My brief overview of our transition from living in a house to an RV.

My husband and I lived in our house for 23 years. We put our house on the market in July 2018. My husband and I moved everything out of the house except a mattress in the basement and some items in the kitchen. We didn’t want our old RV parked in the driveway while were trying to sell our house. Our RV was parked at a friends place. Both of us had to get up early in the morning to commute to work. We carpooled to work. Sometimes we slept at the house because it was closer to work. Most of the time we slept in the RV. We moved the rest of our stuff out of the house, shed and garage in September 2018. We continued living in our RV on a friends property after we sold our house. We didn’t pay rent for the summer and fall. The agreement (trade off) for parking our RV was helping to remodel one of the rooms in his basement. I was employed for 14 years. I continued to work at my job until November 30th. We arrived on our property December 19, 2018.

Food

Most of our groceries are from a grocery store that’s 60 miles away. We have bought water, toilet paper, tortillas and produce from grocery stores within 25 miles of us. My husband bought toilet paper, canned food, condiments and peanut butter from Amazon. We can receive packages via FedEx and and UPS. If the Amazon sends a package through the postal service, it will get held at the post office in Alpine, TX. We have to drive over 60 miles to get our package.

Water

We buy water from Terlingua Lodge. We use an IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) tote that’s food grade to store water. My husband loads two water totes into our utility trailer. We prepay for water the at the lodge. The clerk gives me a key to unlock the padlock. I enter inside the fenced area. Joe puts the hose through the hole on top of the tank and then I turn on the pump and switch the valve to the open position.. After each tank reaches the 200 gallon mark, I shut off the pump and close the valve. We used the well for several months. The well near the lodge recently ran low. There’s another well a few miles from the lodge for members to get water.

Propane

We use a 40 pound propane tank for our RV. When we run out of propane my husband disconnects it. We bring the tank to town to get it refilled. My husband plans to get a bigger tank to use in the future. A 250 gallon propane tank can be filled on-site rather than having to haul a tank to town and back.

Washing Clothes

We wash and dry our clothes at the laundromat. My husband and I plan to setup a washer and dryer in the future. The water will drain through a 20′ pipe into a pit behind the shed. There are lots of people who dry clothes on a clothesline outside. We have lots of sand on the ground. Our wet clothes would get coated with sand if we had a strong gust of wind.

Internet and Online Entertainment

We have wireless Internet from Big Bend Telecom. My husband and I watch shows and movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. There are TV shows and old movies on VUDU TV. https://www.vudu.com We can also watch live TV shows and on demand shows on Pluto TV. https://pluto.tv/tv/