Hi! Welcome to our blog. My name is Pamela and although I do most of the writing on these pages, I am certainly not alone. My best friend and hubby since 1984 is Greg. Together, we live full-time on our fifth wheel RV with our overly loved, overly spoiled, and absolutely perfect (in our eyes) miniature golden doodle, Popeye. Greg and I (and yes, Popeye too) are the ones who you will be reading the most about in these pages. Together we live, work, and explore in our cozy 410 square foot home on wheels. We do a lot of playing as well, and that’s done in the ever changing and amazing landscape that makes up our great country and sometimes even beyond! We absolutely love the fact that we have a different “front” yard with a brand-new view every few weeks.
A little about Greg – He is the brains and the brawn behind this entire operation who likes to think of himself as the “wizard behind the curtain”. He is a software architect/developer who has been a self-employed entrepreneur honing these skills since the early 80’s. The flexibility of his work and career has been integral for allowing us to live this adventuring lifestyle, BEFORE we retire! As long as he has his computer, he can work. High speed internet connectivity is almost always available so he can support his clients as well. Regardless of where in the world (literally) we are. You can check out some of the products he has developed and is currently developing at: www.naviteer.com | www.safeodyssey.com
A little about Pamela (aka Me!) – I gave up my outside the home career many, many, MANY moons ago to become not only a full-time mom, but also a homeschool mom. I homeschooled our four children for a total of 26 years. Our youngest, Elijah traveled with us for our first three years. In early 2019 he moved into an adorable two-bedroom house we found with his then 23-year-old brother, J. Jay, who was fresh out of Furman University and needed a place to live as well. Although I will always be a homeschooler to my core, my actual homeschooling days are long gone. My days are now spent adventuring, sailing (or dreaming about sailing), and writing. I wrote and published a homeschool non-fiction book many years ago and have been slowly working on my novel for years, with no time to invest. My next major goal is to return to and finish my first novel. Oh… and I am also the CFO for Berthume Enterprises (our LLC) which means I do the accounting for our business. So… I’m still always busy and never EVER bored!
A little about our Grown Kids & Grandkids: We have four terrific grown children (one who lived and traveled with us during our first 3 years of this journey), as well as three absolutely perfect granddaughters and three absolutely perfect grandsons, all of whom have captured our hearts. We have been able to get terrific quality visits in with all of them since we began this journey. Thus far no more than 6 months have ever passed between visits, be it in our rolling home or when too far to drive – we fly in for visits. Our goal is to keep this record up!
Our Rig aka “home” is a 2016 Reflection 367BHS by Grand Design. It is an absolutely perfect fit for us. It’s 41 feet long and has a mid-bunk floorplan, which means instead of having the back of our 5th wheel taken up by the bunkhouse, the bunkhouse/2nd bedroom is in the middle. That allows us to have a full living room area in the back with a large back window, a full-size sofa, as well as two reclining “theater” seats. The 2nd bedroom was our son, Elijah’s, room for the first three years of our travels. Now that he has moved out, it is the perfect office for Greg. It is located smack-dab in the middle of our 5th wheel with a door that opens up to the hallway. There is a queen size loft above Greg’s office, which served us perfectly as a room for our oldest granddaughter, who ended up living with us for half of our first year of full timing. More often than not, we use it for easy access storage as well as a temporary catch-all space (when it’s not being used for sleeping quarters by a grandkiddo or two). After much research on all the different options, floorplans, and brands of 5th wheels; this was (and still is after full timing in it for 6 years and counting) by far the best floor plan and quality rig in general (we LOVE Grand Design!) to fit our needs.
We moved aboard Exodus (the name of our 5er) and left our sticks and bricks house for good in February of 2016. We have been happily roaming about the country ever since. Our youngest moved out and we became empty nesters in May of 2019. Greg and I are still happily roaming about the country, with no plans of stopping anytime soon. We are going to be getting a liveaboard sailboat though! Join us on our journey as we explore God’s creation one state at a time.
Hello! I simply would like to offer you a huge thumbs up for the great information you’ve
got right here on this post. I will be returning to your site for more soon.
Admiring the dedication you put into your website and in depth
information you offer. It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same unwanted rehashed information. Great read!
I’ve saved your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my
Google account.
What’s up to all, as I am genuinely keen of reading
this web site’s post to be updated regularly. It contains goid
stuff.
Way cool! Some extreely valid points! I appreciate you penning
thijs write-up and also the rest of the website is extremely
good.
Everything is very open with a really clear description of the challenges.
It was definitely informative. Your site is very helpful.
Many thanks for sharing!
Thank you,!
I am regular reader, how are you everybody? This
paraggraph posted at this web page is truly fastidious.
I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Very well written!
Thank you!
Firstt off I wantt to say wonderful blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if
youu do not mind. I was curious to know how you center yourself and clear
your head prior to writing. I have had difficulty clearing my thoughts in getting my ideas out there.
I truly do enjoyy writkng but it just seems like thee first 10 to 15 minutes are generally lost just trying to fiure out how to begin. Any suggestions or hints?
Thank you!
Wonderfuul blog you hace here but I was curious about if you knw of any discussion boards that over the same topics discussed in this article?
I’d really like to be a part of group where I can get advice from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thank you!
Hi, Pamela! I too am a full-timer. This is our second go ’round FT….from1994 to 2004 (then we bought some dirt) and then again from 2013 to now. We have a 2016 Redwood, 41.5′ long and pull it with a Dodge Ram 2500. A friend of mine posted your ‘sick happens’ post on her FB page….so I read it and have read all your posts to date. My friend is also a full-timer but they are both working and not traveling at this time. We are currently in a holding patter in Kerrville, TX. We are leaving here on April 9th and will be working our way up to Durango, CO where we will be workkamping from April 15th until mid-October. We will be working 2 days on and then 4 days off, then repeat. In exchange for working, we get our hookups free and then discounts on propane and store items. This will be out 5th summer in Durango, but the first time workkamping ever. I look forward to reading your posts and seeing how you’re enjoying life on the road. If you have any questions at rving, please email me @ jeannewalker356@yahoo.com. Have fun, be safe, and God bless you all, Jeanne Walker
Thank you for your awesome comment! We will be arriving in Texas within the next couple of months, but most likely not until you after have left. :/ Sounds like you have a sweet deal in Durango. Thanks so much for your encouragement. You have a very similar setup so I’ll remember you when I need a voice of experience. 😉 I look forward to your future comments. God bless you and yours as well.