HANNAH WIEST Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 12:00 am
The sun blazed overhead, warming the vast wilderness. As a Mustang roamed here and a Ram meandered there, an eagle perched near the edge of the land and gazed upon the activity.
But this was no ordinary eagle. It needed a spacious place to bed down for the night that would accommodate its large, ah, wingspan. As always, it found it at Wal-Mart. The convenient food source was a plus, too.
You see, this "eagle" was a 40-foot American Eagle motor home. It is home, sweet home for full-time RVers William and Montez Beard. That and the various plots of Wal-Mart parking lots they claim throughout their wanderings.
The Beards, along with hundreds of other RVers, find the Wal-Mart wilderness a convenient, cost-efficient way to see America's sights. The couple stopped at Casper's east-side Wal-Mart late last week.
RV parks often charge $30 or more per night, William said. Since the Beards don't need hook-ups, the free parking at Wal-Marts around the nation saves them thousands of dollars each year.
Not that they're free-loading. Wal-Mart stores and RV campers have a symbiotic relationship, Montez said. The average RVer spends $60 to $100 on groceries, clothes, pharmaceuticals and other supplies in many of the stores at which they camp. Thus, the paved wilderness remains open.
"While we do not offer electrical service or accommodations typically necessary for RV customers, Wal-Mart values RV travelers and considers them among our best customers," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Ashley Hardie in a statement to the Star-Tribune. "Consequently, we do permit RV parking on our store lots as we are able. Permission to park is extended by individual store managers, based on availability of parking space and local laws."
That suits the Beards. With rising fuel prices, they can put the money saved toward a few extra miles. And, when you spend the equivalent of a month of rent or a car payment on one tank of gas, every penny counts. The price tag on their most recent fill-up in Casper was $451.
"How do you handle the rising gas prices? With great pain," William said.
But, he said, the pain at the pump is worth it. That $451 fills their 150-gallon tank and buys them about 900 miles on the open road. And there's no other place the Beards would rather be.
William, 77, and Montez, 76, are called full-timers in the RV world, joining about 3 million people who live in their RV year-round. They rent a permanent space in Arizona and stay for a few months each winter. The rest of the time, they travel.
It's a good life, they said, but one the Beards almost didn't have.
In 1996, Montez was diagnosed with breast cancer. It seemed her dream of seeing the world from the window of an RV would never be realized. But William encouraged her to fight: "I told her if you can get yourself through this, we'll do whatever you want to do. We'll do your dream."
Two years later, cancer free, they did. The Beards sold their 4,000-square-foot home on five acres of land in Ohio and distributed everything they owned to the local library and thrift stores. If it didn't fit in one of the couple dozen cubbies in their new motor home, it had to go. The same principle still applies after 10 years on the road. If either one buys a new item, an old item must go to a nearby thrift store.
"We're definitely not stuff collecters anymore," Montez said. Their "stuff" is memories: picking up their new home in Florida, that trip to Alaska, the times their two daughters fly to wherever the Beards are parked for a visit, or any host of mini trips around the West. That's the stuff dreams are made of, Montez said.
She has had a travel bug most her life. In high school, she and a friend collected travel folders for all the states and were always planning some trip somewhere.
"'Go' has always been my middle name," she said.
But going full-time had to wait as life intervened. She and William met at college, where both pursued their chemical engineering degrees. They got married and raised two girls while William built his career.
In 1987, William was the vice president of a large minerals company that decided to shut its doors. He was charged with disposing the company's assets and his own job. But then the governor of West Virginia offered to chip in $4 million to help William buy the company's plant in West Virginia to preserve the jobs it offered. Though the Beards' life savings were only $250,000 then, they decided to take a chance and invest it all in the company. It paid off. Profits were $24 million the first year and double the next.
The Beards lived lucratively for several years. Then the cancer hit, and the course of their life changed.
Montez spent a year looking for the perfect motor home. Once they found it in Florida, she took an RV driving course from a man who only taught women because he didn't like dealing with men who thought they knew it all, she said. Then, with the house and belongings gone, they hit the pavement and have been roaming ever since.
"There's so much to see and so much beauty in this country," Montez said. "All I need is my computer, and my portable sewing machine, and a few clothes, and I'm set."
And a Wal-Mart.
Reach features reporter Hannah Wiest at (307) 266-0535 or hannah.wiest@trib.com.
Miles and miles to go
William and Montez Beard bought their 1998 American Eagle motor home 10 years ago and have traveled the nation since, seeing the sights from Rushmore to the Redwood forests. The same RV today would cost about $480,000. Ten years ago, it was half that price.
A couple of years after buying their RV in Florida, they drove to Alaska for several months. They've seen most of the lower 48 states but prefer to spend their time wandering in the West. They've been to Yellowstone close to 60 times, William said.
The Beards have all they need inside their 40-foot home on wheels. Take a peek at what takes them all those miles:
* A 150-gallon gas tank that uses diesel fuel. It took $451 to fill it when they stopped in Casper. A full tank will take them about 900 miles at 8 miles per gallon.
* Four sources of power: AC, DC, propane and a self-contained generator that runs off diesel fuel
* One satellite for TV reception and one for their Internet connection
* Three televisions: one in the bedroom, one at the front of the RV and one for watching outdoors
* One laptop computer and a small printer
* A 100-gallon tank for fresh drinking water
* A 60-gallon tank for gray water - used for showering and washing dishes
* A 40-gallon tank for wastewater
* Two couches with drawers underneath for storage
* A kitchen table with two padded chairs (and two more in a storage closet for when guests come)
* A stove, oven, sink and microwave
* A washer and drier unit (all-in-one)
* A full bathroom with stand-up shower
* Close to 20 cabinets, a pantry, two large storage closets in the bathroom area and numerous drawers tucked everywhere possible
* A double bed with overhead storage
* A compact 2-foot vacuum cleaner
* Enough polish so William can wax the entire motor home twice a year by hand
* Plenty of mirrors to make it all seem more spacious
William and Montez Beard bought their 1998 American Eagle motor home 10 years ago and have traveled the nation since, seeing the sights from Rushmore to the Redwood forests. The same RV today would cost about $480,000. Ten years ago, it was half that price.
A couple of years after buying their RV in Florida, they drove to Alaska for several months. They've seen most of the lower 48 states but prefer to spend their time wandering in the West. They've been to Yellowstone close to 60 times, William said.
The Beards have all they need inside their 40-foot home on wheels. Take a peek at what takes them all those miles:
* A 150-gallon gas tank that uses diesel fuel. It took $451 to fill it when they stopped in Casper. A full tank will take them about 900 miles at 8 miles per gallon.
* Four sources of power: AC, DC, propane and a self-contained generator that runs off diesel fuel
* One satellite for TV reception and one for their Internet connection
* Three televisions: one in the bedroom, one at the front of the RV and one for watching outdoors
* One laptop computer and a small printer
* A 100-gallon tank for fresh drinking water
* A 60-gallon tank for gray water - used for showering and washing dishes
* A 40-gallon tank for wastewater
* Two couches with drawers underneath for storage
* A kitchen table with two padded chairs (and two more in a storage closet for when guests come)
* A stove, oven, sink and microwave
* A washer and drier unit (all-in-one)
* A full bathroom with stand-up shower
* Close to 20 cabinets, a pantry, two large storage closets in the bathroom area and numerous drawers tucked everywhere possible
* A double bed with overhead storage
* A compact 2-foot vacuum cleaner
* Enough polish so William can wax the entire motor home twice a year by hand
* Plenty of mirrors to make it all seem more spacious]]->