What it takes to get set up in this lifestyle or at least us

Now before anybody says anything like, It didn't take much for us or That's all it took you. I know getting started as fulltime RV'ers will be different for everybody. We started from scratch. Barb and I hit the road with what we kept from our house and the little starter bucket from the dealer.

Let me say first off the cheap little 10 foot sewer hose they supply you with is totally worthless. So go out and buy a good quality sewer hose and while you’re at it get a hose support to raise the hose off the ground. A quality water hose is also a must have, and don't forget a water pressure regulator so you don't blow out your water lines.

We invested in a Progressive Industries surge controller, it monitors everything at the power pedestal and shuts down power to our RV if something goes wrong. Somewhat pricy but good insurance and piece of mind. Anything with wheels will rock side to side and front to back so we purchased a 5^th wheel tripod and stabilizers for the large slide out.

Storage will always be an issue in any RV so learn to deal with it. One item we bought was an expansion pole with 3 adjustable storage trays for the bathroom. Decorative baskets will also be a big help to store and organize a lot of stuff.

Now for comfort, we got 2 zero gravity chairs, a nice big mat to go under the awning and a small gas grill. We already had a couple of folding end tables to hold a refreshing beverage while listening to some music or grilling out. And now here's the big tip of the day. COMMAND HOOKS are your friend. Nails and picture hangers are not going to work in most RV's (at least not the ones we looked at). Walls are to thin for pop rivets and the ever popular Command Hooks work well. Just be sure to follow the instructions and use the correct weight hooks for what you are hanging.

I know there are still a lot of things I want to get for the RV and things to make our lives easier. But I've been cut off for now so I'll have to add these things to my wish list for a later date. Bottom Line is only you can determine what is important to get first and what you can wait on. Just a little hint here, you will need water and a way to dispose of your waste. So keep that in mind when you go shopping to outfit your RV.

Be Safe and I Hope to See You Down The Road. 

Texas means Barbecue

Texas means Barbecue

We're sitting here in Texas waiting for our workamping job to begin the first of March. Not much going on just settling into our new 5^th. Wheel. That in itself is a fulltime job. Anyway, I got up this morning and while having my coffee I thought Hey we're in Texas, we need to have some BBQ.

So I get online and start searching for BBQ places here in Tomball, TX. After reading reviews I decide we will try out The Original Rib Tickler. No its not a comedy club, its a little place that holds maybe 50 people at a time. I know it was only the first place we went to so far but It had the best BBQ I have ever had. I think they could smoke a roll of paper towels and it would be tasty, not to mention finger licking awesome.

They had smoked beef, sausage, chicken, and pulled pork. I think they would smoke about any meat there is. Barb had a pulled pork sandwich on a bun bigger than my out stretched hand. It had to have had a quarter lb. of pork on it and some potato salad. I on the other hand had the beef brisket dinner. This consisted of a plate full of beef thinly sliced and smothered in a tangy sauce. I don't believe you can order BBQ without having a side of baked beans. They were just as good as the beef, and as anybody that knows me knows if they have mac-n-cheese. I'm going to have some. It was fantastic along with everything else.

AT the end of the serving line was a stack of napkins that were very much needed along with a big basket of the ever popular Wet Naps. Needless to say the Rib Tickler was the first of many (I hope) BBQ places we will be trying while we're here in Texas. As we stumble on to other barbecue joints I'll be sure to let you know about them. The Original Rib Tickler is located at 28930 St. Rd. 249 in Tomball, TX.

3 Days on the Road

3 Days on the Road

Well we did it. We left Woodstock, Georgia on Thursday the 19^th. And haven't looked back. Our first 2 nights we stayed in a campground not far from the dealer just in case. The first problem we had was the water hose froze, luckily we had the dealer fill the fresh water tank before we left so there was enough water for the 2 days we were there.

No major problems so on Saturday we headed for Alabama to see my sister before heading our way towards Texas and our first workamping job. The first day we over did it and drove for 3 hours, way too much for our first day. We found a nice little campground just north Mobile and stopped for the night. Sunday we were thinking of using a little rule I had heard about somewhere on the internet. The 2-2 rule. Drive 2 hours or 200 miles and stop for the day. We did just that and had plenty of daylight to set up our rig, square away a few things and have some dinner. I was able to plot out the next portion of our drive for Monday, getting us to Lake Charles, La. In about 2.5 hours. We'll see how that works.

We've learned quite a bit and I'm sure we'll continue to learn something every day of this new adventure. Just a few things learned already are. If a campground doesn't post the mileage from the interstate on their sign, plan on driving a good distance to get there and don't even think about looking for any signs saying campground ahead _____ miles. Or how about this Slow WAY down when going over railroad tracks. Some of those crossing are ROUGH, enough said. Don't expect other drivers to know, understand, or care what the word merge means. I believe most drivers thinks it means, you better get out of my way because I'm coming through and I'm talking on the phone so don't bother blowing the horn at me I'M RIGHT and you are wrong. But it might just be me.

I've heard it many many times from people on the road a lot longer than us but believe me when I say campground wifi is slow if at all. But its only been 3 days so we have so much more to learn.

But at least we haven't killed each other yet, That's a good thing . Right? Well tomorrow is another day of traveling and learning as we go.

Be Safe and I Hope to See You Down The Road.     

Happily Homeless

As I sit here writing this post we are at 6 days to go until we begin our fulltime life. I quit my job on Wednesday the 11^th. And closed on the house Thursday the 12^th. We moved into a extended stay hotel to wait for Southern RV to call and say our new Keystone Sprinter 269RLS has been delivered and checked out.

We've kept busy taking care of the boring things that have to be taken care of. BIG Tip #1, Set up your mail forwarding service a couple of months in advance. You don't actually start receiving mail there until you notify everybody. But get this done soon just in case there are any problems. We also bought roadside assistance and joined the Good Sam Club.

Big Tip #2, When shopping at Camping World be prepared to be bombarded with Can I sell you this and Can I sell you that. They have a quota to meet and they are ruthless. I've also heard you can expect to receive all kinds of worthless mail. So keep that in mind when you are setting up your mail forwarding service.

We decided to sell Barb's car instead of keeping it. Didn't want the extra cost of insurance and tags plus having to transfer the title. Don't forget to cancel the car insurance. I've been getting quotes for RV insurance for two weeks now and have decided on Blue Sky. I feel we got a real good deal, just got to make the call Monday and get that set up.

Big Tip #3, And I guess its to late now anyway but lets talk about health insurance. I waited until one day before the deadline for the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care). I guess I shouldn't have expected anybody to answer the phone after waiting an hour on hold. I finally got us set up with a HMO policy from BCBSTX. But I figured we're going to be working in Texas for eight months that will give us a chance to find a good affordable PPO somewhere. So for the time being I'm satisfied with the policy.

As I said at the start of this post we are 6 days away from starting our new adventure and I feel like a child just before Christmas who can't get to sleep because I might miss Santa Claus.

Safe Travels and I Hope to See You Down the Road

Another step closer

Another step closer

A couple of weeks ago we bought our tow vehicle. A 2003 Ford F 250 diesel . It has a 7.3 Liter engine with 3.73 gears. It came with a 16K Husky 5^th. Wheel hitch installed. We've

had it checked out by a mechanic and will have an oil change done next week. But other than that its good to go to Texas where we will become Texas residents and will start our first workamping job.

Only scary part is we need to be in the Dallas area by March 1^st. Actually we will need to be there a little sooner since the job starts on the 1^st. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get a little closer to March.

In the mean time we have had the repairs done that the buyers requested after the home inspection. We've also had the appraiser come by about two weeks ago and have not heard anything so I'm taking that as a good thing. Still waiting for the buyers to get their income tax check so they have the down payment, that's why the closing is scheduled for the middle of February. Its frustrating because all we can do is sit and wait.

This past Saturday we went to the Atlanta Camping and RV show. I can say without a doubt we have found our rig. No more searching, no more listening to salesmen go on and on when you know as much if not more then they do. Although it was fun catching them in a lie when they didn't know the answer. Anyway, we decided on a 2015 Keystone Sprinter 269RLS 5^th. Wheel. We got just what we wanted and the price wasn't to bad either. We got to pick out the fabric that Barb liked the best so at least its not the most hideous looking fabric. (I'll always wonder who picks out the colors for these RV's)

My daughter says it didn't happen if there aren't any pictures and of course the only time we didn't have a camera with us was at this show. Next week when we go sign some papers and drop off some money I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. So it looks like we might be on the road soon, hopefully. Keep your fingers crossed for us and I promise to post some pictures real soon.

Be Safe and I Hope To See You Down The Road

Just 1 thing holding us back

November 15^th., Our launch date is going to be a BUST. Well to be honest it was only an approximation. In order to set up a countdown calendar you needed a end date. I'm still hoping it happens before the end of the year.

We've done just about everything we can do at this point. The house is as empty as it can get short of sleeping on the floor and watching television in camp chairs. We have sold everything we own except for what we believe we will be taking on the road. I keep saying we have only gone through the first of several purges. The last one will be everything we have crammed into the walk in closet downstairs. You people already fulltiming know what I'm talking about.

All the stuff you look at and decide well, I can't live without this or that will make our lives so much easier once we're living in a RV. I can see it now, the house is sold, we buy the 5^th. wheel, we carry box after box into our new home. After stepping over boxes and digging through each and every one just to find the new flexible light weight silicone muffin pan. We sit down exhausted and decide, its time we purged some of this junk so we can store what's really important. 11 seasons of MASH, plus the movie.

Well one thing that is decided and put to rest is the great debate of which 5^th. Wheel do we want? I can say we both have chosen the Keystone Sprinter front living #333FL. We keep going back and looking at RV's but always come back to the Sprinter. The living room has 2 couches that fold out to beds for the grand kids if we ever get back to see them. I like the fact that there is a large basement below and more storage in the back below the bedroom.

Well today we just about did it. We went to yet another RV show to look around and see what was available. Plenty of motor homes and travel trailers with only a handful of 5^th. Wheels. One of the first ones we saw was the Sprinter 333 Front living. The exact one we've been looking at only 5 miles from home only one model year newer. Of course we're stopped by a salesman and a caught in a conversation almost immediately.

After all the get to know you and I'm your buddy (I'm not trying to sell you an RV) talk, we got down to brass tacks as my Dad use to say. Our salesman Mark F. from Alabama, still not sure why they needed to recruit salespeople from out of state. There seemed to be more than enough salespeople running around. I mean you couldn't stop and drink a cup of coffee without being asked if we needed help. Anyway, I informed Mark I had been researching this for about two years now and there were certain things I was not going to pay for or put up with. Once he understood this we had a good conversation.

Show price started out at 38,900.00 being generous he got down to 36,900.00. Sorry no deal. When I explained we had a quote for 32,900.00 on a 2014 exact same model Mark got on board a little better. He wanted to talk to his boss and asked me if the 32,900 offer included a Reese Hitch. I was honest and told him no but it did include a $300.00 gift card from the Camping World store and tossing in the hitch might sway my decision to buy. Well after another cup of coffee and playing around in a really big Class A Motor Home which had the keys in it. And I wonder why Barb looked nervous, Mark came back with the offer. $34,700.00 out the door price. (Tax, Tag, and Title included) a new Reese Hitch to be installed after we buy a truck and a $300.00 gift card.

Well I was a whole lot surprised. I didn't know what to do or say. I was ready to sign right then, Barb was ready to sign. But, you know that little devil that sits on your shoulder and says Now wait a minute, lets think this through. Barbs about to retire, we would have to store the 5^th. Wheel somewhere and The house hasn't sold yet. I just couldn't do it.

I had to past, just couldn't see taking on that financial nightmare right now. Anyway when the house sells we'll hopefully find another good deal we can live with.


                                   Safe Travels And I Hope To See You On The Road Soon 

Saint Joseph, Sell my house. Please

For those of you that don't know Barb and I are trying to become fulltime RV'ers. We are now at the last piece of the puzzle. Selling the house. Its been on the market for 3 months now and still not sold. We fired our agent last week and hired a new agent on Oct. 1^st.

Already we've had three showings. But I'm already thinking about getting a new agent. Why after just five days, you ask? Well, a few weeks ago I was on one of the many RV forum clubs I belong to on Facebook complaining about my house not selling. 
Several people suggested we bury a Saint Joseph statue in the yard. Not sure how to respond I simply said Huh? Everybody said just goggle it. So I did.

Seems if you bury a statue of Saint Joseph in your yard your house will sell very quickly. I did a little research and I mean very little research and sure enough you can get these Saint Joseph selling your house kits on line. Not only can you get them on line but, Hold on to your hat, you can buy them at Christian Book stores. Really, now I'm willing to try just about anything to get on with my life and get this house sold but I'm not to sure about burying Saint Joseph in my yard.

Especially after I told my mom about it. This is the lady that goes to church on Wednesday and twice on Sunday. She came about as close as you can get to saying if you do this you aren’t my son. Not to mention all the rules you need to follow when putting Joe in the ground. And who knows what the right rules are.

I took these from several sites.

Upside down, near the 'For Sale' sign in the front yard. (An upside down St. Joseph is said to work extra hard to get out of the ground and onto someone's mantel.)

Right side up

In the rear yard, possibly in a flower bed

Lying on its back and pointing towards the house “like an arrow”

Three feet from the back of the house

Facing the house

Facing away from the house

Exactly 12 inches deep

So, my question to you fulltimer's that did bury Saint Joseph in your yard. How quickly did your house sell? Now I haven't run out and bought my Saint Joseph yet, and by the way you can actually buy one from Amazon. Prices range from $6.69 to $24.88. I guess if you buy the $24.88 kit your house will sell faster then if you only spend $6.69.

So if I come back here in a couple of weeks and tell everybody we're moving into a new RV because the house sold please don't say anything to my mom, she doesn't need to know how we did it and I still need to be able to get a nice dinner on Thanksgiving day.

T.T.F.N.               Watch this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6LTyJe3C_c&feature=player_embedded

Safe Travels And I Hope To See You On The Road Soon