My on-the-road hobbies

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Tom

Tom

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Chris is the arts and crafts half of our family. A few of my hobbies/crafts while RVing are:

  • Fishing, which is discussed on the Fishing message board.
  • I love to tie my own flies, which is the closest I get to anything craftsy.
  • I spend a lot of time online, irrespective whether I'm at home, going down the highway (with Chris driving), or at a campsite.
  • If/when I can, I like to drag (tow) along a boat for fishing and exploring lakes and the like. This is discussed in more depth in our On the water message board.
  • I take lots of photos, although I don't claim to be anything more than an entry level amateu photographerr.
  • I enjoy singing and, if we can't find any good singers on the road, I'll be tempted o drag out the karaoake equipment.

Let's hear from others re your hobbies and crafts.
 
Tom:

We share a lot in common.

Fishing, fly tying (though I opted to sell all my fly tie gear before fulltiming), singing (we do carry a karaoke on board and the Admiral is an accomplished musical singer in local theater groups), boating (sold that as well), photos, online... add to that RVing, golf, chess, reading, C&W dancing, and music in general.

Spouse (Sharon) = singing, sewing, quilting (beginner), crafts, reading, RVing, C&W dancing.

Nice thread subject, looking forward to see answers from others.  One of the nice things about fulltiming is that we suddenly have time to add new hobbies.
 
As I posted in another thread Sam's hobbies are quilting and Genealogy.

I like digital photography, off roading computering, and fishing.  I haven't tied a fly since before I went into the service but might just try it again sometime.

 
We (Tilly and I) have far too many hobbies. The ones we still engage in regularly are:

Geocaching -- see our website: http://valleygeocachers.com/
Astronomy -- We carry a Celestron Refractor and use it when we can find an area that's not light-polluted. That's getting more and more difficult.
Metal Detecting/Treasure Hunting -- We have a Garrett GTI-2500 that speaks to us in a sexy female voice "Quarter -- six inches." Got started in this one with a surplus mine detector, then became the largest metal-detector dealer in the world -- Arlington Electronic Center -- Arlington Texas 1960 to 1973.

No longer fly, but here's my homebuilt from '73
 
I never built a homebuilt but I did fly as well as instruct.  We do have a metal detector but it came off this summer since I hadn't used it for over a year.  We have done a bit of Geocaching too while at forum activities.

 
I don't yet own an RV, but we are shopping for our first.  My wife will continue doing her counted cross stitch, but gets car sick when reading, so probably won't be able to do that on the road.  My 7 year old son is an avid reader, so that's probably what he will do.  Of course, my 2 year old is too young to have any hobbies. 

And I'll be dragging them all out to go geocaching.

I'm kind of surprised that more people here don't do this.  I would guess that most motorhomes have GPS receivers, and while they would be built in, would get you close enough to make use of the cheap Garmin or Magellan to find the cache.  Lots of fun and good exercise.

F_M
 
I guess my activities are hobbies.  I like computer games and communication and some web browsing.  I love learning new software.

Maybe the whole RV lifestyle is a hobby. 

I bicycle on a mountain bike.  It's all off road, so I enjoy listening to music or books on my iPod while I ride.

--pat
 
I go for the fishing. I am also an aspiring dobro player. My wife just upgraded me from "nuisance" to "bearable". I like Hank Snow tunes, Billy Jo Schafer, Steve Earle, Mike Ness and almost anything bluegrass. I do a pretty good "9 pound Hammer" and "90 miles an hour Down a Dead End Street". Currently I am working on getting down "When the Man Comes Around" an old Cash song . Wife paints little wooden birdhouses and is learning Bob Ross methods and stuff. I think she will definitely be way excited over the painting rocks thing. She also walks her two hounds and keeps rabbits.
 
I started oil painting with the Bob Ross techniques and still go back to them when doing landscapes. You can get a lot of his video/dvd instructional videos from most libraries. If she hasn't checked out http://www.wetcanvas.com/, it is worth a look. Great painting forum with experts. I mainly use it for oils, but there are also many other categories, water color, acrylics,etc. FYI
 
woodartist said:
I started oil painting with the Bob Ross techniques and still go back to them when doing landscapes. You can get a lot of his video/dvd instructional videos from most libraries. If she hasn't checked out http://www.wetcanvas.com/, it is worth a look. Great painting forum with experts. I mainly use it for oils, but there are also many other categories, water color, acrylics,etc. FYI
Click to expand...

I will definitely pass  that on to her, and thank you. :)
 
We're considering RVing on retirement and enjoy ballroom dancing. Are there likely to be places along the way which offer ballroom dancing? Maybe larger RV parks?
 
Pierat:

I know of one such place.  Cherry Hill RV Park outside of Washington DC near College Park MD... just outside the Beltway (though you get to it from inside the beltway.  some evenings they have country western dancing at their clubhouse and other evenings have ballroom dancing.

Now I am on the search for RV Parks near karaoke lounges.  any suggestions out there?
 
Venture Out RV park in Mesa AZ has about 10 kinds of dancing, including ballroom.

And there's a karaoke place a block or two west on Main St.

--pat
 
Thanks Pat.

Another hobby I became interested in is prospecting with those metal detectors.  I met a guy in South Beach Oregon who had amazing stories to tell.  He earns several hundred dollars a month with occasional prospecting.  I thought it was a haphazard hobby, but it turns out it is really scientific.  He has read many books on the subject and has a truly refined idea of where and when to prospect.  And what kinds of things to search for.

He likes tent areas over motorhome areas, children's playgrounds, beaches, excavated areas getting ready for new construction... and has very sensible theories.  He likes early morning prospecting best ... to be johnny on the spot.  He has in the last 3 months found two rings were several thousand each.  the guy was soft spoken and sincere, so I believe he was not a BSer.

the down side of this hobby is the start up expense.  He claims there is no metal detector that is really useful out there for under $1500.  He has one that retails for $2,000 but he picked it up on ebay for $750.  I had always eyed those $200 Radio Shack things.

He had a great story about an older couple on the beach.  They were leaving as he was arriving.  15 minutes later they came running back and began digging through the sand.  He asked them what they had lost.  Her wedding ring.  In 6 swipes of the detector he found it for them.  :D

Expensive to get started, but this guy says he paid for his within a month's time.

Maybe for Xmas if I am a good boy?
 
Pat and Smoky - thanks. Good to know ballroom dancing is alive and well in at least some places. Our stick house is Tucson so we have scoped out a couple venues here. Apparently Voyager RV Park on the southeast side has it sometimes. E.g., we attend Saturday dances occasionally at American Dance Company, a new dance studio at Orange Grove and Oracle in northwest Tucson. - John
 
John (or anyone):

Does anyone know of any Arizona places that have Western two step dancing?  Doesn't have to be an RV place, a honky tonk will do.
 
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