Every
day was a School Day in the Motorhome
When
we got married, we went away on our honeymoon in our motorhome.
Packing just for two isn’t that difficult. Later
we were informed that we could not have kids, so we decided
to adopt. In 1982, just before our trip out to the Calgary
Stampede, we found out that we were going to be parents
in just one month. Our newborn little girl arrived the
day after we returned home. We named her Heather.
Nine months and 12 days after Heather was born, along
came Rob. Three weeks later we were off on a rally to
Nashville with 20 other units in tow. What were we thinking?
Good thing we had a double co-pilot seat to hold the two
seats. Our water pump broke so we couldn’t heat
the bottles. When M.B. pulled the caravan over, 10 ladies
came running to bring us water. We survived that trip
and many more.
Benefits For The Kids
We found travelling with the children by RV immensely
beneficial for both ourselves and them. Even as the children
got older and began school, we found that we didn’t
have any trouble getting the teacher’s help. They
provided schoolwork for the children to do on the road,
and we were able to traverse the continent with our kids
in tow. So far, our children have been in every province,
most of the United States (including Alaska!), and Mexico.
 The
children had a new geography and history lesson every
day. Their social skills flourished as they tried to make
friends at every campground we visited. They had to be
quick, as we were only in one spot for a few days. In
those days, computers and e-mail didn’t exist, so
Rob and Heather had several pen pals from all over the
continent, which served to improve their writing skills.
They were also exposed to seniors and handicapped people.
Through this, they learned to have respect for their elders
and to appreciate life.
And no, their schoolwork didn’t suffer. Every day
was a school day in the motorhome. When Heather returned
to class, we found that she hadn’t lost the new
skills she had learned, as some of the other students
had.
Rob, on the other hand, would attack his homework. He
would try to get it done as fast as he could so he could
enjoy his extra vacation time. We did however make him
keep a journal of his travels.
When Heather and Rob were around six we went on a Mexican
caravan. Mexican children would often be found playing
and singing around our unit. Many of them were shoeless
when they arrived but by the time they left they had brand-new
shoes. We had been shopping before we entered Mexico,
and we had bought about 20 pairs of new shoes for our
kids. K-Mart had a sale on velcro closing shoes (which
at the time you couldn’t get in Canada).
When we were crossing back into the United States we had
quite a hard time at the border. Rob had tanned quite
dark and had picked up quite a bit of Spanish from the
other kids. The customs inspectors thought we were trying
to smuggle out a Mexican. They questioned both of us,
and both of the kids. They even searched our garbage!
After a long while we were able to convince them to let
us all come back into the United States.
Many full-time RV children are home schooled. We didn’t
home school, we worked with the teachers. Many of their
teachers felt that if they did their homework they could
learn even more while travelling the open road.
We’re very proud of both of our kids and we feel
that all the time we travelled together over the years
has brought the family together. Today we are empty-nesters.
The two kids, two dogs and two cats all moved out within
a five-week span. It’s awfully quiet around here.
Since moving out, Heather has already insisted on coming
camping with us, and we really enjoyed her company. Meanwhile,
Rob bought a house in the Sarnia, Ontario area and now
he is a customs inspector at the Blue Water Bridge. He
knows all the hiding spots in RVs, so we suggest that
you might consider crossing at Windsor, Ontario.
Take Care & Happy RVing,
M.B. and Karen Wilson
The Wagon Masters
wagontrains@bellnet.ca (Page Top) |
