RV Couple : It’s a Life They Take Anywhere

Joe and Kay Peterson look like your average, everyday retired couple. Joe, tall and bespectacled with a quick laugh, once worked as a union electrician. Kay, white-haired and petite, used to be a registered nurse.

But one fact distinguishes these 59-year-olds from most others: For the last 17 years the former Huntington Beach couple have lived a life some people only dream about. They sold their home, doled out their possessions to their children, bought a 34-foot recreational vehicle and have been happily criss- crossing the country ever since.

They wheeled into town recently to appear at the 22nd annual Sports, Vacation and RV Show, where they have been holding twice-daily clinics on the RV life style. The show continues through the weekend at the Anaheim Convention Center, but the Petersons will hold only one clinic each day on the weekend--from 5 to 6 p.m. today and from 6 to 7 p.m. Sunday.)

“This is the first year the clinics have been held, and the Petersons have a full house every time,” said Corrine Sidney, a spokeswoman for the show.

Rent-Free Living

Embracing the RV life style can mean living rent-free 365 days a year, the Petersons said.

Joe and Kay are sort of the “mother and father” figure of many full-time RVers. Kay has written several books on the RV life style, and both give lectures on how to solve problems and face the fears some people may have on becoming full-time RVers.

They are the organizers of the Escapees, a club that primarily provides information to its 18 chapters (including one in Mexico and one in Canada) and more than 7,000 members.

They were not always held in such high esteem for their wanderlust. Especially by family members and friends.

“Our family thought we were crazy, and our friends thought we were crazy,” Kay said.

“We did do our share of agonizing,” Joe said, adding that it mostly centered on uprooting their younger children.

The Petersons appeared to have weathered well the experience of spending nearly two decades together in close confinement. Their conversations usually consist of one starting a story, pausing, then the other finishing. They held hands as they strolled along the convention floor toward the parking lot where their motor home was parked.

The two met in 1963 through the Parents Without Partners organization. This is the second marriage for each, and each has four children by the previous marriage. “When I married her 22 years ago, I had to give up my director’s position (in the organization),” laughed Joe.

He gained a wife who not only understood his love for traveling but had an even stronger interest in it than he did.

“Usually it is the woman who holds the man back (from pulling up roots),” Joe said. “But this was really all Kay’s idea. She set her heart on it. When she began wrapping my sandwiches in road maps, I knew she was serious.”

Kay says she has always dreamed of traveling. “When I was young, I would look at a Greyhound bus and dream of going places,” she said, explaining that she came from a poor family who could not afford to travel, “unless it was moving from one apartment to the next one.”

So Enamored

So the Petersons rented out their home for the first year and, with some of the younger children in tow, hit the road. In the beginning, they would change locations only twice a year to allow the children some continuity in their education. They lived in Colorado and Arizona that first year.

“Our biggest agony was over the children’s education,” Joe said, adding that they consulted with professionals who advised that changing schools would not harm the youngsters. After a year they were so enamored with their new life, they sold the home and used the money for a better RV.

Now, the youngest child is 27 years old and moved out, so the Petersons can travel whenever the spirit hits them.

They prefer to park their RV on free sites. It not only saves money but also frees them from having to follow a timetable by keeping campsite reservations. “There are RVers who must utilize free parking because it is the only way they can afford to travel,” Kay said. “But there are many more who object to spending their money on amenities they do not need.”

They say the freedom to indulge their dreams of traveling is the greatest benefit of their life. But they admit that leaving family and friends may be hard for others. “This argument is often the clincher (against being on the road full time),” Kay said.

One of the Peterson’s favorite locations is California. “You can’t beat Southern California for having the best year-round climate,” Joe said. But sometimes the smog gets too much for Kay. Other favorite stops are small Texas towns because of the clear, clean air.

Three Solutions

Joe, who picked up odd jobs as an electrician up until four years ago, is confident that “for every problem that arises, there are no less than three solutions to it.”

Kay’s writing now provides a source of income.

They have driven through 48 states and remain convinced that people everywhere, although different, are basically good.

“We had heard that New Yorkers are cold-hearted,” Kay said. “But we just wouldn’t let them be that way. We would talk to them, and they would talk back. I think they are friendly, but they just won’t speak to you first.”

Once, when they were walking along a New York street, they noticed a man lying on the ground while the crowd ignored him.

“I crouched down on the street to see if the bum was OK,” Joe said. “How could anyone know for sure if he was just drunk? He could have been sick. People then started coming over to me. They were more concerned about me bending over this bum than about the bum.

“But, you know, it turns out they were right. When I woke him up, he got so mad at me. I wanted to be able to say that he needed an ambulance, but what he really needed was sobering up!”

Impromptu Tours

During the same trip, the Petersons’ motor home broke down in the middle of a busy Manhattan intersection. While Joe was outside trying to get it running again, people began peeking inside.

“I told them to come on in, have a look inside and have some coffee while they were at it,” Kay said. “I spent two hours showing people around. Some of them said they had never seen an RV before, even from the outside.”

That experience led Kay to write an article titled, “The Only RV in New York.”

The Petersons have never been burglarized or threatened, although their travels often take them along secluded roads.

“We haven’t had anything that even resembles a security threat,” Joe said. “This RV is like a fortress. But if I ever had to use my .38 revolver, I have it right here,” he said indicating a nearby cabinet. “But I don’t think I will ever use it.”

The Petersons do not recommend every RVer carry a gun but advise those who do to be aware of state laws concerning ownership.

Sick on Road

Neither is concerned about becoming ill while on the road. “When people ask me what happens if we become ill,” Joe said, “I tell them that ‘I can be just as sick in my RV as you can be in your house.’ ”

Kay adds that there is usually a doctor in every town anyway.

The Petersons’ next stop: Arizona. They and their litter-boxed trained dachshund, A.D. (short for Attack Dog) will pull out when the RV show ends.

Their children now live all over the country, and the couple sometimes park in their driveways and stay a while.

“And they are always delighted to see us,” Joe said. “When we visit, we are not displacing them out of their bedrooms or kitchens. And they have long since accepted what we do.”

Said Kay, pointing to the inside of the blue-carpeted RV with a lush green plant hanging near one of the windows, “This is perfect for us.”

Joe and Kay Peterson, here with their dog A.D., give clinics on how to adapt to the RV life style.