We may not know what we don’t know but after a great deal of thought and research we’re moving along with plans — these first steps feel good, feel right.
We’ve acquired our new home. We picked up the truck last week and this week we settled on a 39′ 5th Wheel RV trailer which is still being prepped. I’ve been researching and reading about RV living, towing and making the transition. There are some very interesting RV blogs as information resources. Also, when we settled on the trailer the dealer tossed in a “free” book, “All the Stuff you need to know about RVing.” I thought the chances of it being worth reading were pretty slim but it turned out to be wonderful, full of tips and good information for us newbies.
For example, when arriving at an RV site you should hook up in order (1) electricity, (2) fresh water and (3) sewer because your hands will be dry for (1), clean for (2) and can be washed without touching anything else after (3). Common sense useful tips. I’ve a couple of other books I’m reading also.
That new truck is large and in order to get comfortable with its size I’m driving it as much as possible. It sits high and we worried Maggie might have some difficulty jumping into and out of it but those worries were quickly proven groundless — she’s already claimed full ownership of the back seat area and want’s to ride all the time.
When we take possession of the trailer I’m going with truck and trailer to a local closed mall and practice turning and backing in the empty parking lot with the help of a few traffic safety cones. I’ll do this for several days — until it feels natural.
We’ve called a local real estate agent who’s already stopped to see the house. The visit went very well and she seems eager to list it. Before visiting she said maybe next spring would be the best time but now she’s saying we can list anytime…which I take as a positive about the house. She says there’s nothing we need to do to sell it. We know we’ll never get our money back from the renovations we did but we didn’t do them as investments, we did them for our own enjoyment and they will be very attractive to perspective buyers. We are listing the house for sale as of December 1st.
I think we’re going to arrange for an estate tag auction to dispose of most of our household and unneeded personal belongings — of course after our kids get anything they may want, but hey, we don’t deliver! There’s simply not the time or energy to do all the work ourselves with yard sales, second hand shops and CraigsList.
One car was traded in on the truck and the other two will be sold between now and our departure.
It’s going to be tough not taking some things but there’s not room to bring them. I may allow myself a couple of sentimental objects as long as they’re small and not heavy. The clothing we bring will have to be very purposeful. I have a couple of nice leather jackets and while I don’t wear them very often I do love them — they will have to go. ~sigh~
Bonnie’s already given away some of her business dress shoes — giving away her shoes, WOW, that tells you how serious she is!
I love it when a plan begins to come together!
Yeah..”begins” is the key word in this case, Steve. There’s so much to do.
Thanks!
I told Bonnie that the next time I saw her she was going to have a big old hat. Sounds like she might have some boots, too.
And that’s one big old truck.
Whatever we will be wearing you can bet there will only be a few changes in our wardrobe.
I smiled reading this post as I always like to hear about peoples changes in their lives. I’ve thought about taking a driving class on handling RVs as well as finding a place to practice. Pulling a rig requires us to see things differently. Adn. those books and blogs can be very usefull. I’ve been following a half dozen for a while. I’m excited for you two. If Bonnie is giving away shoes then we know she is serious about this new life.
I was raised on a farm so I’ve driven lots of trailers and done my share of backing them up…just nothing as large as this. I’m sure with practice I’ll be capable and confident but it may take some time till I’m not a little stressed about it. Yes, she’s serious!
I hadn’t thought about this before, but you guys are soon going to become people I love to pass on the interstate. Trucks pulling RV’s get lumped in with the 18-wheelers from my perspective. That is, notorious for causing traffic snots! Worst case scenario: a camper trying to pass a bunch of semis while going up a long, steep hill. Meanwhile, traffic starts to back up for miles………
Just kidding, Earl. Well, a little bit anyway. Who knows – maybe we’ll wind up trailing you on some interstate in the not too distant future. Just watch for a black Jeep with the driver making obscene gestures at you!!
Seriously, I’m still jealous. I’d guess that your point of no return will happen when the house gets sold. And the road beckons. By the way, what do you do about mail and stuff? Where will your “legal” residence be?
LOL Paul, Bonnie and I have laughed about being “one of those people” we’ve always hated to get behind. While becoming one-of-them seems inevitable, I hope I can have a little more courtesy and consideration for others in traffic then some of those we’ve experienced. You can bet I’ll be moving over as quickly as possible for black Jeeps with New York license plates — so the obscene gestures will not be required!
For the first while we will use a family member here in NC for mailing and physical address but we are also considering changing our legal address to a state which doesn’t have state taxes (FL, TX, ND.) There are several services that provide PO Boxes with mail forwarding as well as legal physical addresses in non-tax states.
I think the point of no return has already be reached with the purchase of the new RV/Truck.
Here we go – we’ll have to follow you guys up Trail Ridge Road at 4 miles an hour some day. A line of 30 cars following you. By the way, you should watch the Simpson’s episode where Homer buys an RV. It’s a cautionary tale!
Good luck with your journeys, Earl. If you’re in the Denver area give me a call – I know a great coffee shop with some out of this world almond Danish!
John, I sure hope you guys in those little vehicles keep clear…you know these things don’t stop on a dime and you’ve got to build up a head of steam on those inclines! :-)
I did see the Simpson RV issue…it’s all the things I hope not to do. Oh, I love Danish, who knows? Thanks!
Our turn will come next year – to move house, not an RV. But having spent over thirty years where we are, there is gonna have to be a lot of slimming down and clearing out. We’ve started, but so far it’s just a few drawers – a mere scratch on the surface.
Andy, WOW, thirty years…I can just imagine. We’ve only be in this house for a little over 8 years and clearing out is daunting even at that. Best of luck to you!