Still in Pensacola

Our two weeks in Pensacola are over but we had to extend...........for how long?  Who knows. We finally got the plates for the truck, Ira got his DL and a few days later I was able to get mine.  I really don't know how I got mine but I am not going to worry about it.  I got one and that is the important thing.  We had set up everything to use our mail forwarding as our "residence".  Shortly before we arrived Florida changed the law to state they will no longer accept the mail forwarding address as our residence.  When Ira got his DL the receipt from the campground was proof of residency and that along with a quickly changed  bank statement was all he needed.  When I went to the DMV to get mine (being a non-citizen I had to go to the DMV to get my license rather than the tax collector where Ira got his).  At the DMV they told me they would not take the CG receipt.  HOWEVER they would take the out of state tags from the truck with our Pa address on it.  I still am not sure why a document with a Pa address was proof of residency in Florida.  But I was not going to argue.  When I got to the counter the girl there took the CG receipt as my proof.  Go figure! The long and short of it is -  I got my license.  Or at least a paper version of it.  The actual one will come in the mail. 

In order to get the tags for the truck and Serenity we had to have the paper copy of the title.  Pa only keeps the titles on electronic file.  We asked them to fed ex us the paper copy of both titles.  They sent the truck one to us by fed ex (which we got the next day) and the trailer one by snail mail to the tax collector.  Why they just didn't put them both in the same envelop!  So now we wait for snail mail to deliver it to the tax collector.  In all this mess I will say the people at Janet Holley tax collectors on Navy Ave. have been more than helpful.  They have to stay within the laws of course but they have done everything they could to get us set up.  They have been a pleasure to deal with.  Even though we are not set up yet whenever we leave that place we leave with a smile on our face.

The weather here has been great.  The nights are cool.  We leave the heat off in Serenity and just use the electric blanket.  The days have been sunny in the mid 70s to low 80s.  There is a slight breeze from the water that really keeps it nice. 

We have been so happy with the dogs.  They are really behaving themselves.  There hasn't been a sound from them when we go out.   Even when we are here they are starting to ignore other dogs that are being walked around.  When ever we go out anywhere we block  access to the upper bedroom, close the blinds, close the windows, turn on the air and the TV.  I have checked with neighbours when we come home and they tell me they didn't hear anything from them while we were gone.  Sometimes they will bark when they hear us outside again but that is fine.  They are just excited to see us home again.  I think this is going to work out well having the animals with us.  It also gets us out walking more. 

That is just about all from Pensacola and I hope we will be heading off to Ocala in the next week.  Hope to get a chance to meet up one day down the road.  Drive carefully out there.

Florida already

We are now stopped for two weeks in Pensacola Florida.  The main reason we are here is to get our residency set up.  We use Good Sam mail forwarding which is here so this is where we will get our driving licenses and vehicle plates.  We are staying at the Blue Angel Recreation Area and have a wonderful water view out the front of Serenity.  Too bad our big picture window is in the back.  Oh well I will have a nice view when I wake up each morning. 

It was such an easy drive here from Charleston down I-95 to I-10 then straight west.  We stopped for an overnight at our friendly Walmart and had a great nights sleep. 

We got here about noon and set up without any problems.  The rest of the day is just sitting around enjoying the sunny warm weather.  Tomorrow we head into town to pick up our mail and start dealing with government agencies.  I just hope all goes smoothly.

That's it from our home in Florida.  Stay safe out there and we will meet down the road one day soon.

Charleston SC

Well here we are sitting in Charleston SC.  This is my first visit to the city although Ira has been here before when we was in the Navy.  The first thing we did when we crossed the state line was stop into the visitor center.  We picked up what we could find in the way  of information on this area.  There were some on visits and tours of plantations.  I would like to see a couple. 


On our way here we stopped one night at a Walmart.  We needed groceries anyway so we decided to do the shopping and sleeping at one stop.  I was in bed at 8:30 and slept till 7:30.  That is a direct result of spending 5 days sleeping 100 feet from a railway track that had huge lumbering coal trains running about every 30 minutes all night.  Every time one went by the trailer shook and the noise drowned out the TV unless we turned it up full blast. 


We are in Lake Aire Campground which is much more remote and much quieter.  You can hear a train go by once in a while but it is much further away and much more infrequent.  Right now the place seems to be quite full but I am hoping that tomorrow with the end of a long weekend many or most of the people here will move on. 

Fast forward a week..................... I am amazed at how many people are still RVing.  It is mid October and school is in yet this park is still nearly full every night.  Every morning lots leave and the place fills up again.  I really thought we would be seeing lots of vacant spots by now. It also surprises me how many other full timers there are out there.  We have run into quite a few at every campsite we have come to.  I guess there are more people living this unconventional lifestyle than I thought.

We made a new friend today.  We went to the Charleston Tea Plantation and met this little guy:

He was quite happy to pose for a photo opp.  This is the first time I have ever seen an alligator in the wild. 

Yesterday we went over to tour the USS Yorktown.  It is an old WWII aircraft carrier.  About 90% of the ship is open to run around in so it was very  interesting. 

While we were there we were also able to go aboard an old sub that was tied up.  Wow those spaces were tight.  I just can't imagine trying to live and work in such tight quarters.  The galley gives a whole new meaning to SMALL kitchen.  Mind you when I was young enough to actually serve on board one of those things I didn't take up quite so much room.  Maybe that would make a difference. 

Torpedios ready for launch!!

We also spent an evening driving around old Charleston.  I wish we could have gotten out and walked more but we couldn't find a spot big enough to park that monster truck of ours.

Here are some shots of what we did get to see:

This is an entryway into a hotel.  I think this is so romantic.  It just needs a horse and buggy.

Tomorrow we are on the move again.  See ya'll down the road.



Virginia

The adventure continues.  We have headed south.  After hearing the news that my father was doing so well after his surgery we decided to move on further south.  After such a wet rainy past 4 months I am still looking for summer.  I know it is October but hope springs eternal.

We stopped for a few days at Stoney Creek Campground just outside Staunton.  The dogs loved it.  They got to run and swim themselves to near exhaustion.

They had a blast swimming out to fetch the ball.  The ball belongs to Shayla and she definitely does NOT want her brother having it.

They love to run and we hope to keep them fit and trim.

We took an afternoon to explore the Skyline drive and Endless Caverns.  It is the first time I have ever gone into caves like this.  It was fascinating.

This the first shot I took as we entered the caverns.

I wish I could take pictures that did the place justice.  I am sure you know what I mean.  You see something and it takes your breath away but when you take the picture it never looks quite as good.

Today we are in Williamsburg at a much smaller campground.  It is very well cared for, cute and very clean.  It is close to everything, shopping, dining, entertainment, railway tracks............  We don't get much sleep at night.  We are here to visit some old friends of Ira's - Don and Elizabeth.  We went out to Olive Garden with them last night.  It was great to meet them and we had a wonderful time getting to know them and recalling old time.  (for Ira anyway).  Ira served with Don many years ago.

Today we are heading out to visit historic Jamestown.  My first time in this area so I am sure it will be very interesting.

Have a great day everyone.  May we meet somewhere down the road.

Where does the time go?

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted.  Where did the time go?  We have been busy since last I talked to you.  We did spend the rest of August and the early days of Sept in Canada.

My father got the word that he had to go in for open heart surgery.  We stayed as long as we could hoping that he would go in before we left but that was not to be.  He has since had the surgery and all went very well. He is home, feeling much better and on the road to recovery.  That is one relief.   The longest day in my life was the Thursday he was in surgery.  It took about 5 hours which felt like 5 weeks to those of us waiting for the call saying all was over and all was good. 

On one of our last days in New Brunswick we took a day trip to Kings Landing, a historical settlement depicting life in the 1800's along the St. John River valley.  It was fascinating to walk through the houses and see how people lived.  Some were more well to do than others.  One small 2 room house housed a family with 6 children.  Their square footage wasn't much more than we have with Serenity and they had 8 people living in it!   How did they do it.

A farm along the St. John River

People are hired to dress and act the part.  Here a woman sits in an upstairs window doing some needlework.

A lumber mill.

We spent a day with my daughter Kristi wandering in the small fishing village of St. Martins.


The tide is out! St. Martins is on the Bay of Fundy which boasts some of the highest tides in the world.  You definitely must time your departure and arrival with the tides here.

We wandered along the shore spotting some caves in the distance

so of course we had to explore them.

Then we had to leave our mark.  (At least until the tide came in)

IT really was a fun day.  I am going to miss Kristi when we leave this area. 

Ira and I spent a day wandering the harbour front in Halifax.  We listened to buskers doing their thing and watched the boats moving in and out of the harbour.

Another day we spent in Fundy Park.  The park is riddled with hiking trails to challenge just about every level of hiker.  We took a few of the shorter ones.

Looking towards the shoreline of the Bay of Fundy.

Dickinson Falls, a short easy hike..

The covered bridge at Pt. Wolfe.

 We left New Brunswick on Labour Day weekend and heading back to Reading Pa.  We had some appointments to take care of in the area along with some visits with family.  We made a couple of visits to our storage facility to off load a few things we thought we would need and since decided we don't. 

We revisited out old house to see if the new owners had done anything to it.  Of course we didn't see inside but aside of a few flowers outside nothing new has been done.  It still looked the same.  Even though I don't miss home ownership I hope the new owners take good care of it. 

We were supposed to head to 1000 Trails RV resort in Hershey on Friday the 9th but because of flooding we couldn't get near the place.  Most of the roads are closed.  On Saturday we made a run for it but due to so many closed roads a simple 30 mile trip took an hour and a half and about 60 miles.  There is just so much flood damage. 

For the next 4 days we attended the RV-Dreams rally.  As usual there was lots of food, lots of laughs, lots of information and lots of good times to share with friends both old and new. Thanks Howard and Linda. 

Of course we had to attend the RV show in Hershey after the rally.  We saw so many beautiful rigs but nothing we liked so much more than Serenity that we wanted to do all the work involved in packing up our home to move to a new one.  So I am guessing that means we are pretty happy with what we have. 

.

More Rain

It is strange to read all these blogs about the heat.  We are definitely not suffering that fate.  In fact there has been so much rain that Serenity is thinking on converting to an ark.  It is just one of those summers.  They happen. 

Other than run out for some groceries and to mail a few postcards to my grandchildren we didn't do much.  After I mailed the postcards I realized that I had forgotten to pick up a birthday card for my grandson Nathan. He  turns 3 later this month.  The post office depot in inside the pharmacy so I ran over to the card section and found a cute one for him.   I took it to the table signed it with love, put the address on it, stamped it and sealed it.  I was about to give it to the girl to mail it when Ira asked me if I planned to pay for the card.  Luckily they had another one that I took to the cash.  How tacky it would be to send my grandson a stolen birthday card.

Stay safe out there everyone and see you down the road one day soon.

Still in Canada

Wow I can't believe it has been nearly another month.  Time is flying by so quickly.  We are still moochdocking but now in Moncton at my parents.  We have been busy.  Where to start.........

- we were only here a few days when we got a call from sister in St. John.  She is keeping the big dogs for us. Well - late one night they got into a "discussion" with a porcupine.  We ended up having to take Troy into the vet.  $240.00 later we took him home. He was still groggy from being under for the removal process. 

He needed some help to stand up.  As he stood he would gradually lean over until he either fell or caught himself.

We got him to lie down finally in the shade and he began to lean again.

Going...........

Going.................

Gone!!

Will he learn from all of this?? I doubt it.  Oh and Troy is a Golden Retreiver not a lab.  We got both him and his sister Shayla shaved for the summer.  It has made such a BIG difference in the amount of hair they shed in the 5er.  They also swim in the pond on Debby's property and they don't drag so much dirt and water in.

 - We spent a foggy rainy day at Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia.  In spite of the day I love the shore and enjoyed it. 

The lighthouse..........

The harbour............

Ira and Kristi (my daughter)  The plastic bag in her hand is a cover to proctect her camera from the rain. 

We did some reno in the 5er -  maybe I should rephrase that - my DAD did some reno in our 5er.  We helped.  He divided some of our larger cupboards by putting dividers in.  We had a lot of cupboards that look like individual ones but when you open them up they were all one inside.  Well Dad put partitions in them so that things don't slide from one cupboard to the next.  The biggest thing we did was to rip out the carpeting in the main living area and replace it with laminate flooring.  A ton of work!!

First we rip out the old carpet.

Then we start laying the new flooring. 

We are nearly done.  Most of the floor is down and just edging to be done.

After 3 days Dad finally pounds in the last nail on the trim.  The floor is done and looks so much better.

When we started we had to remove a small cupboard from the floor in the back of the trailer that sits between the two recliners.  We just shoved it under the table to get it out of the way until we needed to reinstall it.  Jack thought it was great and just his size.....

Sunset at my parents place. Look at the colours in that sky.

Today we had to make a run back into the US.  We have a one year travel health insurance policy that covers us when we travel into  Canada. It is good for a year but only for 70 days at a time.  After that we have to step back into the US to triger it again.  So that was today.  It wasn't too bad a drive.  Only about 3 hours and on the way back we stopped into St. Andrews.  It is a small resort area on the Bay of Fundy.  I have been there before and always loved it so it was great to get back there again.  It is too bad it was raining but I love the shore and in spite of the rain I enjoyed it.

Tonight is a lazy night of movie watching.  So chat at you later and see you down the road somewhere.

The first month is over.

I can't believe that it has been over a month since we left Pa. We moved out of a 5 bedroom 2500 sq foot home to a 5th wheel.  The strangest thing is that we hardly notice the difference.  I guess we really didn't use that much of the big house we lived in. 

It has been strange to know we don't have a stick and brick house anymore and that everything is here.  It is wonderful to know each day as we get up we are free to say "what are we going to do today?" but it is also scary to not have the structure of a day to day routine.  It is relaxing to know that if we just want to do nothing we can and not feel as if we are "wasting" our days off.  When we were working we always felt as if we had to cram as much into the days off as we could and we just wouldn't dream of wasting them by doing nothing at all.  I am sure eventually we will get used to the routine of no routine. 

We are still camping in St John at my sisters place.  It has been wonderful to just spend time with her.  It seems that we really haven't had a lot of time together since we grew up. For the past 2 weeks my parents have also been parked in their back yard.  We have been building 2 bedrooms and a bathroom in their basement.  What a lot of work.  It has been a lot of laughs also, especially dealing with the plumbing part of things. 

Last week we went up Moncton to take my daughter out to dinner for her birthday.  We went to a vegetarian restaurant (the name escapes me at the moment) but the food was great.  Didn't miss meat at all. 

We have taken a day trip into Nova Scotia and went to Peggy's Cove on a picture taking excursion.  It was foggy and rainy but the pictures came out great.  As soon as I get them from my net book to my laptop I will post some of them. 

We have been enjoying ourselves just living one day at a time.  I have had time to take up embroidery again and have dug out my sewing machine.

We are having fun planning future destinations and then discarding them to plan something else.  The best part is knowing we can do what we want when we want.  

Right now we are getting hitch itch and it is time to lift the jacks and move on.  I think that is going to happen tomorrow. 

Here we are camped in her back yard. 

Before heading out on a ride Deb works Spirit to use up some of her energy.  They still have more work to do on the ring but they are getting a good setup here for the horses.

Even the dogs are getting to run off their energy. Troy and Shayla with their "country cousin" L. E.  There is a small pond just out of sight and they often run up for a quick swim.  At least LE and Shayla do.  Troy is a big chicken and won't get in. 

It is getting late and time for bed.  Nite everyone and see you soon somewhere down the road.

This is the good life.

Yesterday Ira and I did a run to Moncton.  I was talking to my mother and the Dr. had told her she was not going to go home yet.  Dad was quite upset and worried so we drove up to spend the day with him.  When we arrived at their place Dad told us that the Dr. had changed his mind and Mom's immune system had improved so much that she could go home.  So we all went in to pick her up.  She is feeling much better and is happier at home sleeping in her own bed.  The dog was so excited he didn't really know what to do with himself.  He would look at her and run full tilt from one end of the house to the other. He would then stop and look at her again and run again.  He kept this up until he was tired out.  It was funny to watch.  Now I just hope Mom stays healthy.

Today we plan to run into St John and do the tourist thing.  It has been a long time since I have been to the city (other than just driving through) so it will be nice to just stroll around. 

We are loving this freedom and the fact that we can set out schedule as we feel like on any given day.  This is the good life!

Thank you Howard and Linda! Without your blog and encouragement we would not be doing this.

Thats it for today.  Hope to see you down the road one day soon.

Settled but no internet

It has been a few days since posting.  I had really intended to post as often as possible once we hit the road but right now we do not have Internet and using a borrowed computer is not always convenient. 

We are parked at my sisters place in St John New Brunswick.  Unfortunately she does not have wireless so we can't just tap into her Internet and I have to come inside to use her computer.  Right now she is working so I have time to just sit and read or type. 

The weather is great but a bit cooler than I am used to and the bugs...well ......lets just say I had forgotten how much of a pain they could be. 

My mother was admitted to the hospital they day we arrived so the first day my sister and I spent in Moncton at the hospital.  She is feeling better now but we still don't know when they are going to let her go home.  I hope today but we shall just have to wait and see.

Ira and I are finally just getting to relax and we can feel the stress just slipping away.  What a great feeling.  I know we are going to love this life.  We have spent the past few days repairing the stuff that broke on the nasty roads up to here and reorganizing so it doesn't happen again.  The learning curve is quite steep right now.  Have we missed our house and property in Pa?  Not yet we don't.  The dogs are loving it here.  They get to run around loose and play with the horses and chase the barn cats.  Not sure the cats enjoy it as much as the dogs but they definitely give them a run for their money and the cats are never in any danger of getting caught.  The dogs wouldn't hurt them if they did catch them.  They just want to play. 

Today we plan to go into the city and explore there.  I don't know St John very well so it will be fun.

Hope we can meet somewhere down the road soon.  Until then drive carefully and watch out for the other guy.

The story begins......

It has been an interesting few days.   We were supposed to close on Wednesday at 11.  It got postponed until 3:30.  Then again until Thursday at 2.  Of course we were ready to go on Wednesday so having to sit for one more day was stressful.  There is always that little fear at the back of your mind that things might just go sideways at the final hour.  We didn't sleep much on the Wednesday night.  I was up at 5 restless and ready to pull out of the driveway.

Finally 2 rolled around and we arrived at the office to sign things over.  It happened ...............finally.  We no longer owned a house.  We were houseless..........not homeless.  The first feeling I had was "OMG what have I done!!!!"  It really was scary.  What if we don't like this life.  I think the stress and lack of sleep was hitting us. 

However we went back to our ex-house and hitched up Serenity (who was now parked in someone elses yard) and headed out.  It was 5:01 Thursday May 26 that we officially started to roll.  We headed north. 

We drove until after midnight and finally stopped at a rest area somewhere near Boston.  It was right on the highway of course and very noisy but we did manage to get a few hours sleep. 

Friday was sunny and HOT.  We continued our drive to Maine and arrived at our campsite around 2.  We were tired and hot and we couldn't get the hitch to release.  We tried pulling forward and backing up.  No matter what it just wouldn't release.  Finally we just decided we were not going to unhitch.  We were too hot and stressed to deal with it so we finished setting up everything else and went in for a cold drink and to sit in an air conditioned 5er for a while.  Once we relaxed a bit we decided to tackle it again.  One of our neighbours came over to offer some help.  Of course once other men detected someone with a problem they all came over.  It didn't take long to get it done.  We unhitched finally.  I felt better then.  It seems that we are not supposed to take the weight off the truck before releasing the jaws. Who knew.   It was the opposite with the little Jayco we owned before.  We hope we have this little problem solved and as today is moving day we will soon know.

On our drive up here we stayed on the interstate all the way.  The roads were so bad we bounced everything in Serenity all over the place.  Good thing we strapped the TV down tightly.  It was so bad even one of the blades on the ceiling fan broke off.  Good thing I wanted to replace that one anyway with one with a light in it.  Looks like it is going to happen sooner than later.  Everything had moved and bounced.  The shower head fell and broke the little loop thing holding it to the wall.  Something else we have to replace.  Sheesh. Wonder how it would have been if we had of left the interstate for some back roads!  I shudder to think.  Today we move again.  This time we are not so stressed and we feel better (read more rested) with everything about this life.    We will cross the border later this afternoon. 

So until next time stay safe and watch out for the other guy.

The wheels will roll

Today we close and the wheels will roll.  We had it all planned where we were going to be for the next few nights.  We are still parked in the driveway and we are already learning the meaning of the "plans are made in jello" phrase.  The closing was delayed by 4 hours and that already throws a monkey wrench into our plans.  But no matter.  We are free and we don't have to be anywhere by any set time and we have the rest of our lives to get there.  WOW what a feeling.  Of course everyone we talk to asks the same question, or rather same two questions, the first one with a look of surprise and a bit of doubt............"you are going to LIVE in your RV? and then comes the look of envy and "where are you going first?"

The people who bought our house were here last night for their walk through.  They are a nice couple with two children.  I hope they enjoy the house as much as we did and I hope they make a future full of memories there. 

I still can't believe that we are going to roll today.  I thought this day would never come. 

I will close with one word today...................YAHOO!

almost there

Wow the past two weeks have gone by fast.  I can't believe we pull out in just two more days..... or as the kids say 2 more sleeps :)  I made our first reservations today.  The first of many.  We are heading up north to Maine and plan to stay there for 2 nights.  Then we cross the border into NB.  I am so excited and still a bit stressed.  Still having those mixed feelings..... I am sure you know the ones.....excitement mixed with the "oh no what have I done?" feelings.  I am waiting for the feeling of relief we will have when we roll out of the yard on Wednesday.  We have been living in Serenity for nearly 2 months now and I must say we really havn't noticed a huge difference from living in the 2500 sq foot house.  I guess that shows just how much of the house we actually used. 

We have been so busy.  The house is empty, repairs are done and addresses have been changed.  We are going to domicile in Florida so our new address is out of Pensacola.  Maybe I can get cut rates on Walt Disney tickets now. 

We had our yearly dentist check ups and I am happy to say our teeth are shiney white and we don't have any need for further work. 

We went out for a farewell breakfast with some friends.  As excited as I am to roll it is hard to leave friends.  We will be back and I know we will hook up again.  In fact we are going to be back in the area for the RV Dreams rally in Hershey in Sept. 

I have been driving around the area doing some photography.  I am planning to do a photo journal of our travels and the adventure starts here.  It has been fun to see places with an eye for pictures.  I am having fun playing with the camera and learning what it will do.  Here is some of what I have taken so far.

Blue Marsh Lake

I wish they had over night camping around this lake but unfortunately it is only day use. 

This is Reading at night.  We went up to the pagoda which sits on a hill overlooking the city.  Such a nice view.

The edge of the pagoda with a cherry tree in bloom. 

Union Canal hiking trail.  Easy wide walks.  Perfect for the beginner like me.  I would like to take the bikes out there for a ride before we leave, if it ever stops raining long enough.  At least with all this rain we know Serenity doesn't leak!

Until we meet somewhere down the road .......stay safe and have a wonderful week.

2 more weeks.

Two more weeks to go and we roll out the driveway.  The timing on this is not the best because we roll just before the memorial weekend. Not having any way to predict that we would be on the road for the holiday weekend we did not make any sort of reservations, and we all know how much the CG prices go up when a holiday weekend rolls around.  Our plan was to head north to Canada stopping for a few days in New London, Salam and a few other places on our way north.  We don't want to spend a weekend camping in a Walmart parking lot so we now think we will just head north moving until we cross the border.  Once in New Brunswick we can moochdock in my sisters yard and my parents.  I don't really know how long we will stay but that is the beauty of this lifestyle.  We will stay until we want to move. (or my parents decide that we are leaving. heheh right Mom?)

The last item on the inspectors list was taken care of this morning and by tomorrow we should have everything we want to keep moved out of the house and we just wait for closing.

Be seeing you soon somewhere down the road.

Getting closer and closer

My daughter flew home today after spending the past week visiting.  We had a great time taking photos and exploring the area together.  It was nice to see the area through new eyes.  We spent a day in Philadelphia exploring history and a day in Atlantic City exploring shops.  Both days had great photo ops for us.  It was sad for me to see her leave today but I will see her in a few weeks when we leave here and head north to Canada to spend some time there. 


As full timers Canada will be our first destination.  After that who knows but we will end up in Florida for the winter.  That is going to be our state of domicile and we will need to get drivers licences and plates for the truck and trailer.  We have already set up mail forwarding out of Pensacola using the service provided by Good Sams RV club.


We have been busy getting the last things done here.  There were a few things that came up with the inspections and we have one last thing to fix which will be done next week.  After that we just have to wait for closing.  The inspections went quite well.  We really had very little to take care of and for that we are thankful.  We realize how lucky we are to not be in an upside down situation as so many are. 

Tomorrow we are planning to take the dogs for rabies shots.  It is required to take them across the border and even though we have never been asked to produce proof of rabies shots the one time I didn't have the proof would be the time I got asked.  We have also been camped here in the driveway since getting home from Tennessee around the 20th of April and we are in dire need of dumping the tanks.  Serenity has her back wheels crossed!!  So after the rabies shots we hitch up and haul her up to Cabelis to give her a good inside cleaning. 

We are both looking forward to the day we roll out the driveway for the last time.  As I was warned I am feeling mixed emotions as we wait for the last day.  One minute I feel goosebumps and the next nerves take over and I am scared to death.  When Ira and I first talked about doing this I was sure this was what I wanted.  I was told that it is common to have the "are we crazy" thoughts and I was sure that I would never have those.  Well......guess what thoughts are going through my mind?  However, I know these too will pass and the day we roll out the driveway will be amazing.

Counting down the days.  See you soon somewhere down the road.

and yet again -

Tomorrow we have an apprasial on the house.  I met the half of the couple that are buying the house.  She seemed nice.  She was here with the home inspector and came out to Serenity to ask me what furnature we were leaving.  She seemed to really appreciate anything we would leave as they are not married yet so as of yet have not got anything. 

I don't expect any problems with the apprasial.  Our agent feels we are priced agressively...... which is real estate agent talk for "cheap".  So it should appraise for more than they want to borrow. 

Three weeks from tomorrow we roll out the driveway.  I can't wait for the sence of freedom.  I expect that first night on the road will be the best sleep ever. 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone.  I hope all of you have as great a day as Ira and I.

Kristi, I can't wait for you to get her next week.  We are going to have a great time.  Nick and Fred, kiss those grand kids of mine and you know my love is sent your way.

Things are progressing with the house, we have one inspection tomorrow and a second on Tuesday.  Cross your fingers that all goes well.  I think I finally have the clothing issue solved and the purging done.  Still a little bit to purge and will happen when we are totally finished working and no longer need those clothes.  I wish all this was over so we could just relax and enjoy the countdown to the rest of our lives.  32 days, 23 hours 22 minutes and 51 seconds, but I am not counting at all. 

Today seems to be much warmer that the past few days have been.  Here's to hoping that is a good sign.  I love the hot lazy days of summer.  Somehow it is hard to be in a bad mood when the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the smell of newly mowed grass is in the air. 

I talked to my sister yesterday and she has invited us to spend a few days moochdocking in their backyard.  She assures me there is tons of room to get Serenity in and turned around.  Troy and Shayla will love to spend a few days playing with their country cousin and getting reacquainted with the horses and barn cats.  They really love the freedom of being able to run around without being tied up.  After that we will head to Moncton to visit my daughter and parents for a while.  We will be using mom and dads place as a home base to explore Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. 

Dee, it would be great to meet up somewhere this summer while we are in Canada.  Maybe we can make that happen. Isn't the freedom of the full time life wonderful?  The hardest thing for me is going to be to slow down.  I want to do it all tomorrow.  Jim and Linda, I am going to have to use your suggestion of setting a goal for each day and not going any further. 

Now I have to start some researching for a CG in Conn.  Ira wants to revisit the base he was posted to many years ago.  How much do you think it has changed?  We also want to get stickers for the truck so we can take it on any base anywhere across the country.  So until we meet further down the roads stay safe out there and have fun.

Just waiting

The waiting begins. We are required to have 3 inspections done on our house.  One is next Tuesday.  We have not been contacted on when the other two are going to be.  We have started emptying the house.  We have so many clothes.  They are not going to fit in Serenity.  It is just that simple.  We have way too much.  So our purging continues. 

I started on the purging process again today.  The bed in the house is piled high with stuff I want to take with us but I just don't know how I am going to find room for it all.  I guess I just don't know how to pare down.  How do you choose what to take and what to get rid off?  Most of it is still wearable and fits.   

Ira puttered here and there.  He is getting stuff done for the safety inspection. 

We are still gathering up what is left to move to storage.  As I said we are mostly just waiting for the date to get closer then we can go full steam ahead. 

Have a safe and happy Easter everyone. 

CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!

Check it out!! Check it OUT!!!!  CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After just two weeks on the market we are under contract.  I am so excited!   Our wheels will roll on Memorial weekend.  Thanks so much Nadine.  You did an awesome job!

We had a great time at the rally in Tn.  Many new friendships were formed and lots of great info learned.  I now have ideas for what I want to do to the inside of Serenity to make her feel a bit more like home.  On thing I am going to do it organize my dish cupboard.  I want to make it look like this......

(Mom show this to Dad and tell him to get ready.  We will be up there early in June)

I have some ideas for furniture rearrangement too.  Isn't playing house fun?

When in Tennessee I saw the weirdest building I have ever seen. I made Ira stop and pull into the parking lot just so I could take a picture.  Check this out

Checkout the palm trees hanging upside down.  Very strange. 

Our free day was spent exploring the Smokey Mountains.  What a beautiful place.  We drove into Gattlinburg just to take a look. 

This is the view from one of the pullouts.  Of course the picture just doesn't do it justice.

It was an awesome week and we really didn't want to come back.  Soon we won't have to.   I am just so excited.

RV-Dreams rally - pt 2

Fist of all I want to let all my followers know what a joy it has been to meet a lot of you at the rally.  It is a thrill to hear "I know you....I follow your blog."  Thank you, all of you, for that.

We are having a great time here at the rally.  The seminars are so informative. As Linda or Howard are talking I can't count the number of times I have though "Oh yea I know that feeling" or "that is so us".  It is quite a relief to see that so many others have experienced or are experiencing the same feelings, problems or concerns that we have.  I have enjoyed to talking to other couples that have "hit the road" anywhere from 2 weeks ago to 10 years ago.  They have such stories to tell.  Soon as the house sells we will be able to add our stories to the mix as well.

I have deliberately not mentioned how the house sale is going.  We have had some interest but I don't want to jinx anything so I am not going to talk about it.  Rest assured that the minute we are under  contract you will know.  I will be shouting it from the rooftop. 

So far Serenity is doing..........well not as well as we had hoped.  Just last night before we left for the welcome dinner the toilet broke.  When we pumped water in to flush instead of the water going into the toilet it went straight up in the air.  Now I don't know much about trailers and their toilets but somehow I think that is a bad thing.  A couple of our wonderful RV-Dreams neighbours came over to lend us a hand but we just cannot fix it here ourselves.  We need a new part and that is going to wait until we get back to Reading.  Until then we are using a bucket to flush with. It could be worse and I know if that is the only thing that goes wrong we are lucky. 

Yesterday was not as nice and summery as it has been with wind and rain but today the sun is back.  It is in the high 60s /low 70s today so I am happy. 

Ira is at a seminar about internet on the road.  I didn't go because most of what they talk about will be over my head anyway.  Ira will understand what is being said and he will decide what we are going to use.  As long as I can get internet and chat online with my parents and kids I am happy.  Meanwhile I am home babysitting the dogs. 

That is about it from Tennessee for now.  More later.  Have a good day everyone and stay safe.

RV-Dreams rally - Pt 1

We are finally settled at River Plantation RV park in Sevierville Tn and it is wonderful.  As I am writing this I am sitting outside Serenity in the shade of our awning.  It is 80 +, lots of sun and just enough breeze to keep it bearable.  Have I mentioned that I LOVE summer.  Wish  you were here Mom.  You would love it.

We left Reading right after Ira got off work and headed south towards the border to Maryland.  We drove a few hours then decided to stop for the night.  All the rest areas and truck stops we checked out were totally full.  Not a spot to park and sleep.  So I got to fulfill one item on my bucket list.  We spent the night in a Walmart parking lot.  I know that is not exactly something you would find on a bucket list but in the past I have gone into Walmart so often to see people stopped in their RVs.  I have always been envious of them and wished I was on my way to some adventure too.  So now I got to be one of those people stopped in the parking lot and someone else could be envious and wish they were me.  I know -  it's childish but I don't care.  It is my bucket list and that was on it.  Now it is ticked off.  Anyway it was great to sleep in our own bed that night.  After a long day and a couple of hours of driving we slept like the dead.  I just know I am going to love this life.

We arrived here in Tn. later on  Friday night after a loooong drive from the Walmart.  The dogs were great on the ride down but were just as happy to get here as we were, I am sure.  We disconnected and set up the vitals -water sewer and electricity.  The rest of the set up procedure could wait until the next day.  Once again we were happy to sleep in our own bed.  On someones signature line in the forums (I am sorry I don't remember whose it was) it said - I don't know where I will be sleeping tonight but I do know I will be sleeping in my own bed.  (something like that anyway)  How true it is.  No matter were we are we are home.  Gotta love it.

The past two days were spent meeting other rally attendees and getting to know each other.  Last night a bunch of us (30 or so I am guessing) went out to live theater production.  It was great. Lots of laughs and some very real talent.  We have been spending lot of time walking the dogs.  They are liking that and we are getting exercise too. 

This is shaping up to be a busy fun filled week and I know I am going to hate to see it end.

IT IS OFFICIAL!!!!!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!

The house is on the market.  Finally! I thought this day would never come.  It went up this morning and we have had one showing with two more booked.  Cross your fingers everyone.  This is going to be the hardest part of the whole process.  Just sitting and waiting.........we don't have control.  I don't like that feeling.  The house does look good, it is a good house and I think the  price is right. 

We have been living in Serenity for a week now and all is going very well.  It definately is taking some adjustment with the pets and us being is such a small place but it is working well. The biggest adjustment is that it is a 50 amp trailer and we are plugged into a 15 amp outlet so we are definately juggling what we can turn on and not turn on. The animals are happy just to be where we are and seem to be taking everything in stride.

We are leaving for Tennessee this week.  I think it is going to be a great trip and I am looking forward to it. 

Are we full timers??

We are living in Serenity finally!!!!  Are we full timing??  I prefer to say yes even though the wheels wont be rolling for a bit yet.  The house is pretty much done.  The real estate agent was in today with a contract which we signed and the photographer is coming tomorrow.  The lock box is on the door.  We have a few things we want to finish up and will complete them this week.  It is going official and the sign will go in the yard on Monday next week.  Our first open house is on Sunday 10 April.  Wow the past few weeks has been hectic.  I am exhaused!!

Now for the nail biting time.  Waiting for our house's next owners.  Then we hit the road.  YAY!!! I am so excited but trying to be patient.  I hope it sells quickly.

10 days till we head to Tennessee.  It will be our first real trip in Serenity.  We took her out on a shake down weekend last fall when we first got her but this will be our first time doing any real travel time and I can't wait.

Serenity ...here we come

It has been a while since posting but to my credit we have been oh so busy.  The house is so near ready.  Why didn't we do this years ago?  We could have enjoyed this nice house ourselves.

The kitchen floor is finally in, it looks great.  The yard clean up has started and the cupboards and closets are getting near empty. The deck has been painted. The hot tub is filled, ( I am liking that part) and we are just waiting for next week to get the rugs shampooed.  Many times in the past I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel but when I got there I found it to just be another light showing a corner.  But now I can really say the light is there.  We have half moved into the 5er.  We will finish the move this weekend.  We have been sleeping out there anyway.  (We are camping in the yard) :).

Today we took over our limit of bags to the curb for garbage.  Lately we have been using our neighbours seeing as they are still in Florida and not using their garbage pickup. 

We took the love seat out of Serenity to make room for a small computer desk and a place to put the kennel for the dogs. Troy and Shayla get a bit excited when someone walks by and I don't want them jumping up on the window.  (Not sure the walls could take 160 lbs from both dogs jumping) So when we go out the big dogs go into a kennel.  Lucky for us they don't mind it at all. 

I have given my notice at one of my jobs.  I will no longer be working at the store but I am still subbing in the schools.  I like the subbing because I can set my own schedule.  This weekend we call the real estate lady and she will bring the photographer in to take the pictures of the house for the listing.  Next week on 1 April we put in up for sale.  After that......who knows?  Send me all the good house selling vibes you can.  I think we are setting the house at a good price.  We chose a price that is a  bit lower than what the agent said we should get.  We are hoping for a sale within 90 days.  That seems to be the norm around here. 

The first open house will happen when we are at the RV Dreams rally.  It will be better when we are not there so that Serenity is not parked in the drive. I can't believe the rally is only just over 2 weeks away.

Later in the month my daughter is flying in from New Brunswick Canada for a weeks visit.  I haven't seen her since Christmas so I am excited to see her again. 

It is going to be a busy month or so. 

I am do excited to move into the trailer.  It seems it has been a long time coming.  Getting out on the road is getting closer and closer.  I can almost taste it.

Can't wait to meet all of you in a campground around a fire somewhere.  Until then drive carefully and watch out for the other guy.

storage shed and garbage

Yesterday was a productive day.  We tackled the storage shed out back.  We tossed so much stuff, and I am wondering why we were keeping the stuff anyway?  We had a bunch of stuff that we took out to the curb and within an hour it was gone.  I hope the new owners of our "junk" use it in good health.

Today is garbage day.  We have a limit on the number of bags we can put out to be picked up and with the cleanup of the storage shed and thngs in the house we have exceeded our limit.  This is not the first time this has happened and usually we just keep the extra bags and wait for next week.  This week we decided not to start next weeks load with a deficite so with two neighbours still in Florida for the winter we put bags out in their yard.  I only wish I had thought of that before.  I am not sure what the neighbours thought if they saw us dragging bags of garbage across the street and setting them in someone elses front yard. 

My sewing room is sorted and packed.  I only have to stage it now.  It is going to be set up as a hobby room.  Today we are going to start emptying the garage.  Of couse the ongoing packing and sorting in Serenity will continue.  We will be moving in her about 2 weeks from now.  Does that make us full timers then?  Even though we will still be living in our driveway?  I can't wait. 

wow time flies

I can't believe it has been two weeks since I posted.  Life has been moving along here.  All of our snow is gone.  YAY!!!! and the weather is getting warmer.  I can't believe that is just a month we leave for the rally in Tenn.  I am so looking forward to meeting a lot of dreamers there. 

I have started moving into Serenity.  I have moved all the clothing we don't use daily and items that I want to take with me.  My beading stuff and needlework stuff is packed and will be going  out this week.  Today I partially cleaned out the kitchen cupboards.  Some of the food is out there now.  We have taken stuff we don't want to get rid of to the storage unit.  Who knows.....we might just decide to get rid of it all one day.  Ira is not sure how much he will like the full timing thing so we are keeping some stuff in case we do come off the road one day.  

A couple of days ago we took a load to the unit and forgot to raise the tailgate on the back to the truck.  You can just imagine what happened at the first green light we accelerated through.  Yup.........some stuff did get destroyed but fortunately nothing too important.  Some things that were valuable were picked up by an honest person who had called the police to leave it with them.  (They didn't know how to find out who the owners were) They were still there when we got back to pick up our stuff and returned our belongings to us.  There are good people out there. In the future we are going to make a point of walking around the truck before backing up.  (Always a good practice anyway)

I have my sewing room 90% sorted and packed for storage or for Serenity.  Once the bins are moved out to their respective new homes the room will only take a few minutes to stage.  The rooms upstairs are mostly staged (still have to get the kitchen floor done.) 

Oh and one more thing fell into place this week. My permanent resident card finally came in the mail.  That is just one more thing that we don't have to worry about now.  That is a big weight off my mind. 

I hope to see all off your down the road somewhere soon.