PCS Orders... What Happens Next?

 What Joy.. What Bliss.. Happens every now and again.. you forget as you get to comfy where your at.. or you are waiting on baited breath as you can't wait to leave.. "IT'S"

PCS Season.. 

So.. What happens next?

Plenty.. My brain flips to overload, seriously!

My husband has never been in a position to sit back and relax, its always been "we need you .. HERE" and we go! 

Then its always "Babe...This just happened so, this is where we are going and this is when we have to be there" after that.. I don't much remember as I go into ...

*Bringing out my calendars

*My planners are laid out

*Dr's appointments are made

*Vet Appointments are scheduled

*(at one point) Movers are set up

*Hotel Reservations are made

 Well.. at this point I think you get the idea.. My brain just GOES!

Henry takes care of the Military portion of the movie, filing the necessary paperwork we need so we can be compensated for the travel, as well as the checkout process for his unit.. this can be tedious and time consuming but this is very necessary, cause if you don't get a signature or file the correct document.. well, your stuck not getting paid for the move "AND" that can be quite costly!

One of the biggest changes we have made since the kids have flown the nest and Henry is now no longer in a deployable unit was.. move into this Full-Time RV Life. 

It can be interesting to tell people that we live full-time in an RV.. some think we are just traveling in it not actually "LIVING" in it.. they will ask when we move...

(Favored Questions)

*What housing are you requesting?

*Are you buying a house in the area?

*Is he (hubby) going to GEO Bach while you move home?

When the answer is .. NO, we are still going to live in our RV...they look confused, its a very interesting topic to explain sometimes.

However, in regards to PCS Moves.. we found advantages and some disadvantages to living in our RV.

Where to start?

Advantages.. 

*All my stuff comes with me, its packed up and I know where it is! 

*With careful planning I can have a mini-vacation to our next duty station and stay at nice locations. I don't have to eat fast food on the road, I know who used the bathroom facilities, I also know when the bedding was washed last.. after all its my home!

*While traveling.. I can stop and like I said above, use my own facilities. If I get tired, I can pull at a rest stop and sleep in my bed for a quick nap. 

* I don't get paid for the complete weight of the RV (military regulations) I however get for the subtracted over all weight minus the dry weight of the RV for my DITY move. I don't have to wait on movers, I don't have to worry about them damaging my property, I don't have to worry about them loosing my belongings (this has happened to me in the past) I have complete control over my move and since I don't have to rely on movers.. I am the one who schedules the day that we leave the base.. I am not waiting on a pack-out. 

*With Covid restrictions in place, many commands have tact on requirements as to needing to know where we are going (some states, cities are red zones-restricted) who we may come in contact with (if we stop and visit friends and/or family) and hotels we will be staying on the way to the location, get permission from them and the command receiving my husband that they agree to the travel itinerary.. get it signed approved so we can depart. 

Well, when you own your own RV (not rent) we didn't have to worry about hotels, locations of cities with restrictions as national or state parks campgrounds didn't have or were considered red zones, also since we were preparing our own food.. we didn't run into issues with public contact. The approval that limited most of the others that had orders and had to keep waiting due to travel issues.. we got approved with no delay. 

So... Tons of advantages with living in our RV.. Now, what are the disadvantages you say?

Travel..

The roads can be hell.. bumpy, packed with traffic, construction and drivers that don't know how to drive.. diving in front of you and then slamming on their brakes thinking you can stop on a dime.. that is just the traveling.

Fuel..

We don't fit in normal gas stations, we must use trucker style fueling stations. We must and I mean "MUST" pay attention to our fuel consumption, the height of our RV and how we get into and out of the fueling stations or we could end up damaging our RV, Our Truck or both.  If we go through mountain passes or long straightaways we could go through fuel quickly or find that their are long miles between the ability to finding a gas station. 

Tires..

The hidden pain in the butt.. our tires are special demons of the RV lifestyle. They must be the correct load rating for your specific RV. The main issue for a lot of new RV'ers is that they tend to find or replace tires with those that they can afford and don't learn till something massive happens, that "THAT" isn't a no no in the RV world! Why? Well.. cars and trucks don't have to endure traveling and carrying the weight like a turtle, plus the road speed (you must watch that as well) the conditions of the road and adjust with the height of the RV which could chuck the RV left and right violently.. Speed causes the tire to expand and could explode.. weight adds excessive pressure on tires.. 

We use what is known as a TPMS: Tire Pressure Monitoring System, it keeps track of tire pressure as well as the heat of the tires while traveling so, we are always aware as to the current conditions of our tires while driving.. having a blow out can be deadly. 

Location...

While we brag about parking anywhere we want.. sometimes that isn't the case! 

East and West Coast has its many differences and we have seen it openly, everywhere we travel. Depending on the size of your RV.. you may have issues finding places to park or I should say that you will have difficulties that larger your RV is. 

The old adage being that Size does matter!!! 

We have a 45 ft RV.. On the west coast and mid-west I found that I could locate many RV or Large RV and what is better known as Big Rig Friendly sites.. Moving mast Missouri and heading to the upper East Cost, those options have been fewer and far between! 

Also, being that we are still active duty, having a more stable or one location for a more long term location till next PCS Orders seems to be very difficult to locate.

Most of the issues we have found since trying to find long term stays has been that with Military/State/National Parks/ Private Campgrounds they have seasonal camping so, between October to March they are closed.  Those that are open have a 60 Day stay and you must leave for for a week before coming back again. 

I guess its a positive and negative in one.. however, it can add difficulty trying to stay above the curve when traveling from one campground to the next.. winter is never a great time to move.. EVER! Since we don't get to choose where we are getting stationed.. we will have to make due no matter what!

This is what is known as:

Semper Gumby! Always Flexible.. you either learn to bend or you WILL break!

Now that we know the location that we are going to and the time frame to which we are supposed to be there.. I have been doing my best to stay on top of the clock and get things in line. 

Setting the appointments and scheduling reservations .. now that we are on the PCS Journey.. everything is now fast forward.. 

We are moving

Virginia Beach was a great little stopping point in our lives.. but, 1 year was a quick turn around and we will see how the next place treats us. 

Hope you all stick around for the next adventure!

Robyn.