Snow Flies and Plans Moving Forward

The brutal storm in the Midwest is to arrive today. So far its only been rain/snow mix with the temps to drop around 4pm and then the snow will fly and by Monday our high temp is predicted to be MINUS 8. Looks like a lot of snow and ice by tomorrow morning. Borrego Springs comes to mind when I see that temperature forecast.

I have finally moved out of my "winter blahs", hibernating mood and am fully charged and excited to get back on track for my departure in May 2014.  That date will be here before I know it. Thanks to the downsizing I did last summer I am not that far away of being able to pack what little stuff I want to keep for the future when I decide to settle. Sports memorabilia, books and some music that I would rather not sell or give away will be stored somewhere until I decide where the settling spot is.

I've been following all the blogs on my blog roll daily this winter but kinda tuned out all the informative forums, RVs for sale sites while I hibernated. After all the information I have read and collected these past two years, I seem to have forgotten some of it so I'll start doing a little review of rving fulltime. During this time I will also start packing the Coachmen and will have a better idea of what to take or get rid of.

As it stands, I'll leave in May 2014. The house will be empty and a realtor will show it for sale. I may tow my H3 Hummer since that can be towed wheels down and is a 4x4. I will sell the old Chevy Pickup and my Mini Cooper. All of these different plans/options have been tossed around for years and every time there is one plan that consistently shows back up ... the one I am going to follow in May.

Things change, places change over time and after 17 years this March I find it is time to move on. I just didn't enjoy living here this past year for various reasons that I will not discuss here but some things can't be changed for the better. It is the longest period of time I have ever lived in one place in my life. All ranging from the beach in Carlsbad CA, to Whidbey Island WA, Breckenridge CO and back to the Midwest, the land of humid muggy summers and freezing winters.

It's time to move.

I have a few places in mind but will find the place during my travels. This traveling itch has never gone away and I know if I don't get out on the road now (May 2014), that traveling thought will linger in the back walls of my mind for the rest of my life and continue to bother me.

So, I have 5 short months to go back through each room and discard or load things into the Class C (no name yet) and 5 short months to prepare the house for showing.

I know time is moving so fast that May will be here before I know it.

I can't wait to hit the road!!

Coach Battery Switch & Thoughts

Answers to my questions came fast today as I checked the charge to my coach battery. The battery was fully charged. I changed the path of the extension cord that runs from my house outlet to the rig electrical power cable. Before I had it running out my door while home and would unhook power during the times I was at work or away from the house. With the fridge running all the time, thinking that would switch automatically to gas when the power was unhooked, could that have been the culprit to running down the charge of the house battery? So yesterday afternoon I moved the extension cord to the back of the house to the rig power cable, where I can leave it plugged in all the time.

This morning I unplugged my house electric from the rig, went inside the rig and checked what would or wouldn't turn on using the coach battery. Everything came on using the coach battery including the generator, which started right up.

So I am not sure what the draw was to run down my coach battery but with the overnight charge, it's up to speed, fully charged. Maybe it was the broken pin on the 15A-30A adapter that I found last week and replaced or the time I unplugged it while I was away from the house.

I did not find any interior battery switch to turn the coach battery on or off. What I believe the seller called the switch is the green knob pictured below. The pictures below are what the seller showed me when he described of turning off the coach battery.

Switch Turned On

Switch Turned Off

The knob was tightly screwed down to the "on" position.  So I am thinking there was something drawing against that battery while I had the house power unplugged during the 9-10 hours per day I was at work. Today I shut off the fridge, leaving the doors open and will only turn that back on a day before I hit the road for any weekend trips this fall and winter. I also have the tv unplugged while I am parked.

The more I look at the rig, the more I like it and realize I have plenty of storage even if I were to full-time travel.  Also the hounds love it, if the coach door is open, all three run inside without saying a word. The overhead bed will be used as more storage with a possibility of mounting my 46" tv from home in that area and strapped down during travel....that is way down the road though if that happens.

The oil level in the generator looks good, propane tank is 1/2 full, the Chevy fuel tank is 1/2 full and the convection stove/microwave combo, the 3 spot range all look like they have never been used. 

After a lot of thinking recently, I believe I have downsized about as far as I want to go. A few weeks ago I posted that I was moving everything into the rig as if I were leaving and selling or getting rid of everything left in the house.....but I haven't had the urge to get rid of the things left in the house which there isn't much left. Yes, for someone single, some might think I have too many vehicles (my weakness) but they each have a purpose, low mileage, fairly cheap to license and insure them. So until I decide differently I am going to keep all the vehicles I have whether if I am on the road or not. They are pictured on "The Toys" page, linked at the top of the blog.

The house?  Many readers will remember I went back and forth on selling or keeping it all summer. In fact co-workers that drive by my house to and from work said they could not keep up with the number of times I took the "for sale by owner" sign down, then would put it up. LOL I haven't thought much about it lately, so that tells me this paid off small home will stay as my base camp, one that is about 1,500 - 2,000 miles from where I will be traveling. At least if I am sitting out west somewhere and become am tired of traveling I have a place I can return to.

I don't think I will be leaving before November 2013 like I would like. Financially it's best if I leave as I planned in October 2011....leave in April/May 2014. By leaving at that time my first year traveling may be a full year simply because I do not want to come back and live in the winter's cold, snowy and icy weather in Indiana. So I might return home in the spring of 2015. That year would give me a pretty good idea if I want to be a part timer or a full time traveler.  After that, I'd leave October/November time frame for warmer temps and return in April....unless I want to eliminate the humidity, then westward I would go.

After the past couple weeks that were a little frustrating I think things will calm down a little now that I know more how this "thing" operates, plus the plans seems to be falling into place.

Changes

Grab some popcorn, the movie continues!!  LOL

When I left you last, all the vehicles were for sale on Craig's List and I had an appointment on Wednesday to show the house and list it with a Realtor.

I made it to Wednesday morning, appointment was set for 3pm and my day started by my bloodhound Sadie trotting through the kitchen toward the door for her first thing in the morning trip out to the field, followed by Winston and Heidi, the basset hounds.

"Was that water I heard"????  Couldn't be. Not on the same day the appointment was set for. I flicked on the light switch only to see a small lake of clear water on the kitchen floor, all coming from the closet that holds the small water heater.  Strike 1.

Before anything, coffee must be made, so I tip tow around the edge of the "lake" toward the refrigerator to get some nice filtered water to make coffee. With the door open I catch a small glimpse of water puddled at the bottom of the fridge, NOT connect to the "lake" on the other side of the room.  Strike 2

By 9 am I had the "lake" under control, calls made for cost estimates and availability for a water heater replacement. Also all of my refrigerator contents were loaded in cold Coleman coolers and the defrost processed had started. It is a self-defrosted fridge but a few weeks ago I realized the door was left open for many hours and thinking I had the same problem from last year where those small drain tubes were full of frozen water, I would try to defrost before looking for repair.

Since the most of the morning was taken with DCC, it left me little time to "stage" the house like I had planned before the appointment at 3pm. The more I thought about it, I decided it was not the right day for the appointment, called Linda and cancelled.

Within the hour I had also changed my mind about selling my house.

The rest of the day I continued to think and as you all know "thinking" gets me in trouble.  Not bad trouble, just trouble.

By that night I had confirmed to myself once again, I really didn't need to sell my house to travel nor to buy the Starcraft trailer. The more past emails I read, some blogs I read, I had people that have been on the road for 6 years or longer telling me in more than one email over the year, to hold off selling the house until I try living on the road with 3 dogs to see if it was really what I wanted to do ... and not go by "the beautiful stories" I read about full-time rving on different blogs.

One little tidbit passed on by a full time traveler with 2 large dogs in a very small trailer. She told me something I had never thought about it. She said it's harder to camp in the winter, not because of the temperatures but the decreased time of daylight hours. Meaning the winter months I would be spending more time inside my trailer with the hounds due to shorter days. 

I also decided if I wasn't going to sell the house, I didn't need to sell my old Chevy pickup (I used it a lot this past week). I also decided I would not sell the Mini Cooper S. I had zero emails or calls about the car the weeks it was listed on Craig's List and other Mini Cooper Forums. I also was not going to "give it away" by selling for a lower price just to get rid of it.

So I sit here a week later with the house, truck and cars but with less clothing, less pots and pans, less kitchen utensils, less ice tea pitchers, less juicers .... all taken to the Goodwill.

The downsizing continues.

I admit I did feel better after those decisions and continue to do so even after 5 days since deciding.

So without selling the house the departure date has been moved back to the date I originally planned in 2011....to the spring 2014. I can keep my bank savings intact and my 401's instead of using part of them for monthly expenditures. There have always been financial reasons not to leave before the spring of 2014....unless the house sold. If I were to leave before November I would spend the winter in Arizona, eastern Southern California, possibly NM and/or Texas.  Whereas in the spring I will head west and by the hot months of the summer travel up through my old neighborhood of Washington, down through Oregon and Idaho....then maybe to Montana and Colorado.

Those were plans I had even before I thought of RVing of any kind .... then come back to the house when I got tired of the road or come back and clear out the rest of my stuff and leave an empty house to the Realtor to sell.

So I have come a full circle since October 2011....only the mode of travel has changed.

The dealership has had 3 2013 17RDs since last summer, has not sold one, so they will most likely have them next March when I am ready to leave. I didn't see any reason to buy a trailer, winterize it and store it if I wasn't going to use it until spring.

I have ruled out the Class A and most likely the C's based on how I want to travel.  The Starcraft 17RD will be the trailer I choose. Nothing has changed to make me look or think of a different trailer. It has everything I need and the size is good.

Hope your popcorn tasted good!  College and NFL football starts this Thursday!!

House Trucks & Trailers

Once again I recently tried to put this living on the road for any length of time out of my mind. I still read the blog lists but moved all of my bookmarked RV info out of site. Tried convincing myself that I would work until I drop, make more money than I need and keep buying toys as I had the urge. That would surely make me the happiest.

The "itch" to leave it all never disappeared as it never did in past attempts to shove it aside in the past 22 months. This time I also realized a couple of new things. I have been buying "toys" for a long time and I have made more money than I need for a while and I have lived in this low cost of living area for 16+ years .... guess what? All of this was just a rut or routine, little true happiness and different periods of deep depression.

My happiest times were when I was younger of course, traveling cross country to San Diego from Indiana and then up the coast highway to Seattle....all with a tent, sleeping bag and traveling riding a bicycle.  The best summer I ever had. Other times I was happy were the times driving cross country from the west coast to Indiana and back or about 6-7 years ago when I was buying old '60s VW buses online, flying to their location and driving them back...keeping some of them and selling others.....it was the traveling cross country where I was the happiest.

I think there are some pretty obvious answers there ... answers that I should follow.

So I made some decisions.....again, but at least I keep catching myself when I am about to make a purchase recently, ask myself "am I going to need this on the road?" ... that stops the purchase.

As far as the house I have decided a different approach. When people call me to ask about it, in the past they would ask what the price is. This time I am going to tell them to make an appointment to look at it and I am considering all offers!!  With it being paid for, I am willing to take less to move it and that puts me on the road sooner.  Yes, the For Sale sign is back in the yard.

The 1994 Chevy 2500 truck is back on Craig's list and will be on eBay by the weekend. My 2006 Mini Cooper is back for sale on Craig's List and will be on eBay or Cars.com by the weekend. In the meantime I am going to keep the H3 Hummer to tow a small trailer unless feedback from the question I ask below, leans towards a larger trailer.

My question is ... being a "rookie" in pulling camping trailers ... which would be better for me, a smaller trailer to tow and learn the RV lifestyle, towed by my H3 ... or trade for a Tundra or F150 so I can tow a trailer around 21' and 6,000lbs.  Would the bigger trailer be a problem for a trailer towing rookie? My only experience in towing a trailer were the times I moved, driving a Uhaul truck, and towing my car.

I've made these decisions to sell in amongst the best weather we have had for a while, very cool nights, low humidity and highs of 70's during the day.  Everything is green. I feel better selling and leave rather than play it safe and stay in the rut/routine that has engulfed me.

My house has peaked out for me personally and all I see when I think of the future is money spent on house maintenance and house repairs ... neither of those two options thrill me at this point in time of my life. I'm 61. I get more excited when I think of starting my day outside with a cup of coffee, with a great view and no plans unless I want to.

Could Not Leave People Hanging by My Disappearance

When I shut this blog down for the 2nd time in a couple of months, I wasn't coming back ... I still may not blog on a regular basis.

I may or may not post occasionally in the future but I wanted to leave this blog active for those new readers or people that are looking for answers (I have none) about living on the road either in an RV or trailer (I have done neither) with dogs. Maybe some of the research I have done the past 21 months might help someone just starting their search for information.

I am on Facebook, have been for years, but 3 or 4 months ago, I deleted all my friends from just Facebook and only kept that account open so I could follow "pages" or "groups" that I liked.

In Blogs and Facebook, I have never really cared to share what I personally do with the outside world but they are both useful in a way ... so I keep both of them. For information mostly.

So that is where I am today in blogland. Yes, I have continued to read all the blogs I have listed on the left through Feedly. That program was my replacement for Google Reader after it stopped.

For my followers, an update ... NO, I did not buy the Starcraft Trailer I last posted about. One week before delivery, with money in hand, I went down to the dealer for a look again and planned on paying for it a week in advanced. After she unlocked the door so I could look at the trailer I was buying, my initial thought was "this is smaller than I remembered", "smaller than the pictures I had looked at after making arrangements for purchase".

So I spent an hour in 90 degree heat, sitting inside and thinking, on my hands and knees looking at ever nook inside and out of the trailer. I kept asking if that trailer was a workable solution for my 3 dogs and I. There was also some question on the length of the trailer based on the model number in the name and that of trailer manufacturer's norm.  Was it 17' inside or from tongue to bumper. After that hour I spent looking and thinking, during my 40 minute drive home I was fairly certain I was not going to make the purchase of that particular trailer. I called them the next day to cancel.

Still the Starcraft AR-ONE 17RD is a possibility.

I believe the trailer I need is the Northwood Nash, 18' and I need a pickup truck to tow that instead of my H3 Hummer.

I have emailed a few people the past few weeks since I closed my blog and discussed different options, thoughts etc.

Yes, the 3 hounds are a major reason and always has been the reason a decision has not been made...not fear.

So, really all is well, I am in good health, I receive different forms of income on a regular basis, the Indiana temps have cooled to high 70's, the humidity had dropped, the bugs are gone and the land behind my house has been cut and turned into large rolls of hay.

For those that are traveling ... be safe and I enjoy reading about your travels.

David ... your pup reminds me an A LOT of my bloodhound when she was in her first 3 years.

Thanks for stopping by.

Make That a Million and One Times

The night of my last post, the more I looked at my sleeping Bloodhound the bigger she got and the smaller the Casita room looked. Then when all three hounds were standing next to my desk chair wanting attention, I realized the Casita would not work.  My basset hounds are longer than the width of the isle in the Casita Trailer!!

No matter how much I wanted it to work ... facing facts ... it would not work.

So I called the seller, only 30 miles away, the next morning after sleeping on my thoughts and told him I had changed my mind ... that it was too small. He had 2 people in line to buy the trailer if I backed out of it.

I had positive feedback from readers and local friends on that decision. I knew it was the right decision as soon as I hung up from the call.

So now, what?

Yes, there has been a couple of outrageous emails ... enough that I shut the blog down, with no intentions of coming back to blog land. Then there were emails that were helpful and encouraging.

I came back to blog land because I caught myself writing a journal. Then I thought I already have almost 21 months of history already recorded, don't let a few bad emails make you run from blog land. I admit, I am usually not this open with private decisions and putting thoughts out online was somewhat of a question for me.

I'm back ... maybe all of my confusion will help someone, otherwise it will be a good record after I hit the road.

I found a Starcraft dealer nearby, so Saturday I drove on our "new" Interstate to check out this RV dealership loaded with new trailers and 5th wheels.  I am only looking at and have looked at trailers that I can pull with my H3 Hummer. That limits the size of the trailer but there are a couple bigger than the Casita that I think will work. Those are the Starcraft AR-ONE 17RD and the Lance 1575 w/slide.

I looked at, sat in, check out the bed, the storage and the roof for a 2013 Starcraft AR-ONE 17RD. They have given me a great price that includes a new battery, installed brake controller, ball mount, anti-sway bar and any changes I want as part of their dealer prep. 2 year warranty on the trailer and 14 year warranty on the rubber roof. Quoted sale price was $9,995.

This gets me on the road faster, under my budgeted cost, have some good feedback from people that are using it and a lot more space than I saw in the Casita.

So the plan can be the same as I last posted. Buy the trailer, park it in back and live in it, with the hounds and find out if we all will be road worthy. With my forced sequestration day off starting this Friday until the end of September, I see some camping trips on the horizon working only 4 days/week.

Thanks to an email I received from a follower, a suggested book has really helped me understand my insanity.

Rambling Thoughts

It's been quite a week. Nothing new on the house, not a call, an email or even a "sniff". After 6 mos for the 3rd year in a row, my neighbor (not close), has taken down his For Sale signs. So we will see what happens on the house front, probably a slower process than I expected.

I test drove a possible different tow vehicle. I found a very sharp 2007 Ford F150 4x4 on cars dot com with the truck being only 30 miles from me. It was a one owner, body in mint condition, new tires, bed liner looked as if nothing had been ever loaded into the bed. Had a possible tire balancing problem at 60 mph (heavy vibration) but overall drove great. It was priced way below NADA value.

The problem was the dealer didn't want to give me anything for trade in for my H3 Hummer. Not really anything but a lower price than I expected. Due to the time of year, if dealers don't try to sell Hummers in the summer, there must be a reason for it.....not hard to figure out.

So, we couldn't close they deal and I am stuck with a H3 that I like but won't tow enough weight.

A few friends have told me to take the loss and trade the H3 for a truck. The trailer I want just dropped in price $5,000 the other day. Its a Bigfoot trailer, used a few times over an 8 year period.

I've always looked for trailers that would fit the tow rate of the H3 and one that is nice and even has a slide is the Lance 1575. The GVWR is below the 3,500 lbs. That rate has a factor of a 20% decrease for traveling in the western states and mountains. So far the only trailer I have found that has enough room is the Lance 1575 and is under the 3,500 lbs.

At the time I bought the H3 I honestly thought I was on my way of towing a Casita but I had never sat inside a Casita. I thought from the blogs and picture that the Casita was the winner for me hands down. So I was basically choosing between the H3 Hummer and the Toyota FJ Cruiser. I had test drove both and even as a past Toyota owner of different models, I preferred the H3 over the FJ.

I remember, without looking it up on this blog, that I had no desire to use a pickup truck to tow a larger trailer.

So like I was told today ... I have to decide where I want my comfort level ... in the tow vehicle or the trailer. There are a couple of other trailers that are below the 3,500 lb limit that interest me and I could see living in them full-time but I like the Lance. They are a 4 season trailer. Their 60 years of experience in truck campers moved over to the travel trailer side of the production line.

So we will see if I take a loss and trade the H3 for a truck and a little bigger trailer, 19'-24'.

For those wondering, yes ... I did have thoughts at times this past week, of keeping the house, the H3, the Mini Cooper and my old 94 Chevy truck .... then traveling only when I had the urge to get out of town or became bored. I really do like all of those vehicles.

There are a lot of things I like about 'sticks n bricks'.  I know what it's like to be in small push button showers while deployed 10 months at a time on aircraft carriers. One of the top 3 things I always enjoyed coming back home ... long long long hot showers. Those will be few and far between traveling in a trailer.

I like all that I own, the house, the H3, the Mini Sport and even the old truck that I drive 400 miles per year. I love college and NFL football on a large HD screen.

I can do most of those likes traveling in a trailer...showers will not be as long, the tv screen will be smaller if I even have a tv. My dual 27" monitor iMac will be a 15.5 Macbook Pro.

Everything smaller and shorter so I can have the ability to decide what my 'front yard' will look like. Or how warm I want my weather.

I am 4-1/2 hour drive from a Lance trailer dealer, unless I could find one at Camping World in Indy.  I'd like to take a look at one, sit inside for a while and see what kind of vibe I get. I have enough room to store in the H3 as I don't plan on taking a lot of stuff....water quantity could be my biggest item to carry.

One interesting thing that did make me flash back to a Class C ... with pictures and articles sent to me by an H3 owner, I can tow my H3 wheels down while sitting it in neutral without any adjustments. He tows his H3 with a Class  A.

On a final note ... I've been having painful problem with my right wrist, my "mouse" hand. At first I thought I had carpel tunnel but found out the wrong fingers were numb. I had chiro treatments, ultrasound treatments, a Futuro wrist and elbow brace, along with ibuprofen....nothing worked. The last few weeks I noticed a ganglion growing on top of my hand near my wrist.

Well as of today I am in hour number 5 of removal treatment without needles or surgery. I'll find out if the google search worked for removal of the ganglion.  I hope so, I don't have time for surgery.

That is all from the "tropics" of Southern Indiana.

Safe journey's to all that are traveling Arizona, and Colorado near the fires.

House Not For Sale

The longer the For Sale sign stayed in the yard these past 5 days, the more I did not want to sell it. I decided I could not sell it until I had experience on the road traveling in an RV or trailer to see if that was really what I wanted to do. It will be my base camp in the meantime.

So, I pulled the sign up today.

I am still looking at BigFoot Trailers. I am still looking for a full size 4x4 Truck to trade my H3 for, so I can tow more than 4,500 lbs or 3,500 lbs out west in the mountains. Like neighbors before me, I'll probably leave my house late October/early November, travel through the winters in the SW and then return in April just in time to catch up with yard work and any house stuff. If during my travels I see somewhere I would rather live, then I'll put the house on the market and sell it ready to move in, empty.

I've always liked this house for more than a few reasons.  I guess that is one reason I have stayed here longer than any other place I have ever lived ... SoCal, Whidbey Is, Breckenridge. I also noted comments by bloggers I follow that would say they enjoy having a base camp and with my base camp paid for, extremely low property taxes, low water and electric bills, it just makes it easier to keep.

As much as I want to be a full-timer, I will never know if that is a fit for me and my dogs until I am doing it. Until I know for sure that I want to travel full-time after experiencing real time miles on the road, I cannot sell it.

The Casita Trailer is Ruled Out

The Casita trailer option was ruled out today. 

While looking at the site for fiberglass trailers for sale today, I saw where someone within 30 miles of my house had two of them for sale. This man is retired, buys them in "as is" condition then cleans them up and adds his own electrical features that are really neat.

He had a 2009 16' that was still in the rebuild status and a 2006 17' ready for sale. The 16' model was a deluxe with the two separate chairs along one wall with a small table. As soon as I walked into it I knew it was two small and that was not including my big bloodhound and 2 basset hounds.

The 2006 17' was immaculate, one owner and never used. The carpeted walls and ceiling looked in brand new condition. He said he would put in laminate flooring if I wanted and tint the windows at no extra charge. A very nice man that said he and his wife had been camping in Casitas for the past 13 years but they were at the point due to health and age that there traveling days were over. Asking price was $12,500. It could have worked if it were just me but it would be pretty cramped with me and my 3 hounds.

So one option is taken off the list.

The options left have been discussed here over the 20 months I've been looking.

1.  Class A towing my H3 Hummer or my Mini Cooper.

2.  Class C towing my H3 Hummer or my Mini Cooper.

3.  A different truck and a 5th wheel.

4.  A different truck and a 19'-22 ft trailer.

My H3 Hummer can only tow 4,500 lbs and take off the allowance for driving in the west and I'm looking at smaller 17' light trailers...take the 3' off for the hitch and I'm in the same situation I was able to look at today of 13'-14' of living space and knowing its not enough room.

My thought process even before looking at the Casita was a Class A 30'-32' or a Class C 28'-31'.

I was glad I could finally see the Casita trailer up close. I commend those that fulltime in the Casita.

Well after this post, the cleaning process starts on the house. My deadline to mount the For Sale sign in the front yard is Sunday afternoon around 5pm.

Back to Looking at RVs and Trailers While Working on the Blog

As some of you may see, I've been spending time trying to get my blog back to the way it was before I deactivated it.  I guess some things on Blogger have changed in the past couple of months. It wanted to load my nonexistent Google +1 profile into the blog but just found how to fix that problem a few minutes ago and was able to change my profile back to my Blogger Profile.

When you look to the left you will see I have lost my link to people that follow this blog. I know the 'why', its because my domain name is not active and does not redirect to this blog address now being used -- www.bhounds.blogspot.com

I'm pretty computer literate but after searching all over the internet I cannot find a way to change the settings to "Friends Connect", which was what it was before I left in March 31, 2013.

So I am asking anyone that is reading this, how can I change my URL like it is asking me to do, so the faces and links of my followers are back to showing up on my blog.

While doing this I have been taking time out to look at RVs for sale, trailers for sale, jobs listings on Workcamper and finding new blogs with good information.

Like a friend told me tonight, "its all about whether or not you really want to do it - if not, any excuse works. dogs are easy to rv with, rving itself is no big deal to learn."

I didn't have any doubts when I started this RV research in October 2011 and as time went on I found more and more excuses to keep me from making a decision.

Has anyone else done the same thing when they were deciding to full-time or part-time on the road?

I Went With My Gut Feeling

I ended up going with my gut feeling on making the purchase. After my 2nd trip to the RV to look at it again, in the same day....I came home and started having thoughts that lasted well past midnight. By the time I went to bed I had decided I was NOT going to buy it...but thought I'd sleep on it.

I got up on Sunday and the feeling was stronger than ever that I was about to buy an RV that I really didn't want.

What made it hard, was the Rv was very clean, great shape, low mileage .... but it didn't fall into what I had planned. The Class A was my first idea back in November 2011 but after visiting my friends in their 36' Monaco last summer, I had decided to go smaller.

My plan from the start was to "downsize" everything I owned before hitting the road.  Using the proceeds from my house sale to purchase an RV or trailer, not taking cash out of my savings. With this downsizing plan, I couldn't justify buying more RV than I needed.

I have always liked the 24' BT Cruiser's made by Gulfstream, with a couple of slides. I can still tow a 4x4 toad and it is a little bigger than a Casita trailer.

That night of many thoughts, I looked at a lot of blog posts, some forums, some pictures of smaller RV's and knew that is what I needed and had planned for.

The feeling after I called the seller telling him I would not be out for the test drive, was a much better feeling than the one I had when thinking about make the purchase. I knew then I had made the right decision.

On Schedule

It seems that I am right on schedule to plant the For Sale sign in the yard sometime Saturday afternoon. By the that time the snow will be gone, blizzard yesterday but 60's Saturday. The ground will be saturated and easy to secure the sign and my carpets will be cleaned and in the drying stage.

These past few days this week, a couple of small things knocked off my list of things to do but some really important ones. I firmed up with my old friend and college roommate in the 70's, that my custom made Romic bicycle with the "vintage" Campy parts, would go to his son who is a cycling animal. We think it will be a nice surprise for him.  During the conversation I was also able to arrange my huge music collection, would go to his daughter that loves all kinds of music and does a lot of research of band members and different types of music around her job, husband and child. He said that she will be floored with excitement when the collection arrives.

Downtown in this small town, is a music consignment shop. I will be there early Saturday morning checking out their policies, what they will sell and possibly making arrangements to have them sell my old but grand Yamaha Stereo components, with a over priced Nakimichi cassette deck/recorder along with some Polk Audio tower speakers, weighing in around 70lbs a piece. This 250w per channel still plays strong and was bought in 1984 overseas.

After those items are delivered, I will be down to clothes, dishes, furniture and books.

Since I have been downsizing, I have very little furniture left, just the basics. I don't have the urge to sell my things on Craig's List or eBay. I was a fulltime eBay seller from 2005-2010 and although that was a drop shipping business, it took a lot of work. So I'll pass stuff out to friends or it goes to the goodwill and pass on the possible earnings.

I know I may be sticking the sign out a little early but on a busy highway, you never know what may happen.

I would really like to pick up a small trailer like RVsue lives in but with 3 larger dogs and one of those being a clumsy bloodhound that can clear a coffee table off with a wag of her tail, I just don't see how that would be comfortable. So I am back to looking at Class C's and some Class A's since the prices seem to have dropped a lot, and each of those can tow my H3.

Somewhere in my travels I will find the place I want to settle down when the time comes and if that time comes. All I know I am heading west. As it stands right now I will change my residency to South Dakota from Indiana the way it sounds, so depending when I leave, I will be heading to South Dakota to get the night stay in, the picture of the drivers license.

Some may ask, although I feel and my local friends feel my house will sell fairly quickly, what happens if it doesn't sell? Well I will continue to do the little fixes and when May 2014 rolls around, I will leave it empty with a Real Estate Agency to sell for me...but I really have no doubt it will sell by the time I need to hit the road. Don't know why I feel that way, I just do. Once it sells I'll give my 30 day notice at work and if I have not bought an RV by that time, it will be done within that time frame.

There is a Class A in great shape is for sale in this town, so I will make arrangements to check it out on Saturday, although I always said I would never buy an RV in Indiana.

I can't wait to hit the road!

A productive Weekend

Amazing sometimes how fast things can change. I was sitting here at my Saturday morning with a cup of coffee, reading blogs, sports, news, looking at trailers, rvs, and extreme vehicles. I looked at the room I was in with all my stuff ready to go to the recycling center...so I made that trip to the recycling center. Then I went through my closets another time and left only the bare minimum I would need for work plus my jeans, shorts and tshirts...everything that I had not worn in a while, went into a bag and went to goodwill after hours.

I came back from the 25 mile drive, one way, and started to clean the rest of the afternoon and felt this energy and motivation come over me like I had been missing in the past few weeks, then had the inside of the house looking more like a "presentable view" instead of the "lived in view". My ballgame tipped off at 7:30pm, so I left for that, came back and got some sleep earlier than normal.

Sunday, it was mid 30's but clear and sunny so I went outside to do some work on my bank, picked up limbs from the high winds a few weeks ago and then did a general inspection of the outside of the house for potential repairs...there were none to do. That short time of doing little yard stuff I realized I dreaded doing what would be needed to maintain the yard and landscaping. After all, there has to be more to life than doing that over and over and over every year.

All during this time of cleaning, throwing away stuff and working outside today, I kept thinking of what I was really feeling and what I was wanting to do if money was no option, jobs were no option and the only thing I had was free time.

That answer had me traveling full-time and not here doing the weekly routine things of laundry, lawn work, and looking for something to do while my friends still were working. I thought of RVsue out in Arizona, Glenn's first couple of years of traveling and all the neat stories he wrote about. Then WheelingIt driving that 38' Class A out into the desert with their solar panels and boondocking. I thought of the summer I spent traveling cross country and then up the west coast on with a bicycle, a tent and sleeping bag.

All of this was what excited me, just like it did in October of 2011.

I thought of the times I had moved from the beach in Southern California in 1984 to Whidbey Island Washington up in the San Juan's and how nice it would be to spend just the summers up on the NW instead of the high 90's here with even that high of humidity. Or the times I drove from Reno Nevada down 395 to Southern California and remembering how beautiful that drive was. Then the time I spent the winter during a a ski season in Breckenridge Colorado....I enjoyed all of those places to the max.

Here, is yard work, after I hopefully surviving tornado season, cold winters that I do not want to experience when I'm older and a general feeling of boredom after being here for 16 yrs this month.

Everyone said this weekend, after mentioning to them "I might sell my house", either knew someone that would be interested, some that said "I always liked that house" and an real estate agency wanting to list it if I did decide to sell it, saying they knew of interested people.

With all of those people saying that, plus what I had done this weekend of getting my ass in gear, I knew there was a reason that the thought of rving full-time had never gone away even after several attempts of pushing it out of my thoughts for months at a time. I knew what my gut was telling me was the right course of action and it was time to make it happen.

So when I get home from work tomorrow, I will continue to knock something else off my "to do list", plus I have a few things to work on for even a better look and then the for sale sign is going in the front yard ... but not until I get those things done.

If things don't work out on the road, I'll sell what I have and look for a new residence somewhere out west, small town, where the weather is nice enough all year round to ride my bicycles, hike or soak up some sun.

I feel better already with my thought process. Last week was just a bummer of a week with some of the news I had received.

Now back to finding something to buy to live in on the road.

Class A's Back in Thoughts

A few weeks ago I started thinking of Class A's and started looking at those again. That was my original RV when I started thinking on what to do. Last summer and fall I took 2 trips to large RV lots just to look at different models to get a feel for what I liked.

I remember and noted in my iPhone notes, that the Class A felt much bigger inside and I liked that. It felt comfortable. Since I am traveling with not only 3 dogs but 1 of those being fairly large (bloodhound), I feel that would be the best option. I could still boondock where I wanted, would have more storage, larger tanks and a larger area to install solar panels. Also I would have more room for the comforts of my life and some addictions ie: large mac monitor, large tv screen for ballgame viewing and room for the hounds to lay on the floor, their normal position most of their days.

I could then possibly tow a 4x4 vehicle and then do some tent camping away from the Class A, which would be my "base camp"....a little backwards from my thinking of driving a 4x4 vehicle and towing a small trailer to get further off the grid.

It may have been watching WheelingIt for the past year and seeing the places they boondock, workcamp etc ... living in a 40'er and towing a 4x4 vehicle.

Yes, if maintenance is needed, I may not be able to stay in the rv while work is being done but many that I read about are able to stay in the lot in their rv. Gas mileage....if I am not towing anything will get about the same mpg as I would if I were driving a SUV towing a trailer and would have less power. Maintenance costs might be higher, but I have some friends that have had zero to little repair work done. Upkeep would be handled by my savings.

Thinking about the Class A option makes me feel better about making a change. It helps to know I would have enough space for me and the hounds, have the ability to stay off the grid a little longer than a small trailer due to the size of tanks and having more than enough storage even if I travel light.

The prices are low right now from what I have seen. I have never stopped looking at Class A's and C's.  I am thinking somewhere between the 32'-35' range in length.

Sitting here in my spare room that has desks, computers, bicycle on a stand, a large inside dog kennel and is not much smaller than the living space of a 17' Casita I keep feeling I need/want something bigger.

I finally feel like I am getting somewhere in the decision making process.

Oh ... the new job?  I can see myself workcamping as an option by next spring or summer....more than staying and working. My days will be nothing more than one meeting after another .... doesn't excite me.

Back to cleaning out more of my stuff, list things on eBay, Craig's List and donate a lot of it to the local goodwill in this small town.

Snow is still around outside but at least today the vision of full-timing is much much clearer.

Class A it will be.

Maybe the Time has Arrived

I've read in past blogs that for some RVer's, unexpected events took place that led them in the direction of fulltiming in an RV. For me the unexpected event may be taking place. I mentioned a few posts ago about the changes at my job. Well this week with each meeting things changed and as usual everyone has to have "their" meeting about the situation. It's actually fun to watch these people "tap dance" and each with a different spin on whats happening.

Abruptly my contract will come to a halt December 31, instead of April 2014. I can keep the same job and just switch to the company that has taken over the contract for my job. It's a company I don't like and they would pay me less for doing the same work, the same stress, the same daily bs.

Or I could stay with my current company, as they try to place me and another person they just hired 3 months ago in a different positions outside of finance. Problem is, finances/money/numbers are my thing ... not PowerPoint slides, boring meetings, written reports, etc. I love working with spreadsheets and analyzing budgets / expenditures.

So you see I am kinda between a rock and a hard place. OR I may be in a very very good place because it might just be the situation to move me in finding a trailer sooner and hit the road.

To keep the job I like ... I have to work for a company after December 31 that I don't like.

To work with a company I like ... I may have to go to a job that I don't like, also by December 31.

Have I confused you?

I noticed yesterday the house down the highway a 1/2 mile finally sold after being on the market for only about 6 months. The house was in terrible shape and the asking price was higher than what I would have asked for mine. So I am kicking myself for not making a decision last summer of putting my house on the market. I couldn't make up my mind on whether to keep it or not and it may have cost me a sale.

Now with my current job situation the thought of selling is a little more stronger and I actually see being on the road a much better option, than staying here and working in a situation I don't like but would only do for a paycheck every 2 weeks after December 31.

Maybe this recent job situation is what I needed to kick me in the ass and get me moving in the direction of pulling up stakes while the weather is still good and getting out of here before the weather gets cold and snowy. Whats the worst thing could happen? I could find out I don't like living fulltime on the road and I need a house so I would end up in the western USA where I want to stay anyway and either buy or rent a place out in the boonies somewhere in a small town.

All this I have thought about for over a year but it looks like "an unexpected event" has had to happen to move me into action.

A Week of Thinking

It's hard to believe that cooler temps have hit the Midwest here in southern Indiana. It's 68 as I sit here writing this. Just last week it would have been in the mid to high 80s now at this same time. So, the windows are open, with no fans running.

Like this post title says, it's been a week of thinking, also getting more information about different types of boondocking and camping from people that have a lot more experience than I.

A few things are pretty consistent over these past 10 months since this "rv urge" hit me. Of course everyone has a different type of rig, different maintenance, different lifestyles and experiences. Each has a different rig set up, some have animals, toads they tow, or toys they ride ... all different circumstances.

I have come to the conclusion being on the road will cost me no more than I want it to. As living in a house, with a job and unexpected expenses, or spending money on entertainment .. my costs per month are pretty set.  I don't think it will change much living on the road. Sure, I will be able to save monthly but then that savings will be used later for routine maintenance or unexpected repairs on the rig I choose. Just like living in a house.

One thing I did decide this week, it's not the ability to afford major repairs that pop up on occasion but what I am willing to spend. After a lot or re-reading information I have saved, the Class DP is the most expensive. There are a couple of friends of mine that have these and have never had any kind of problem with them. Yet, some of the blogs I follow have them and describe some expenses they have had to pay, in amounts that I don't want to deal with.

So I think of me and wonder, which side of those stories would I be on. If I am on the expensive side is it worth it to me to have a Class A DP.

More than a few people with large Class A's have told me privately they wish they either had bought a smaller rig or will when they will buy their next one. Hearing something like that, makes me think.

The Class C from what I understand in most cases can be worked on at a service center of the type of engine. A Ford or Chevy dealership, local garge. A place easier to find than a speciality diesel shop and a little less cost. The number of slides you need are nice, sides work for some all of the time with no problems and others have had problems. So is the extra room for comfort worth it?

Do you look at the comfort level more than what it would take to be on the road with minimum cost? Could I spend less on a rig, find it dependable and get on the road without the initial expense I was planning on in making the purchase and be just as happy? I will only find this out when I do it.

Smaller rigs can get into more places boondocking.  Boondocking is what I plan on doing the most of. Free stays as much as possible, that has always been the plan. Seasonal movement more than a tourist on vacation movement.

The hounds, they can adapt to anything I will buy. Right now they are all sleeping together on their favorite Mexican blankets within an area of 5'. They do that a lot throughout the day. So does it really matter if I am sitting in a 36'-40' rig at night while on a computer, watching a movie or reading a book after thinking I needed a bigger rig for the comfort of my hounds and I?

I envy Glen over on To Simpify because he can live in such a small space (A great Chinook) has stayed full-time longer than he had originally thought he could. He travels to some great country and does so with only minor repairs over the course of a year. Yet even in that rig there are places I want to go and stay, where the Chinook could not get me there. Yet, he has some wonderful "front yards" in his travels and easy to find a place to park his home.

Then I analyze what year of rig to buy. Everyone has different experiences with the years they have now or have had in the past. Would I have good repair luck spending less to buy an older model? Or would I be the one that has a 1-3 yr old rig that has repair problems one after another. Some in this range of age have no problems at all. Just like buying a car or truck, new or used. I have/had both with different results .... so that is a moot point I guess.

The problem I have and have mentioned before .... I like them all!!  No matter what class of rig I look at ... I like them and want them. Everything from a small fiberglass trailer to the Earthroamer.

That right there makes it really hard for me to decide on what to buy.

What about a 4x4 Pickup pulling a trailer. There are a lot of people doing that for a number of years successfully. Some pulling a 16' trailer and having a blast of their life while other are boondocking with a 35' 5th wheel. Some of those 5th wheel towing rigs have been towed for repairs while others are great. Wandrin' has been traveling that way for 12 years or more.

Just like owning and living in a house.  Some are "money pits" while other are just general maintenance. In my case living in the Midwest, what you put off in routine maintenance in the summer could be costly in the winter. That is the part, the time spent in that type of preventive maintenance, where I am getting tired of and would rather be sitting in my chair in front of my rig somewhere, watching the sunrise, soaking up the rays or watching the sun go down.

So, you can see where I am at in trying to decide what to buy and when to leave.

I have absorbed a lot of information and looked at a lot of pictures of different setups, heard a lot of different stories and opinions.

I know a lot of what I have written tonight has been mentioned before. I can only guess that when it's the right time to happen, everything will fall into place and I'll sit back and think "that was easy, why did I take so long?".

The range of thought this week was wide. From a Class A DP towing a 4x4 jeep all the way down to traveling in my Mini Cooper with a rack on top with my camping equipment and the hounds in the back.

You can see that my mind is very similar to scrambled eggs right now. Tons of thoughts and not even a clue on what to do.

For those that have posted comments or emailed me their thoughts on all of these lingering questions I have all the time ... Thank You!

Now,back to your blogs, RVs for sale sites, and google images, while I hear the coyotes and crickets outside my open window.

The Snowball is Starting to Pick Up Speed

Amazing how after a period of time of indecision, things start falling into place or different bits of information are found and different opportunities / ideas start revealing themselves.

In the past couple of days I have been able to release some things mentally that have been holding me up/back from rv'ing full time. It's been only 9 months since I read about the guy on Yahoo business page living in a Chinook. Then finding more and more blogs to follow and finding out just how many people of all ages are living full time on the road. Thus this urge to RV fulltime for the first time in my life practically took over my life in October 2011 and I was spending every waking moment to learn how and what it took to RV full time.

I tried a couple of times to "push it away" by ignoring my feelings, justifying how I liked my job, house and soon to be mortgage free. Then trying to not even think about it....but after a few weeks the feeling of RVing would come back and I'd start reading my blog list, looking at RV's etc and the urge was just as strong as it was in October 2011 when it was an obsession.

Now that I have "cleared" those mental blocks I have had, that prevented me of moving forward I can feel a ton of action by me is right around the corner. I have a few thing I want to do before I put my house on the market, nothing that 2 or 3 weekends won't take care of. I've been downsizing a little here and there and there is note much left to do in that department.

I have decided I am going to buy an older RV for cash, one that is top of the line for the features yet within my budget and cut my expenses bare (have already did that in my current living situation). I know what type of boondocking I want to do and which RV will be too big and which rv will be the right vehicle.

So that search for the right rv is on 100% right now.

The house will be painted inside and a couple minor wood repairs will be fixed, so the For Sale sign will be in the front yard within the next 4 weeks if not sooner.

I will give my 2-3 week notice at the time my house sells. (I think it will sell quick).  If there is a longer time to sell, like I said before I will leave and rent the place out  while its sitting for sale. I do have a person wanting to rent it by September if it doesn't sell.

This blog post really got me thinking hard this morning after spending most of the week at work thinking and wondering about the same stuff.

I'm outta here!!

Fridge Fixed .. House Cleaned ... Good Weekend

With my accounting degree NOT being a factor, I did a little "reverse engineering" on my fridge Sunday and not only fixed the lingering past problem but it also looks brand new on the inside. (cleaned)  Massive ice build up under the freezer floor and also a frozen drain tube.  As I reloaded the fridge and uncluttered the house, I put more items in the bags and boxes going on the next trip to Goodwill. After 24 hours the fridge is like new!

I am basically down to 2 closets to clear out in my downsizing evolution. They are small closets and I already know what I want to get rid of, so it will not take much time to do both of them.

I still don't know what to do. Some say keep the house and rent it while I am gone. The rent could pay my RV payment if I financed on or go into the bank if I buy an RV for cash. A few say workcamping jobs are available if I choose to work. Some people say pack up and leave now but I need to buy an RV first ... lol

Lately I've been thinking of an older Coachman, or Monoco and even a converted bus that was in good condition. Late last night I even went back to looking at Class C's. The number of dogs (3) I have tends to lead me way from the Class C's. Some that have 35' or longer RVs tell me they would rather have something shorter.

So, a lot of different opinions, a lot of different ideas ... and no answers ... just like I was in October 2011.

I think the weekend of the 16 or 23rd I am going to rent a new Class C and take it to the local State Park on the lake for my first RV trip. I think that will help A LOT in the decision making process. The local RV park (different than the state park) near the area where I work is packed for the summer, near the lake.

I am thinking probably the best thing I can do is keep the house, rent it out for as long as I am gone (months or years), keep downsizing, buy the RV that I have thought most about and hit the road heading northwest from Indiana within the next 2-4 months.  If I would have a deadline I would work my "to do" list faster.

Why all these thoughts today of packing up and leaving???

This morning driving to work through some beautiful 12 miles of land, I was wishing that I didn't have to stop to work but could just keep on going. It was early morning, the sun was just coming up and the traffic was light on a US highway.

Plus, I am in a "rut" with my current situation.  Even with a job I like, a house I like and good income ... I feel like I need a change and have a powerful urge to travel again.

Hot and Muggy in the Midwest

I survived this past weekend of extremely hot temps and a little humidity here in the midwest. Most of the time during the heat, my mind wandered to the BLM land of mountains, sunshine and cool temps of the western states. 

From the last post, I did finish the small landscaping job of redoing my flower beds and upgrading a couple of others. Took me a weekend and a couple days after work, so that was completed before the weekend. Not what I could call enjoyable but looks nice.

I have a couple of new people interested in buying my house, but they are not sure about my small town. Basically all I have to do is let them know it's for sale. For me, that seems like a hard trigger to pull. I'm not sure why because I have sold my Z4 sports car, my Toyota 4Runner, gave away a lot of clothes and appliances that I no longer used or wanted. I am basically down to just the bare essentials and even some of that can be either stored or sold when I decide to leave.

Maintaining a home is more work now, whereas years ago it was fun ... something I enjoyed. That is a sure sign to me that I need to sell and change location. I don't mind the hot weather but not a fan of the humidity. I know I would enjoy living back out west, warm in the winter and up in the mountains or northern states in the summer. I have lived in Washington, Colorado, California in the past and have traveled through most of the states by car, bicycle or train. Really have no desire to go east of Indiana nor south.

I am meeting up with a friend and his wife July  4th weekend that has a 36' Class A Monaco. It will be a short visit but an informative one. Steve and I went grew up together. They have a couple of years before he retires and they RV full-time, but they do a lot of traveling in their Monaco and through the years have used every type of camper/motorhome there is as far as types and classes.

Needless to say, we have discussed a lot of RV information over the phone. 

That is about all I can update.  I read my blog list daily, have learned a lot from them, enjoy your great pictures of where you have been or where you are at. Yes, I have the urge to leave.

Even the RV maintenance stories from the blogs I read are quite interesting. Yet, I have two maintenance things possibly on the horizon ... a fridge is acting weird and central air conditioning screaming for a new unit.

So ... "it's a money pit" seems appropriate for both homes on land or on wheels.

A New Direction

While I had the Reds game on in the background so I could hear and then see them blow another extra inning game ... I spent the night looking at RV's.  While I was thinking again and when that happens, it could be dangerous.

Bottom line is, I think I might be going about this decision making process all wrong.

I've been trying to decide what to do and what to buy. A few months back one of my readers emailed me and told me to basically quit messing around, buy a 40' diesel, tow my 4Runner and hit the road. I think he was somewhat right, with some modifications.

I know I want to do this eventually after playing it safe for a couple of more years. I know though if I had everything sold, and leave, I still have monthly income coming in and enough to live on with no problem. So why wait 2 more years???

Anyone have a thought about that?

Here is what I was thinking tonight while looking at RVs and spending another week at a job that I am liking less and less as time goes by.

Put the house, Z4 and possessions for sale. Who really knows how long that will take. I personally feel with the area I live in, the house I live in, things could happen pretty quick. I don't think my Z4 would last a weekend sitting down by the highway in the yard "For Sale".

If both of those things happened soon, then I would HAVE TO scramble to downsize my possessions, give a 30 day notice at work and find my RV to buy and move into.

And IF they don't sell ... I keep working for a while, find and buy my RV, then rent the place out.

I am thinking I need something to move me in the direction I want to move and putting the For Sale sign in the yard for the house is just the ticket for me.

Also the RV is becoming clearer and clearer ... Class A - 32' to 35" in length, diesel.

Then head west!!