#8 WE’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN!

So here we are almost to the end of another month (October). The Carpenter song “We’ve only just begun “comes to mind, as today we celebrate our first full month of living in the motorhome fulltime! Woo Hoo! We are loving our new home along with our dog Max, who has adjusted quickly to his new surroundings. 

Max our”chug” Chihuahua/Pug

We had hoped to be on the road by now, but we are still stationary in our driveway as we work out some of the details of what we really need and what we don’t. We are no longer working, enabling us to both be focused on getting everything done, as we are running out of time before the winter weather sets in. The temps have already dipped down into the low 30’s.

 It has been a bit overwhelming trying to organize everything, such as arranging banking, mail service, and bill paying, for when we are on the road, also selling the items that remain, in this poor economy. BTW, Thanks to everyone who has helped out!

We have moved one step closer this month with the purchase of our enclosed trailer.  

Picture of our new trailer!

I have been working hard to set it up so that we can carry the motorcycle (Burgman scooter), electric bicycles, electric scooters, toolbox, chairs, and all the other items that will not fit in the RV(As we have no “basement storage” like the newer RV’s have). Margie has been doing a great job of organizing the inside of the RV, downsizing from a 1600 square foot house to under 300 is no easy task. She is making sure there is a place for everything and that everything is in its place, part of the “5S” (Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain) that I learned while working at Triangle Mfg.

So there it is, we are on our way, determined to make this dream a reality. Stay tuned as we move forward towards our “Imperial RVing Adventure”!

Thanks for stopping by!

#7 September Morning

Today, is the last day in August 2014, with the dawn of our target month only a day away, it reminds me of a Neil Diamond song, "September Morning", a verse in the song goes;

And look how far we've come

So far from where we used to be

But not so far that we've forgotten

How it was before

September morn

Do you remember

How we danced that night away

Two lovers playing scenes

From some romantic play

September morning

Still can make me feel that way

 We have come so far from where we were just a few months ago, most of our furniture is gone, all the knick knacks and their shelves, gone from the walls of our house.

I am no longer enslaved by the workaday world, and my wife has continued to help out her friends in order to earn a few dollars cash to help pay the bills while we are still in our "sticks and bricks".

This has afforded me the time to work on the motorhome and replace several items; water pump, water heater, convection microwave, refrigerator circuit board, driving lights, reseal all the roof seams, replace the front suspension air bags, front brake hoses and pads, tires, etc. in hope to reduce the amount of unexpected "events" we may have when we start our journey, like the one that happened early on this summer, which could have ended our dream. This was when the faulty power converter, the thing that turns 110 volts AC into 12 volts DC, almost caught fire, which could have burned down our motorhome had I not happened to go inside it! also causing the demise of my hardly used convection - microwave and the reason for the replacement.

When I searched for a replacement converter on the internet I found several sites showing a recall from long ago, on the model #7455 that replaced the original unit that was installed in our 1988 Holiday Rambler Imperial.

http://www.automd.com/recall/campaign_c11018/

Of course the company, Magnetek, that made it was sold, and I never received a reply from the email I sent of my concerns to Parallax the current owner. Needless to say, I have different brand installed now. 

This has been our second year we have tried to sell everything using Craigslist, Ebay, and yard sales. We have found the few weekends we were able to do a yard sale, several ones mother nature did not want to cooperate with our plans. Fortunately on a few sunny days we were able to sell quite a few items that will help to fund our life "on the road"

A special thank you to friends and family who bought things to help us out in our dream.

We have continued to work hard on our dream to live fulltime in our motorhome, but have come to realize we still have more things than we will be able to sell or give away, before it is time to hit the road (soon) and the winter weather sets in. We've decided to pause our attempt to rid ourselves of the smaller remaining items and focus on selling some of the important and larger dollar  items such as the four cars, boat and ATV, then return in the spring to continue.

BTW: If you follow our blog, you will notice an update to our home page picture of our motorhome on one of our "trial runs".

So say a prayer that the next time you read our blog, we will be on our way to fulfilling our dream and be on our way south to winter in warmer territories, snowbirding somewhere in Florida is the destination!

I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world (Ha), a cold beer in my hand, life is good today, life is good today.

Feel free to comment, but please keep them positive.

Thanks for stopping by.

# 6 WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

I just checked to see when the last blog post was and can’t believe it was in January!

I sit here at 4:30 in the morning, “sleepless in New Jersey”. I haven’t been sleeping very well lately, as our pending departure date is coming nearer and nearer, we have a tentative date of September or sooner that we want to be on the road fulltime, but there seems to be so many things to do before then.

We still have a house full of things even though we have gotten rid of quite a lot. But there are many items too good to throw away and very few have taken me up on my freebies. I still have several vehicles, cars, boat, scooters, bikes and more to sell.

 I/we are having a difficult time deciding on what we want to bring with us and the reality of what we can fit in our Motorhome. Do we go with a car for a “toad” or for now, keep my scooter and buy a trailer to tow it and other items? Unfortunately we can’t have both and won’t know for certain until we’re out in the real world of Fulltiming. There are so many things to consider when you decide to make your “camper” into your fulltime home, like how to stay connected on the road, your mail, your Domiciled “home state”, auto & health Insurance, banking, etc.

Today, I was watching a “Ramblings Tales from Nomads” video named “Co-Bear”, produced by one of our favorite Fulltiming couples Cherie and Chris of “Technomadia” (see link below) In where the husband of the couple being interviewed says…. “Anything, anything you want to do you can do, all you have to do is want to do it bad enough to do it”. Our sentiments exactly!

Yes we are seriously determined and will get there. So keep checking back to see our progress as we continue to get closer and closer to living our dream.

Thanks for stopping by!

www.technomadia.com/2014/03/ramblings-tales-from-nomads-co-bear

# 5 GOLDEN YEARS

Golden Years.

Many of you NOW know of our plans to travel indefinitely to see this great country by RV.

We appreciate all the positive comments and well wishes we have received.

One of the sad parts of our journey will be that my parents are no longer around to enjoy living vicariously through us, as on previous camping trips we would take, and the joy we would have sharing our stories with them.

My Mother is one of our biggest inspirations for taking this next step in our lives. She and my Father were both hard workers all their lives, and my mother the “accountant” of the family, knowing where every dollar was going in the household. There plans to save money and enjoy their “Golden Years” were cut short by the many illnesses my Mother endured, starting in her mid 60’s, until she lost her battle in 2005, at a way too early age of 76, leaving my Dad with a broken heart.

So for those of you who may think we are making a “crazy” decision at a “way too early age”,

We can only say that we want to “live” our lives now while we are healthy enough to do so.

As these may be our “Golden Years”. 

Hope this inspires you to LIVE your life!

Thanks for stopping by!