This handy couple gave Wanda, their 1997 RV, a full makeover

In The Know by Yahoo

September 2, 2022 at 11:45 AM

Larie and Jason took their lives on the road after their kids flew the coop

Video Transcript

LARIE PIDGEON: Hi! I'm Larie Pidgeon.

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: And I'm Jason Kosciuszko.

LARIE PIDGEON: And we are Roam and Conquer.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

This beauty behind us is Wanda, our 1997 Tiffin Allegro RV that we travel in full time.

So we started off in upstate New York, where we have lived for the past 20 years with our kids. They flew the coop, and we just--

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: Soared away.

LARIE PIDGEON: Yeah. We just realized that our house was way too big. Our RV is about 350 square foot.

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: Yeah.

LARIE PIDGEON: We only have one slide. So now-- now in the RV community, it's like, "how many slides do you have?"

[LAUGHS]

You know, it's like a car garage, you know?

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: Right.

LARIE PIDGEON: So when this pulls out, it's really great. It gives us some space. A big thing for me is I love to feel like my home is a hug.

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: Uh-huh.

LARIE PIDGEON: So we were looking at RVs online, and they were just man caves. They were brown leather and dark colors, and I was like, ugh! If I'm going to live in this, it can't happen. So Jason's a master carpenter, and I can basically give him anything and he can create it for me.

This is where you would enter our RV. We created this awesome dashboard wall.

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: Foldable wall-- it collapses when we're ready to hit the road.

LARIE PIDGEON: He also created this custom dashboard. We wanted this area to be our living room/workspace, but also sit me and Jason comfortably. We found this really cool LED light at a folk festival. This ceiling was carpeted, but Jason created this awesome cedar ceiling.

The best part of this life is going on adventures.

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: Exploring the trails, the different mountains, different lakes, waterfalls.

LARIE PIDGEON: Yeah, off-- right, we have a Jeep, so we do a lot of off-roading, kayaking, biking, trails.

This is our living room/Jason's mad at me bedroom--

[LAUGHS]

--you know, because this folds out into a futon, which is really great. And if you look, there's extra storage, which is really cool. You know, [INAUDIBLE].

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: And the whole thing folds out into a futon.

LARIE PIDGEON: Another cool feature that I love. I'm all about light, so all of our faucets have these incredible LED lights that actually change colors to let when it's hot, when it's cold, or when it's temperate.

We've got this awesome stove, which is great. I love it because of the countertop. It comes down, so you have an actual space. And then when you want to cook, it just flips up. It's gas-- I recommend gas for everybody, because you can cook when you're not hooked up at a campground.

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: Yeah.

LARIE PIDGEON: It's got a really cool light-- again, obsessed with light. And when you're not cooking, it's also a great place to store your pots and pans.

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: So here's the pantry. It was very simple before, just shelves. I put the shelves back in, but they're more solid now. We have these great drawers that pull all the way out to get access to everything that's in there.

LARIE PIDGEON: So we're about to enter my favorite part of the RV. So I love bathrooms. I love to get ready. I love that feeling. And one of the most scared things about getting an RV was the bathrooms-- they're tiny, they're gross, they're plastic. So Jason made me a little oasis.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

You can see it's very open. He created this great open shower for me. Super eclectic-- you can see, like, the floor's, like, really cool little beads.

This sink was one of my favorite purchases. When we boondock, we can just fill it up and it doubles as a bath. So it fills all the way up so we can take, you know, like a bath. I had to get used to that, by the way, because there is no baths.

My frame of mind right now, and I'll speak for him, because I always do--

[LAUGHS]

--is I-- you know, our frame of the mind is that, you know, keep costs low, see the country, you know, while we can, you know?

Where the magic happens!

[LAUGHS]

This is our bedroom! The wallpaper is my favorite. It's Emma Shipley. She is out of London. Super cool, awesome art that she does.

Our bed is extremely high. It's so comfortable. So I want it to be--

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: It's super important, a comfortable bed.

LARIE PIDGEON: Comfortable bed. But yeah, this is our home! Thank you so much for spending this time with us and letting us rant on and on about our hobby/life/you know, everything.

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: It's an amazing life, and we recommend it to everybody.

LARIE PIDGEON: Yeah! Follow us on TikTok-- @roamandconquer_, Instagram. And hope to see you on the road. Bye!

JASON KOSCIUSZKO: Bye.

LARIE PIDGEON: Get out of here!

[MUSIC PLAYING]

AFP
Asian markets mixed as traders eye rate cuts
Asian traders fought to get a recent rally back on course Thursday following a tepid lead from Wall Street but record performance in Europe highlighted optimism that central banks were on course to cut interest rates."As the Federal Reserve extends the timeline for interest rate cuts, historical data shows that longer Fed pauses often correlate with better equity returns.
NBC News
Barron Trump to step into the political arena as a Florida delegate at the Republican convention
Barron Trump was picked by the Republican Party of Florida as one of the state’s at-large delegates to the Republican National Convention, according to a list of delegates obtained by NBC News.
NBC News
How the parasite that RFK Jr. said he contracted infects the brain
What to know about parasitic infections in the brain caused by pork tapeworms, after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he once suffered from the condition.
AFP
Sweden's Eurovision brings kitsch in the shadow of Gaza
After a run-up in the shadow of the war in Gaza, the Eurovision Song Contest final gets underway on Saturday in Sweden's Malmo, where representatives from 26 countries will compete."There should be demonstrations, people should voice their opinions, people should boycott," Magnus Bormark, who is competing for Norway with his group Gate, told AFP. Gate, like eight other contestants, have publicly called for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
TODAY
Martinelli’s recalls nearly 25,000 cases of apple juice due to ‘elevated’ arsenic levels
Martinelli’s recalling a lot of its Gold Medal apple juice with ‘elevated’ arsenic levels that are higher than the FDA limit. Here's what we know.
Reuters
Asian shares subdued as China trade eyed, yen steadies after recent falls
Asian shares were subdued on Thursday as investors awaited China trade data to gauge the health of the Chinese economy, while the yen steadied after three days of declines as Japan talked up a potential currency intervention. Later in the day, the Bank of England (BoE) will decide its interest rate policy, with all eyes on the prospects of a June rate cut following the overnight move by Sweden's Riksbank to cut rates, which underlined Europe's divergence from the U.S. Federal Reserve. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.1%, hovering not far from a 15-month high hit earlier in the week after Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated a stance for policy easing later this year.
AFP
Bank of England set to hold rate at 16-year high
The Bank of England was set Thursday to keep its main interest rate at a 16-year high, resisting a cut as UK inflation cools at a slower pace than forecast.With the central bank set to keep the status quo, focus will be on accompanying statements for clues on when it may start cutting the interest rate.
Associated Press
Barron Trump, 18, to make political debut as Florida delegate to the Republican convention
Former President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has been chosen to serve as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention, the state party chairman said Wednesday. Republican Party of Florida chairman Evan Power said the 18-year-old high school senior will serve as one of 41 at-large delegates from Florida to the national gathering, where the GOP is set to officially nominate his father as its presidential candidate for the November general election. NBC News first reported the choice of Barron Trump as a delegate.
Associated Press
China criticizes US for ship's passage through Taiwan Strait, weeks before new leader takes office
China’s military criticized a U.S. destroyer’s passage through the Taiwan Strait, which occurred less than two weeks before the island's new president takes office and while Washington and Beijing are making uneven efforts to restore regular military exchanges. Navy Senior Capt. Li Xi, spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command, accused the U.S. of having “publicly hyped” the passage of the USS Halsey on Wednesday. In a statement, Li said the command, which oversees operations around the strait, “organized naval and air forces to monitor" the ship's transit and handle matters ”in accordance with laws and regulations.”
TODAY
What it means to dream about water, from waves to waterfalls
Is seeing water in dreams good or bad? What it means to drop about water, from tidal waves to overflowing and flooding.
NBC News
House votes overwhelmingly to save Speaker Johnson from Marjorie Taylor Greene's push to oust him
Far-right Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene made good on her threat Wednesday and filed a motion to oust Republican Speaker Mike Johnson from power over his decision to pass billions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine.
Associated Press
Transitional council in Haiti embraces new changes following turmoil as gang violence grips country
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for Haiti is changing the way it operates in a move that surprised many as gang violence consumes the country. Instead of having a single council president, four longtime politicians will take turns leading the council every five months, according to two members who were not authorized to publicly share the changes because they had not yet been announced. The members told The Associated Press late Wednesday that the council also will now consider five members a majority, instead of four.
AFP
School's out: how climate change threatens education
Record-breaking heat last month that prompted governments in Asia to close schools offers fresh evidence of how climate change is threatening the education of millions of children.- 'Wake up to this' - Climate change also threatens schooling indirectly.
NBC News
Will Trump take the stand in his criminal trial?
As prosecutors near the home stretch of their criminal case against Donald Trump, one of the biggest questions looming over the historic trial is whether the former president will take the stand in his own defense.
AFP
Putin to mark Victory Day emboldened by Ukraine gains
Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow on Thursday, an event he hopes will rally patriotism as his forces advance in Ukraine.Putin will deliver this year's address buoyed by his troops' advances in Ukraine and a fresh six-year mandate in office after winning elections in March devoid of opposition.
AFP
Former Fiji PM Bainimarama handed one-year prison sentence
Former Fiji prime minister Frank Bainimarama was sentenced Thursday to one year in prison for perverting the course of justice, with a judge finding he used his political clout to shut down a police investigation.The charges relate to a police investigation into staff at Fiji's University of the South Pacific in July 2020, when Bainimarama was prime minister and Qiliho the country's top officer.
AFP
China's Xi in Hungary to celebrate 'new era' with Orban
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will host Chinese President Xi Jinping in Budapest on Thursday in a bid to strengthen already flourishing ties between Beijing and its closest EU ally.After a dinner featuring traditional Hungarian specialities on Wednesday evening, Xi will be received with military honours in Budapest on Thursday morning, alongside Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok.
AFP
With cameras absent, US public tunes out of Trump trial coverage
It ought to have been appointment TV as Stormy Daniels served up salacious details of her alleged tryst with Donald Trump in the sensational first-ever prosecution of a former president."I think not being able to see reactions, in real time, from Donald Trump and other witnesses... has negatively affected the impact that this case should have on the public."
CNN
State by state, RFK Jr. pushes for nationwide ballot access
Before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the stage at a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, last month, a team of his campaign staffers and volunteers organized hundreds of attendees through an assembly line of government forms, ID checks and color-coded wristbands. The bureaucratic workforce contrasted starkly against the classic rock music blaring over the speakers, the crowded bar at the back of the venue and the jovial spirit circulating among Midwesterners excitedly awaiting Kennedy’s remarks.
NBC News
Can heavy snowfall trigger earthquakes? A new study suggests a link
Heavy snowfall could be a factor in triggering swarms of earthquakes, a study suggests, based on research into quakes that have rattled Japan’s Noto Peninsula.

Video Transcript

Latest Stories