When we chose Hawkins Pointe RV Park, it wasn't because it was our dream destination.
It was because it was exactly where we needed to be.
Located just across the Tennessee-Georgia state line, Hawkins Pointe allowed us to stay close to everything that was familiar while we finished preparing for our new life on the road. We still had belongings to sell, a storage unit to organize, a tow truck to buy, and an empty garage in Big Bertha that somehow had to become my sewing room.
Looking back, those three months were probably some of the busiest we've ever had.
One of my biggest projects was figuring out how to create a functional sewing space inside the toy hauler. I desperately wanted to keep the two sewing tables I'd used in our house, but after measuring, rearranging, and trying every possible configuration, I had to admit they simply weren't going to fit.
That wasn't an easy decision.
Those tables had been part of countless quilting projects, but RV living has a way of teaching you that sometimes practicality has to win.
I eventually purchased a different setup for my sewing area. Is it my forever solution?
No.
In fact, I'm already planning changes because I'm not completely happy with it. But that's another story for another day.
For now, I'm learning to make the best of what I have.
One of the biggest jobs was sorting through my quilting supplies. The loft area quickly became home to totes filled with fabric, notions, patterns, and finished quilts. Even after downsizing from the house, I still had far more fabric than I could reasonably justify bringing with me.
Over those three months, I sorted, organized, donated, and sold.
By the time I was finished, I had parted with nearly a third of my fabric collection.
For a quilter, that's no small accomplishment!
Not everything found a new home before we left, though. The items I couldn't sell in time were moved into our storage unit, where they'll stay until we're ready to continue letting them go.
Downsizing, we've learned, isn't a one-time event.
It's an ongoing process.
While I was creating a sewing room, Greg was focused on another important piece of the puzzle—finding the right truck to pull Big Bertha.
He spent weeks debating between a Ford F-350 dually and a Ford F-450 dually. After plenty of research and more than a few conversations, he decided the F-450 was the better fit for us.
The only problem?
Finding the right one.
Several weeks passed before he finally located exactly what he wanted, and by late April, we had our tow vehicle.
Now we were finally ready.
Or so we thought.
Technically, once we had the truck, we could have hit the road immediately. But we had committed to a three-month stay at Hawkins Pointe and decided to honor that commitment rather than leaving early.
Looking back, I'm grateful we stayed.
Those extra weeks gave me more time to sell additional belongings, continue organizing the RV, and slowly settle into what full-time RV living would actually look like.
Even today, we still have items in storage that we'll eventually let go of.
That's okay.
This lifestyle isn't about becoming a minimalist overnight.
It's about slowly discovering what truly adds value to your life—and realizing that everything else is simply taking up space.
Those three months weren't glamorous.
We weren't sightseeing or posting pictures from breathtaking destinations.
But without those months of preparation, we wouldn't have been ready for the adventures that were waiting just down the road.
Sometimes the journey doesn't begin when you turn the key.
Sometimes it begins while you're standing still, preparing for everything that's about to change.
Have you ever spent months preparing for something that completely changed your life? We'd love to hear your story in the comments.
Once we made the decision to return to RV life, selling the house became the first step in making that dream a reality.
Sometimes life has a way of reminding you that you're exactly where you're supposed to be.
When we mentioned to one of our neighbors that we were thinking about selling, they suggested we speak with another neighbor before putting the house on the market. They were pretty sure someone they knew would be interested.
They were right.
We showed the house that day, and by that evening we had a signed contract.
Just like that.
It all happened so quickly that it felt like more than coincidence. It felt like God was opening the next door for us and confirming we were following the path He had planned.
With the house sold, we faced the next challenge...
What in the world were we going to do with all of our stuff?
Greg and I have only been married for 12 years, and we'd lived in this house on Posey Hollow Road for just two and a half years. It's amazing how much a person can accumulate in such a short amount of time. Every closet, cabinet, and corner seemed to hold things we had forgotten we even owned.
As difficult as the downsizing process was, what I knew I would miss most wasn't the furniture or the decorations.
It was the memories.
My favorite part of the house was my sewing room and quilting room. The sewing room was filled with shelves of colorful fabric waiting to become quilts, bags, and gifts. Across the hall was my quilting room, where I spent countless hours creating what I like to call a little bit of magic with Miss Moxie, my longarm quilting machine.
But that's a story for another day.
Outside, I had spent two years building a garden that brought me so much joy. In fact, I was already making plans for what I wanted to plant in the spring.
Then there were the rose bushes.
Those may have been the hardest thing to leave behind.
I had planted a yellow rose in memory of my late husband and a pink rose for Greg's late wife. Every spring they bloomed as a quiet reminder that although love sometimes ends too soon, the memories never fade.
Knowing I wouldn't be there to watch them bloom again brought more tears than I expected.
But sometimes the hardest goodbyes make room for the greatest adventures.
Although we left behind a house we loved, we're carrying every one of those memories with us. They helped shape who we are, and they'll always be part of our story.
Now it's time to begin making new memories.
A new home.
New roads.
New campgrounds.
New friendships.
And countless adventures waiting just beyond the next bend.
Have you ever had to leave a place that held special memories? We'd love to hear what was hardest for you to say goodbye to.
Every big adventure starts with a single step, and for us, that step was walking onto an RV lot.
After spending several years away from full-time RV living, it was exciting to see just how much the industry had changed. Floor plans had evolved, interiors felt more like luxury homes, and there were so many new features we hadn't seen when we were on the road before.
Our first day of shopping took us to two dealerships in the Knoxville area: Campers Inn RV and A&L RV Sales. We arrived full of excitement...and left with even more questions than answers.
At Campers Inn, we toured two Riverstone models. Riverstone had always been our dream coach during our first full-time RV journey. In fact, if we hadn't decided to purchase a traditional home in 2020, there's a good chance we would have upgraded to one back then. Walking through those same floor plans years later brought back a lot of memories and reminded us why we had loved them in the first place.
Later that day, we visited A&L RV Sales to take our first look at Brinkley fifth wheels. We toured the G4150 along with another model that, unfortunately, I can't remember now. At the time, Brinkley was still a relatively new manufacturer, and we were curious to see what all the excitement was about.
By the end of the day, we still didn't know which direction we wanted to go. The Riverstone had everything we had dreamed about for years, while the Brinkley introduced us to fresh ideas and innovative features we hadn't considered.
Thankfully, we weren't under any pressure to make a quick decision. We had plenty of time to compare models, ask questions, and really think about what would work best for this next chapter of our lives.
Looking back now, it's funny to remember how uncertain we felt that day. Little did we know that this was just the beginning of a journey that would eventually lead us to "Big Bertha" and back to the full-time RV lifestyle we love.
Sometimes the best adventures don't begin when you buy the RV—they begin the moment you start dreaming about what's possible.
