Q: What do you do to pass the time while driving?
A: Joss typed up the top six car games we play. Click here to read them.
Q: What is the best way to navigate your site?
A: When you're at our website and click on another RVGypsy page, it will replace the page you were looking at. If you click on a link to an "outside" webpage, it will open in a new window, leaving the RVGypsy webpage where you were. To come back to our website, just close the window you went to or alt+tab back to it. If you find anything that isn't working right, please let us know.
Q: How big is your trailer and truck?
A: The trailer is 42 feet from the rear bumper to the nose. It is a unique design however so about 5 feet of the living space is up over the bed of the truck. That means it really acts like a 37 foot trailer when towing. The truck is 23 feet long. Overall, when we are towing, we are 56 feet long (about like an average semi truck and trailer I think). We weigh about 26,000 pounds (but we're dieting!)
Q: What did you do with your house and your "stuff"?
A: We found a really nice family in our neighborhood to rent our house to for the year (or more). We gave away a lot of things from the house and put the rest in storage (A Storage Place) in Chino. What we needed for the year on the road is neatly labeled and stored in the trailer (thanks to Joss!).
Q: What about the kids school for the year?
A: We are "road-schooling" them. Many people do this and by combining the places we go, things we see, people we meet, with the usual Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. We're very excited about the opportunities they're going to have.
Q: What kind of mileage do you get with the truck?
A: So far, we've been getting 8-9 miles per gallon of diesel fuel while towing. Around town, we get 13-14 MPG. We've been told it will go up probably as the engine "breaks in". Let's hope! (50,000 mile update: It didn't!)
Q: Why is the navigation column on the left different sizes on different pages?
A: We have no idea! All of the pages are laid out the same on our Macintosh laptop but they appear differently on Windows PCs. If you have an idea why, please email us!!
Q: Who is designing your website?
A: We are! Explains a lot huh? Robert is teaching himself website design in "real time" with our site. That's why some times things don't exactly come out like we intended (but we're learning)!
Q: How do you get internet access on the road?
A: We have a Verizon Broadband card that we plug into our laptop or Wi-Fi router in the trailer. Also some of the campgrounds we've been at have complementary Wi-Fi!
Q: What's the first thing people ask (usually)?
A: "Where are you from?" or "Where's home?" (We love to answer that home is where we park it!). (May 2008 update: Now that we're on the East Coast, the first comment is "California ehh?...Long way from home?") This is after they see our Calif. license plates.
Q: What do you do with your dog when you're out sightseeing or shopping?
A: Most of the time, she comes with us! We have a portable water/food bowl with lids that seal. Most people/places are very understanding about her. The fact that she is very sweet and getting old (read that as slowing down and calm) helps a lot too! Somethimes she can't go with so we put her food and water in the truck and she waits there for us.
Q: What are some of the things you have learned so far?
A: We've learned the road is a dusty place! What with the gravel and dirt campsites and the vehicles passing by...we'd better get the Costco pack of Swiffers!
We've also learned you have to be very flexible in your planning. Just the other day we stopped at a gas station to fill the trailer tires and ended up losing 20 pounds because the station's tank was set well below the pressure we needed! This meant we had to wait about 45 minutes while our little 12 volt pump went to work.
We're learning to be more patient in a lot of things actually! With a 56 foot rig, we don't do anything very quickly on or off the road.
When it's going to be below freezing at night, leave a faucet running just a little bit. This keeps the water in the hose outside moving and hopefully not freezing.
If you have a job that allows you to travel (and a little flexibility), Google the town you're going to and GET OUT to do something "touristy"! Robert traveled for years in his jobs but never did this. Now we're finding really cool things to do that sometimes only take a few hours...everywhere we go!!!
Q: How far have you traveled?
A: As of August 13, 2008, we've covered 26 states (and British Columbia), 24,000 miles and have been gone one year. (End of trip update: 31,000 miles, 28 states, 82 stops.)
Q: Your "What's new on the site" page says you've updated a page but when I go to it, it's still the same as last time I looked at it. What's up?
A: Try clicking on your browser's "refresh" or "reload" page button. That should get the newest page from our website.
