Begin at the beginning…
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Right, then!
June 1, 2025 I listed my little house in the woods for sale.
January 9, 2026 I accepted an offer.
February 9, 2026 the sale closed. I rented back a month from buyer’s.
March 10, 2026 Emmett, Oscar and I moved into a small (375 square feet) Airbnb cabin in Columbia Falls, MT about 18 miles north of the house.
A short aside: I kept 4 pieces of furniture. Those and wall art/photographs plus what I thought was a minimal amount of personal items went into bins and with the furniture into a 10x8x20 storage unit. That was the smallest unit available at the location I chose. Movers loaded and delivered the above. Left in the house was the minimal amount of stuff I intended to take to the cabin. Holy Cow! I was so wrong. About 2/3 of what I thought I would take to the cabin was taken back to the storage unit. Still, all the contents I chose to keep lined the edge and up the middle so 2 aisles. And the edges and middle were 2 bins high. So, it is NOT a packed to the gills space.
Back to the story.
We settled into the little cabin and adjusted to a new routine.
I had a big dental thing: 2 crowns and 1 cavity. I had cataract surgery. So good to get those both done! Emmett had a dental. Emmett and Oscar got current on everything.
April 27, 2026 I bought a 2003 30 foot Class C motorhome: Bigfoot 30 mh 29 rq to be exact.
April 28-30 I registered at DMV, took possession, had new tires put on, filled with gas and propane and then parked at Columbia Falls RV park to test systems and do some loading from storage locker and cabin.
May 5, 2026 I moved the Bigfoot to the cabin (above photo actually in front of a barn/garage on the property) and put the Yukon (my SUV) into storage.
May 6, 2026 I loaded from the cabin and we moved into the Bigfoot that afternoon … spent the night on the cabin property.
May 7, 2026 we left: a stop at Murdoch’s for some RV items, a stop at Harry Horn park for lunch and a long walk with Emmett and then to Jim n Mary’s RV park in Missoula a long standing “first night out” RV spot.
May 8, 2026 we left Jim n Mary’s, stopped at Target in Missoula for some items … mostly organizational stuff. We then proceeded to Anaconda and paid for 2 nights at an RV park near the town.
…this is where things went sideways. Emmett stumbled twice getting into the motorhome on that Friday (5/8) afternoon and evening. on May 9, after our morning walk he would not even attempt the steps.
7 days to get Emmett loaded. When he would not load before bedtime on 5/9, I ordered a ramp from Amazon and extended our stay until 5/13.
May 12, 2026 the ramp arrived mid-morning. We started training flat, increasing heights and by early afternoon he entered the Bigfoot! That evening he hesitated and I had to grab his collar to coax him in.
May 13, 2026 he would not load via the ramp. We moved to a Best Western across the road because weather was extremely windy and hot.
May 14, 2026 we visited the local vet (hotel and vet in walking distance, thankfully) to talk about boarding. I thought I needed to return to base, collect the Yukon and retrieve Emmett in the Yukon.
May 15, 2026 at the last minute of an arranged late checkout from the hotel, I got Emmett in the Bigfoot: hamburger lure and when he was as far up the steps as I though he’d go, I put my hands under his bottom and lifted/shoved. He was in. I was ready to roll and we headed for “home”.
We arrived at Columbia Falls RV park after hours, picked a spot on an end with our door opening to a little yard. Emmett spent the night outside tethered to the Bigfoot.
May 16, 2026 Retrieved the Yukon from storage. Emmett slept in the Yukon as well as was in it through a few hail storms. I booked a month’s stay at that RV Park.
May 27, 2026 Removed front passenger seat after training on steps failed. It was HOT and I had booked same Airbnb cabin for 3 nights to get Emmett out of heat the day the seat was removed. I didn’t want to deal with cabin, heat and possible failure due to too many changes.
May 29, 2026 Tried passenger door with no seat. Success!! That worked and has been fine since then. A huge relief to me as I had no idea if it was just the door, the steps and door or the entire RV experience. I had gone through various scenarios of having to sell the Bigfoot and finding us a house.
So, not exactly the end, but the end of Part 1 RV Life.
In hindsight, despite the angst and money and other things a bit more personal than I want to share … it was a good thing. I tried to launch too fast with not enough prep for Emmett and Oscar … or me OR the Bigfoot. The month in Columbia Falls allowed me to re-organize (5 times!!!) inside and outside storage. I ended up with only what we need and by mid-June I was comfortable with what I had on board and where it was.
Also, we all had a chance to be “at home” and learn how to move about a small space comforably.
So.
Restart of RV adventures, life on the road … starts 6/26/2026.
