Thom Testing Ground
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Who do you have along with you?
We are a retired couple in our late 50’s and have along with us Laura’s mom’s dog Buddy Pool. He’s 14 yrs old and this has been Buddy’s Big Adventure!
How long have you been on the road?
As of April 2, we are 2 years on the road! And the time has flown by, we feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of our travels.
Are you full-time or part-time?
We chose to go full-time – sold the house about 5 months before we launched and are lucky to have a daughter & son-in-law in Austin for our mailing address.
What kind of RV do you have?
We have a Class A Motorhome, Fleetwood Pace Arrow named Jake for the movie Big Jake. Although some folks say Jake from State Farm, as Rob retired from State Farm!
What got you interested in living the RV life?
We’ve been weekend warriors since 1995 going from a pop-up to a travel trailer. When our twins went off to college, we realized we didn’t need bunkbeds anymore and started thinking maybe someday we would like to travel full time after we retire so a motorhome was the next step.
How do you fund your travels?
We retired early (55) and are trying to live simpler on the pension and some retirement monies. We know that going back to work is always an option and have even gotten the private security license if we want to be oil field gate attendants in TX! We also worked the summer of 2019 volunteering in Priest Lake ID for our site which saved some money!
What is your camping style?
We generally camp with hook-ups as we have not taken the solar plunge yet. We use our Thousand Trails membership when it makes sense, but mostly travel to our next fun Escapees event!
What do you seek out when traveling?
Sometimes Laura feels like we have been on the brewery tour of the US, but it’s not intentional! We do try to make the National Parks so we can put stickers on the side of the rig, but mostly we try to travel where we can do things with others and for others. Habitat for Humanity’s Care-A-Vanners program has been a part of our travels every year.
What's been your favorite experience so far?
That is so hard to pick! We’ve loved all of our Escapee events with special fondness for our first (Sedalia) where we met great friends we still travel with. Also, we connected with Laura’s college roommate in the Olympic Peninsula area of Washington. It was a great place to visit / stay and we discovered that her parents had been Escapees members for years and were Habitat Care-A-Vanners as well. Re-connecting / discovering new friendships has been a definite highlight of the RV lifestyle.
What's been your worst experience so far?
Most places we’ve visited have offered something positive. However, we stayed at a Thousand Trails park outside of San Diego area. The scenery was awesome, but the vibe of the park and the location had us a little spooked. Needless to say, we didn’t stay long.
How many Escapees events have you attended?
We’ve attended 2 Escapades, 1 Hangout and hosted 1 Hangout so far in 2020. Also, we were hosts for the Balloon Fiesta HOP in 2019 as well as attended with the Boomers the prior year. We’ve also worked 3 RV Shows for Escapees and hope to host at least 4 Hangouts in 2021! With the Xscapers, we’ve done a cruise and had hoped to attend the Bishop Convergence. We LOVE being involved in Escapees / Xscapers!
Are you introverted or extroverted?
Well, I think everyone who knows us would say we our extroverted! We love meeting new folks and spending time with friends we’ve made on the road as well as friends from years past that we could never find time to visit.
Tell us something weird about yourselves.
We like to craft, which isn’t itself weird, but Rob sometimes gets a little carried away like a wood knife he whittled in the desert! We also try to eat Keto lite but definitely will share any great food others make that isn’t Keto friendly.
Would you rather deal with a leaky sewer hose or a flat tire on the RV?
Well…. that’s a tough call. Laura says flat tire since it’s a call to the tow company, Rob says the leaky sewer hose since we have a backup hose. Of course, he may change his mind depending on how “leaky” it is!
Do you have any advice for others?
If you are thinking of hitting the road, even full time or part time, don’t wait! We are never promised tomorrow, and money isn’t everything. And when you do hit the road, connect with the Escapees family! It’s been invaluable to us as we have made such great lifetime friends and have some wonderful experiences in just 2 short years!
Where can people find you online if they want to follow your travels?
We don’t do an official blog or anything, but you can always reach out to us on Facebook (using our names Rob Kernodle and Laura Kernodle) or on RVillage as TraveltoServe. And we are listed in the Escapees Online Members Directory. We would love to hear from folks or meet new folks out on the road!
