Canyon hoppers
By: Suzy Wagner
Tags: Covid Diaries, Vacation, Rving, Summer, Family

By the time we turned into a parking lot next to the boat ramp, I was choking on the dust. It looked like a mirage in the distance. A short walk downhill, we found a grassy spot next to a massive mountain lake. Across the way, pine trees came right up to the water and to the left of our spot, reeds filled the space partially obscuring the kayakers who were happily shouting to each other. When we saw the rope swing, it was magic. Topher hooked up his hammock between two trees and spent the afternoon reading Game of Thrones. Ned had just confronted Cersei and was about to die. He couldn’t put it down. I took a little nap while Eric coached Gillian and Matthew on swinging over large rocks into the water. Or in other words it was fantastic.

That night we grilled hamburgers on the grill at Ruby’s RV Park and ate outside under the stars. While making up Topher’s sofa bed, I was thrilled to discover the missing laptop had slipped underneath the couch.

Ruby’s was founded in 1916 by Ruby and Minnie Syrett who loaded up their wagon and buggy to the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Roads were trails and it took them two days to travel 25 miles. (As we learned from visiting the mountain lake, some roads in this area are still trails….) A few weeks after they arrived at their new ranch, they stumbled upon Bryce Canyon a few miles from their homestead. The Syrett’s began hosting people who came to see the canyon. That’s how Ruby’s RV Park and Historic Inn started. With a general store, rodeo, restaurants and other amenities, this morning we were in search of laundry. We found it. We also found a great story.

A woman and her husband had commandeered all of the washers and dryers. Unfamiliar with laundromat etiquette and feeling self conscious as the only person wearing a mask, I interrupted their conversation to ask if they could free up a washing machine for me to use. We struck up a conversation and I learned that the couple had been living in an RV full time for the last eight years.

I asked, What made you decide to live in an RV?

We were living in Reno. When my daughter graduated high school, I told her, that’s it. We’re selling the house and leaving. She could come with us or find her own place to rent. She got an apartment and put herself through college. We moved to California and then later we bought an RV. My daughter is 48 years old now. We’ve been traveling the country with our friends for the past eight years.

What do you love about it?

The freedom. I have solar on the roof — we use that for the generator. There’s a big bladder — like a water bed — in the back. When you fill that up, we can live for a couple of weeks without a hook-up. We’ve got a satellite dish on the roof for cable. We can travel and see the world, well, see the U.S. We’ve got it worked out that we dry camp now — so we have no expenses. We couldn’t afford to rent spots every night, that would be too expensive. But, we absolutely love it.

What’s the most annoying thing about living this way?

This. (Pointing to the laundry.) It’s annoying not to have a laundry room. Some of the things you take for granted. Like flushing toilet paper. We never flush toilet paper. It causes too many problems in the RV.

Do you regret it?

Not at all. For years we’ve lived off the grid with almost no expenses. We’ve had to learn how to conserve water and where to go to get free hook-ups. The most important thing is you have to really like your spouse. She looked across the laundromat to her husband, because you spend a lot of time together. At that same moment, he looked up laughing and said, It helps if your husband is as easy going as me.

As much as I’ve enjoyed this experience — and I’ve enjoyed it immensely. I do not see dry camping for life with Eric as our retirement plan. Would I rent an RV for a road trip again? Absolutely. Will I retire in one? Probably not.