The New Home

Sinni looks so much bigger but is only 4 ft longer.

Arthritis pain had me awake when I heard the furnace come on. A furnace with floor ducts and auto-ignition (no pilot needed) is really nice. We loved Willy and could keep him plenty warm with a small space heater. Comparing square footage, Nitsitapiisinni (Sinni for short) is only 32 square feet bigger than Willy. However, when you take into consideration the higher ceiling you find that Sinni is 352 cubic feet bigger. That's a difference and take more to heat.

The people who bought Willy called yesterday to ask about winterizing. Since we used Willy year around and never had him in serious snow country like northwestern Montana during the winter, I couldn't be a whole lot of help. Nevertheless we had a nice chat. They have been living in Willy. They experienced their first night listening to the rain and loved it. Especially with a light rain, Willy always felt safe and cozy. I think that same rain storm helped me bond more with Sinni. It is taking a bit of time to become accustomed to things not being vintage.

Willy hitched up and ready to go. What a traveler!

Despite all the comforts of Willy, Pamela felt more like she was camping in Willy. Since to me 'camping' is sleeping on the ground with little or nothing between you and the elements, a fire as your sole source of warmth, a tree or bush is your bathroom, and removing the word 'comfort' from your vocabulary for the sake of the thrill of being that close to nature, I've never really thought of our time living in Willy as 'camping'. The closest I think I came to calling what we were doing 'camping' were the times we boon-docked in 5-8 site National Forest campgrounds where it was like just pulling off the road into the woods with a pit toilet (if
lucky) and occasionally a hand-pump well for water. I think the reason that Pamela felt we were camping in Willy was that Willy was not new and seemed so much smaller. With everything being new and the sense of great room inside, Sinni gives more the impression of an apartment on wheels.

I'm sure that our full-timer friends who live in forty foot class-A (buses) or large class-C (living units built onto a truck cab and chassis) get a giggle out of this perception. Their laughter is never derisive or hurtful. They, like us, are people who prefer to live in the peace and beauty of the wilderness, escaping the harsh, cold and snowy winters of the north by heading south at season's end, and giving our lives purpose, meaning and excitement by living and working in parks or forests. I'm sure they think of us when they have to buy ten new tires at $1000 each.

Sinni arrives at her new home in Glacier National Park. 

Pamela and I are so happy that we have the health and ability to do what we do. We are frugal but, perhaps more importantly, we enjoy and prefer the simple. We didn't pick Sinni because she was less expensive than a 40' class-A or giant trailer with half a dozen slides. We picked Sinni because she met our needs and wishes. We only gave up Willy because we needed a walk-around bed for Pamela's Restless Leg Syndrome (a painful and potentially debilitating chronic neurological disease). Sinni is short enough to go almost anywhere, and light enough that we don't need a monster diesel to pull her. She has a full bath, complete with bathtub (Pamela's requirement) and a good gas stove with an oven (my requirement). She has a double axle, which we feel is essential for road stability and safety. Everything else are perks . . . electric tongue jack, solar ready, solar panels, stereo with external speakers, outside shower, winter packet, etc.

We don't seek the simple to prove a point or make a social statement. (Although I guess our life-style does demonstrate that Americans can live much more simply and not only be comfortable but save a lot of money.) We live our simpler life-style because it is what we enjoy. In the past three years our free-spirit, on-the-road life-style has taken us to 21 states from Florida to Washington.

Whether you want to call the way we live "camping" or just "dragging our home behind us" it is what we want. The difference between our ideas of 'camping' doesn't matter. Willy was home and now Sinni is rapidly earning that distinction.