Which Brand for Us?

We took a little road trip this past weekend so I didn't get to put a lot of thought into my blog this week until we got home. What I did do was think a whole bunch about our weekend road trip. Now keep in mind this was the last weekend of March and a lot of spring breakers were heading back to school from Florida beaches and other points of interest of young people. Also the famous Snow Birds were heading home somewhere up north. So needless to say the interstate was quite crowed.

  Thinking about all the traffic Barb and I saw, we spent a lot of time looking at the different brands of RV's we were passing as we headed the other way. We didn't keep track of the different rigs flying down the road so nothing in this blog entry is scientific research. Not that I do a lot of scientific research, at least not anymore.  OK, I never did.

  We saw Crusaders, Open Range, Denali, Forest River and just about every other brand of RV that has ever been built, even quite a few Air Streams. We saw a wide range of Motor Homes, Class C's and B's and 5^th. Wheels. We saw Travel Trailers of all ages. We also saw our fair share of Casita trailers that all Barb would say was “No, I will not live in one of those”.

  I will say this, Montana Cougar was the most seen recreational vehicle on the road this weekend. Does this mean Cougar is the most popular of all RV's out there. I don't think so. OK I don't want to start an argument. Just saying that's the rig we saw the most of. Again not a lot scientific research went into any of this.

  There's just to many options and floor plans available for anybody to say what's the best rig out there. There's to much personal preference involved for anybody and I mean anybody to say what's the best RV for you. Only YOU can say what's best for you.

  We are still RV Dreamers, hoping to be on the road by the end of this year. Seeing all those RV'ers heading somewhere only fortified me even more that I will do this just as soon as possible.

  And just so you know Barb has narrowed down the choices to Crusader, Wildcat 327, Heritage Glen 327, and yes the Cougar front living. You know the list might change again by next week. I just never know.

                    Safe Travels and I Hope to See You Down the Road.

Check it Twice

Check it Twice

We haven’t even got on the road yet and I already have countless checklists. What to look for when you pull into a campground, what to do when you pull out of a campground, what steps to take before emptying your storage tanks. Not to mention the PDI checklist.

This is the pre-delievery inspection walk through with somebody from the dealership. The most important part of this walk through is this (Don't Let Them Rush You Through This). This is the inspection of the soon to be your RV. Also don't sign anything until you are satisfied that any and ALL problems are fixed or if they are minor can be fixed at a later time.

You will want to have them show you how everything works and I do mean everything. Some people take lots of notes, some people will video the PDI and refer to it later. You will want to make sure they put water in the tank so you can test the system, making sure the water pump works. You will want to look under the sinks for any leaks. As a matter of fact check in all cabinets, the manufacturer could run water lines through any and all cabinets.

You will need to bring a few things with you to make your walk through as smooth as possible. A small electrical tester to check the outlets throughout the RV, a flashlight will come in handy when checking for leaks inside those cabinets, coveralls if you plan on crawling under the rig. Make sure the dealership has installed a fully charged battery so you can check the 12v lights.

This is by no means a complete list of things to look for, you can find all kinds of checklist on the internet. Look at a lot of them. Most will be repeats of what you have already seen, but you might find something different on the next one you see. Of course the very most important thing not to forget is your traveling companion. Forget them and You're in for a long trip.

Safe Travels and I Hope To See You Down The Road.

TAKE ONLY PICTURES

TAKE ONLY PICTURES, LEAVE ONLY MEMORIES

Years ago when I was Scoutmaster of Troop 412 in Largo, Florida the Scouts had a motto. Not the one “Be Prepared”. Of course we could all live a better life if we were prepared. I'm talking about a program the National office rolled out. It was called

No Trace Camping.

In a nut shell it said If you Pack it in, Pack it out. Or leave no trace you were ever there to begin with. This is a bigger concern when boondocking than when camping in a private campground or any established campground. But then you have to ask why are workampers in high demand to clean campsites. 

When pulling into a campsite the first step should be to walk the site you have chosen before pulling or backing in. Pick up any trash you find beforehand. It will make your clean up at the end of your stay that much faster. Besides, who wants to set up camp at a trashy site and live with it. 

Our scouts were taught to prepare a proper fire ring whenever we went camping. We always ringed our fire site with rocks so everybody knew right where the fire ring was. We also had a bucket of sand a bucket of water and a shovel next to the fire ring in case the fire got out of hand. 

The only firewood to use should be found on the ground, brought with you or purchased from the campground if available. You should never place anything into a fire that won't burn completely. Hence the saying pack it in, pack it out. Always clean your fire ring before leaving.

I think the point I'm really wanting to make is, We all have this great big country to explore and see. Wouldn’t it be a lot nicer and enjoyable if we could enjoy sitting next to a little stream up in the mountains without a lot of trash around us. How about hiking a trail in the Smokey Mountains without seeing cigarette butts or candy wrappers everywhere you look

I think we can all take a few lessons from the boy scouts. We should all try to leave our campsites as clean or cleaner than we found them. Remember somebody else will be pulling into this site pretty soon.

So try to remember, Take only Pictures, leave only Memories.

Safe Travels and I'll See You Down the Road.

The $164.00 question

Health Insurance for the Road

Do you understand the Affordable Care Act? If you do PLEASE explain it to me and the millions of others that seem to be lost, dazed, and confused.

Of course I'm referring to how all this change is going to affect those on the road and us dreamers that will be joining you out there soon. Right now we are covered by Barb's health plan at work but she retires this November and I'll be leaving my work shortly after that.

We are both to young for Medicare so we are looking at ObamaCare or buying on the open market after the first of the year. Neither option looks very promising but it looks like we will at least qualify for a subsidy to help lower our monthly premiums. With preexisting conditions no longer a concern it looks like we will be paying $463.00 per month for a Silver plan. I know, no great shakes there.  We could go with a Bronze plan and pay $138.00 per month but that just keeps the IRS off our backs and doesn't pay for much else.  I'll just have to remember to keep a rabbits foot in my pocket so we don't need to see a doctor.

I've been reading everything I can get my hands on for some easy to understand information but that's like asking for the winning lottery numbers, which would solve a lot of the problem right there. I'm still not sure what the right move will be for us so will continue to look. I'm thinking no matter what the answer is it will be difficult to live with it. I guess the most logical step for us and others is to really start living life better by the choices we make and the foods we eat. Vitamins are becoming a large part of my life. By taking better care of ourselves hopefully we won't need to see a doctor as much as we have been. Not to mention less cost of prescription meds will add a few more coins to my pocket.

I'm trying to research prescription medicine from Mexico but haven’t gotten very far yet.

This past week I was at the doctor for a bacterial infection and was prescribed a nasal spray to help reduce the pressure. My insurance company would not approve the medicine and there was no generic for it. I asked the pharmacy what the price was in case I could pay for it myself. The answer $164.00. NO WAY. Well I was reading a blog the other day about another fulltimer that went to Mexico for dental work. He happened to take a picture of a sign outside the pharmacy where he went for his prescription.

Right there on the sign was the same medicine I would have had to pay $164.00 for listed for $25.99. Really makes me wonder what in the world is going on. So now I'm wondering what blood pressure medicine would cost down there. No matter how you look at it Health Insurance in this country will never be the way it was. I'm not saying this as good or bad, but our choices will never be the same. I have found out you can cross the border to buy your meds. but you MUST have a  prescription from an American doctor and can only get 50 pills at a time. Of course you could take your chance's with the Border Patrol and try to sneak more across, but a full body cavity search is not my idea of a fun time. 

 

As far as your domicile goes, Texas and Florida seems like they will be the front runners for fulltimers as it looks like you won't have to stay in the state any length of time to get insurance. Although how big your network will be is another matter altogether. South Dakota looks like they are going to be out of the race as far as domicile goes because they are making you stay in state a minimum of 6 months to get insurance.  Not much of an option for fulltime travelers.  Yet this could change as it looks like nothing is set in stone as of this time.

I'm going to research private insurance companies next and see if they might be any better than ObamaCare.  I sure hope so.  So until next time.

 

 

Safe Travels and I Hope to See You Down the Road.

 

P.S.

It looks like South Dakota insurance companies are dropping the 6 month residence requirement as of this time.  Stay tuned, this could change again.  Who Knows.

Confused

When planning a road trip its a pretty simple task. You know where your starting point is and you can find your ending point. Simply draw a line from point A to point B and you are done. If you plan on any side trips of course you just add these new destinations to your map. But what if you're not talking about a simple road trip. What if the road trip you are planning is the trip to getting on the road as a fulltime RV'er. What Then? 

I've done a years worth of research and forum reading. I've started the planning. We've even begun the purging of the house phase. We had several yard sales last year and plan more this year. But then winter came and everything kind of came to a dead stop. I know you can't do a lot of selling and purging when its freezing outside and snow is falling. I just feel like we have hit a brick wall and can't get started again. I guess its a state of mind. With spring just 21 days away I'm hoping we can jump start our progress again and be on the road before the end of the year.

I'm meeting with a realtor in about 3 weeks to see what's next as far as getting the house ready for the market. Hopefully it won't take much to get it in condition to sell. If the weather will warm up we might be able to work on the curb appeal soon. My plan for this spring and summer is to work on the house every other weekend and have yard sales on the off weekends to hopefully get rid of as much stuff as possible.

You know when you have a road map out and you try to fold it back the way it should be and it never works out so you just start to fold it any old way you can so you can shove in the glove box just to hide it. Well that's the way I'm feeling right now. I'm trying to work myself into a mindset that this will all come together in the end and work out the way I have planned. Right now I'm really confused and befuddled about the whole thing. I just hope its all a mind fog that will clear as the weather improves.

Here's hoping you don't find yourself fighting with your road map.

Safe Travels and I'll See You Down the Road

RV Lifestyles

 

 

What type of RV'er are you likely to be? Full time, Part time, Snowbird, Frugal, or Minimalistic. What you choose to become is totally up to you and there is no right way or wrong way to do any of these. You could choose to be a Fulltimer which is probably the most popular. With all the options out there its pretty divided as to sell the house or keep the house. Again NO Wrong Answer. A lot of folks sell the house and everything in it to begin funding their fulltime adventure. Some people want a home base just in case things don't work out.

Snowbirders (Is that even a word, I don't know, but I'm using it) will live half their time up north and the other half down south. Not a bad plan if you ask me, since we are expecting ½ to ¾ inches of ice over night. You get the best of both worlds. Warm weather up north during the summer and warm weather down south during the winter.

Frugal RV'ers are people that watch what they bring in and payout each and every week. Unless you have a really good retirement income you will probably be one of the frugal travelers. We will be in this group since I won't be retirement age for six more years. If you come up with a workable budget and stick to it this type of lifestyle should work for you. Of course I plan to carry a rabbit's foot with me at all times. Frugal RV'ers might even be part of another category in the RV lifestyle by boondocking to save more money. You don't pay for a camping site when boondocking. Of course you don't have electrical power or city water either, even more ways to be frugal.

People can be minimalistic in a regular house without being a RV'er. One definition of a minimalist is (It’s simply getting rid of things you do not use or need, leaving an uncluttered, simple environment and an uncluttered, simple life. It’s living without an obsession with material things or an obsession with doing everything and doing too much. It’s using simple tools, having a simple wardrobe, carrying little and living lightly.) I guess you don't have to worry too much about weight limits.

A lot of RV'ers live a combination of all of these lifestyles in some form or another. I've heard some people say they have a rule in their rig, If something new comes in then something old has to leave. Just assuming here but I'm guessing that does not include your spouse. Most RV'ers aren't collecters. They have all the souvenirs and tee shirts they need. About everybody takes photos to reminisce over years later. Although some people collect small key chains from their travels along the way. Most will also have an outline of the United States on the door of their RV and fill in each state after they have camped there.

The bottom line here is, there is NO one way to travel in your RV. However you travel is the right way for you, as long as you are happy.

Safe Travels and I'll see you down the road.

Insurance needs and Choices Part II

Insurance needs and Choices Part II

So I've started to look into insurance for our soon to buy 5^th. Wheel. All I want are some quotes so I can compare to see who has the best rates and best coverage. Fat chance this is going to be easy. Tried searching the forums, of course everybody has an opinion and no two of them can agree on which company has the best deal. I guess it really is a personal decision. I did find out the big players in the insurance business isn't always the way to go. 

I started my search on Sunday night, knowing nobody would give me what I wanted right then. I filled out all of their forms and hit submit. I was expecting a full in box when I got home Monday thinking with today's economy the insurance companies would be crawling over each other for new business. How wrong I was. Not one of them responded to my request for information.

I did get a phone call Monday from one company wanting to discuss my needs, but I was in a meeting and didn't take the call. I have a problem with a company that doesn't listen to what I'm saying. I was very clear on how I wanted to be contacted and by phone was not the accepted way. That's why I included my e-mail address with instructions stating to send the information to that address.

Maybe its just me but if you can't or won't follow my instructions I guess we will not be doing business together. My research in the forums found that Good Sam seems to be the best at rates and coverage. No Good Sam doesn't really sell RV insurance, they out source to another company. But with the Good Sam name on it they want to make sure RV'ers are happy with the product. So my search continues and I'll let you know WHEN and IF I can put this little piece of the puzzle to rest.

Last weeks blog post had a sentence in the last paragraph that said.

Anyway, we have narrowed our choices down to just a few and still have time to refine the list or change it completely by the time we are ready to get on the road.

I put that in there to let people know I'm Done looking. I've seen enough RV's to make an intelligent decision on what I'm willing to live in. Well guess what, seems there is another 5^th. Wheel out there that needs a look or two. While reading the forum at IRV2 somebody brought up the Forest River Heritage Glen 327RES. Of course I had to look it up. Seems it is just about the same as the Wildcat 327CK. There are some differences good and bad. But the bad aren't that bad and the good are a lot better than I can pass on.

They are both built by Forest River. The Heritage Glen is classified as a Lite while the Wildcat is not. The quality seems to be the same, and the Heritage Glen will carry 905 more pounds than the Wildcat. Just what I need, to tell Barb she doesn't have to sell or donate as much stuff as I thought. I guess the hunt continues.

 

Safe Travels and I'll See You Down The Road.