We are Wayne and Linda. In January of 2017, we launched our travels in our 5th wheel travel trailer. After selling everything we owned, we went on the road full time to see every state in the United States and Canada.
This will be a multi-year plan. We first bought a Ford F350 Dually Pickup truck to pull our first trailer, a 42 ft Toy Hauler with a 12 ft garage. We planned to travel and do balloon events around the country as we traveled from state to state.
In the first two years, we traveled to 42 of the 50 states. B-U-T, ballooning was a little bit more of a hassle on the road than we thought. We were carrying a thousand pounds of extra weight with the balloon equipment and we weren’t getting to fly in many events.
The events were seldom where we wanted to go AND, when we got to one, they often didn’t have enough volunteers to help us crew and fly the balloon. We also often didn’t get to fly because of weather and we weren’t getting to fly but 5 or 6 days a year except when we went back to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta each year.
So, after Balloon Fiesta in October 2018, we sold the balloon to a balloon company in Montreal Canada and gained a whole lot of weight back for the trailer. We now had room to carry extra water or fuel if we needed it.
Then in April of 2019, we custom ordered a new 5th wheel trailer that was delivered in Austin, TX, August 2. It is a dream and so much more comfortable than the toy hauler. We now have a separate living area and a dining room table with 4 chairs. We are living the dream.
It is a 2020 Grand Design, Solitude 375 RES. We have a nice sized residential refrigerator…Wayne has to have his ice maker for his ice tea. It has lots of storage for everything we have to have moving and living full time. And Linda has a kitchen with lots of cabinets and a full pantry. It is so comfortable.
We now travel and follow the nicer weather. We go south in the winter and go north in the summer. We love to hang out at lakes and rivers and try to find somewhere to stay for a couple of weeks at a time so we can explore all that area has to offer.
And since we have kids and grandkids in three different states, (Austin, TX, Albuquerque, NM and San Jose, CA) this lifestyle allows us to go and see them several times a year. And the best part, we don’t have to interrupt their lives by staying in their house. We have our own living quarters we bring with us.
Linda and Wayne