How Do We Live Without a Microwave?
Our family of 5!
Graduation day for our oldest, Dreana.
Loveland, Colorado 2014
Another question we get from fellow campers and many of our kid’s friends and parents when they were younger is this, “how do you live without a microwave?”
To see how this came to be, we first have to go back to an eventful night in 2014.
The Story of Graduation Eve
It was graduation eve at our home in Colorado. Family was in from around the country to help us celebrate our oldest daughter’s high school graduation. It was a milestone in our family of five knowing we had raised a little person all the way to the brink of adulthood.
We were in town shopping for party supplies, trinkets, and gifts that would help commemorate such an event. As we went store to store, we could see a thunderstorm developing over the mountains just west of town, not an uncommon event for springtime in the Rocky Mountains.
As we walked the aisles of World Market (one of the few places Jerrod loves to shop at for their international candy and free coffee tastings 😊) we got a call from our neighbors, Garth, and Pam.
With excitement in his voice, Garth said “you’re not going to believe this, but your house just got struck by lightning”. I responded with the only rational thought I had after hearing a statement like that, “hmmm”. Garth assured nothing was on fire and the house appeared to be fine, but it was the loudest crack of lightening he had ever heard!
Arriving home to inspect the damage and not knowing what we would find inside, we were pleased to find out that surge protectors really do work. The important stuff, our big screen tv and entertainment center in the family room, survived just fine. What did not however, was the microwave! Its little computer board was toasted, which opened the door for a change Andrea had desired for quite a while.
Andrea as the head chef, seldom used the microwave and was quick to stop anyone else from using it as well! It had really been just a fancy exhaust fan and night light for many years before lightening finished it off.
This little incident and the change it created continues to serve us well.
Before facelift on left, after on right. You can see the missing cabinet face is where the microwave once and now it’s where we store our dishes.
A Facelift for the Queen
During our “facelift” of the Queen, one of the first things we did was remove the microwave. Being used to not having one made it that much easier and lessened a major draw on electric our system. It’s also part of the reason why in most of our pictures you’ll see our outdoor kitchen set up. We love cooking outside, listening to the sounds of nature, and expanding the size of our livable space. Nowadays cooking inside the Queen is reserved for Andrea’s baking on the few cold or rainy days we can’t escape.
Life on the road is all about knowing your consumption habits, saving where you can, and creating a life that you truly enjoy!
See you all down the road!