Escapees November-December 2023

away on the screen. She showed expert level familiarity with staying connected, so I got nosy and asked “Do you live here?” “This is my home base,” Kate Bright #94335 explained. “I have a van though, and I use that now for traveling.” It was enough of a response for me to ask about her travels, who she traveled with (if anyone), and how long she had been at Sutherlin. Then, she surprised me by con fi d ing that she was nearly 80 years young. We got into a long conversation about being a solo full-time RVer, having a home base, and living with a freedom that most octogenari ans don’t allow themselves to enjoy. I didn’t write down any of her answers, but later she shared more details in an e-mail exchange.

canine’s passing, she’s enjoyed the perks of not having a canine co-pilot. “Dogs are wonderful companions on the road, but if you want to see a lot of wildlife in your campsite, you are better off without an animal companion. I have traveled both with and without, and both have their joys and downfalls.” Kate says she sees more wildlife without a dog, and recalls one time when a grizzly bear and her two cubs wandered into her remote campsite in the mountains. “Despite the fact that put the whole camp ground in an uproar, I loved it! I’ve also watched a wolfpack (in Grand Teton) devour an elk carcass. It looked like something right out of a nature program.” HomeBase Kate’s a member of Timber Valley Escapees Co-op, but she hasn’t slowed down her travels too much since joining. A trailer parked there serves as her home base, but she still roams the country in her van when the mood strikes. “I usually travel about four months of the year. Two in summer, two in winter, and the rest of the time I lead a pretty quiet life,” she explains. It’s an unusual lifestyle that most of her contempo raries wouldn’t dream of doing, even those who had experience traveling as part of a couple. “A lot of women seem to be afraid to strike out on their own,” says Kate. “I was a little concerned also, but pushed forward and quickly realized I am probably as safe on the road as I am at home.” Even a tough pulmonary illness she endured last year didn’t keep her home once she recovered enough to drive. “I’m not fully recovered and probably never will be, but I obviously can drive and do (very light) hiking. I use a machine to clear my lungs for an hour a day (half hour morning and night).” At the time of this writing she had just completed a 3,700-mile jaunt to see family in Prince Edward Island, Canada. “If there’s a will, there’s a way. Some of us love traveling so much,we fi nd a way to do it.” In summer she completed a 10,000 mile round trip to “see stuff and visit friends and family,” she wrote. Despite the season’s incessant heat she enjoyed meandering along the Columbia River, the Lewis and Clark Trail and even explored Isle Royal National Park, one of the least visited

“I have never made a reservation, never used a commercial campground and never plugged in anywhere since I built out my camper van, in 2019. It’s amazing how much one can do with one solar panel and two batteries!”

Her Solo Story “I started solo RVing part time, in 2006, but I had been RVing with my husband off and on since the early 1990s. I don’t recall exactly when I started, but I was in my early 60s I think. I have been fascinated with the idea of RVing for a number of years,” she says. Today, she’s found her happy place by traveling on her own and says “I love solo RVing. I meet up with others occasionally, and we travel together for a bit, but mostly I like the freedom of making all my own decisions. I fi nd traveling alone and spend ing time in the wilderness to be a spiritual reset from the humdrum and/or hectic life I live the rest of the year. I guess I’m a natural gypsy.” Her daughter is always concerned about her free-spirited mom out there on the open road and wishes she would stop roaming, but Kate says “She knows she can’t convince me of that.” Like many solo RVers, she once had a dog along for the ride. But since her beloved

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ESCAPEES Magazine November/December 2023