By Emily Woodbury
Well, folks, I’m feeling a little depressed this morning. My dad (Chuck) just sent me a photo of the beach in beautiful Newport, Oregon. It’s covered in plastic garbage. He picked up an embarrassing amount within just a few minutes of his morning walk. I believe he’s going to write about it somewhere on here (keep an eye out for it), so I won’t steal his thunder, but really, if you’re still using single-use plastic, please stop. Please cut your use in half. Please go one day a week without using plastic. Please do something.
Last Saturday we asked how much you pay to store your RV when you’re not using it. Just under half of you, 48 percent, don’t pay anything (and a quick skim of the comments says that’s because you have a place on your property to store it). The second-highest percentage of you, 31 percent, pay less than $100 to store it each month. I’ll run through the rest: 14 percent of you pay between $100 and $200, 4 percent pay between $200 and $300, a small 2 percent of you pay between $300 and $400 a month, and another 2 percent of you pay more than $400 per month. I think reader Karen wins for the most unique place to store an RV. She commented: “We put our 38′ class A in an underground former Mushroom cave in Wampum, PA. $410 for 5 months.”
I have a feeling I already know the answer to Sunday’s poll question. We asked: When RVing, what degree of “roughing it” are you usually experiencing? Well, yup, the results are as I expected. The highest percentage of you, 39 percent, said you’re not “roughing it” at all – you live as well in your RV as you do at home. Just underneath that, 35 percent of you said you might be “roughing it” a bit, but not much; and 23 percent of you said you give up some comforts, but not many. Only 2 percent of you answered that you’re always “roughing it” when you’re RVing.
Monday’s poll taught us that many of you, 28 percent, don’t drink alcohol. But for those of you who do, 30 percent of you choose beer as your alcoholic beverage of choice. Just under a quarter of you, 23 percent, prefer wine, and 17 percent choose hard liquor as your alcohol of choice. Dr. Willie Live left a comment that made me chuckle. He wrote, “You asked what alcohol do I drink. I drink OP. It stands for other people’s.”
We were curious to learn on Tuesday which place you thought was the safest to camp: boondocking in the middle of nowhere away from other people, or a commercial RV park. Not too surprisingly, 74 percent of you believe a commercial RV park is safer than boondocking by yourself (though 24 percent of you chose boondocking over an RV park).
On Wednesday, we wanted to know if you’re staying overnight at a Walmart, how much on average you’d typically spend inside the store per stay. We’ll go in order of dollar amounts here so it’s easier to follow: 10 percent of you spend around $10 on average per stay, 56 percent of you would spend more than $10 but less than $40, 26 percent of you might spend between $40 and $80, and 8 percent of you usually spend more than $80. (We’re really making you read numbers today, aren’t we?)
Whew. I’m not going to lie, for Thursday’s poll I was hesitant to click “View Results.” We asked the married people of our audience: How satisfied are you with your marriage? I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that 76 percent of you answered that you’re very satisfied. Some of you, though, 13 percent, are only somewhat satisfied, and 6 percent of you are unsatisfied, but you’re hanging in there. A small 2 percent of you said you’re miserable and unhappy in your marriage. Reader Wayne Caldwell commented, “I was told I had BETTER click on ‘I am very satisfied’ if I know what’s good for me. 😁😁😁😁😁”
Never least but always last, on Friday we asked you coffee drinkers how you take your coffee. Just under half of you, 47 percent, drink your coffee black. Just under a quarter of you, 23 percent, drink it with cream/milk and sugar, 22 percent drink your coffee with just cream or milk, and 7 percent of you don’t use cream or milk, just sugar. I’m surprised at how many of you commented that you drink your coffee with a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream. And by surprised I really mean thrilled. Hehe.
See you next week, folks. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday season with family, friends and fur-children. If you’re traveling, be safe.
I am sure that most of those who think a commercial RV park is safer than boondocking have never been boondocking.
In all the years I’ve been boondocking as a single woman, I have never felt vulnerable, and I’ve never had people problems. RV parks are another story, with inconsiderate folks who blast their outdoor speakers all day long so that everyone can “enjoy” their choice of music. Or leave their outside lights on all night in case the other campers are afraid of the dark. Or let their dogs and misbehaving children/grandchildren run loose with no supervision. Or leave the public restroom in a shambles. No thanks, give me boondocking over RV parks every time!
I could not answer as I find both listed options safe enough not to be concerned. I prefer commercial CGs as we do not camp, we find an area to explore and the commercial CGs are more comfortable even though we do not use any of the amenities. My wife and I have DoD IDs and find staying on military installations most likely the safest of all.
We don’t actually boondock very often but I’ve never felt unsafe but my wife has been a little concerned a couple of times.