As AOL used to say, “You’ve got mail”!

Everyone admit it now…you said the blog title aloud, didn’t you? And used the same lilt that the AOL mail voice used. I heard you.

One of the questions I’ve received as I describe The Great Escape is “So, how will you get your mail?”.

Full-time RVers have several options for receiving mail. Many, especially those with relatives near where they formerly lived, just have their mail come to a family member. Periodically the family member can bundle up the mail and send it to a place where the RVer will be spending a few days. I thought it would be a pain to ask friends to do that, so I opted for a mail forwarding service. Besides, I might not want my friends to see what kind of mail I get. :-).

The best that I found is provided by company that provides a variety of services to RVers. It’s called Escapees, and is based in Livingston Texas. I picked their service because they provide three different levels of forwarding. They can forward all mail or just first class mail. And, in their premium tier, they will scan and email you the envelopes and you can pick and choose what you want forwarded. I am using the middle tier – just first class mail. Here’s how it works…

On Monday, 7/10, I looked ahead at my travel route, and figured that I would be north of Salt Lake City by the end of the week. I looked at the map, and found a National Forest Service Campground that was near a small town with a Post Office. I called Escapees, gave them the Zip Code of the Post Office, and ordered my mail shipped General Delivery. On Tuesday I received a tracking email for the Priority Mail package, and on Thursday it was delivered. On Saturday I picked it up at the adorable Post Office in Providence Utah.

All they need is an ID that matches the addressee.

The process does require some advance planning, and also a tolerance for potential delays. Since Priority Mail is 3-5 days, it would have been possible, but not likely, that I would have had to wait around until Monday for the package. Also, in situations where I can plan to be in a place with a street address, I can arrange for UPS/FedEx expedited service.

So, where have we been since Providence? Here’s a couple spots:

We left Utah on Monday, July 17 and crossed into Idaho. I wanted our first stop to be somewhere that sounded relaxing. Missed that one.

Idaho has many surprises, not least is how hot it is here.  Temps in the 90’s, but cooled down pretty nicely as soon as the sun got low in the sky.