Travel Stage: After Washington, D.C. and before heading to the Eastern Shore of Virginia
Date Range: March 29-April 6, 2016
Summary: After our whirlwind trip to Washington, D.C. and successfully seeing the Cherry Blossoms, we spend some more time in Fishersville and nearby Charlottesville. While here we meet up with some new full-time RV friends!
There are a surprisingly large number of people who full-time RV, and the number of them who aren’t retired is increasing. Some have full-time remote jobs, some pick up work as they go. Some have dogs and/or cats with them, some don’t. Some have large motorhomes, some have converted VW vans. Some even have several kids and bring school on the road!
They all have their own reasons, and they all find their own way to do it in a rig that suits their needs. We love getting the opportunity to meet up with fellow full-timers. We love hearing their story, learning their reasons, touring their rig, what they do to make money on the road, swapping favorite places, and lamenting about things that only RVers would really care about. When we got back to Fishersville after D.C. we got to do just that, plus do some tasting of Virginia hard cider and bourbon!
The Stampers
The Stampers are the first full-time RV family with kids we’ve met. Robert and Crystal have two kids, Katie and Dakota. They are from Oklahoma and hit the road around the same time we did in the fall of 2015. They have family that they were staying with in the Charlottesville, VA area just about 30 minutes from where we were in Fishersville. (Robert and Crystal are on Instagram as @dragginhappiness and @all_who_wander_arent_lost)
Wine, Cider, and Bourbon TastinG
We met up with Robert and Crystal at the Albemarle Ciderworks for a flight of their ciders and to learn their stories.
Tom found a friend at the Cidermill! From there we also hit up Pippin Farm Winery, and then on to the Virginia Distillery where we tasted some single malt scotch from Scotland aged in Virginia port barrels.
New Friends
Robert and Crystal invited us back to where they were staying to hang out, have dinner, and meet Crystal’s family and the other family they were traveling with: Nick and Sara (aka @4ontheroad and @mr.4ontheroad on Instagram) who also have two kids. We had a great time hanging out with them and the rest of Crystal’s family who welcomed us with open arms!
Moving On
A few days later when we were passing through Charlottesville on to our next destination, we met up with them one more time for lunch. We made some more goodbyes, but we knew we would definitely be seeing them again! They were heading to North Carolina, and later in the summer they were heading west. We were planning to also be in both those places, so we knew our paths would cross again.
RV Community
If you are curious about the online RV Community, we’ve found that it is particularly thriving on Instagram. It is how we have communicated and met up with almost all of our RVing friends. Regardless of your channel, the community is there. It is like a network of travelers all trying to accomplish the same thing, just at their own pace and time. It is really nice to be able to build relationships rather than start new every new place. Some of our friends on the road so far!:
- Robert & Crystal Stamper (on Instagram as @dragginhappiness and @all_who_wander_arent_lost)
- Sara & Nick Corle (aka @4ontheroad and @mr.4ontheroad on Instagram)
- Julie and Mark Bennett aka RV Love
- Joe and Kate Russo aka We’re the Russos
- Deas & Jennifer Nealy Nealys On Wheels
- Jen & Brad Stermer aka Roaming Free In A RV
For all you RVers out there we have yet to meet – we can’t wait! See you on the road!
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