Bill Whetstone is the Better RVing.com Forum Leader and has 38 years of RVing experience.  He and his wife, Jolene, live full time out of their 1997 Southwind Fleetwood.  Get to know Bill at forums.betterrving.com.


How would you define nearly four decades of a marriage that has allowed you to go where you please, introduce your children to places other kids only see in books and then watch them pass that legacy on to your grandchildren?



Raven, Photo courtesy of Bill Whetstone
“Freedom.”  Says full time RVer and itinerant Work Camper, Bill Whetstone.  He and his wife of 38 years, Jolene, have shared the adventure of the RV lifestyle since the very beginning.  “We bought our first camper – a popup – right after we were married.  We have never looked back.” The mode of camping has changed over the years – first the popup, then a travel trailer and even some time in tents – but their ardor for the open road and the adventure they find at the end of it has never cooled.  Nor has their love for each other.


Jolene grew up in a camping family, so the choice between driving your closet or packing a suitcase was easy.  The lifestyle made sense to Bill as well.  “I had always wanted to give RVing a try.  Now I can’t imagine what I would be doing otherwise.  Probably stuck in the same job, still working in an office somewhere.”


During their marriage, Bill and Jolene were able to give their children the lifestyle Jolene had known and Bill dreamed about.  Says Bill: “Our kids were raised with a great feeling of independence and confidence.  They got to see more and do more than they ever would have doing the typical ‘week at Disney’ vacations.  They learned about nature and the outdoors by interacting first hand.  Learned to respect and love their country by being out in it. And the social experience they had was priceless.”  In addition to his involvement with the Boy Scouts, Bill encouraged his kids to talk to and learn from the other RVers they met on the road.  “We never had to worry about our kids acting up in public, misbehaving.  They learned to appreciate and respect people of all ages on our trips.”



White Wolf, Photo courtesy of Bill Whetstone
When asked how else RVing has impacted his family, you can hear the smile in Bill’s voice as he answers.  “We have family and friends all over the U.S.  RVing allows us to go and visit anytime we want – and never impose.  You can park the rig in their driveway if there’s room or find a nearby campsite.  You never get that 3-day-guest smell.”


The kids are grown and gone, and the Whetstones now travel in a 35-foot Coach. Bill continues to work seasonally at Lazydays “just to be in and around the heart of RVing”, and they are about to begin their second summer season as Work Campers at America’s premier National Park, Yellowstone.  Bill and Jolene work in one of the Park Bookstore and Information Centers. “Old Faithful goes off every 90 minutes.  Most folks travel across the country to see it.  I just walk out my front door.”


Grizzly Bear, Photo courtesy of Bill Whetstone
This lush, wild setting is quite a departure from a career spent working with computers.  “Over 30 years in the industry I’ve just about done it all – consulting, directing, writing code and developing software.  Logging all that time in an office sure makes you appreciate the opportunity hook up your camper or hop in your coach and just get away.”


Bill’s enthusiasm for the lifestyle spread.  “When we bought our travel trailer we sold the popup to my folks.   We used to caravan together on vacation.  Other times, they would come up to Rhode Island or we would head down to Florida to visit them.”


It was on one of those getaways that Bill and Jolene first began to think about going full time.  “We came down from Rhode Island to visit the folks in Florida.  Right off they took us over to Lazydays.  We grabbed some lunch at what was then ‘Fiesta Hall’ and then just spent some time poking around.  The respect of the staff and the rows and rows of different RVs – all with SOLD signs in the windows – just blew me away.  From then on, any trip we took to Florida had to include a stop at Lazydays.  I never got tired of learning new things and just dreaming of the lifestyle.”


Bison grazing, Photo courtesy of Bill Whetstone
That fascination with both RVing and with Lazydays grew bone deep in Bill until, in 2005, he started sharing his passion with other prospective RVers as a sales associate at Lazydays.  “I love introducing people to the lifestyle, but I have to admit you do get a little jealous hearing about all the places they’ve been and where they plan to go in the new unit.”  Bill and Jolene stayed in Florida for three years, until the wanderlust got the best of them.  In 2008, after helping so many other folks hit the road full time, Bill decided it was his turn.  


Between their own time on the road and his years at Lazydays, the Whetstones had built a web of friends and family from sea to shining sea.  Most nights, before looking for a place to camp, they would make a call to meet up with their extended RV family.


They landed in Arizona where, by chance or Providence, they met a couple who were looking to hire some summer help up in Yellowstone.  The opportunity was with a non-profit organization called the Yellowstone Association.  Since 1933 this group, headquartered in Gardiner, Montana, has been the National Park Service’s official education partner for all 2.2 million acres of Yellowstone National Park.  The Association staffs bookstores in all nine Yellowstone Visitor’s Centers, produces movies about the park and sponsors attraction signage.  The Whetstones were a perfect fit.  


Wolf,  Photo courtesy of Bill Whetstone
Because the job did not start until May, Bill and Jolene had over a month to get from Florida to Yellowstone.  What to do?  What to do?  When there are grandkids to see, is that even a question?  On their way to their new gig, the Whetstones were able to spend some time with their daughter and her kids.  Her husband – a Navy sailor – had shipped out three weeks after the family moved into their new home.  There was some fixing up to be done and Grandpa – a natural handyman – was pleased as punch to take that “job” too.  Bill remodeled some closets, painted a few rooms, fixed up the garage and reveled in the unsurpassed joy of grandchildren.


They spent the summer selling books, DVDs and CDs in the Visitor Center next to Old Faithful.  One of Bill’s favorite parts of the job was helping park visitors get the most out of their trip.  “On our off hours we had the run of the park.  We could explore anywhere and everywhere.  We really got to know the place.  Fell in love with it.”


That passion was recognized.  This year Bill returns to summer at Yellowstone as the Assistant Manager of the four Southern District Visitor Centers.  “Be sure to let folks know, if they happen to be out and around Madison, Old Faithful, West Thumb or Grant – stop by and say hi.  Jolene and I would love to meet them.  And make sure to check out yellowstoneassociation.org.”


He can’t wait to get back to the park, his voice races as he talks of fly fishing the streams and hiking the trails.  “You can be standing in waist deep water and read the date off a penny at the bottom of the stream.  It’s that clear.”


Landscape with Bison, Photo courtesy of Bill Whetstone
“What we love most about the park is that much of it is still wilderness, but there’s still a ton of stuff to see just off the road.  For example, Lone Star Geyser is about a 2 and a half-mile hike.  If you’re there in the morning when it erupts it creates this brilliant kaleidoscope of colors in the water. You can hear it rumbling as you approach from up the trail, then, when it goes off, there’s this plume of color shooting into the sky.  And, of course, we love Old Faithful.  Lower Falls is breathtaking and Grand Prismatic Springs is another must see.”


The four-legged residents of the park have found a place in their hearts as well.  Bison and elk walk right up to the motorhomes as if posing for snapshots.  Coyotes grow large in the Park and add their voices to a hauntingly beautiful nightly soundtrack punctuated by the cries of Yellowstone’s resurgent wolves.  

In 38 years, as both weekend warriors and full timers, the Whetstones have seen America up close.  Bill tells of being spellbound at the colors of the desert sunsets in Texas, of huge boulders that defy gravity, endless fields of energy-generating windmills in Rawlins, Wyoming, and impromptu Dobro jam sessions around the campfire in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.  And, of course, he talks about the “Wonderland” that is Yellowstone.  Where geysers turn into prisms and animals, once on the brink of extinction, roam freely.  A place where hikers venture where no car can follow.  Where children can reach out and touch history and photographers capture images that inspired renowned watercolor artist, Thomas Moran, over a century ago. 


Letting the road take you where it leads, sharing the adventure with someone you love and enjoying every stop along the way…that’s freedom.  The heart of a nation and the soul of the RV lifestyle.