Bag End on Wheels

17/05/2023

Official Post from David Checketts Music

11/05/2023

I could really use your advice!

Some of you may already know that I am retiring from COX Automotive this Fall and going back to school to get a Master's degree in Film Scoring.

To aid me in that pursuit I have started a Patreon Page with musical offerings to help offset the cost.

It would mean so much to me if you would take 2 minutes to fill out this survey.

https://forms.gle/H5X6CzpKfTGryPx68

Even if you are not currently a Patron of David Checketts Music, your past association with me would prove invaluable in helping me decide what content to offer.

Thanks for being a fan!

Working to provide the best content for Patreon

10/09/2022

Thank you all for your continued patronage of Bag End on Wheels. We have started the next adventure, Jenn has taken a job in Seattle and Ashlyn started school this week, as I continue working remotely moving toward our next big thing.

Many of you know that I have been a musician and composer since I was young. I have written music for ensembles, marching bands, and even an indie film - but music has, out of necessity, always been a side hustle.

With your help I can begin my career’s second act with music at center stage.

My family recently moved to Seattle to support me in a Master’s program with the intent of composing full-time in the music industry - specifically for motion pictures.

The program in intensive, meaning I will not be able to work while attending school.

Please take a moment and select a level of support (as low as $2/mo!) and become a monthly supporter of my dream and a patron of the arts!

Scan the QR code of visit my Patreon Page directly.

If anyone would like to support me in this endeavor but does not want a monthly subscription to the Patreon page, you are always welcome to make a one-time contribution via Venmo - -Checketts

https://www.patreon.com/davidcheckettsmusic

Thank you all for continuing to follow us on our crazy adventures!

30/07/2022

We survived our first 2 weeks in Seattle. After downsizing last summer to hit the road, we are now having to upsize to outfit an apartment.

The heat is brutal. Not as hot as Utah, but there is no AC here. We have like 8 fans in the apartment just to circulate the hot air. 🥵

Here is us at the West Seattle Farmer's Market last Sunday. Ashlyn is really starting to like it here and of course Jenn and I already love Seattle.

18/07/2022

If the damn tree wasn’t in the way you’d have a great shot of the Seattle skyline. This is not our apartment however

15/07/2022

Our trip to Seattle finds us in a HIE in Yakima, WA tonight. Tomorrow we pull into Seattle and our new adventure.

07/06/2022

With less than one month to go in our year-long tour, we set our focus on a new adventure. It has been nothing short of amazing, traveling the country, seeing family, friends, dogs and too many awesome sights to count.

Dave's Favorite: Oceanside, CA.
Jenn's Favorite: Wine Country - San Diego
Ashlyn's Favorite: Washington, DC.

On the whole, the good totally outweighed the bad. We had mechanical issues, frozen water pipes, a flat tire, rude hosts and a rat who moved in and ate just about everything. We learned how to solve problems and fix many new things on this trip.

Most awesome hosts and amazing resort: Dark Sky in Kanab, UT.

We traveled 14,000 miles (Towing our amazing little Honda Element) through 26 states and stayed at 50 different resorts. Fished in 2 oceans, tried dozens of local wines and gorged on regional food every chance we got. We visited as many women-owned and indigenous-owned vendors and resorts as we could find.

A few numbers:

14,000 miles driven divided by 10 MPG times average of $4 a gallon = $5,600 in fuel costs.

Cheapest place to stay: $37 a night - KOA Tremonton, UT.
Costliest place to stay: $ 118 a night - Paradise by the Sea Oceanside, CA.

Price to have a flat changed on the RV: $750 (did require the purchase of a new tire)

Pictures / videos taken: Just shy of 1800

Number of subscribers to Ashlyn's You Tube channel: 300

Dogs met: Many

Memories: Too many to count

As for the future, we just put down deposit for an apartment in Seattle, which we move into July 7th.

We haven't decided if we are going to sell the RV or rent it out.

Ashlyn will go back to school, Jenn will take a job, and we will both work for the next year. Fall of 2023 I will be attending the Seattle Film Institute to pursue a Master of Arts in Film Scoring, finally following my life-long dream of writing music for movies.

And the story continues...

10/05/2022

Headed west from DC this week, had a crazy ass bird fly right into the windshield on I-80 just as we left North Platte. Windshield is fine, I suspect the bird is not. 🥺

04/05/2022

We’ve seen some crazy s**t at RV parks, but we ain’t never seen one with 2 miniature donkeys.

02/05/2022

And we’re here in Terre Haute, IN! Driving across Ohio and Indiana is way different than West Virginia and Pennsylvania; nice and flat, but windy as hell. I can appreciate what truckers go through being in a high-profile vehicle. Constantly feeling like you are going to blow over. 💨

Jenn enjoys a toasted marshmallow as we wind down from another day of driving.

As a side note, those of you over 40 may remember Terre Haute as the home of the Columbia House Music Club. 11 tapes for a penny and you only have to buy 3 more at regular price.

30/04/2022

Froderick & Frankie are enjoying some down time. Along with their humans, they bounced along I-70 for almost 7 hours today. Our east cost travels come to a close as we make our way across the heartland. Tonight’s stay is in Zanesville, OH. To get here we left Maryland, drove through West Virginia, then Pennsylvania, then West Virginia again, then across the river into Ohio.

You might wonder how we select our campgrounds. The destinations are pretty easy. We wanted to be in Fayetteville, NC for March so we found the closest campground with a Good Sam rating. For our trek back across on I-70 we look for any park close to the freeway and within 350 miles of our last stay. 350 is the limit we set, it takes 7 hours to cover that much ground and we have to tear down and set up the same day.

350 miles also means a fuel stop, which in no reality is as easy as fueling a car. With our Toad we are 42 feet long, we can’t just pull in to a Circle K. We rely on travel plazas and even then it’s not always a fit. Plazas are set up to dispense diesel so there are wide long lanes for semis. Most Class A RVs are diesel, not us, we are gas.

Another issue we face with fuel is quantity. Bag End has a 65 gallon tank. At $4 a gallon, it costs $260 to fill the tank. Most stations have a $75 limit on a debit card transaction and a limit of 2 debit transactions. So we have to get creative about fuel stops. Best news? The outstanding 10 MPG we get. 😡 To travel the 350 per day we want, burns 35 gallons. Not cheap to drive this bad boy.

Also had to replace our first tire in Virginia Beach. There is no room for us to carry a spare so in case the tire is not repairable, roadside assistance brings along a new tire, which we have to purchase and pay to mount and balance.

Despite all the schtuff we deal with, we have no regrets about doing this. We have seen and done things we never dreamed. Ashlyn fished in 2 oceans less than 6 months apart. We spent quality time with family and friends and have sampled much food and beer/wine. Ashlyn was almost in tears as we pulled out today, she did not want to leave Washington. A year ago she did not want to leave Salt Lake.

Tomorrow we drive to Terre Haute, IN where we will stay for the week while I work.

We slowly wind our way back west landing in Seattle around August.

28/04/2022

Arlington. The changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier was was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Couldn’t help but weep. Notorious RBG buried next to her husband. Only 2 SCOTUS justices in Arlington and she’s one. ❤️

28/04/2022

Open-air night tour of DC. It’s awesome during the day, but it’s unbelievable at night!

24/04/2022

Today was the Smithsonian Museum of African Art and the National Museum of Natural History. Ashlyn is getting a crash course of history, politics and art. Loving every minute of it!

24/04/2022

Yesterday was the National Mall. We had the dogs with us, that slowed us down a bit since Princess Frankie has to be pulled in a wagon. Saw the Washington and Lincoln Monunents and the WWII and Vietnam Memorials. Had a proper hot dog from a cart.

17/04/2022

Made it to DC / Baltimore.

07/04/2022

April 5th marked the 9-month point of this crazy s**t we are doing. We just passed the 10,000th mile of driving.

The entire month of March we spent in Fayetteville, NC near Jenn's brother. We got to meet his amazing friends James, Mike and Sarah. Had a crab boil cookout for Jenn's birthday.

Had an uninvited guest (Norway Rat) Move in for a week, destroyed wiring plumbing and HVAC. After a totally 'Caddyshack' evening of trying to get the little bastard, we had to call professionals to get-r-done.

Stayed with Ross K Whitmore (Thank you so much!) while RV repairs were done (Thank Hera for pest insurance, who knew?)

We are now just south of Virginia Beach at https://northlandingbeach.com/ and will remain here until the 16th when we drive to a town just southwest of Baltimore and stay for two weeks visiting the nation's capital.

Even though we are having amazing adventures we miss you all.

08/03/2022

Our hard working girl got a wash and wax today.

04/03/2022

04/03/2022

Beautiful sunset tonight!

02/03/2022

Made it to Plumb Branch, SC and it is insanely beautiful here!! 🌲 🌳 ☀️

Five orders from Amazon await us in Fayetteville, NC. Hopeful enough stuff to repair the remaining broken plumbing. 74 degrees and sunny today. Feels like San Diego. ☀️ 🌊

We ended up here instead of Augusta as there are no parks there with bath houses or laundry. Like freaking Gilligan’s Island. 🏝 👔

22/02/2022

Thank you for indulging my rant yesterday.

OK, back to something sunny. 🌞

The eastern leg of our adventure is well underway. Most of what we want to do is back east so we are getting the hell across the south as quickly as possible:

Left SLC: 02/11 arrived Kanab 02/11
Left Kanab 02/19 arrived Tucson, AZ 02/19
Left Tucson 02/20 arrived Fort Stockton, TX 02/22

Leaving Fort Stockton 02/25 arriving Weatherford, TX 02/25
Leaving Weatherford 02/26 arriving Monroe, LA 02/26
Leaving Monroe 02/27 arriving Tuscaloosa. AL 02/27
Leaving Tuscaloosa 03/01 arriving Augusta, GA 03/01
Leaving Augusta 03/06 arriving Fayetteville, NC 03/06

Here's where the fun begins. We'll be in Fayetteville the entire month of March, spending much needed time with Jenn's brother Ross.

Then, the first 2 weeks of April in Virginia Beach right by the naval base, the last 2 in Cherry Hill, MD. Four weeks in / around DC!

After that......well, we might have some exciting news about what happens next.

Stay tuned. 😝

21/02/2022

So, the last 7 months have been an amazing adventure. We've been to/through 9 states so far with 8 more planed before the end of April. We've been places we loved, places we liked, places we didn't care so much for and some places we wish we had never gone.

*RANT INCOMMING* More of our posts are sunny and full of rainbows and time lapse videos, this one will not be as sunny. We appreciate everybody following us on FB and the great comments we get. This post is about the darker side of full-time RV life. (Mostly just so I can vent, I crave catharsis. 😉)

October in Oceanside CA, the black tank starts leaking, just a bit. For those who don't know, the black tank holds the contents of the toilet until such time as it can be properly disposed of. It is the one part of the RV that I prayed would just work properly forever and I would never have to go into that dark cave on Dagobah without my blaster. So, naturally, it breaks. How's that for a big 'F**k you' from the universe?

It was leaking a teeny tiny bit around a fitting which is part of the tank flush cleaning system. However, teeny drips of black tank contents are not anything to mess around with. My initial thought was, "I have some bitchin epoxy, I'll mix it up and slather it all over the area. Problem solved, right?" The devil on my shoulder was all, "Yeah do it! Cut a corner and save a few bucks, do it the half-assed way." So, I figured we had better fix it right, especially if we are going to sell Bag End on Wheels at some point. I contact our RV guy (what a loser, but a rant for another time) to order a new black tank. The order was placed the Friday after Thanksgiving.

December: We sneak back to SLC for tank repairs (and to hopefully ride out the Omicron Wave (which didn't work as planned as I immediately got COVID, but again, that's a rant for another time.)

The tank arrives the last week of January. Freaking January!! Like 8 weeks for delivery. It did not come from Bolivia via Llama, it came from North Carolina, by wagon train apparently based on the delivery time.

So tank is here, RV is here, loser RV guy takes 2 weeks to install. RV done, we bolt to Kanab to get away from SLC Winter. So, the catch is, that I, and totally only I, did not winterize the plumbing on the RV before we dropped it off. Water in PEX, cold outside, water becomes ice, PEX and related fittings crack and burst. Being in a hurry as we were, we did not test the water system until we got to Kanab. After all what could go wrong? Loser RV guy said he tested everything so everything must work, right?

No, the answer is no everything did not work right. Park at Kanab, hook up water, turn on water, every faucet in the RV is spraying water, and not in the manner is was intended to by the manufacturer. Kanab, love Kanab, Kanab is beautiful, however, Kanab does not have a proper store for plumbing supplies. Gotta go to St George for a Lowes. UGH! So, Scott, the killer dude at True Value works magic with PEX and SharkBite fittings and over the course of 4 days, I manage to plug all leaks and begin the process of actually repairing them.

There are 5 points on this gig from which water is designed to dispense; Kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower nozzle on outside of rig, shower inside RV and toilet. What's the score you ask? RV 4 - Dave 1. We can successfully get potable water from the bathroom sink. YAY! Thank Hera we carry 10 gallons of filtered water with us. Kitchen sink is down, shower is down, shower on the outside sprays an impressive jet of water out the holes where the hot and cold k***s used to live. Toilet does not work as intended, however, a few jugs of water kept in the shower get the job done.

Now, does this ruin things for us? No, we are trudging along (limping actually) across the south until we reach Feyetteville, NC. Home of Jenn's Rossome brother and hopefully a proper plumbing supply store, or even better, a freaking plumber!

As you would expect, Jenn and Ashlyn are handling the entire thing like rock stars. We are currently in Fort Stockton, TX, or better known as 'Twiddleyourballsack'. Jenn even took the kitchen faucet apart by herself hoping to locate the leak. (She is my rock, truly!)

We will survive, we will endure, we will triumph and overcome this adversity as we rise above the Lone Star state and proclaim to the very universe itself, "YOU - SHALL - NOT - PASS!"

Anyway, thanks for indulging my cathartic rant. I have an appointment with a Texas Longneck beer. We will have happier posts the next few months as we spend time with Ross the 'Rossomest", then 2 weeks in Virginia Beach and 2 more in Cherry Hill Maryland.

Cheers!

20/02/2022

Saturday morning we said goodbye to Kanab and spent that night in Tucson. Today is 10 hours of driving to Fort Stockton, TX.

20/02/2022

15/02/2022

End of a beautiful day. ❤️ 🍷 🌅

15/02/2022

Kanab is home to the world’s largest grocery cart. (Maybe not I don’t know, but it is huge.). View of the bluff over our RV. And a special visit with Leela and Ben, rescue parrots from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. They can’t fly so these lovely ladies take them for walks. Kanab is an amazing place!!

15/02/2022

Sunday was a trip to Jackson Flat Reservoir just outside Kanab. The Golden Eagles are out as you can see on the poles. And a few larger water fowl (I’m no expert but they look like a crane of some kind).

13/02/2022

New iPhones means new cameras. The latest sunset time lapse.

13/02/2022

This year, as hot air balloons rise high above the red rock cliffs in Kanab, the spectacle has even more significance - after a couple long years of uncertainty, we will rise above. Be part of 2022’s unforgettable Balloons and Tunes Roundup, featuring exciting musical performances, hot air balloon launch, and small-town charm. It’s all happening February 18th, 19th and 20th. Find more details at BalloonsAndTunesRoundUp.com.
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