without us seeing them once they are inside. We also made the wall that separates the entryway from the litter box area with a sliding door so when we are traveling we can close the door to prevent litter from spilling and making a mess during the trip (that was dad’s idea). 

I was persistent on having a plexiglass liner on the inner sides of all the walls for easy cleaning. I thought it would be a good idea having a plexiglass surface to clean rather than trying to clean urine out of wood. I thought if it was easy to clean it would help minimize smell. I was very happy that we found a way to make it work. 

My dad had a lot of great ideas for making the box look nice, as if it is just furniture. He had the ideas to add the trim and the fancy windows. He thought the windows would be good to have because we could at least see in the box enough to see if a cat is in there in case we can’t find one of them. It also gives them a little light when they’re inside. He likes to joke around saying I need to put curtains on the inside so if they want privacy, they can close the curtains.

After we finished building the box, I painted it. I also stapled a scrap piece of carpet to the top of the box because Sammie likes horizontal scratching so I thought this would prevent her from scratching at our furniture. She sometimes uses it as a scratching post, but mainly likes to sleep on it.

While my dad and I worked on the litter box together, Ryan spent a couple of weeks building a desk for himself. In our RV, we had the extra room with the bunkbeds. There was also a dresser in that room. Ryan had planned on using this room as his office so he needed a desk to work on.

He decided to build one, but he had to be creative on how to go about it. The office has a slide out so during travel we have to put the slide in, which makes the room much smaller. That means a desk cannot just sit in the middle of the room. Ryan decided to build a desk on top of the dresser so when the slide is out, he can swivel the desk into place for him to use, but during travel he can swivel it back over the dresser so it does not take up any extra space in the room. It was a very creative idea that he came up with and the outcome was great.

We made great use of our time while staying at Ashley and Luis’s house. Having this time here allowed us to get prepared for our travels and to spend time with some of the people we love most in the world.

We stayed in this area until September 11th, which is when we started our next mini adventure. We were headed to New York to spend time with my grandparents…