LIFESTYLES
Just outside the dining area, a deep seated outdoor living
room set is surrounded by the sounds of nature; a waterfall to
soothe the soul, a pond stocked with fish and a fireplace that
crackles with warmth on cool evenings.
For six months of the year, the Sanders’ motor conversion
bus is parked at their custom-designed home site at Outdoor
Resorts. The rest of the year, the tiki bar is wrapped in
heavy-duty shrink-wrap to keep it clean and varmint-free,
while they are either traveling throughout the United States,
parked at their Apple Valley Farm lot outside Lake Lure,
N.C., or cruising the open seas.
Bill Sanders owned several radio stations in Iowa when
he bought his first motor home more than 20 years ago.
That 35-foot Pace-Arrow, wired for a studio, allowed the
stations to do live remotes, and was the forerunner of the
mobile studio, the only one in the state of Iowa.
In 1989, when United Airlines Flight 232 crashed after its
emergency landing in nearby Sioux City, Sanders and his
crew drove a half-hour down the road and were already
doing live remote broadcasts as the 195 survivors were
walking out of the cornfields in that miracle story.
It was after he sold the radio stations that Bill and Rebecca
Sanders began their nomadic life. Longtime NASCAR fans,
they have traveled to many races, visited their son, a chef in
Minnesota, and traveled from New Mexico to Colorado,
California to Oregon, packing up their two dogs and their
life, enjoying their time on the road.
They’ve also visited 136 countries in 487 days at sea on
cruise ships since Bill’s retirement in 2001, a habit begun
during Rebecca’s career as a cruise ship guest lecturer.
As spring heats up, the owners at Millionaire’s Row pack
up, until the air gets frosty again up north and they can
join with their neighbors living in style in their own version
of the outdoor life.
Retirees Bill and Rebecca Sanders warm themselves at the hearth of their
outdoor fireplace.
Signs around the bar area proclaim, “Welcome to Paradise — where it’s always 5:00” and “Bill and Rebecca’s Pit stop and Tailgate Party”
and the bar is always stocked.
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