Tiny House Travels: Shit you don't expect.

I don’t quite know where to start as there have been so many unforeseen trials and tribulations with this new Tiny House Gypsy lifestyle that I’ve chosen - that it begs the question, “Did I make a HUGE mistake???" To answer that question in simple terms, NO, I did not. I knew going into this new life on the road there would be issues. I fully expected life on the road to be filled with unforeseen catastrophes and daily problems that needed solving, so I m not some babe in the woods who has been blindsided by life's malfunctions.


HOWEVER....the past 5 months that I’ve owned my Tiny House on Wheels have been especially precarious, and have thrown more than a fair share of curve balls my way. I am still a HUGE fan of my Tiny Home. Make no mistake, I love my house, I love the design, I love the functionality of it....but the actual mobility of my home, well, that has left much to be desired. I purchased a THOW because I’m retired and I love to travel. So the idea of traveling in my home was very appealing. But from the time I picked up my THOW in Oregon last May it has been one issue after another. Granted, the majority of the issues have come from the structural integrity of the Iron Eagle trailer that my house was built on. I had 2 snapped spring leaf welds in under 3,000 miles. The second of which resulted in a blown tire and damage to my wheel well. Both of which resulted in days of down time and being stranded in places I did not want to be - in the midst of road trips that were meant to embrace the fun and carefree lifestyle of a retiree yearning for life “away from it all.” The sad fact is, that while you may escape the hassle of city life, life on the road comes with a whole new set of problems.


Today, in the middle of Texas in the pouring rain, I discovered my trailer tongue was severely bent at the seems, causing my house to slant dangerously downward at the hitch. An issue that I’m certain resulted from the “reinforced” welding that was done on the trailer last month at the Iron Eagle manufacturer in Oregon. After having snapped two welds I took it to them and they assured me they had reinforced every weld on the trailer and it was basically a “light armored vehicle” that was impervious to any future issues. Well, here we are 2,000 miles later and the trailer tongue is bending and bowing where they reinforced it, clearly a result of their weakening of the structural integrity of the trailer. Am I pissed? You better believe it. Do I blame my THOW manufacturer Tru Form Tiny? No, I don’t. I have weighed my home and it is not overweight for the rating of the trailer. The fact that is is heavy on the tongue side should not make such a huge difference....yet apparently it does.

The owners over at Tru Form are of course mortified at the situation. They build beautiful Tiny Houses and have been helpful and assumed responsibility every time I have had a problem. They certainly don’t need or want a Tiny House Travel blogger illuminating every little issue to a public audience on the worldwide web. I understand their frustration and I know they understand mine. The difference is, this is my HOME now, so I can only suck up so many setbacks before I’m screaming WHAT THE FUCK an am ready to lose my everlovin mind (I’m in Texas currently...so I’m pickin up the lingo y’all). I strongly believe the welding done at Iron Eagle Trailers is what weakened the tongue where it is now bending. That certainly isn’t the fault of Tru Form Tiny, and I do not place the blame on them. There were other issues with the house that they remedied under warranty (the TPO membrane on my roof tore loose after the first 800 miles, minor issues with my heater, etc,), and they have been attentive and helpful when issues have arised. There are a few cosmetic things that I will need to maintain more than I expected - such as the exterior paint and the cedar siding and deck. But that is the case with any house you purchase....you have growing pains. I expected the unexpected.....and here it is.


Speaking with the fabricator here in Texas, it’s going to cost $2400 to remove the tongue and replace it with a heavier Gage steel. My tongue weight is 2200 lbs, which is a heavy load for the tubing that is currently on there. I’m glad it’s being upgraded with a heavier steel, I just wish Iron Eagle would have caught that last month when they worked on it all day! Fortunately the fabricator is going to be able to salvage most of the moving parts on the tongue and just reuse them on the new setup. It’s going to take 2-3 days to complete and they only take cash or check. Guess who doesn’t have $2400 in her bank account right now? (currently I'm $136 overdrawn. YAY). Fortunately I have a few “bank checks” from a credit card that I can use to pay the initial 50% deposit. Then I will be left to figure out where the rest of the money is coming from, either .Iron Eagle or Tru Form. Somebody is paying for this mess...and it certainly isn’t going to be me.


Thank god I have friends here in Texas that I can stay with - and I’m not broken down in the middle of nowhere. Or even worse if this had happened when I had Kaila with me! I have to pick her up in Mandeville, LA next week. I was supposed to pick her up at the airport in NOLA on Saturday....but that is impossible now. Hopefully they will get the Tiny fixed and road-ready by Saturday and I’ll make the 2 day drive to Louisiana to pick up my favorite 9 year old by Monday. Again, LUCKILY - Kaila has friends in Mandeville since that’s where her Mama is from, so she will get picked up by John & Ginesse Barrett and get to spend a few days playing with their daughter, Cassidy. I’m pretty disappointed that I will miss picking her up at the airport...as this is her first time as a solo “unattended minor" flyer. I bet she’s gonna be so excited when she comes off that plane! I expect I’ll hear all about it....sadly, not firsthand. Oh well....she and I will still have a fun 3 day road trip from NOLA to Nashville where we can do silly stuff and she can tell me all about rocks and minerals, American History and various other factoids. I can’t wait to see her!


I would like to sincerely thank everyone for your calls, texts, messages and comments these past few days. It’s been hard to answer all of you with so much going on. Not to mention the broken iPhone that I am hopefully going to replace today. I swear, having a phone that doesn’t work properly is annoying and super frustrating! But seriously friends, THANK YOU. I appreciate the support - and I’m getting to the point where I’ve weeded out most of the wackos and freaks on this public Facebook page, and have mostly normal (relatively speaking), kind and considerate Facebook friends. Make no mistake, I still enjoy the shit talking and the crazy Shannanigins - but sometimes ya just gotta deal with real life for a bit. Here’s to hoping next week is better than this one was!


Stay safe, keep laughing, and be kind to each other....life’s too short to be an asshole. :)

Neville the Cat.

Here it is, the long awaited first installment of my Tiny House Travels blog. Good lord, there's got to be an easier way to say that. THT blog? Oh I don't know, everyone has so many catchy titles and slogans and logos for their blogs and I'm over here like WTF...is anyone even going to read this stuff? I suppose there are a FEW friends and folks that I know who like my blogs, and maybe someday my kids or grandkids will wonder what crazy Granny Shanny was up to on her road trips....so this is for them. And for myself, because writing has always been cathartic for me. Plus, I just finished off my Huckleberry Hard Cider and opening a second bottle seems a bit self destructive...so writing it is.

Let me start off by stating the (what should be) obvious: YES....I chose this new life on the road because I'm running. Running, because staying in one place for very long reminds me of things I'd rather not think about. It reminds me of a long career filled with heartache, children that are now grown and doing their own thing, countless ex's that turned out to be better off as just "friends" - and the fact that I have never really felt like I fully belonged anywhere. Being outside in nature....or alone listening to music....or doting on Kaila (or any other child I love dearly), is about as full a heart as I can muster these days. Beyond that, I find very little that fills my soul with joy. Though that's a pretty solid list of things I guess, so I should count my blessings - as I am fortunate to have many.

As for romance, well, there was a man....earlier this year....who gave me butterflies and made my heart feel full. Though when we started dating it was knowingly temporary - and he is now in a different country, not to be coming back. So cest la vie! It was a lovely 4 months....but I've yet to meet anyone since who has captured my attention so completely. Not to mention life on the road definitely does not lend itself to serious relationships. I've met some amazing people the past 2 months whilst traveling, but alas -  I'm still a free-spirited, rolling stone...

Now...ON TO THE TRAVEL PORTION OF THIS OVERDUE BLOG!

I started out in the Tiny House in early June, in what would be one of the hottest months on record. I was headed for Las Vegas (via death valley) to pick up Emily and Kaila who were flying in from Tennessee to join me for 2 weeks on the road. I had Neville the Cat in tow, for his first Tiny House adventure. He wasn't entirely sure about the whole thing, but actually travelled quite well in the truck with me. He'd just curl up on my lap and hide his little face in the crook of my arm, and sleep until we stopped - at which time he would pop his head up and look around....anxious to hop out of the truck. When we were actually stopping to set up the Tiny for a bit, he would go right from the truck to the Tiny House deck and go inside. He definitely knew his Tiny House - and felt very comfortable inside. Neville didn't much care for traffic, loud kids running around or other types of commotion. He was basically a cross between a house cat and a stalking panther. Whenever we were somewhere with open fields or forested areas, he loved sniffing around and "stalking" birds and other critters. He even liked hangin with the horses at the various horse properties we stayed at. He had gotten used to walking with his harness and leash and people would comment, "wow I've never seen a cat being walked before." Yeah, he was a pretty awesome 13 lb fur baby. My "cat boyfriend" for the past 3 years....and the best boyfriend he was.

His littermate and brother Christian Grey had been killed by coyotes in my front yard 3 days before I left on this first trip - it was horrible. I was thankful I still had Neville to keep me company, I'm such a nut about my cats that the idea of not having them with me was inconceivable. So it was unbearable during my travels the few times that Neville got out of the Tiny House and went missing for several hours. It first happened near Glacier National Park - and he was gone for 4 hours. Then again in Wenatchee and he was gone for 18 hours. Then again for another 12 hours in North Bend WA. Each time I was freaking out, calling him, looking for him, praying....doing everything you're supposed to do when a cat acts like a cat and runs off. I'd put his litter and toys outside - so he could smell them. Leave the door open so he could come back in....the whole routine. He came back those 4 times and each time he did I cried tears of relief and happiness. But the more Neville got to sneak out "exploring" the more restless he seemed at night. He would sleep all day, but once dusk set in...he would perk up, stare out the windows, scratch at the door to go outside....he just wanted to be OUT THERE.

When we drove from North Bend WA to Mt. Hood OR it was a long 5 hour drive. I stopped midway and took an hour nap in the Tiny House with Neville by my side. When we finally go to the Mt Hood RV Resort Tiny House Village it was past 7 pm. I was exhausted and there was a group of ladies in the village who wanted to see my Tiny House (I'm getting used to it, but when I'm tired...the tour is pretty short). So I chatted with these women and showed them the house, then took some Tylenol PM and literally crawled in bed by 8:30 praying for 12 hours of solid sleep. Neville was laying on the bed next to me, cleaning himself obsessively like he liked to do. I remember petting his head and telling him what a sweet boy he was....and then I fell asleep. HARD. So hard in fact that I hadn't thought much of the upstairs loft window that was open about 3" - to allow the cool breeze to flow through as we slept. The opening didn't look nearly big enough for Neville to fit through, and besides, I figured if he started scratching at the window trying to get out - surely it would wake me up. I woke up the next morning and Neville was not in the bed with me...in fact he was not in the house anywhere. The window was still only 3" open so I looked and looked and LOOKED again throughout the Tiny House....wondering where he could be hiding. But Neville was gone. Sometime in the middle of the night he had jumped the 13' down from the loft window (there was no screen on it) and went out adventuring......and that was the last I saw of him.

Of course I searched for him. Every day. I extended my stay in Mt Hood so that I was there for 5 days vs. the 2 I had originally planned. The managers helped me by sending out an email alert to all the residents with his photo. I posted flyers, I walked and drove the grounds everyday at dusk looking for my baby...but nothing. I received several calls from people who thought they'd "found" him, but it was always a different cat they had seen in the RV park.  Unfortunately it had only been 2 days since the last time he took off in Wenatchee - and during that instance he came back without his collar and tags on. I assume he caught them on some branch and they are still out in the hills of Wenatchee. So I hadn't had a chance to replace them yet. My poor boy, out in the Mt. Hood area with no collar....I can hardly stand to think about it without crying. I try to tell myself that he is out there still....stalking, hunting, evading harm...and maybe someone has taken him in because he's such a friendly and beautiful cat. I probably cried more in that first week he was gone than I have cried in the past 2 years. The Tiny House felt huge and empty without him in it. It still does. Hell, I feel empty without him. I loved that damn cat more than anything. The only thing that has kept me going is knowing this horrible grief will subside in time, like it has in the past when I've lost pets, or loved ones. Agonizing grief is painful....but not permanent. Still, I'm just now editing this blog - nearly 7 months after Neville went missing on August 21, 2018 - and the tears are still falling.

Oh Neville.....I miss you so.

The Next Chapter: TINY HOUSE BLOGGING!!

Here we go kids....buckle up for safety, it's about to get a bit ROUGH.