Why Do Ride?

We are stuck at home for a bit so thought I would "change it up."  So to get our motorcycle buddies thinking...why do you ride?  Our answer and some inspiration for you is given in this advertisement video...

That about says it all.  Living Life XL means taking time to have fun.  I have to admit I (Steve) forget that sometimes.  My fabulous spouse (Heather) is always there to remind me to have fun.  We scuba, kayak, bicycle,  motorcycle, snowboard, and even did a triathlon a few years ago with my youngest son.  That is Life XL.

God has created an environment with such a diverse methods for exploration and enjoyment. How much time have you taken to search it out and enjoy.  Our motorcycles are just one of the greatest ways to get across the miles of roads truly in touch with God's creation in your face.  You feel the speed, the corners in the seat of your pants, and the changes in temperatures real time as you travel to and fro.  That is the joy He has given to us to enjoy.

We are home and off the road until we can arrange to be back on the road again. We are going out on the weekends when we can but the short trips are not as adventurous as the long haul across country we desire.

I hope you are out living Life XL...

Great Motorcycling of New Mexico

Earlier this year we made plans to have a little family meet up in New Mexico to catch up with Sean and Christine and baby Keller, Joel and Kara and Sara. We found and scheduled Timeshare. A three-bedroom and importantly 3 bathroom timeshare two level condo that also had parking for our truck and rig and took pets. As it turned out it was just Steve, Brodie and I in Ruidoso New Mexico.


We took several long motorcycle rides through some absolutely fabulous areas.  Again, we have nothing like these areas in Arizona.  The roads in Arizona are mostly straight and fairly uninteresting with a few exceptions.  Not here...

We rode on five routes within fifty miles of Ruidoso that all put anything we have done in Arizona to shame. They were long sweepers and tight winding combined and all uninhabited to boot.  These were all among the trees, pastures, and green farm country side always changing.  One of the best loops we did went from 6200' to over 9000' to a very old town called Cloudcroft NM.  Cloudcroft was established in 1890's as part of the the railroad.  I now has a small ski resort, an astronomical observatory, and some really quaint old buildings down town.

In this area of southern New Mexico seems to be made from mostly mesas.  It is table top flat then you come to an edge and you go straight up to the top, or down depending, then it is flat top again.  That is which exception, around the Lincoln National forest.  A large range of mountains poke out for the mesas.  There is a 12000 footer among the peaks here.  We rode to the top of that one too.

Heather, Brodie, and I rode all day in 70 degrees with not a cloud in the sky.  The weather was like this all week. It was beautiful!  This is only about seven hours from Phoenix so we will be back to spend more time at future opportunities if the Lord allows.


The summary of our Life XL: We experienced living life fully, enjoying each other even more than before, which is hard to believe. Who would have thought going from a big house to a tiny 5th wheel would get in our hearts so deeply?
The big change for Brodie has been more exercise and new things to explore. Brodie loves to hunt for furry things and this lifestyle change as been Heaven on Earth for Brodie.
The big change for us personally has been the fun of hanging out 24/7 doing shoulder time.
This has not been a once in a life time vacation, both of us worked our jobs the entire trip. We have different shifts, different schedules and different days off. It has been easy to meld our schedules to still include time to explore.

Another benefit of Life XL has been the ease of meeting people everywhere we go. People doing the RV lifestyle are more open and friendly, willing to lend a hand at the drop of a hat, and willing to share their time and memories, pass on tips for traveling, and hear our hearts. Just knowing we can knock on any of the rigs and see a smiling face is exciting. No one seems burdened to spend time with us. And the conversations seem to generally be much deeper than we experience when we are not on the road.

We can see why Christ and Paul (though not together) traveled so much, as did many of the key people in the Bible. Christ was about His Father's business. We truly see a difference between being planted in a big house that is in a big city with a big population of people all closing their doors and curtains. People busy doing their lives in the hamster wheel of life. There is just no energy or a strong will to make time for the neighbor or help out in the community, let alone spend more than a couple hours a year, if that, with family and friends.

A pastor said, "you can't truly know a person unless you spend time with the person." But....Time always marches on, each day is 24 hours closer to the end of our time on earth. Our decisions to make time to step into this Life XL experience has changed our hearts and desires. No longer do we need stuff, no longer do we want stuff so if you are in need of stuff let us know, we probably can hook you up.

Life XL has tested us in ways we never thought we would step up to the challenge and experience. We realized our thinking was Americanized to the point of being stale. American isn't sinking down the tubes, it is each person living in America too busy to know their neighbor, spend quality time with friends, that is, in part, disconnecting us from being here to connect with others, to be more like Christ.

We have traveled almost 10,000 miles, 24 states in that experience weather has been a factor that showed us God has created a truly unique planet for us to live on. America is a blessed land of plenty. Through five different tornado aftermaths, 45 days of sizzling heat and humidity, pouring rain storms, fog too thick to see, sunsets that paraded beauty and splendor across the horizon, glorious sunrises that gave us goosebumps, lightening and thunder that got our instant attention, all of this has shown us the power of seasons on this earth, the power of Life XL.

We have arrived in Phoenix. Our great neighbors and good friends to us watched our house and indoor plants while we were gone. We owe them much more than thank you cards! Our community landscaper took care of lawn and outside plants. Everything is in it's place. The weather is getting cooler in Phoenix. The house is fine but this isn't where we are needed any more. In just the few days we have been planted in our house we feel the change. I call it "life tiny." No more chatting with people on our walks...faces pointed down, fear in their eyes, walk pass and don't make eye contact. No beautiful changing views, no changing hearts and no one sharing funny stories. Life tiny isn't going to do now that we have walked, driven, and ridden Life XL!

We had a taste of what Paul experienced traveling to new places, meeting and encouraging, helping strangers and stirring the hearts of others. Oh, to imagine Paul's journey, the long hours of walking lonely roads to meet up with strangers, stay for a meal and chat, extend his stay to a week or more, changing their lives as much as they added to his life memories.

The Presidents in Stone...

It has been a bit since my last entry...

We left Minnesota and headed for the west.  What is west of Minnesota?  Why the Dakotas of course.  In the South Dakota is Mount Rushmore, which Heather and I have never seen before was our destination. 

We followed the route through field after field of huge sun flowers.  It was a great drive and very picturesque.  We arrived at our destination of Horse Thief Campground just at dusk.  The weather was cool, clear and just perfect to sit and "watch the trees grow."

Speaking of trees.  This area of South Dakota has the same issue we have had for the past several years in Arizona with the bark beetle.  I gets under the bark of the Pinion Pine, rings it and the tree dies in just a season.  It is standing with nothing but brown needles completely dead.  I am told it is from the lack of moisture, so not enough sap to fight off the beetle.  All the brown in these pictures is standing dead.  It was very sad to see the forest so devastated.

We were camped about 12 miles from Mt Rushmore Memorial and 9 miles from Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.  It was a treat to see both.  The are magnificent stone carvings that have taken years to complete. I would highly recommend them both.

We took a great 60 mile all day ride around the area.  It was almost as much fun as the the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. It was twisty city and nothing but fun. Here is a map of the route.  It was all day for all the stops and all the places to see.  There were places where you could see your rear tire as you went around the corner.   You must avoid the buffalo too.



We have since left in route for home.  Can you believe it? We have some business to attend to in Phoenix so we headed for the dreaded 114, never ending heat advisory, thunder storm warnings, etc.  Pray for our short visit to the valley and our returning to the great adventure of Life XL...

Steve and Heather

Where we have visited so far...

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Rochester Minnesota...oh what a relief it is.

We have spent the week in Rochester Minnesota and what a relief it has been in several ways.  First off as we have mentioned and many of you across the country have experienced too we have been burning up. 

The weather here in Rochester Minnesota has been fabulous! Now I do not want to start a big controversy or anything but I imagine you have heard the big head line about how "9000+ Heat records were broken in July."  Did you believe it?  Check it out for yourself at NOAA.   I counted about 40-50 maybe.  Do you suppose the media likes to sensationalize sometimes?  It has been in the 70's and 80's here all week with a few showers in the night time.  Just wonderful relief.  We actually had a chance to fire up the heater when it hit the 50's over night!

The next greatest relief is the change of scenery.  We no longer look out at the walls of the "Fall out shelter" but to some very nice meadows of the RV park we found.

 We are all by ourselves in a big ol' meadow surrounded by trees.  There is the river beyond the trees for Brodie to play in.  We have an often overhead display of a of the Canadian Snow Geese flying by. It is quite different then living on the frontage road of I-40 and watching the diesel trucks going by for our entertainment.  Check out the view out my back door. 

The final relief we have felt is the chance to meet my colleges.  This is a video of the first time I have gone to "the office" in what I would estimate seven to eight years.  I was amazed my employee badge still allowed me into the buildings after all these years.  I was even more surprised I could still find it, Not the office, my employee badge!

For those that do not know me personally, I have been telecommuting and working at home for about 15 years now.  I have a team that is spread all over the country and my boss is here in Rochester.  I have been looking forward to the chance to make it to Rochester to finally spend time face to face with my manager and others I work so closely with on an every day basis.  It was an awesome week.  I was able to spend several hours of real quality time with Kin, my manager.  It was time that can not be replaced or replicated on the telephone.  Then to add to that blessing,  I was able to meet and get to know four others that I work with on an almost daily basis.

Scott, Mike, Jason, and Brian are all members of my extended team.  They all bring different personalities and skills that I only now just realized make up the whole.  It was such a great experience to see how they work and interact with such professionalism and enthusiasm under the pressure and loads we deal with. I learned a ton while under their wings for this week.  Heather and the entire team went to lunch together on our last day here.  She was able to meet and greet them also.  Now she too can put a face to a name as I talk about many of the people I work with.  What a blessing to be on the road.

We are now preparing to head west across the northern United States.  We have some fairly important unscheduled business in Arizona so we have to make a detour.  So those of you that are in the area we will see you soon for just a short time...Lord willing.

XL living on the road and loving it
Steve and Heather

We are outta here...

You will not believe this - we are on the road again. It's time for somersaults, applause and cheers with the splits!!!!! We have been in Conway Arkansas since 7-7 waiting and praying for the right parts for our RV warranty repairs.  Parts have arrived several times, however, never the correct ones!  So one day short of a full month "we are outta here."

We were so excited when we crossed over the Mississippi into Arkansas the first time to pick up the rig.  I have to admit after the issues with parts and repairs the rv has lost some of the sparkle.  However, some of that was luster was restored by the our dealer on the final day.

The owner of the dealership made his third twenty-four hour drive round trip to Indiana to pick up everything the manufacture had said "is in."  He came back with the items promised except for the couch. He knew by looking at the couch it was entirely wrong design and about three feet short.  Every other part from this trip and in the past they given us has been the right name of part but did not match what was installed or fit our RV!  Steve went in and said,"we give up, we are ready to leave and just live with the defects now." National Traveler Rv Center, to their credit would not allow us to leave with this outstanding.  They cut us a check for the defective replacement parts costs.  All this, not knowing for sure if they would be reimbursed or not from the manufacture. They have been awesome from beginning. For any one reading I fully recommend Chris, the owner, and David from National Travelers RV Center .

We left our "Big Tin Shed" aka "The Fallout Shelter" from the dealership in Conway AR at 5:30 pm.  We drove all night long and arrived in Rochester Minnesota at about noon.  The traffic that time of morning and night made it easy.  Don't get me wrong Arkansas is actually a beautiful state we hope to be back.  We were just done with it and wanted to be moving again for a different view.  We said to one another several times throughout the night how nice it was to be "on the road again" <--- insert Willy Nelson here...

Brodie actually became quite comfortable with Arkansas.  He became the "Puppy of the Corn..."   But wait, some of you might not know Brodie.  Brodie is a West Highland White Terrier that just worships me and only pays attention (gives time of day) to Steve when I am not around.  Those who know us already know that Brodie is the king. He rides a BMW motorcycle.  He kayaks with us. He tubes the Salt river, a popular Phoenix past time. He does just about everything.  He is in national advertising and Facebook for the goggles (Doggles) he wears. He has made several national publications just for being cute...Need I say more.

Back to "Puppy of the Corn."  Brodie has discovered bunnies, frogs or toads, and mice live in the tall grass aka "corn."  The RV center is right on I-40 as it goes through Conway AR.  There is a large median that separates the freeway from the dealership and access road.  In this area the grass grows like mad as do the bunnies.  We loose Brodie in there for hours on end as he hunts them.  Can you find the Brodie in these picture?  He had a blast but never caught one.  Westies were bred to catch vermin and they will fall over before they give up.  We had to go in get him to so we could get on the road for our next destination, Minnesota.

While on horror movie themes. We switch from "Puppy of the Corn" to the next one which is "The Fog."  The drive towards Minnesota was uneventful except through Missouri and some of Iowa where we ran into a mass of fog for several hundred miles.  It was a white knuckled drive with 18,000 lbs following closely behind.  We pulled off in a rest area hoping to catch some some sleep and let it burn off a bit. We did not sleep with all the big rigs pumping their diesel fumes, puffing air brakes, so for the couple of hours we laid there or walked the dog around the lake which was there. We continued on drove all night across a few additional states to Rochester Minnesota.

What is in Rochester? Steve's boss, who he has he has only met and grown to respect over the phone.  In addition to his manager many of his team members are based here also.  We are planning to spend a week here so Steve can spend time with his boss and team mates.  We have a nice RV park nine miles away from the IBM plant in Rochester where they are all working.  More on this in future updates.

It has been 24 hours of no sleep. It is time to catch up..Night Night

Heather and Steve

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Extreme Heat Index Warning 30 days straight

We always tell visitors to Phoenix that our heat in the Valley of the Sun is a dry heat. We really don't have much humidity in Phoenix. The hot dry heat provides a good market for moisturizer sales to relieve dry and cracked skin. Fly across country to the Southern States for a completely different kind of heat - high levels of humidity packed with loads and loads of heat.

There is no such thing as dry heat in the South. It reminds me of being a kid pulling on a wet swim suit - sticky and slimy feeling of the wet suit against dry skin. In Arkansas, we have been on a extreme heat advisory for over 30 days. One might ask how we know that? From our Blog posts, we came back from the Tail of the Dragon after 4th of July.

There is a heat index reading here that we Arizona born folks don't ever have to bother with. For example, today in Conway it is 103 for the temperature but after the humidity is factored in the actual heat index is 115 degrees.
Either way,
it is hot,
it is humid, and
it is impossible to find something to do outside that doesn't zap energy and blood in your head.

Do I miss the Phoenix heat? Nope, especially my skin doesn't miss the dry heat of Arizona. But this type of heat takes it's toll quickly zapping you of fluids, drenching your clothes down to your socks, and forget any type of good hair day.

I am a water pusher - if we are sweating then we need to be drinking water. One look at us and one might think we walked through the misters at the mall but that was just five minutes in the shade waiting for Brodie to do his business. Speaking of Brodie - I have given Brodie a hair cut to relieve him of his fur coat that seemed to be holding the heat inside his little body. He enjoys laying in front of the fan and drinking ice water from his bowl but other than that it is just too difficult to enjoy a walk outside until about midnight.

Needless to say we are choosing not ride the bikes much since we ride in full gear. But this is the place to watch all the helmet-less motorcycle riders in shorts, flip flops, and beaters riding down the freeways and roadways.

We say "Hi and send our best wishes to our friend David" who is recovering from a near death experience not once but twice in one week. I guess that would be two near death experiences. First, only a week or so having the pink slip to a speed boat, David sunk his speed boat on the second trip to the lake. He has a picture on Facebook of two people floating next the the bow of the boat as the boat is sinking. It settled at 50 feet in below 60 degree water with zero visibility. David swam away with gasoline and oil burning his skin but no serious physical damage. Though the cost to un-sink a boat is costly, especially with EPA collecting all the gas and oil at the scene.

Then days later, David, fellow rider and our sweet gentleman of a friend was riding his motorcycle at 4:00 am in the morning with the normal attire of the area. Yes the same guy!  He missed the deer by swerving his bike but slammed himself and his bike down on a country road in the middle of the dark moon lite sky. He landed sideways skidding down the tarmac at 40 mph. Me and Brodie can attest to crashing at near that speed with gear on. After seeing David's skinless body, broken collar bone, arm in a sling and black eye I will stick to ATGATT. Bambi lives, David lives but David's Harley motorcycle took a hit for the team.

David even took all the skin off the tips of his fingers, knuckles, palms of his hands, forearms, shoulder and knees. Not to mention his $200.00 pair of jeans now are slashed with holes.

It is bad enough the bike is wrecked but to look at David in pain, changing bandages every few hours and unable to move his body normally - one phrase comes to mind from T.E.A.M Arizona classes quoting Motorcycle Safety Foundation - A.T.G.A.T.T.

For those folks who will never understand the sensation of living from the seat of your pants while riding, Google will help with the phrase. For those who do ride the choice is fully yours. But David is a great story of living through two near death experiences and lessons learned. Just seeing his black and blue, ripped and torn body has cemented the reason I gear up when I ride and continue to take skill building classes. David will be several weeks in pain unable to ride, thousands of dollars in medical bills, time off work, bandages, antibiotics and motorcycle repairs.

I guess love of freedom and looking cool 0ut weighs love of money and body. I have heard people say it doesn't look cool to be geared up before riding a motorcycle - I guess not riding because of the pain and suffering of road rash is cooler?

David we wish you full recovery for your body and bike. Hey, David, what's next on your bucket list?

Speaking of Bucket Lists - we can claim to have lived in 400 square feet with no breaks from each other for over 30 days and still smiling and speaking to each other. I am not sure it was a Bucket List item of ours but it could be a hard one to get through. For sure the experience of living in a big tin shed has been the highlight after The Tail of The Dragon for the month of July!

I don't think we would have made it through the entire month without the great folks that work here at National Travelers RV Center. Thanks to Don, Mickey, Chris, David, Aaron, Zack, Brandon and Linda for your conversations. We love you guys. But seriously we are really ready to get the rest of our parts and get out of here. We are ready be on our way to our adventure.

Shout out to all the BMW MOA Rim Riders of Arizona and T.E.A.M Arizona folks for your supportive calls and emails - helps more than you might know right now.
Off to get drenched in slimy sweat as we brave the 115 heat index. Enjoy the dry heat, rain and thunderstorms!
Safe riding!

"How To Go From 3000 sg/ft to 400 sg/ft"

We are in the "fall out" shelter in Conway Arkansas. Argh!  "Fall out shelter?", you ask.  I believe, the picture about explains it. They have us backed into a big tin shed at the dealer where we purchased our rig, waiting on warranty repair parts. This is all "normal" from what we have read.  When you purchase a new RV expect issues on the first few thousand miles until you work out all the kinks. We are working out the kinks...slowly I might add. We had a major thunderstorm a couple of nights ago.  You should have heard it beating down on the "big tin shed!" I was thankful we had that extra layer of protection.  So enough about that now on with the subject for this week, living Life XL in a small space.

So we have a fairly large house for just the two of us in Phoenix, Arizona.  It is 3000 sq/ft of living with an attached three car garage.  We have just moved into an 400 sq/ft EnduraMax fifth-wheel RV with a single (tiny) car garage attached. It is what is called a cross-over toyhauler.  The cross-over part of it is because it is not like the normal toyhaulers of the past. It is a bit more up scale and not made for the family of five to take the five quads to the dunes.  It is built for the couple to have luxury and take a golf cart or a couple of nice bikes on the road.  There is extra sleeping space but not the multi-bunk space as we have seen in the "typical toy-hauler."  So the cross-over luxury and extra space design makes moving into it a bit easier to take.  It is not tiny as you see in this picture.  That is a full semi-truck and trailer hiding behind our rig one foggy morning.

The amenities it includes were not that far from what we are used to.  We have a full shower and a small, make that extra small tub. The bath is tiny but effective.  We have and awesome, and very useful kitchen but no dishwasher.  Believe it or not they have RV dishwashers but the prices are unbelievable, take valuable space, and use a ton of water too. We have our recliners, and couches to relax and our BBQ grill under the awning outside.  The bedroom has the king sized bed with the reading lights and nightstands just like home.  We even have a family room fireplace, all be it faux, it does put out heat when you want it too.  You have already heard about my office and how much I enjoy it.  With all this, it is still a fairly drastic change and several have asked, "how do/did you do it?"  I will try and share some of the tricks and discoveries we have made so far.

The greatest asset to have when making a move to a tiny space like this in my opinion is an organized spouse.  Heather lives organization. She just loves to organize and put things into organization.  As such this life style works for us.  She looks at the problem or a space issue and immediately sees the organization solution. She has put our lives in order in this 400 sq/ft box.  One of greatest organizational solutions; smaller boxes.

We have most everything in organizational boxes.  It starts with our clothing.  Socks, undergarments, teeshirts, etc. all rolled directly from the wash and put in a separate plastic box with lid into the closet.  We do not enough drawer space for all of this to go be sorted into otherwise.  It is super easy for me to just grap the box in the morning, pop the top off grab what I need and slide it back in the closet and grab the next one.  Everything stays tight and neat and take much less space.

Next there are boxes in the cabinets for the spices and small bottles.  As you travel invariably the next time you open the door items have shifted and most all it falls out on the floor.  Not if they are all in a box.  The boxes stay right where they were when we started. Plus the way she has them sorted, when you are cooking you just grab the spices box and you have most everything you need.

Heather has boxes in most of the cabinets, organizing everything from our medications, office supplies, toiletries, you name it.  I can find it all in a box, and most of the boxes have a label.  It is awesome.

Now, think about the odds and ends you have in the garage you have kept to maintain you place.  I don't know about you but it seems to grow in drawers, jars, just about everywhere from previous projects and such.  You keep all the extra parts to hopefully prevent one of the 2.3 trips to Home Depot on the next project.  (2.3 trips, that is what Home Depot estimates each project requires requires)  Heather has trip prevention wired too!  Harbor Freight had these special boxes with a bunch of compartments and a handle.  She bought three.  I have loaded one for plumbing, one for electronics, and the last for hardware.  Plumbing is washers, hose clamps, miscellaneous hose fittings, some special RV plumbing parts.  In the electronic parts is my multimeter, all the wire, wiring parts like wire nuts, solder, soldering iron and such.  In the picture you only see the plumbing and electronics boxes.  The hardware has all the nails, screws, nuts, bolts, and washers you can imagine.  Depending upon what I am working on I grab my box and go.  I have used these at least fifteen times already on this trip. (This is a good one for home too. You don't have to be in an RV to put these together.)

Another issue we have run into is pretty obvious is space. You never have enough. So with the space you have you become creative. Every store we go to we are always on the hunt for something to expand what space we have.  We have found some great items.

For example, Wal-Mart had these wire shelves you put inside of a cabinet to add additional shelves.  $9 and you have super strong additional shelving.  It is hard to tell in the picture, however, this shelf has about 1/2" clearance on the side. It was as if it was made for this cabinet. It gave us three times the usable space.  We have just begun to fill it.

The next space and back saver we installed ourselves is the "cadaver slab."  Heather, hates when I call it that but it is exactly what it looks and acts like.  It is 93" long and 34" wide.  On our rig we have a compartment that goes all the way through under the kitchen.  The compartment has two large doors on opposite sides. This slide goes in that compartment so you can put your items on it then slide it out to access all that is in the compartment easily.  With out it you have to pull everything out to get to the items in the middle.  Picture above is of it pushed in and the other is pulled out.  Notice my tool box hanging on the end. I would estimate the toolbox weighs about 250lbs.  The drawer is rated for 800lbs!



 Several have asked for a few more pictures and details on our RV.  Here are few more interior/exterior details...

In past blogs I talked about the garage and how it converts to my office when we park.  How do we use it as a garage on the road?  Our RV dealer, National Traveler RV installed for us a system called E-Track on the floor of the garage.  All it is metal slotted channel on the floor.  We can insert these removable hooks (that is one installed) any place along the one of the three channels running in the garage where we want to attach tie-downs. We also have special heavy duty Condor motorcycle chocks that attach directly on the E-Track too.  This chock just attaches to the track by the four quick disconnects.  When we are ready to load the bikes, we just drop the ramp and ride them right up and into the chock then tie them down to the clips.  I can load in less than 10 minutes time.  When the chocks and clips are removed, with the E-Track, we can roll out the carpet over top and you hardly notice it it there.  We obviously like our BMW's but on carpet, really!

How about our washer/dryer and new ice maker.  We were constantly stopping to buy ice.  You know the dog, Brodie, needs ice in his water.  We found a great little ice maker at Target that makes several pounds of ice a day and it matches the washer/dryer too. Just so happened it fit perfectly in the cabinet above. It is working out very well.   

The "washer/dryer combo is fabulous."  is what Heather is often heard saying. She has said she is sure she can ever go home to a normal washer and dryer now.  With this one you throw in the clothes, add two tablespoons of HE laundry detergent, walk away and come back to clean DRY clothes.  No fuss no muss. All in one step.  It does not do huge loads but, makes up for it with all the settings of the big fancy machines and not having to move loads from one machine to the other.  The very best thing...NO LAUNDROMATS!  Need I say more?

This is one side of our family/living room, and our recliners, the kitchen is above to the right out of the picture.

This is the other side where we have a coach, underneath where there is tons of storage.

This is looking towards the kitchen

The ceiling with the fancy medallion, sconces, and lights.

On the outside of most "toy haulers" there is a fueling station.  This is a view of ours. Inside that door is a nozzle just like you see at the gas station.  The switch turns the pump off and on, that is if I have it turned on inside. We can carry 30 gallons of fuel for our motorcycles.  That will fill Heather's motorcycle about eight times and mine about four.  That gives us some major exploring range.

This is Heather and Brodie's "dog washing station."  Actually you are seeing inside one of the hatches where you dump the holding tanks. It is there so you wash up and spray things down when done.  There is a coiled hose with a nozzle in the lower compartment and a sprayer with hot and cold above it.  At the very top is where we connect to the city water supply. Very handy on the outside of the rig.



Well, I suppose that is about all the boring stuff on our RV and living in a box.  For those of you that asked are you sorry you did now?  At least now you have a bit more of an idea of how we did the transition from a large home to the tiny one.  We are loving living Life XL in a small space and we thank God for it and each of you every day.

Hope to hear from you soon,
Love Steve and Heather from the fall out shelter in Arkansas

Who doesn't work on Monday's?

Much to our surprise some businesses are not open on Monday's.  Namely, RV dealers and their service centers.  Heather went out for a walk with Brodie this morning.  The parking lot of cars normally there during the day time hours were gone just like yesterday.  The sign in the store said closed Sunday and Monday.  Let's see if we can muster a good attitude for today knowing our rig is protected from the excessive heat warning issued by the National Weather Center today.  Maybe being in a Fall Out Shelter Repair Bay isn't so bad after all.

Knock, Knock at our door just after Brodie and Heather were back from their walk.  Who might that be?  It was our Service Technician, Don letting us know we weren't all alone today and he was working on the items he needed for our rig.

Let us introduce you to Don.  He is the one on the left, not the white one, the one with the least hair.  We are impressed with Don's dedication and attention to detail.  Don also has a bright smile that warms our hearts.  Don tells you straight up what is going on.  Don should have been a counselor as he genuinely listens to our stories of our lives and items of concern on the rig.  Don is retired U.S. Air Force, having served his country to keep us safe and free for over 21 years!

Don did all these many years of service to America with his heart dedicated to serve millions of strangers he may never know.  We are thankful for Don serving in the US Air Force.

Today we are thankful that Don drove from his home in a different town all the way to the RV Service Center to knock on our door!  We are thankful Don is our Service Technician on our rig.

Besides Don's listening skills, Don has technical and organizational skills most companies would love to have.  Did we mention Brodie loves Don too!

We have seen Don's work ethics.  Don showed up on his day off to give us an update and work on our rig.  The RV company may still be closed today for business but Don is about the business of serving the customer!

Don is awarded "The Man of the Month" award from us.

The Dragons Tail...We did it!

We came to Tennessee mostly, to stop and see my colleague Mike and his wife, Pat.  But we did have a side goal to check off one of our Bucket List items by riding the Tail of the Dragon.  This motorcycle paradise is touted as being the best motorcycle ride in America, North America, or the world depending upon where you look.  We have checked it off our the "Bucket List."

The Tail of the Dragon is US Route 129 running along side a dammed river/lake in Tennessee and North Carolina. It follows the mountainside through the woods along side the river most of the way. I cannot begin to describe the beauty.  It was just as beautiful as the rest of Tennessee we have seen.  It is quite spectacular.

We rode the Tail of the Dragon on July 4th, 2011. We were told July 4th and most holidays is not a good day to ride due to the crowds of motorcycles traveling the Dragon.  Weekends and holidays are packed on the Dragon, but especially 4th of July.  This area is so popular for motorcyclist, there is literally a traffic jam of motorcycles up and down this narrow 11 mile two lane winding road.  In all of His Power God delivered quiet a great rainstorm about 15 minutes into our journey to the highway turn off to US HWY 129, the Tail of the Dragon.  We rode about 20 miles in pretty much a deluge of rain.
We had gotten ready to go, prayed for God to provide safety and fun, calm our fears, and be with us.  We had decided the dark clouds were too far away and probably would not blow into our mapped trip, so we did not pack our BMW rain suits (from Sierra BWM in 2009 are still new in their packages).

Until this Journey of ours began in May 2011, we have avoided much rain on the motorcycles.  But our journey has had parts of the travels with terrible storms and we have been forced to experience riding in the rain.  Through a great deal of prayer and the protection of Jesus, we have experienced riding in the rain, wind and storms.  The rain has been some of the highlights we have experienced on this journey.  We have had a chance to grow our riding skills along with long periods prayer time.

Back to the journey of the Tail of the Dragon.  During the sprinkles of rain that first started with a drop or two hitting our face shields, Heather was saying things like, "Oh, this is just the Dragon weeping cause we are going to whoop its butt..."
But I was looking to the hills we were riding toward with giant black clouds and could see pouring rain was ahead of us.  I was being more practical saying, "Heather, it is going to be pretty curvy, we are on motorcycles, what about slippage?" Yes these words of concern came out of my mouth as I quietly asked, "Heather, what do you think, should we turn around now before we really get dumped on?"  Heather said, "it's only sprinkling, we need to keep riding."  The rain came down a little heavier and steadier, bigger drops were falling on the road in front of us, now on our bikes, helmets, and directly on us.  We thought we might need to pull over to put on rain gear but remembered we had opted not to pack them.  So began the down pour, the rain came down hard enough to soak us to the bone in a couple of minutes.  We were getting concerned the visiblity was decreasing. We could see about 60 feet in front of the bikes.  On we rode, in staggered formation, one bike in front on the right, one behind on the left of each other.  The day light was covered behind the puffy giant black clouds, thundering and churning the wind and rain in sheets washing over the roadway after drenching us.  Onward through storm we road, setting a steady speed through the swells of standing water.  We talked about the Dragon huffing and puffing at us, trying scare us enough to end our ride up his tail.  The Dragon threw waves of pouring cold rain mixed with swerling wind.  Had we not had each other for support we probably would have turned around.  But instead, we enjoyed the cold knowing we could turn around and ride back to our warm dry clothes.  We joked and talked to each other during our ride to help our fear of riding in the rain and the overwhelming thoughts of riding the "Dragon" with two years of street riding under our belt.
The thoughts quickly came to mind, "Yes, we both have two years of experience on the street, several T.E.A.M Arizona Confident Riding courses, even the T.E.A.M Arizona "Lee Parks developed advanced course called "Total Control" Rider.

We completed these courses with the goal to gain skills on the motorcycle, more control and handling experience.  One of the results of taking these courses was the feeling of confidence both in our skills and in exactly what the bike could do if we let it.  We were more skilled at turns, braking, and leaning which allowed for a better experience riding the road, including 318 non-stop twisties.

Further evaluation of our experience of riding lead us to talk about the weather conditions we have encountered these last two years of street riding.  Arizona is mostly a hot dry climate, so the riding conditions we have experienced have been just that...dry, hot, windy at times.  We realized we needed to rely on our classroom and course work experience from T.E.A.M Arizona to continue through this storm while riding over 55 mph in the pouring rain."

Just as we thought the storm would continue all the way through our ride, the sky opened up to puffy dark clouds mixed with patches of blue sky poking through.  To our amazement the pavement dried out with each mile we rode.  Truly an amazing journey getting to the US HWY 129 turn off to slay the Tail of Dragon.

We arrive at the "head waters" of  the Tail with just a smattering of bikes.  A few Harley riders waiting out the storm were sitting on side of the road talking to the local Sheriff.  We waved and rode by as they each looked at us with cold shivering faces.  We had no idea God cared so much about our fears of riding the Tail of the Dragon with all the twisties and expectations of reported over crowding of motorcycles smashed wheel to wheel on the two small lanes of roadway.

What did our God do just for us?  God let it rain enough to clear off the pavement of slippery oily dirt and clear the road of all the crowds and motorcycles.  God blesses us with abundant blessings!  We did not see one vehicle or person on our side of the road for the entire eleven mile ride of the Tail of the Dragon.  We literally passed six bikes (five Harley's and one new BMW K1600 LT), three small vehicles going the opposite direction and a couple of Photographer Companies parked along the road taking pictures of the riders.  Can you believe it?  Not one motorcycle passed around us at all.  We were excited to be taming the Dragon.  We were thankful to give our fears to our Lord and Savior and He showered us by showing us He cares deeply for our needs.  The experiences of this day was one of the postcard moments of our life.  His Glory, rain, Highway 129, Tail of the Dragon, cloudy skies, perfect temperatures, clean road, just me and Heather, enjoying this ride together, now that is one special memory for both of us.  Amazing and perfect, God's Glory on every turn!  Praise God for His perfect will and plan.  Jesus loves us even while we ride our motorcycles!

Here is some of the description of the road.  This road is a public maintained highway and one of the best maintained roads we have traveled.  It  is incredible!  It is the perfect motorcycle road.  The surface is perfect. I can't remember a single crack or pothole.   The street lines are all freshly painted and clearly marked.  But the best part is the banking of the roadway.  The entire ride is mostly designed at a perfect angle of banking your bike. You do not even have to lean or steer your motorcycle from turn to turn, just float out of the turn to the next banking turn.  Though leaning makes it more fun!   I found myself almost riding on automatic pilot.  The roadway design allows the rider to come from one turn out of the bank and it automatically leans you and the motorcycle precisely over to the correct angle for the next turn.  It was like being at Talladega.  This is an animated jpg of us on one of the turns (not one of the faster turns I might add).  Look at the road behind and ahead of us, all twisties.  Actually there are 318 turns in eleven miles.

We rode the Tail of the Dragon and had a total blast.  I don't think we stopped chatting back and forth expressing our feelings of joy and excitement for more than 10 seconds at a time.  Tip: Want to feel closer to your mate and Lord then Ride the Tail of the Dragon!

We proceeded to ride another 130 more miles to complete a big loop back to Up the Creek RV Camp in Pigeon Forge TN.  The ride is mapped out to create a big loop through the Great Smoky Mountains and National Park named the same.  I believe we explored this spectacular part of God's creation riding the bikes, rain and shine.  We have discovered the joy of riding the Tail of the Dragon along with a ton more rides we didn't get a chance to take so it won't come as a surprise when we say we will come back for a longer stay.  So many more places in the Smoky's that we have not been able to explore, Lord willing, we shall return.

Our hope is to plan a family vacation with Sean, Christine, Baby Keller, Joel, Kara and Sara.  Though we will book time share for them right in the heart of the area so they can jump on the Trolley Bus and enjoy all the sites the towns around here offer.  Joel and Kara should be riding by then so they can take out bikes and ride the Tail with us.  While Baby Keller climbs aboard the 1200 GS Adventure with his Grandpa pa Steve.   Sean and Christine will be following in their car holding hands praying with their eyes open as they watch their first born be the youngest rider to conquer the Tail of the Dragon!  Yes, Sean, Christine and Grandma Linda and Julie and Great Grandma's Dollie or Helen, we have found a helmet manufacturer out of Germany that makes certified baby helmets, gloves, boots and armored gear for children under two years old.

The journey continues:
We left the beauty of the Smokies on July 5th.  We are back in our home away from home, Conway Arkansas.  That is where we took delivery of our Condo XL (rig).  We are back for some planned repairs and warranty work.  We know it is normal to fix or update the rig no matter how new or old, just like our houses.  The list of projects are mostly minor things we ordered back when we took the rig on its maiden voyage.    But most of the items we ordered are not delivered yet so the installation has been delayed several days.  Normal or expected it is still frustrating couple of days.  We want to be out exploring and discovering new places not stuck here in the big tin shed with no view on the side of I-40 waiting for parts and such. We should be here a few weeks. We were expecting a few days in the repair bay but after three days of little noise of workers busy on the rig our expectations have changed.  Needless to say we will be in Conway for a longer period of time.  We will try to have a fun despite the feel of being surrounded by a Fall Out Shelter atmosphere.  It wouldn't be nearly as annoying if we had other people camped out to talk to but it is just the two of us and Brodie.  Brodie has kept us laughing with his Westie hunting attitude.  He has found the rabbit holes and is consistently digging in the holes.  While we were watching Brodie sniff the ground, his tail began to wag rapidly.  He seemed to be filled with excitement and energy.  He began digging in a new hole.  He had removed several inches of grass, bedding material, and dirt from the hole when a tiny baby bunny escaped.  The baby bunny passed just under Brodie's claws and out from under his legs.  We are happy to report the baby bunny escaped before Brodie realized it was not still in the hole and is still alive.

On a brighter note:
We will be off soon for the Rally, though it may be in the truck only!  This year the BMWMOA International Rally will be the 39th International BMW MOA rally. For 2011 the Rally grounds are in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

At the BMWMOA Rally this year Heather as gathered some attention.  In March, she has contributed an article on volunteerism, titled, "Hook to Help in 2011," which was published in the International BMW magazine.  As a result of the article the Board of BMWMOA Motorcycles has invited her to a special recognition "wine and dine" dinner.  I added the "wine and dine" part.  It is not that I am bitter, it is just that I was not invited on the invitation but leave it to Heather to ask the leadership if I can enjoy the Wine/Beer and Food!

I am so proud of Heather and am very glad that people in our circle of influence are noticing her shining talents as much as I do.  She was also asked to be the chair on one of the rally committees.  We are taking on volunteering at the Rally by helping the RV Chair as site coordinators.

Please pray first for the items for the rig still remaining to be shipped to Conway for installation to come quickly.  Also please pray for our safety in travels.  We are all doing great and having the blessed time even in the Fall Out Shelter.
Love you all, Heather and Steve...Call us 602/790-4509 or email stevemkeller@gmail.com  If you would like to get automatic updates of our journey please subscribe to this blog.

Happy Birthday America...

We began our journey on Saturday May 21, 2011. It is now July 1st, so that put us out for about 40 days on the road. It has not grown the least bit cumbersome, tiring, boring, or any other negative adjective you care to come up with. We are still having the time of our lives. America is a beautiful place.

I have grown in these few short weeks to really appreciate all we are blessed to have in this country. I believe maybe we, as Americans have grown a bit complacent, or callused as we listen to the news, and the media pounding on all the issues that are wrong. There is so many things that are right. Heather and I are just beginning to explore some of these places and we realize that if this were not the United States we could not do what we are doing.

For example, the tornado ravished areas we have seen and experienced first hand. If it were not for the generosity, the established infrastructure, and the talent of our country we would have been stopped for who knows how long in Joplin MO at day three or day eight in Arkansas, or fourteen in Mississippi of this trip. There were so many places where the tornadoes destruction could have kept the roadways from being open but they were not a problem. Only in America.

We have spent some time in the national park systems on this short journey. Our leaders in time past have, in their wisdom, set aside some gorgeous places for whom? For us, the future generations to enjoy. That is America!

We have never experienced shortage of anything on this trip. As you see below, and read in our experiences, we have been in large and tiny towns through the southeast United States so far. As we travel, we have never been without a working fuel station, grocery store, postal service, police protection, you name it. That has not always been our experience in other countries we have visited. Do you thank God for being born in America where this is never more than just a short distance away all the time?

I hope you appreciate what God has give this country and us as much as I do. If so thank Him! Thank and pray for your leaders too on this Independence Day and always.

LifeXL Journey to date...

We are still at our favorite little RV park in Tennessee.  All though, admittedly, we have only tried one so far this one is going to be hard to beat.  We took a great ride through the country side on Friday morning.  It wound along a river side through the Smoky Mountains for several miles. It was just stunning.  If you click the link you will see it was not without its twisties too which is what we live for on a motorcycle. A short ride but not bad for a half day off of fun.  The video was shot at 12:07 pm.  This gives you an idea of how dense the foliage is. You can barely see and Heather on her BMW. (By the way just noticed you will not see video if on Mobile devices.  At least not on my Android.)




We are moving.  We are moving to another space in the park in the morning.  That is the freedom you live in a "Portable Condo."  You can pick up and move as the wind blows. We are moving closer to the creek for our last few days.  It is only about 100 yards of a move but... Brodie, and Heather so enjoy the creek and I so enjoy my view out the back door so why not take advantage of both?  The space we can move to puts us right on the creek where the back door opens right over it and Brodie and Heather can wade and splash to their hearts desire and I can watch.  So much for getting anything done I suppose.  It's only for a couple of days.  OH, Yeah it includes a full outdoor kitchen with refrigerator, grills, and all the fixin's at that space too.  The next blog will include some pictures for you. 

Mushrooms are a bloom!  Anyone know which are the good ones to eat?  We had a couple of night-time showers and Heather found the mushrooms exploded.  You would not believe the varieties we find here.  I believe I have lived a sheltered life. I have only seen a couple of mushroom species in my life.  Mostly those you find on the shelves of the local grocery store.  Around here there is a different variety on every tree stump.  I don't know if I would be brave enough to eat any of these but some are big enough to make a meal.  Still others are as small as a pin head.  It is pretty amazing in the creativity of God in something as simple as a mushroom that pops up over night! 



So I have bored you now with the story of the mushroom I will close on that.


We hope to hear from you soon
Love Steve and Heather...

Smoky Mountains Tennessee - We might never leave.

We spent Sunday with Mike & Pat, my colleague from IBM.  We drove about 30 miles down the road to worship with Mike and his wife at an awesome little church of about thirty or so people.  They were just beginning the study of Revelation.  A bold challenge that many of the biggest of church will not tackle. I was impressed with the completeness of the lay-pastor's message and the genuineness of the people.  We enjoyed a delicious potluck after the service then returned to his house for a bit of "picking" afterwards.  Mike is quite a musician and quite a gardener too, I find out (he is in the red shirt).  It was just a glorious Lord's day.  

One aspect of living in an RV and the open road life style is everyone coming and going are in the same boat.  All of us do not know each other but we all have many things in common.  It may be our trailer, truck, animals, or just our common love for the outdoors.  You would not believe just how friendly and out going everyone is. Heather and I had a one and a half hour conversation with a couple at the dumpster last night.  We talked about darn near everything.  We have never met this couple in our lives but we struck up quite a relationship in just a matter of moments.  It was grand!  This happens several times a week.  It is just one part of the life style we enjoy.  

Living in the woods, the beach, and all these different places has brought out the puppy in our 14 year old Westie Brodie too.  You would not know he is old and deaf by the way he digs up the beach and swims the streams.  Oh, by the way this video ends abruptly because he gets swept away momentarily by the "rapids."  He is not quite as adept on his feet as used to be, especially since he had been wading and drinking the river for about two hours prior to this video being recorded.  He was "just plumb tuckered" as they say in these parts...

 

For those of you that ride you really must to come to Tennessee.  There is not straight road anywhere in the state that I can see.  It is totally a rider's paradise.  Several of the roads we have traveled are tunneled in trees.  They meander through the mountains over hill and valley with a beautiful view and each corner.  I so enjoy God's creation.  I wish you all could be here to enjoy it with us.  One more thing to add, we both often remark we have never seen this many bikes in one place.  Mostly Harley's by the way and just a few sport bikes.  Which reminds me of what happened to me the day before yesterday.

I went to the auto parts store to get some auto wax.  No big deal but helps keep bugs off front of RV.  I am in my full gear with my helmet off.  Obviously, I am a motorcycle rider.  The girl behind the counter tries to help me find what I am looking for...they are out of the product I wanted.  I continue to look around.  She leaves and goes out for a smoke.  I check out and go out to get on and leave.  She and a girl friend are out going over my bike with a fine tooth comb.  "Is that a 007 motorcycle or something?  It looks like something James Bond would ride", she inquires.   I guess they don't see too many BMW Adventures around here.  I was about to burst inside, however, I calmly replied,  "No it is a standard BMW."  She asked, "Are these laser beams or something?"  I am starting to think she might have been abducted by aliens, I heard that happens around here a lot.  There's nothing in her body language telling me she is not totally serious.  The "laser beams" she referred to were my running lights.  Oh it's great to be in a foreign country the South...

I received a call from Ken, one of my buddies in the BMW club today.  I was such a blessing and joy to catch up with him a bit.  He has been all over this area and had some great tips for here and our further journey up Pennsylvania way. I hope the rest you feel free to call us when you want too.  We would love to hear from you also.

I am sure I will have another update later in the week after we ride "The Tail" so stay tuned...

Love you all Steve and Heather