Life in a motor home has its moments

By Andrea J. Cook, Journal Staff Writer | Sunday, September 03, 2006

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It takes a few minutes and a paper towel for Cheryl Barnholdt to clean her kitchen and bathroom floors.

“I don’t have much to clean,” said Barnholdt, who lives year-round in a 25-foot motor home.

Barnholdt has spent the past seven summers working for Wall Drug Store (See related story on Page A1).

Life in miniature has its advantages and disadvantages, according to men and women who have forsaken the solid foundation of home for a mobile lifestyle that allows them to explore the country and earn a living as “workampers.”

“Life is easier and lighter, if gas was just cheaper,” Dottie White said. White and her husband, Jake, still have a house in Mississippi where a son lives.

For the Whites, home is a recreational vehicle parked in the small RV park that South Dakota’s 1880 Town provides.

“I packed the good stuff and the kids took all the furniture,” White said.

“Living in miniature is not fun,” Kanda Schurr, another 1880 Town workamper, said. Living in close quarters with your spouse 365 days a year means you can never get away from each other, Schurr said. “You’re always just right there.”

On the flip side, the lack of space limits not only your wardrobe, but your neighbors.

“So you wore the same thing six days in a row,” Schurr said. “Everyone understands.”

And, what about all those special things you have to give away or leave behind in a big storage unit?

After living in a motor home for six years, Texan Alberta Keys admits she is starting to miss her things.

Keys and her husband, Tom, are back for their fifth summer at South Dakota’s 1880 Town.

“There are times when I wish I was settled,” Keys said.

She misses the convenience of having a pet door and a fenced yard for the dogs and the luxury of slipping off alone for a little quiet time.

After 15 years on the road, John Szekley, who calls Wall home during the tourist season, said he hasn’t found any disadvantages.

“I have all the comforts of home,” Szekley said. His 38-foot motor home has a washer and dryer and a customized computer desk. Most of his possessions are in the motor home.

Ken Ashcraft and Karen Upchurch lived in their RV for almost 10 years. The couple traded regular jobs to become workampers so they could spend more time together and see the country. They follow the seasons, moving north in the summer and south for the winter.

Two years ago, rather than upgrading their motor home, the couple bought a mobile home in Wall where they work at Wall Store for at least five months of the year.

“I never thought I wanted to quit until I quit,” Upchurch said. “The mobile home was a nice change.”

Now, the couple isn’t as concerned about the weather when they travel, Ashcraft said.

During seasonal migrations to and from Wall, they can take side trips they might not have taken with a bulky motor home.

“There are certain roads I wouldn’t take with the RV,” Ashcraft said.

With gas prices climbing, Ashcraft said traveling by car and renting an apartment does not cost any more than driving the RV.

Cheryl Coomer likes the mini-vacations she takes driving her motor home and car back and forth from California to Wall. Coomer makes two trips each spring and fall because she refuses to tow her car.

The trips have become “mini-vacations” that give her a chance to unwind from the frantic pace of Wall Drug.

When Szekley finishes his season at Wall Drug, he’ll head east to visit children in New Hampshire and Florida and then he drives to California where he’ll sleep in his own bed each night.

“It’s not for everybody,” Szekley said. “But I enjoy it.”

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com