Another Update on Full Time

Today we are officially 2 weeks away from closing the sale on the house. We have made great strides in getting ourselves setup next door in Beth's Mom's house temporarily. Beth has worked feverishly to try and make this house "livable" for us - and it shows. We have a few more things to clear out of the house and the garage has a section of items that Jeff will be migrating into the RV before we leave. Still awaiting all the parts to arrive to have the tow rig setup installed - hopefully soon.

The current plan has us doing some more cleanout this coming Saturday but we are going to take a well deserved break on Sunday and head over the Hard Rock Casino for some fun and games  - need the mental break for a little bit. 

The following weekend, before the house closing, we'll be bringing the RV down to the house from storage. Jeff has quite a list of items that will be done during that time to get Lucille II ready to go. Several small install items and a lot of re-arranging and packing. We also got new outdoor seating so we'll be purging the old stuff out of the under storage to make room. We also have some items that we have not used since getting the new rig, so that all is going to be removed. General rule of thumb, if we are not using it after a period of time - we get rid of it...there will be no hoarding with "hope" we might use something. This life is not for those that get attached to "stuff" 😝

A side note about two new storage updates...Space is always at a premium so anything that can help is valuable. Jeff got over the door shoe pouches and has cut off just the top row (enough for 4 pair). We will be hanging that on the bed platform edge after we lift the mattress. The overhang of the mattress board will keep them out of the way and off the floor (and out of the  closet). We should be able to to have 4 of them, so 16 pairs if needed. Second, As we were clearing out Beth's Mom's house, we came across two Rubbermaid "wreath" boxes. These are only about 24 inches x 24 inches and 6 inches high, with a lid. We have come to find out they fit perfectly in one of our pass-thru under storage areas. Since these have nice fitting lids, we will store extra paper products (paper towels, toilet paper, etc) and other items we see fit. It clears up space in the main coach. 

Although things are moving at a fairly fast pace, it is more anticipatory than stressful - but it is physically tiring. We will be making the move to do what we have been talking about for several years - albeit a bit sooner than expected. The reality in many ways is still to set in....but it will...if nothing else when we hook the jeep up to the tow rig and start driving north to Suwannee River Rendezvous RV park....😃

Welcome to our new subscription service

This is a formal welcome to the new subscription service. We apologize for the inadvertent "blank" email everyone received, but sometimes change is hard. 

With Google Blogger doping away with their feed burner subscription service we migrated all our subscribed email addresses to mailchimp. As it is currently set, you will receive an update email every day between 9am and 10am if there have been any updates on our blog the day before.

We hope to now expand our subscribers as this will be the main format for us to keep everyone posted on our travels; as well as a place we'll post RV  tips and full time info. 

Full Time Update

Our move to the full time life is moving at a frantic pace, but we are not overwhelmed anymore, just intent on getting the tasks at hand completed.

The house was listed on a Friday afternoon and we reviewed 9 offers the following Monday. We did not take the highest, but we did take one over the asking price; more importantly, it is a cash buyer with no contingencies - including no inspection. So we are now set to close on the sale May 25th. 

We are fortunate in the fact that Beth's mom's house is right next door. Since she is in an Assisted Living Facility we have the ability to use the house as a staging area. We have had some major cleaning to do and had flooring done in the bedrooms so it is in better shape. It allows us to actually store some items that we can decide to keep or not later. It also will allow us to have a place to stay if one of us has to come back here to tend to her mom. It is highly inadvisable to sell her mom's house while she is living in the ALF.

After the sale contract was executed, Jeff set about making reservations and getting our plans completed for the next year. We will be heading out around Florida/Georgia for a week or two at a time, then back in this area for a month or so at a time. Due to the snowbird population we actually stay in the general area for three months over winter (hard to get anything short term during that time) This allows Beth to visit her mom and make sure things are good here. We are now set to pull out of town on Saturday, May 29...effectively becoming "gypsies" (our affectionate term for full timing).

We have also started the process for getting our tow bar for the Jeep Wrangler. Jeff did the research and we are going with the Roadmaster Sterling all-terrain along with the Invisibrake system. We know we will be on level areas most of the time, but the Sterling allows for us to be a few inches "off", on inclines, or even in turn radius without binding. The setup is expensive, but it is a major piece to make sure the Jeep is towed properly and easy to hook and unhook. Hopefully that will all be installed within the next 2 weeks. They must keep the Jeep for a day to get the tow plate, braking system, and other items installed. Then we will bring the RV in to have it's components installed as well as getting a thorough walk-thru of "how to".

As of this writing, we are fairly done purging personal items and moving some into the other house to be stored. We plan on transitioning our bedroom and personal care items this coming weekend and will start staying in the the house after that point. This will provide the ability to get the sold house totally empty and ready for the new owners.

Since our mail service is now setup we'll start doing address changes a week or so before we head out. Most of all our accounts are online access so it is a formality really, not for actual mail. We will not be changing our vehicle info immediately. The plan is to pay off the rig and once the lien is released we'll have a "fun day" at the tax collector's office (Florida's version of the DMV) getting new driver's licenses, vehicle registrations, and titles.

It still seems a bit surreal...but when we pull out of the neighborhood, Jeep in tow, it will be real. Once we hook up at our first RV park get set and have a cocktail to celebrate - then it will be real. The Gypsy Life for Us....😁