Our oldest child is starting full time RV life on his own
I am ashamed of how long it has been since we have written ANYTHING on this blog. We are changing that. This particular post will be more of a personal nature. For most of the last 2 years, we have been living in Asheville, NC. After arrival in October of 2023, our oldest 2 kids got jobs and we ended up just renewing our stay multiple times. Then, when it became clear that our oldest son had a goal to get his own RV and begin full time RV life on his own, we continued renewing our stay until he could work and save up the money for his own RV.
Both Dakota and Sydney got jobs at a local grocery store when we arrived to Asheville. They each worked there for a year before moving on to different employers. Dakota graduated high school and began working at a local warehouse in Asheville at the end of 2024. He went to work diligently saving and planning.
At the beginning on 2025, our friend Brian let us know about a camper that was for sale over on the coast of NC. We had him send over some videos and pictures. Dakota decided this was to be the one. It was at a price that he could pay cash for the camper and not have to worry about any sort of payment. He really started saving up at the beginning of 2025 and we started helping him get prepared for RV life on his own. On Memorial Day weekend, Angela and I headed over to pick up the camper. Dakota already owns a truck but his truck is definitely not one that should be trusted towing a camper. So we rented a truck from Enterprise and went over to pick up what would be Dakota’s new home, a 2013 Gulfstream Ultralite travel trailer.
Our friends and family was so kind to pitch in and start buying him “house warming” gifts to help him start out on his own. When we got back to Asheville with his camper, he opened up his gifts and we went to work helping him get set up in his new home. We had about a week and a half to help get things situated, updated, and fixed before we would leave him in Asheville and make our way down to Savannah, GA. 
On June 8, we departed and Dakota stayed behind. That was one of the toughest things in so many ways. You see, for the last 7 years we have been a family of 5 living in only about 300 sq ft together. We spent a LOT of time together. We have done pretty much everything together. Driving away without our son just didn’t feel right. It was the strangest feeling. Several times on that trip south I would see something that I knew Dakota would like and would turn around to tell him to look at it like I always do, and then the realization would hit me once again.
Since leaving, I have spoken to Dakota every single day. After a week or 2 he started telling me how lonely it was being out on his own. I understood completely. He has had his whole family so close by for years. Thankfully, I had to drive Sydney back up to Asheville for a church camp at the end of June and then pick her back up a few days later. That meant I would have the opportunity to swing by and visit with Dakota a bit on both occasions. Then, he actually had a paid week vacation at his new job in July and asked about coming down for the week to spend time with us in Savannah. I was happy to drive back up to Asheville to pick him up and drop him back off. Having him here with us this past week just felt so normal. I drove back up and dropped him off 2 days ago and it felt so strange dropping him off not knowing when we would be able to see him again.
Although I am sad for ME, I am so excited for HIM. He has plans to save up and make his way out west. He is in the process of working towards getting a better truck to tow his camper. He has just picked up a second job that he will be working in the mornings. This boy is driven. He talks with me every day about his plans. 