"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...