Why You (Yes, You) Should Consider An RV For Your Next Vacation

I'm not suggesting that you spend tens of thousands of dollars on a MH or other RV and join us on the road full time (but I'm not saying you shouldn't either...).

There are RV's available for rent at RV dealers and national rental companies. Chances are, you're less than six degrees of separation from someone with a decent RV that they'd rent or loan you. Putting on my lawyer hat---if it's a rental, there might be some liability and insurance issues to check into.

But, aside from possible litigation (why can't I just leave that out?), here are several reasons Why You Should Consider An RV For Your Next Vacation. 

In no particular order:

• There's nothing like a road trip. The open road, a full tank of gas, several credit cards and a fridge full of food. The possibilities are endless. 

•  The view. Traveling in a MH gives you a high vantage point and huge windshield to literally see for miles and miles. Not to mention all the interesting things you can see and do when traveling along the road instead of in the air. 

•  Does the idea of strapping your kids into the family minivan or SUV make you break out in hives? Don't blame you. But, in an RV there's enough room for everyone to have their own space ("Mom...he's on my side again" will be a thing of the past.) Comfortable seats, snacks at the ready, and a TV. You might not be able to watch live TV traveling down the road, but you can play DVDs or Video Games. 

•  Pets. While trying to get your family packed up for a trip, do you have to squeeze in a trip to the kennel to drop of your dog(s)? Does your pet have special dietary or medical needs and you don't really trust the kennel to pay attention to your detailed instructions? Do you just plain worry about your pet when you're gone? And what about the expense? Have all the teenagers in your neighborhood gone off to college or rehab and now you can't find anyone to check on your cats and change the litter? No worries. You can bring them along in an RV. 

*** Note, if you live within range of Good Shepherd Boarding Kennel in Alger, Ohio, you should feel confident that your pet will get all the special care and attention it needs and even some it doesn't.

•  No more public restroom roulette. Do you swing the door open and hope for the best? Are you a hooverer or a toilet paper nest maker? No need when you have your own bathroom traveling with you. 

•  No need to stop each time one of the kids (or you) need to pee. Is your bladder on a different schedule than the rest of your family? No problem, you can just meander (carefully, like a flight attendant) to the restroom. Tip---I learned from personal experience that you want to make sure there aren't any big curves ahead. That's all I'm going to say about that. 

         P.S. You do need to pull over when the driver needs to go.

•  Food. Does someone in your family have dietary restrictions? Picky eaters? Tired of paying $20 for lunch and your kid just eats the chips? Do you tend to overindulge on vacation and go home feeling disgusted with yourself and your lack of self control? With an RV you can fill the fridge and freezer with food your family will eat. I know cooking might not be your ideal vacation, but with pre-prepped food from the grocery store, you can do a pretty good job without much hassle. Or make some casseroles at home and put them in the freezer before you go. 

•  No luggage fees. If you can cram it into the RV, you can take it with you. You probably won't need suitcases at all. Just park the RV in your driveway and carry the clothes out to fill the drawers and closets. 

• Your own linens and pillows. Do those stiff hotel sheets make it hard to sleep? Does your daughter want to sleep with her own blanky and pillow? No problem, just bring them along. 

•  No worries about getting to the airport in time, sitting next to a pest, missing your fight or having your flight cancelled. Does the idea of cramming yourself and your loved ones into airplane seats make you cringe? Do you hate the dirty looks passengers give you when you board with a toddler and infant? Did little Timmy kick the back of your seat for an hour the last time you flew? Are you tired of taking off your shoes and belt to get through airport security? Would you like to bring full sized shampoo with you? Just say goodbye to airport hassles and climb aboard your RV. 

•  Bring home large souvenirs and cases of wine. Did you find a perfect painting to complete your living room decor but hated the idea of paying to ship it home or worried that it wouldn't arrive in tact? There's room in an RV. 

•  The weather. You've got hundreds or thousands of dollars in plane tickets and hotel reservations. Then the day before you leave, the weather takes an ugly turn. No time to re-book. Maybe your tickets are non-refundable. In an RV, you just put on the turn signal and go somewhere else. 

•  If you're visiting friends or family, you can stay at a campground nearby, have an awesome visit without feeling like you're imposing (especially at the homes of your more persnickety friends/relatives) and still go back to your own space. You can even invite them over for dinner. 

•  Flexibility. Find a place you really like? Stay another day. Decided you've seen all the restored villages you can stand, pack up and move on. Is the county fair happening? Get invited to a Native American festival? Did you actually miss the world's largest ball of twine? You're not locked into airline schedules. 

• Hotel Rooms are boring. Basic hotel rooms are  fine for sleeping and showering, maybe watching TV. But otherwise, they are boring. With an RV, you can take a walk around the campground or state park, use the pool or playground. Or just sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. 

• Kids + bikes/scooters/skates = happy kids = tired kids = happy parents. Campgrounds usually have very little traffic and lots of paved roads for kids to ride, roll and scoot around for hours. And with an RV, there's room to bring them along. 

•  Friendly people. In a hotel, if you're going into your room at the same time as the guy next door, you both avoid eye contact. In a campground, people are outside and usually friendly. Most people also respect your privacy if you just wave but don't engage in chit chat. 

• Campfires and stars. Campgrounds are usually pretty dark after the sun goes down and often in rather remote locations. At night, you can see an entire sky full of stars. And, FYI---letting your kids microwave a marshmallow in order to make S'mores doesn't count. Make a fire. Burn the marshmallows. Make a mess. 

There might be a few more. But I think you get the idea.  

Look What I Did!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I've joined an organization called Soldiers' Angels. There are a variety of ways that people can do things to support deployed troops. One division is called Operation Top Knot which provides handmade items and other gifts for virtual baby showers for babies born to either active duty soldiers or the wives of deployed soldiers.

There's a list of people to choose from that includes a few details like due date, sex and any details about themes or preferences.

One couple is expecting a son very soon and said that they love Marvel Comics...so this is what I made:

It's supposed to be a Spiderman blanket. I think it came out pretty well. 

Now I just need to get it in the mail before the baby arrives. 

Sioux Falls, Part 2

We decided against vegging out and went to The Falls Park in Sioux Falls. Here's the view from the top of the observation tower.

Pretty impressive, eh? 

The Falls Park is very nice. It's all free, including the observation tower. If you look closely, you can see that people are able to get pretty close to the falls and out onto the stony areas near the river. Lots of families were there enjoying a Sunday afternoon. 

In other news: 

I've joined Instagram. If you want to follow me and see the random photos I post, my username is snclivinglarge

Sioux Falls

The campground where we are staying in Granite Falls, MN is very nice. However, it does not have a monthly rate. The daily rate (which goes up on weekends) is good for a daily rate, but multiplied times 30 is very high.

FYI---we've paid between $20 and $50 for single night camping. Most monthly sites are in the $500-600 range.

But, the good news is that we have decided to leave on the weekends and go adventuring. The last post about Pipestone National Monument was our first excursion. We dry camped that weekend, so no cost for camping, though the cost of gasoline was probably about the same as if we'd stayed at the campground in Granite Falls, but w/the added bonus of getting out and seeing more.

This weekend we're in Sioux Falls staying at a casino about 30 miles north of town. It's our anniversary on the 14th (6 years!) so we're taking Monday the 15th off, which is pretty exciting.

Why Sioux Falls? Well, I have a membership at Massage Envy that I haven't been able to use for several months since we haven't been anywhere close to a Massage Envy location. From Granite Falls, the closest Massage Envy is either Sioux Falls or St. Cloud, MN. I called Sioux Falls and got appointments, so that was the winning location.

After getting set up on Friday, we went in search of a place to eat. The casino had a buffet and a snack bar, and neither of those were appealing. We'd seen a sign for a place called Mad Mary's Steakhouse. We drove around and only found a Subway. We were pretty discouraged, but finally found Mad Mary's and had a very nice dinner. Not too fancy, but good steaks and for dessert we had sour cream chocolate cake and ice cream.

We had massages yesterday (Saturday) and I also had a facial. We were (and still are, but to a lesser extent) so knotted up that the massage therapist suggested we come back very soon for 90 min massages. We'd love to, but it might be a week or two before we're near another Massage Envy.

We're staying in a town called Flandreau which is home to the Royal River Casino. They have RV parking for $10/night which includes electricity. However, it's only 30 amp service and we use 50 amp. We're able to use the 30, but can't run everything at the same time.

Do you remember Green Acres? They had similar issues.

We also look like them.











I plugged in the coffee maker and the refrigerator started beeping because it didn't have enough power.


After our massages we went to Escape 605 and tried a puzzle room. This was a very fun experience and something we'll definitely look into again in different cities as we travel.

Click here to see their site. We were in Aunt Edna's Condo. We were the only ones and that made it fun too. For one thing, the room was rather small, so having more than a couple people in there moving around might have been chaotic.

Puzzle rooms/escape rooms seem to be a pretty new thing, so we're excited that we're actually on the front end of a trend.

We arrived about 20 mins early. There was a sign on the door that said "The door will be locked until 15 minutes before your scheduled time." I tried it anyway, but couldn't get in. Then the receptionist tapped on the window (not the door) and motioned for us to enter. I asked if she'd unlocked the door remotely and she said, "No, it's been unlocked for about an hour."

How can I expect to escape a puzzle room when I can't even get in the unlocked front door?

At the appointed time we were lead to Aunt Edna's Condo, which was a room about 10X12. There were five different containers with padlocks on them and various items around the room that were meant to be clues or possibly red herrings. We had an hour to gather the clues and escape. If we did so without any clues and before time ran out, we would get our  names on the leader board.

There was a video screen above the door w/the time on it and a video camera where an employee was watching and listening. If we needed a hint, we were told to wave at the camera and she'd type something on the screen.

We started out strong, figuring out the clues to the four numbers of the first combination. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get any of the locks to open, so we moved on to something else. I unscrambled some letters and got the message "Look under the table". Beneath the coffee table a set of clues were attached with Velcro. We used them to figure out who/what was Aunt Edna's "beloved Bernard" which was one of the three things we had to find (and the only one we found successfully).

We asked for clues two or three times and might have escaped if we'd had another 30 minutes (that's a big maybe). We did get 2 of 5 locks open and had the combo to a third. We sure had a good time. When time was up, the employee who'd been giving us clues came in to show us what we'd missed. If we'd gotten everything, at the end the back wall would have swung open for our escape.

Get on The Google and find a puzzle room or escape room near you and give it a try. It would be fun w/a group. There was a group of women there for a bachelorette party and they had a good time. Apparently, you can bring alcohol, so you might ask before you can bring refreshments with you. It would be fun w/kids too. The puzzles were clever and a couple were a little tricky, but not so hard that they couldn't be solved or that you'd get frustrated (too much).

After that, we came back to the casino/campground. I went to the only grocery store in town for a few items and found SDSU ice cream.  When we were in Brookings, SD a couple weeks ago, I'd read about an ice cream parlor at the South Dakota State University where the students make ice cream as part of the university's AG department.

I stood in front of the ice cream section, debating. The SDSU was almost $8 per half gallon. Pretty high for ice cream you have to scoop yourself, but I'd read good things about it. There was an employee nearby and so I asked her opinion. She said, "It is really expensive, but it's really good." So I went for it.

Wow. Totally worth the price. I got the cookies and cream. Smooth and delicious.

Then today (Sunday) we went to the casino and Chris won $150. Awesome!

Now we're debating between spending the afternoon vegging out or going back to explore Sioux Falls. I've already had one nap today, but I'm not opposed to a second.