Tammy Haaby’s life is now on wheels.

“It’s difficult, but it’s working out,” she says, standing beside a beige, mid-1980s Prowler Regal RV.

Her boyfriend, David Hensel, agrees: “You kind of develop your own little system.”

The Port Townsend couple, like many, are living out of travel bags during the Hood Canal bridge closure. The bridge closed May 1 for six weeks of construction, removing the single overwater span connecting the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas.

Thousands of commuters have had to adjust, some staying in rental houses, others surfing couches, many using free Department of Transportation shuttles and bus services — all abandoning their routine paths between work and home.

Haaby, 51, and Hensel, 47, who work at Poulsbo’s Home Depot, moved into their RV and parked it on shared property in Kingston. They dug up and hooked into an onsite septic system and arranged to have similar work schedules because they are sharing a car. The two left home, family and their newly planted garden behind the day before crews closed the Hood Canal bridge and removed the first of its pontoon spans. For six weeks — or until the bridge is again open, which could be sooner, with incentivized bonuses for contractors — they’ll live in a 36-foot by 8-foot RV. The RV is roughly the same size as their deck at home, on which sits all-new patio furniture they have yet to enjoy. But neither Haaby nor Hensel have many complaints.

There is a house on the property, lived in by friends, which they can visit if they need to. They travel home on the weekends to see family, including Hensel’s 2-year-old grandson. On their way back, they gather little forgotten things they missed throughout the week like bills and correspondence.

Hensel and Haaby mimic their morning workout routine. She pretends to lift weights over her head, he demonstrates a frog squat. They say there’s just enough room in their RV, though the headspace is a little tight.

The vehicle’s interior, bedecked in ’80s chroma, boasts a couch, bathroom, television, and a separate living room, bedroom and kitchen. Hensel was about to sell it before he heard of the closure, and decided to keep it until the bridge reopens.

Laurie LeMay’s story is similiar. LeMay is a Jefferson County resident who parked her RV on a friend’s property to stay the duration of the closure.

“So far, so good,” she said.

Despite a refrigeration problem in their RV, she and her husband have made the temporary living space work. And like Haaby and Hensel, LeMay’s commute has been cut from 45 minutes to 10 minutes.

“We’re hanging in there,” she said. “It’s interesting, to say the least.”

Not all in RVs have taken to parking on friends’ property. Ed Johanson, park ranger and assistant manager for Kitsap Memorial State Park, said he’s seen at least a few camp out on the grounds who normally reside across the canal.

But those extra campers are matched by the decrease in recreational travelers stopping by, on their way to an Olympic Peninsula destination.

“Essentially, I think we’ve replaced some of our casual or random campers with some that aren’t necessarily recreation campers, but they’re doing so out of necessity,” Johanson said. “Part of their commute obviously has been cut off, so in order to minimize the impacts they have opted to make reservations.”

And it’s meant a different type of camper in the park: they don’t light campfires or walk down to the beach. Instead, they are gone at work much of the day, and just like many others, return to cook dinner and relax before starting fresh the next morning. Many of them leave on the weekends.

“It’s a completely different beast,” he said. “They’re not interested in firewood. They want to minimize their costs.”

And it isn’t just commuters staying over. Some Olympic Peninsula residents make a small vacation out of a doctor’s appointment that normally would have required them traveling the bridge into Kitsap. Several bridge workers are staying at the park as well.

Kitsap Memorial State Park holds 18 water and electricity hookup sites, as well as 21 standard sites. Costs for those range between $19 and $25 a night. The park also offers sleeper cabins, a vacation house and a group campsite. Johanson said Kitsap Memorial is a reservation-based park, which means campers can only stay for a 10-day maximum period, usually no more than 20 days within a 30-day time period.

Bob Chalfant, ranger for Fay Bainbridge State Park, said the reach of closure campers has yet to extend to the island.

And while Haaby admits she misses having a dishwasher, both are relatively contented with the situation they’ve worked out — after all, it has cut their commute in half.

“There are a lot more gives and takes,” Hensel says.

“Fortunately,” Haaby adds, “we like each other.”