Doing that thing you do.

This post is a little on the dry side, but some of you may be curious how we do some of the daily life stuff.  For starters, the blogging.

I am the first person up every morning, so I tend to write my posts before the family gets up.  I brought my trusty old MacBook which I use to write the posts, and if we don't have Internet access I just use Open Office.  Otherwise, I use Blogger.  I also like to write just before bed, but the first week there really was no time to do that, as we all pretty much collapsed in bed at about the same time.  More on that later.  I also write when Kristin is doing the cooking or general RV cleaning (Thanks, hon!).

Kristin tends to write after breakfast, or when we are driving.  There's plenty of drive time which gives here ample opportunity.  She uses her iPad for blogging, and her iPhone for taking pictures.  Most of the blog pictures are from her iPhone.  I take some pictures with my phone (HTC One), but since I also use my digital camera (Olympus E-PL1) I don't have as many camera phone shots.  I haven't taken the time to upload the photos from the Olympus to the Mac to the blog, that will probably have to wait until we are home.  Besides, the phones take pretty amazing pictures.  I'm beginning to question the usefulness of a full digital camera.

The glue that ties it all together is my iPad, which has Verizon data service (our phones are AT&T) and personal hotspot enabled.  That allows all of our devices to get access via WiFi when we are in range of Verizon 3G or 4G service.  So far, it's been great until the Tetons and Yellowstone. I installed a 1000 watt inverter, which is connected directly to the "house" battery in the RV and lives under the sofa.  There is a power strip connected to it, and we use that to charge up all of our devices.  The battery charges when we drive, so we have had no problem keeping the battery with juice.

I mentioned it's hard to do work when everyone is in bed because all the living space disappears.  Bella sleeps on the dining table which converts to a bed.  She used to sleep up top with me but after the disaster of the second night where she proclaimed how much she hated me, Kellen gladly swapped places.  Kristin sleeps on the sofa turned bed.  In bed time configuration, only the front two seats are available, and we usually pile them with stuff.  The passenger front seat does swivel to face backwards towards the RV living area, and I use that seat on occasion.

We cook in the RV and the kids often eat inside, too.  Kristin and I eat outside.  We have a shower but exclusively use the campground showers.  The shower stall in the RV has become invaluable storage space for our two camp chairs.

Well, that's a peek at our daily life.  Time to pack up and hit the showers.