Visiting the Mother Ship

So I'm in Forest City, Iowa—home of the Winnebago factory. I drove up from St Louis after a week in California helping Reid search for a house near his job at Google. He was staying in a Google suite 4 blocks from the restaurant/shopping district in Mountain View so we explored that area on foot when we weren't out with the Realtor.  He found a home he liked but it turned out there was a contingency offer in front of him so he'll wait to see what comes of that.

Visit to Mountain View

After a week in CA, we flew to Houston for a quick weekend trip for the fourth. He got to spend time with his boys and I got to spend time with my Mom and Kent and Lydia.

Quick visit with Mom in Houston

I parked the Navi at the St. Louis airport while I was away. While I appreciate the fact that they have designated parking for RV's, I didn't like the fact that I got charged $20/day while everyone else in the lot was charged $9/day. I tried to explain to the cashier who took my $195 for parking that the Navi only took up one parking space with the nose sticking out without preventing anyone from getting by. She just smiled as she gave me my receipt.

Remote parking at St. Louis Int'l Airport

This is my 3^rd airport experience since traveling in the RV. Once was to drop off Reid at the Denver airport. Another was to drop off Greg and Christine at the Raleigh/Durham airport after our trip together to the Co-Housing Conference in Durham, NC. Then, this time to drop off the Navi at the St. Louis international airport. I worry about getting myself into a situation that I can't get out of like the experience dropping Greg and Chris off when I almost smacked the roof with the low clearance sign and then had to back up and move over 3 lanes to the exit as cars were coming around a blind curve in our direction.

Anyway, this airport experience was just expensive. No close calls with low hanging signs. Since I flew in early evening, I decided to stay at an RV campground within 6 miles of the airport. A note of interest, Ferguson is about 6 miles away as well but in the other direction. I thought I'd save that destination for another time given all the unrest there recently.

Following the no frills (by that I mean a concrete parking lot with a clear view of all the other RV's) stay near the airport, I drove up to Fairfield, Iowa the next day and took a quick drive through town as I'd heard it was an interesting site to see Iowans and Transcendental Meditation enthusiasts co-existing in one small midwest town. Just north of Fairfield is the Maharishi University of Management so I was curious. Maybe it was because I was tired, I don't know, but the downtown square looked pretty much like any other small town so I went in search of a campsite. Interesting side note: Check out Jim Carrey's 2014 Commencement address at the Marharishi University.

I stayed at a City park nearby for the low rate of $15/night for electricity and enjoyed cooler weather than I've not experienced since I've been in the midwest. I stayed at Clear Lake State Park in Iowa for one night at the same rate with the same cool temps. Tonight, I'm at Crystal Lake State Park right on the lake and still enjoying the affordable electrical connection and the cool weather.

I took the 2 hour Winnebago factory tour this afternoon. I saw where they prepare, cut and sew the fabric for the various pieces of furniture. I asked the tour guide who picked out the fabric and he assured me it was mostly women designers. I guess he's heard complaints by others like me who don't like the color, decals, fabric and flooring choices in most RV's. I would have bought a newer coach to reduce maintenance issues but I knew I'd be making significant aesthetic modificantions to whatever unit I purchased. It's one thing to use the RV to camp out every once in a while and quite another to travel and live in one full time.

Here's a sample of the couch fabric before and a picture of the couch (and interior repainted walls) after. You can't even say the original shows dirt better—because it doesn't.

Original fabric sofa cushion

Recovered sofa and painted walls

Anyway, the tour was interesting. The factory produces 50 complete units each day. The units range from the big class A's to the smaller class B vans. My RV is a class C by the way. I wondered what it would be like to work in that assembly line day in and day out. My only experience with that was when Reid and I volunteered with the ChevronBoomer's network a few years ago to make peanut butter. Of course that was a much simpler production process but a tough gig none the less. I remember the noise was deafening and 4 hours of screwing on lids made me appreciate the fact that I didn't have to do that everyday. Parents should send their kids to volunteer for one day there and I imagine the kids would reconsider the value of a college education.

I asked the tour guide if he used to work at Winnebago (since he looked retired and could have been a workamper). He said he worked there 30 years. He said he had 4 different jobs in 30 years. I asked him which one he liked the best and he said the vacation part. Seems sad to me to spend 30 years in a job and the most memorable parts were the vacations.

I'm thankful that I have a job that allows me to take this extended time off and the means to do it without pay or benefits. Oh, I got my first COBRA bill recently. Again thankful to have those good benefits the past 8 years.

I see others around me in parks and campgrounds and remember the short weekend trips I used to take. The opportunity to get away for more than a week at a time is marvelous. It's a different experience when you've got bills to pay and emails to send, calls to make, as well as laundry and maintenance issues to manage. I just get to do those things while I'm exploring the US and I smile everyday as a result.

The Navi feels like home though I do get stir crazy when it's hot out and I'm stuck inside such a small space. I wasn't sure how I would feel after the fun week with Reid in the Silicon Valley looking at real estate or the weekend in Houston. I enjoyed both tremendously but am also enjoying this adventure. I wasn't sure how coming back to Navi would feel. It felt just fine.

I'm toying with the idea of starting a small business interacting with women like myself who are interested in solo RV exploration. I'd certainly point them towards the RV training I just completed and recommend they hire a certified RV inspector from the RV Inspection Connection to inspect their unit. In so doing, I could earn a small stipend. The main appeal is potentially writing off some of my RV travel expenses (that I'm incurring anyway) and educating others interested in exploring this lifestyle.

So, I've visited 8 intentional communities* now and have found something I like about each one but none seem just the right fit for me. I remembered that I did quite a bit of research a number of years ago around the Tiny House movement and even read the Big Tiny a book a woman wrote about building her own tiny house.

What I know about myself is that I like creature comforts like a/c, heat, electricity and running water. I also like the idea of finding a home to live in that's not too small (100 square feet in my Navi is too small to live in beyond this trip), not too big, but just right. So I did some research again last night and found that there is a Tiny House Jamboree in Colorado City, CO next month so I'm looking forward to checking it out to further refine my quest for for a simpler life.

*The communities I've visited to date include:

1. Boulder Creek Co-housing Community in Colorado
2. Hummingbird Intentional Community in Mora, New Mexico
3. Sunrise Ranch Intentional Community near Estes Park, Colorado
4. Durham Co-housing Condo in North Carolina
5. Twin Oaks Intentional Community in Louisa, Virginia
6. Earthaven EcoVillage near Black Mountain, North Carolina
7. Heartwood Community in Blue Ridge, Georgia
8. The Farm Intentional Community in Summertown, Tennessee