The Difference Between a Tornado Watch and Warning

In NO WAY is the story I am going to write about today even close to what people in Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma or even in Indiana 90 miles south of me, have experienced the past few years. I am truly sorry for what those people lost in their tornadoes. This is NOTHING CLOSE to that severe of a storm and what they experienced. I am writing this to show the importance of paying attention to weather warnings.

Me, being the example in this story, of not paying attention on two separate occasions.

Living in the Midwest it is always good to know the difference between the words tornado "watch" and tornado "warning".  Why is this today's topic?  Last night on my iPhone and iPad I was receiving constant message updates from my nearest TV station (WTHI) that an tornado "watch" was being issued and would last up until a certain time. Glancing at the clock on the phone, they always seemed to be in lasting in 45 minute increments with each text extending the "until" time.

The problem, I was not paying attention, but the biggest thing was, I knew the difference of the two words but last night I had them confused....turned backwards in my mind.

"Watches" are issued by the NOAA's SPC, and "Warnings" are issued by local offices of the National Weather Service (NWS). I was receiving warnings and ignoring them. Like I said, for some reason last night I had the two definitions backwards in my head. So I wasn't concerned in the least.

The weather has been so nice that my windows are open 24/7 and have been since April. Slight breezes and sunny skies all day, beautiful but those kind of days can change fast in the Midwest. During the time of the warnings that were showing up on my iPad and iPhone, I was sitting at my computer working a little on the blog, but listening to 60's music on iTunes with a LOUD volume. It was loud enough for me not to hear anything through the open windows like a hard rain or high winds. I can usually hear the siren two miles away that is sounded when storms are imminent and you should take cover. Last night I did not hear that siren. The times I glanced out the window it looked like a normal thunderstorm ... no problem.

So more information on these tornado warnings I was receiving. "Warnings" are issued through the efforts of individuals working for the NWS. They state "the way a warning is issued is that a meteorologist will monitor the weather by radar and look for particular areas where there could be high impact damage. They will issue a warning and there will be a signature for an existing storm or developing tornado." Trained NWS spotters will verify reports of rotation or storm damage. "This gives the meteorologist confidence in what they are seeing on radar".

The t-shirt that I bought at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, where I visited in 2003 says "If The Music Is Too Loud ... You're Too Old" ...

Rock n Roll Hall of Fame

A Fat Me and My Younger Brother

So, while the "warnings" were popping up on my iPhone every few minutes I continued to listen to my loud music, working on the blog, answering some email, etc. I saw nothing outside that led me to believe anything weather wise was happening. I've been in tornadoes and straight line winds before and nothing was telling me based on previous experience that a tornado was nearby.

In my head I kept thinking the definition of "watch". A watch is issued by the NOAA's SPC. "A watch is issued when conditions are favorable for a tornado. It doesn't mean severe weather is imminent." Read that again. I was thinking "watch .... doesn't mean severe weather is imminent".

That is why I thought I was ok.  After all, my trusty watch dogs were all sleeping in their favorite spots, wouldn't they know by natural instinct if severe weather was imminent? Not really. These 3 hounds, unlike some bassets I have had in the past, equate storms as being equal to a deeper sleep than normal for them. No need to watch out for anything. Snoring is allowed and they are dead to the world during any kind of storm, at any time day or night.

Heard me getting the camera and woke up

Storms?  What storms?

Heard me and woke up

This is why I will remember the difference between watch and warning in the future.

I was bored last night around 10:45pm, so I did something I rarely do, I turned on the tv and channel surfed for something to watch. I NEVER watch local news/weather ... all my information I read is online based .. not tv based. I'm bored though, and my remote leads me to the local tv channel. There is a newsman standing outside doing a remote broadcast and if I didn't know any better, he sure looks like it is downtown, in the very small town that I live a few miles south of. I'm not really listening to him as much as I am looking at the background to verify he is in this small town ... he is!!! What is this about??

I turn up the sound and find out that earlier tonight a tornado funnel cloud "touchdown" was reported "south of small town".... I live south of that small town ... hmmm. When they mentioned the road, I see that this "touchdown" was 1-1/4 mile south of me. No damages to houses or buildings were reported but they would know more this morning. Not a lot of houses in this area, mostly fields and open land.

Then they posted a video of taken by someone on their porch 10 miles south of me, where two "touchdowns" were shown in the area I worked before retirement. I can tell by the sky this storm was before sun down and that even makes it more strange because the hounds and I were outside most of the time during that period and never suspected any bad weather going on.

Now, granted these were not the F-5's you see that destroy everything in their path, miles wide with speeds over 225mph ... but they would have to be winds over 60mph that could cause "high impact damage".

It's not as bad as it sounds. This morning is dark clouds and light rain. I have not watched any news but I really doubt it is anything more than some crop damage out in the open fields of the area.

So it will be wise for me to remember (again) the difference between "watch" and "warning" in the future.

When I think of winds more than 60mph, I think of the different bloggers I read that experience those wind speeds out in the western states while they stay in small trailers, mid-sized RVs and large motorhomes. That is normal out west. I use to see high wind warnings on highways I traveled on going over the Cascade Mountains. Still, things become different when those clouds turn into rotating funnels or are straight line winds. I've experience straight line wind damage and it changed my views on "I like storms".

The following happened in June 2008 and once again I thought it was just a thunderstorm and I was working online in a room in the back of the house. Not until I heard a huge bang and crash did I notice the winds were unbelievable. As I ran into the living room to herd the hounds into the center of the house for safety, the storm stopped instantly.

Storm Photos Are From 2008 Not Last Night

One of many trees (80' - 110' tall) that were blown over or pulled out of ground.

This is the loud bang I heard with the 50' of tree top struck by lightning hitting the house

The winds came from the SW but luckily after skipping over the highway the winds turned due N. All of these trees fell parallel to my house, some within 8' from the front of the house.

This tree measured 110' from the root base that was 7' wide

Poplar tree was 80' tall and 8' in front of house

That water pictured was a recently planted cornfield before the storm

80' Poplar Tree w/Shallow Roots

One of the Sycamore trees pulled up out of the ground

Bertha and Winston inspecting for any damages

DirecTv dish in different angles

That is where the trees went in my front yard and along 80' of bank that use to be solid trees

Notice the tv dish is now bolted to the house and wind protected 

April 2013 - Not a tree in site

Last night and in 2008, only 3 days apart, I wasn't paying attention to how severe the weather was. In 2008 I did not have the tv on nor any radio. The hounds and I had just been outside but came inside when it started raining. I thought it was just a thunderstorm. These winds happen fast and can do a lot of damage in a very short period of time.

That is all I can say about storms and warnings.

Last night I was making some minor changes and additions the blog if you haven't noticed. I moved my profile photo to the left side, then added a "search" box on the upper right. I've decided to keep the title of the blog the same but I did change the description to what seemed to be appropriate. I really think RV research will always be ongoing with me, I'll always be looking at something. Then I added some new tabs at the top. I added a personal photo of myself, a page long description with some information that was lost when Google decided to change my profile from blogger to Google Plus.

For a little added flavor, I added a tab showing my past VW buses I had bought and sold between the years of 2001 - 2008. What do those have to do with this blog? In almost every case there was a cross-country trip involved after I purchased them online and drove them back to Indiana. There was some camping involved with a few of them during those drives. Plus, I just thought they were interesting enough to add and maybe some readers that are fans of VW's would be interested in seeing them.

Actually that was my original plan for my retirement years ago before I learned about the RV lifestyle. I had planned on staying in this house, buying a VW Camper and traveling the country when the urge to travel hit me.

I hope you enjoy the changes to the blog but more importantly pay attention when storm warnings are issued in your local area.

Winston Turned 10 Years Old a Few Weeks Ago

Ten years ago on May 18, 2004 I received a phone call from Winston's breeder that a small litter was born and with my early deposit I would be able to choose from the litter which one I wanted but only after the "show quality" puppies were chosen. Show quality didn't matter to me, I was just happy to have one of the pups. He was the only one in his litter what was not black and white. As basset's get older some of that black usually changes to a gold color. Winston was going to be two tone. I loved the first photo they sent me.

The Only One Not Black and White

A Couple Of Days Old

Winston was Mahogany & White, with the sire 'Double K's Billy the Kid' and the dam 'Lamireak's Spirit Epona'. He was not show quality because of his color plus his tail curled off to the right side if you were looking at him from the front, so he was mine if I wanted him.

The Sire

The Dam

On 15 July 2004, I fired up my 1963 VW Panel Van I had at the time, for the 5-1/2 hour trip up to NW Ohio to pick up the new basset puppy. I wasn't going to kennel him on the way home, I had a couple of Mexican blankets for him to sleep on and the bench seat to ride on. I would find out on the ride home if he was going to be a traveler, even back in 2004.

1963 VW Panel - 1641cc Dual Weber Carbs

He rode that 5-1/2 hour trip home with zero problems. He slept most of the way, sat up some to look outside but wasn't tall enough to see out the windows. He would have a surprise when he got home. I had a bloodhound at the time called Bertha. Friends called her "Big Bertha" because she was 110-120lbs. What Winston did not know at 8 weeks, Bertha was going to think he was her pup and they were going to be inseparable for the next 4 years.

Big Bertha

They were introduced that afternoon after we arrived. From that first afternoon they met, they played and played for years.

The Introduction

Family Portrait the First Night

Years later they still patrolled the field and played until they were exhausted.

Much like his owner, Winston has always been the "Thinker" of the pack.

Now as he gets older he doesn't play as much as he use to. He isn't sprinting to fetch back and forth and climbs the couple of steps into the house gingerly. All he wants is a sunny spot to sleep in.

October 2013

May 2014

Happy 10th Birthday Winston

The Blog Will Continue As Is With a Little Expansion

I had a number of people email me late yesterday and last night, plus people commenting on my blog yesterday and today ... telling me to keep blogging, even if I wasn't traveling yet. Some pointed out they only travel part of the year but still blog all 12 months. Others saying they enjoyed what I wrote about. Some requested more photos of the hounds.

While the blog was covering both words in the title of "Hounds and RVs" there was no traveling (yet) involved and that may have been where my hangup was. If it were me and I saw a link after searching google or seeing my blog had updated on some other blog sidebar, I would expect some sort of posting about RVing, traveling and hounds. Why would other people be any different?

My problem is I write what I feel or am thinking at the time. Al over at Traveling With the Bayfield Bunch brought up that same point in one of his comments yesterday. Those wide open commentaries I sometimes go into, opens me up for comments, or emails that are rather passionate and may not agree. Individually, confusion arrives because I think of myself as a private person. I then start asking myself why did I ever decided to blog and writing my thoughts and decision process with a lot of people that I do not know?

So at times to me, it's a double edge sword. One, I THINK I am private but another side of me enjoys blogging, taking photos and hitting that 'publish' button for all to see. This is the time I think of no longer blogging and then I write about it for all to see. In social settings I'm a storyteller. A few friends have told me I need to write a book sometime based on the experiences I have had. They enjoy all the stories they hear when we visit but the difference is, I know them. It doesn't bother me to open up. Blogging is a little different.

So when I decided to blog, I didn't expect the following and the number of readers. I was just writing a public journal on my thought process, deciding if RVing was even possible with the hounds I have. I wanted to ask questions that might reach experienced travelers to gain knowledge about this traveling lifestyle I found. People I didn't know were traveling all different periods of time, different rigs, different trucks, some solo, some with cats and dogs .... this research I started in October 2011 showed me a lifestyle I did not realize existed. All I basically knew of "RVs" were Class A's staying in RV Parks and very few if any that did that lifestyle full-time. I was never interested in that type of travel.

I admit I am somewhat disappointed in myself that I am not on the road by this time like I had planned. I know the main reason, a reason I blogged about after our roadtrip in September 2013 to pick up the Lil Snoozy trailer ... where I backed out of the deal. That main reason is the hounds. I know for a fact with the size of hound Sadie is, it will/would be hard to travel unless I was in a 36' Class A with slideouts. The problem is, that is not the rig I want to do my travels in, plus I have two shorter legged hounds that each push 50# - 60#'s each. All of them take up a little floor space. It took me a while to figure out if hounds and travel were possible, although there are a lot of people that do, even with bigger dogs.

If I were solo, I would have been gone a long time ago. I'm not sure I'd be taking the RV route even with no dogs. I was always interested in doing my traveling with a VW Camper. I favor the 'split window' VW, so that would have included all campers older than 1967. When I had that idea, I always planned on keeping the house as a base camp.

I also know myself well enough, that living without at least one hound in my life probably will not happen. I bought my first basset hound in 1987 and have had bassets and bloodhounds every since then. It's been a long time since I had only one hound. Some were rescues, and others were bought as 8 week old puppies. It's been 27 years since I have been without a hound wandering around. So traveling will always include at least one hound.

I decided that blogging is what I do, good or bad, and it's something that I enjoy. I didn't start it out to have followers, really didn't think about that angle of it. I was just wanting a personal journal and blogger was easier than working with Microsoft Word and inserting pictures. Then, due to my personality, I posted what I thought, what I was thinking, without phrasing it to be less personal. That resulted in some pretty interesting blog posts where I even wondered if I was going crazy or not. That type of writing will continue since I really don't know any other way to write. I think it might also be better to start including more photos than I have in the past. Those photos might give a better feel of what I am talking about.

I am going to add more tags across the top with some of my other interests that ties in with traveling and photos to go with those tabs, with a little history behind them.

I looked back over some of my posts of the past two years and realized some of the information I wrote about when I was looking at the different rigs was actually good information for people that might be just starting out on their own research. I wrote about why I was buying them, only later writing why I didn't buy them...LOL. Maybe that type of information will help someone new that stumbles into this blog looking for information on the rv lifestyle. I've heard from some readers it has helped them in their rv lifestyle research.

So my blogging will continue during the times at home which will include more local traveling and the times I finally get on the road and explore the western states. I've been through a lot of those states by car but due to my schedule at the time it was mostly high speed runs, a little sleep and no sightseeing. I've always loved driving cross-country and use to drive with very little stopping. I'll have to learn to slow down and explore the country I am traveling through.

As it stands this past week, I can back off the increased effort of prepping  a house for sale and spend a little more time traveling the local areas with the hounds, some sleeping bags  and a tent that hopefully Sadie doesn't think it's just for her. For those a little confused by that comment, look to the right and click on the label called "Bloodhound Property Laws", then you will understand where that comment came from. She never get's aggressive but once she finds her spot to sleep, she isn't moving.

I've been following Gary Ramsey for few years. He no longer blogs but does writes about his travels along with great photos on his website and his Facebook account. He found it better to cut the electronic media down to two, so the blog was deleted. He travels solo in the Starcraft ARE-ONE trailer and has a great camera that produces great photos of where he is or has been. It's photos like his recent New Mexico photos that keeps me wanting to travel. His Starcraft trailer also got me thinking that was the trailer to use last summer. Check his traveling site and great photos out here.

Here are a couple of things I would like to do sometime in the future, at least get started on the first one. Really, only the second one would be blog related. The second one would take some time, 2-3 months, since I would be stopping in the exact towns I stopped in before, in 19776. A lot of tent camping would be involved.

1.  I want to take my hand written journal from my 1976 solo-bicycle trip that started in Indiana, riding to San Diego, then up the coast highway to Seattle and transform that into a Word document. I still have all of my maps I used and marked up. I could possibly add those to a google map tracking page or something of that nature. I have the poor quality photos I took with a small instant camera. I can't remember the size of film except they were thin negatives and possibly cartridges that were loaded into the camera.  I could get those photos transferred electronically and uploaded. I would put all of that information and all the photos of the summer trip in some sort of electronic journal or as the Apple software calls 'Keynote'.

This next thing is more blog related. I'm not sure when I would do this but it's something I've always wanted to do when I finally had the time.

2. I'd like to load the hounds into the FJ and follow my exact path of that bicycle trip mentioned in #1. It would take 2-3 months to complete that trip as I would plan to stop and stay at the same towns and places I did in 1976. I rarely camped in a campground on that trip. Most of the time I slept in a sleeping bag outside of town on open land, the town park, the local school yard and one night on the only green grass I could find, which was in front of the El Centro California City Hall building. I always woke up early enough and was gone by the time anyone could notice me. I also had some great people along the way invite me into their homes for a hot home cooked meal, a place to stay in exchange of telling them where I had been and what I had experienced traveling on a bicycle that many miles. Some of the cities and towns where I did stayed, I have seen written about from RV travelers on their blogs. Their articles must have stirred of memories of the best summer I ever had, full of traveling.

So in the future blog posts there will be more photos, more discussions of places to go or where I have been that are RV related and might interest some of you for visiting. I always feel like writing, its just that sometimes it's not RV or Hound related.

Thanks for all the comments and emails!

A Short Note

While continuing my thinking about what to do with my blog that started weeks before my post yesterday and feedback from readers the past 24 hours, I am going to continue to blog here on this site. I had thought of starting a different blog for different topics but that is too much time and work to maintain two blogs. There might be a slight change of direction.

I received a lot of good suggestions concerning the blog. Some of them were along the lines of what I had been thinking and some of your suggestions will be implemented. They are similar to the ideas I have been having lately concerning blogging.

I will post later on what those plans are.

There will be more photos for sure, included with each post but not much difference in what has been posted for a couple of years, just a little bit wider range of topics.

Stay tuned ... and thanks for reading.

Moving Slower Than Planned

It's been an interesting week since my last post. No earth shattering news to send you, just normal living. That "normal living" led me to wonder at times this week, if I should shut down this blog. I wrote a couple of different long posts this week explaining why I was going to stop blogging. I kept them in the draft mode, then ended up deleting them. A commenter a few months ago suggested taking the word "RV" off of my blog title because I was really posting nothing about RVing and my hounds were more interesting anyway. In a way she was correct.

My subtitle states: "Researching the rv lifestyle, deciding whether to travel with a bloodhound, two basset hounds and what kind of rig to buy".

Basically that research is done. Maybe I need to update and change the subtitle. I verified the definition of "rv" was a recreational vehicle. The word "vehicle" led me to look up the definition of 'recreational vehicle' because ... would that include trailers? By definition it would include trailers. So by reverse engineering, the RV stays in the title of my blog.

I know that will disappoint a few of my recent new blog fans that like to email me, telling me how screwed up I am, that my blog deals nothing about RVing and the lifestyle. They have a point ... I'm not traveling. For those few that have voiced their opinions the loudest, making comments and sending emails, I found that most of them don't travel either ... except through other people's blogs.

A recent commenter told me "You need help". That is something I have said to myself for a lot of years, so nothing new there....lol

Back to the subtitle. My research is basically done. I know with my current tow vehicle will not change, I am limited to a trailer with a GVWR less than 4,500lbs to play it safe. I have a non-refundable deposit on an Escape trailer but I do not pick it up until October 14, 2014.

In October 2011 the plan was to leave by May 2014, when I would officially retire from my job. Well I did retire a month early but I had not decided on a trailer. It's a good thing I didn't as I don't have the same tow vehicle I had in May.

So where did the thoughts of shutting down this blog come from? Not from the disenchanted commenters/emailers, that's their DNA so to speak. It came from thinking the 'research was over'. I know what I want to buy and how I want to travel with the hounds. Many followers are waiting for the daily posts with pictures traveling the USA, yet I am still in the 'tropics' of southern Indiana doing nothing more than normal activities. Doing normal things just like some readers of this blog.

What's there to blog about?

This past week my effort to prep the house for sale slowed considerably. One day I loaded the hounds in the FJ and we took a 22 mile trip south to a nice State Park sitting on a nice lake. The hounds spent most of the day sitting next to me sniffing the air or sleeping in the shade. I knew then they could be travelers even if State Parks are not in my plans as a place to stay the majority of the time. While there I just relaxed, thought about the 'what if's' and enjoyed the scenery. It was a great day but I wondered if I should be taking pictures and posting about my day on this blog. I didn't want to, didn't have the urge to. The trip was just something I did for my own personal enjoyment. That is where the conflict comes in as far as blogging goes.

I'm a fairly private person, live in a area where neighbors rarely get together if at all and will wave at the mailbox if we are there at the same time. It's a private area. I've never felt the need to plaster a website with pictures of what I have done or am doing. The times I did that were blog related. All that did was open myself up to strangers telling me what I should or shouldn't do. Why does it matter to them what I should do? Why do they get emotional when I change my mind? I find that to be an interesting concept. For those that scream the loudest, I cannot reply in a 'politically correct' way, so I'll not comment.

The day after hanging out at the State Park, I decided to buy something I have thought about for a year. Nothing major but another bicycle, only this time instead of something built to go fast, I decided to buy a mountain bike. This bike would be a bike I could ride while traveling or here at home. Instead of changing into all the bike gear I would wear while riding my high speed 'road' bike, I can hop on wearing my every day shorts, tshirt, road glove shoes and ballcap and take off. I've ridden this bike every day since I bought it, to town a couple of miles away. I've taken off on the rough asphalt roads nearby, over gravel or dirt roads and down a path to the back of a nearby field.

So it's serving the purpose. It's a GT Timerbline 1.0 29er. I don't know all of the mountain bike lingo, nor do I plan to upgrade or modify components ... I just wanted a bike I could cruise on, enjoy the scenery and at my age would even increase my pulse rate for a little work out. So don't expect me to post pictures of me airborne like you may see of other younger mountain bikers online. Like I told the salesman who was trying to get me to buy a more expensive CycleCross bike, "if I am airborne that only means I am in trouble and soon to be hurting when I land".

I did not intend the color of the bike to match the FJ but noticed it after I got it home. Here is a picture of my new toy.

If you have read this far you may be asking yourself "where is he going with all of this"? This past week as I started to enjoy activities and places where I live and those within driving distance. I realized that I was not going to put the house up for sale. I don't see myself moving westward and buying a fulltime residence BUT I do see traveling for part of the year and having this house as a base camp. There was a lot that went into that decision. Some of the reasons are the same as before but mostly it was because of what happened this past week ... "started to enjoy activities and places where I live and those within driving distance".

The short explanation is, I live in a pretty neat location. I have more campgrounds located near me than I realized. The new McAnally map I bought a few weeks ago showed a lot of new places to check out that were close to me. I live within a 30 minute drive to a college town with a major university (lots to do). One of my favorite fall activities is going to IU football games.

I am 70 miles between two large cities if I need to shop or visit. The local stuff  you know about, and it's a great place for the hounds.

Sadie Doesn't Eat Sticks - She Breaks Them Up Into 1" Pieces

Heidi Is Always On The Hunt

Hounds Enjoying The Weather - Sadie Never Likes Her Photo Taken

I realized this past week as I recycled, cleaned out, did minor repairs to the house from the winter weather ... that I didn't want to sell my house. Do I want to get away for the winter? .. definitely.

What about the blog? I don't feel the urge to blog about everything I do every week. The only traveling I will be doing until September will be local trips most likely and tent camping. It all gets back to ... do I need to blog what I do when it's just normal everyday stuff? 

May 2014

The blog itself will stay online if I decide to stop blogging. It can be a reference for those starting out and maybe curious about different rigs or trailers. New readers might have the same questions I had a few years ago. I do have some reviews on what I found with different rigs they could use or people have used. When I started I found very few blogs about full time travelers with hounds. I have only found one traveler with a bloodhound, on Facebook, and they travel in a monster size Class A. So I thought this blog might be of some value to people that have dogs and wonder if they can travel with them.

The ONLY things I know about traveling with MY hounds are, they ride well in the different tow vehicles and the Class C I had. They also handled the State Park well. They didn't bark at everything they saw walking by, such as other dogs or people in the State Park. The only thing they did was whine while wagging their tails ... wanting the kids to come over and pet them.

I am going to keep getting rid of stuff here at the house. I may do some interior painting. I will be riding the bike daily and enjoying the places nearby. The past couple of weeks it seemed for everything I finished on my list I added two new things to it. The list never decreased. At least the weather has been fantastic this spring and early summer to enjoy and get things done.

I wonder if I have a case of "destination addiction" that some of us may have.  I still want and need to see all of the places out west that I have not seen yet, except on other blogs ... I just don't have to sell out and relocate to do that. 

To blog or not to blog?

Downsizing is Never Ending

I'm not really taking a break this morning because I haven't even got started on today. It's 9:15am local time. I've had a couple of cups of Starbucks Columbian coffee, read blogs not only about RV traveling but those on my Feedly list that covers Mac O/S, Bedlam Farm, Sports, etc. Still after all of that reading, only 2-3 hours of my morning has slipped away. I'm not really a morning person but the hounds wake up daily about the same time (6:30am) and want to go outside for their morning trip. I am usually more productive in the hours after 12 noon.....so I have convinced myself today I can still get a lot accomplished even with a slow start.

After almost 2 months of retirement, I am finding out something my dad told me years ago after he retired ... "know what you are going to do for that day when you get up" ... maybe not a list of things to do but a good idea of what you want to accomplish. Otherwise it's like a few days I have had getting nothing done with a whole lot of hours spent on the computer either reading, commenting on forums, looking at spreadsheets or like yesterday .... moving all of my .jpg files from my "Documents" folder into a "Pictures" folder. I also downloaded them in bulk into iPhoto which was pretty fast, going through over 4,000 photos by "select all", import into the iPhoto library and clicking the box "not to import duplicates". This caught any photos I had not previously imported into iPhoto after my switch from Windows to Apple in October 2010.

Sad to think it was beautiful yesterday and I sat inside doing self-imposed computer work. I was still able to sit outside and watch the soft summer rain in the late afternoon. While smelling the rain, I pictured doing the same thing in places out west in my future travels.

Now to the title ... "Downsizing".  I did some major downsizing last summer and fall, taking 3 Hummer truck loads (cargo area) to Goodwill. That was mostly clothes, dishes, and silverware. Then this past winter I didn't buy anything that I did not need....zip, nothing! Yet as I walked around last night sorting stuff that was either going to be sold online or taken to Goodwill, I could not believe how much I had to get rid of, even after getting down to the basics last summer and fall. The clothes I used to wear for work can now be sold or donated.

Where does "stuff" come from?

What would you think if you went to see a house for sale and that house was fairly empty? Should it be all or nothing? Such as selling everything from books to desks and some furniture or should I leave the interior of the house looking full, as if someone really did live here?

I am past the point of giving things away....possessions that are left have more value than "free", plus any money earned from online sales is gas money down the road....that is the way I look at it. So it might be more time consuming taking photos and writing for sale ads for Craig's List and eBay but there is some potential dollars sitting around here for things I no longer need.

By the time potential buyers view the house, it might be pretty bare. Will that be a problem in getting the house sold? I'd hate to have to wait until after the house is sold, and then rush to sell things during the time period the house deal is closing. If for some reason the house has not sold by the time I leave to pick up the Escape trailer, I've always planned on leaving it empty for the realtor to show.

Usually my rule on clothing is if it has not been used in the past year or two, it is gone. I am having a hard time applying that same rule to my vintage 33LP vinyl record "unintentional" collection, or the 80's cassette tape collection and a lot of the CD collection. I can't remember the last time I even listened to a record album but find it hard to let them go. I have an interested Craig's List buyer for all the music I have. I think getting rid of all the cassette tapes and record albums is a good idea, while keeping just favorites of CDs and DVDs. I need to download the CDs into my iTunes or iPhone and play them that way.

DVD's are another story. Like all media changes, I never intended having as many as I do. Yes, I do watch some movies more than once or more than a few times over the years. Due to available hard drive space I will not be downloading them into any iMac or iPad to watch later.

Other than that, I don't have much left. Some of the furniture, the vacuum, the Rug Doctor carpet cleaner are spoken for when I leave. That only leave things I think I will store somewhere out west in a very small storage room, for when I want to set up a new base camp. Then I think forget that storage and sell everything. Whatever is left, I could have a weekend yard sale and I'm pretty sure most if not all would be gone.

As I write this post about downsizing and telling you what is left, I realized I really don't have that much more to get rid of.

Well, I'm going back to work loading stuff into the FJ for my recycling trip today, a possible future Goodwill trip and taking photos for my eBay and Craigs List ads.

A Post From the Past

There are days this post I made back in February 2014 haunts me .... and today is one of those days.

Editor's Note @ 8:15pm: By the end of this afternoon I was excited about selling out and getting out of here. The list of to do's never seem to end with a house and a lot of them repeat. I've had the urge for road trips all last week and even now, but was needing to stay here to close car sales, house prep and more downsizing ... not including a run to the vet for Heidi. I think today's post was a little bit of "cabin fever" talking.

Progress in the Last Eight Days

When I left you last I had two cars for sale, a call schedule to put a deposit on a New Escape trailer and thought I'd be too busy to blog. I'll fill in some updates in this short available window of time.

A few days after my last post, Escape Trailer Industries emailed me with information on a previous buyer that had the same trailer I wanted, only a 2013 model. It was also in the same state where I lived, but a 4 hour drive north. Escape Trailer uses the "Referral Program" for potential buyers to see their trailers as they have no dealers they work with. When you are retired, I am finding out those kind of spur of the moment trips can be scheduled with a blink of an eye. I love road trips and it would not only give me a chance to see, touch and sit inside an Escape trailer before I decide to buy one but also check out my tow vehicle after 8 hours of round trip driving. Both the visit and the trip were a huge success that included an added bonus at the end that was not expected.

When I arrived to see the trailer around 11:30am I thought I'd do a walk around, glance at the exterior, the axles, the top, sit inside, take some notes, take some photos and see the custom features this buyer had Escape build for him and his wife. Well not only did I see the trailer but also had a GREAT 3 hour lesson/orientation plus a great lunch with Bob and his wife Linda. They had backpacked and tent camped many years before moving to trailers. They had moved to an Escape trailer after using an Aliner trailer for a short time. It sounded as if they had done just as much research in what to buy as far as a motorhome, or the truck/trailer combination as I had these past couple of years.

As Bob and I walked towards the building his trailer was parked in, he asked me if I had brought a pencil and paper? I replied I had my iPhone and would take some pictures plus add any notes to the Notes program on the phone. Bob stopped, turned back toward the house and came back outside handing me a clipboard, with paper and a pencil. Orientation had started ... and it was fantastic!!

It gave me a lot of information helping me decide if this was the correct trailer to buy. They had made 2 or 3 long trips out west from Indiana in this trailer, knew what worked, what needed to be changed or added to. A couple of times I kind of moved toward the steps to walk inside but was lead to a different part of the exterior to continue the lesson. We did not move inside the trailer until after we had lunch.

Those first few steps inside, felt different than all the trailers I had stepped inside of before. It didn't shake with each step, everything was quality material, modified to the owners wishes and was easy to see why you do not find a lot of these for sale as used trailers ... people keep them and use them.

On my return 4 hour trip home, that included traffic going around Indianapolis on the most "Famous Weekend in Sport....the Indy500 Weekend", I knew that I had the right tow vehicle and the correct trailer. The only thing of question was the scheduled phone call on May 26 with hopes I could get on the list in time for a January 15 delivery at the earliest.

I am 11 miles from home after almost 8 hours of driving on Friday, windows open, driving though some beautiful scenery on Hwy 67 going south when I thought I had heard my iPhone ring. I glanced at it and it was lighting up with caller ID: "Escape Trailers". I usually don't drive and talk on the phone at the same time but when I saw who was calling I decided I had to pick up. They were calling to let me know that I did NOT need to call on Monday the 26th of May because of a cancellation of a previous order, they had a spot open with a delivery date of October 14, 2014 !!!  If you look back at the previous blog post I had made on May 21, I stated that no matter what I was going to leave Indiana by October 15, 2014 to beat the incoming bad weather. It didn't matter if the house, cars had sold or not ... October 15 was the planned departure date.

Interesting how things work out isn't it.

So with a delivery date of October 14, I plan to drive and pick it up in Sumas Washington, which is their delivery point right across the USA/Canada border. The paperwork process always seems to be changing so I'll be prepared to go to their factory in Canada, hounds and all, if needed. The hounds and I will have all of our paperwork and passport ready in case the delivery needs to be at the factory in Canada.

So the trailer is set.

On to the cars. Both cars sat during the weekdays with NO responses ... not a sniff, a call, an email, nada. On a holiday weekend for some reason the car selling business decided to get started. I had more people stopping on Saturday and Sunday looking, with two of them making test drives and making offers on both cars. One car was paid for and picked up yesterday, the 28th. The 2nd car has an offer $2,500 below what I want for it. What I want for it is also below NADA, USAA suggested retail. They are willing to wait with their only offer to see if I eventually change my mind. I am willing to wait for a better offer.

Even without selling the 2nd car, I am finally down to two vehicles in my possession, while only 3 short months ago I had an old truck I rarely used, an RV I had decided I did not want and a 4x4 vehicle with an ailing engine plus one other car. Three of four of those are now gone.

Today felt like Friday, found out late this afternoon it was only Thursday. This retirement lifestyle is rough .... lol.  So with the trailer situation stable and in process, the vehicle situation stable, I can now turn all of my 'working' focus on the house and downsizing the last of my possessions. I swear "stuff" multiplies by itself, even when you have cut back on spending based on the "want or need" theory this past year.

With muggy weather starting and still having to mow my yard two times per week, I see my decisions to sell out and head west are the right decisions. With the call from Escape Trailers moving my delivery date up to the middle of October like I had planned as my departure date, seems to be a affirmation of the decisions I have chosen.

Progress is being made.

I'm Back Only to Update the Latest Plans

I'm back tonight, much sooner than you probably expected and sooner than I had planned on, but there has been some recent developments this afternoon. I thought I'd post the updates and then take a break from blogging ... my future schedule just got really busy today. I chose to, on the suggestion of a friend, to blog about things tonight, instead of continuing to stay away for a month or so and then posting when I got back "by the way, last May I decided and did this while I was away" .... I don't believe that is fair to people logging in to read this blog and have chosen to follow me.

I have spent the last couple of days getting prepared to leave the area for a short vacation. Some of my camping gear is missing. I believe it's one of those "senior moments" you hear about...all speculation I know :) ... but a few years ago camping was more of a regular activity. A younger relative needed some equipment on the trips I did not have time to go on. I believe that is where some of my stuff is. I forgot to get it back or ask for it back. I was pretty job oriented then and was extremely busy with traveling, so I just spaced it. It's not a big deal because it's all replaceable.

I spent more time than I wanted and expected at the local Bureau of Motor Vehicles this morning. Since my plates for the Chevy Truck were just bought a few weeks ago because in this state, my plates expire 28 April every year for all my vehicles ... I was wanting to transfer those plates to the Toyota FJ Cruiser that was just bought. It's a simple process and the lady doing my transaction has shown in the past to be very knowledgeable about her job. I felt good as I sat down up until she started frowning at the computer screen, then her hand went to her forehead and possibly some slight mumbling to herself, barely audible. I knew then I might see many other people sit down, do their transaction and then leave way before I would. I remained calm. It ended up being a successful transaction taking longer than planned but at least I was given a huge credit.

With everything transpiring with the vehicle changes, mind changing on what rigs to buy, etc ... there has been a lot of thinking going on about my plans going on. Those plans have been thought about for a long time but a lot of it just got sorted out the past few weeks and hit loudly today and I feel its all part of the plan starting to come together. The pieces of the puzzle are showing up with the most appropriate timing, something I thought might happen once I was retired.

You probably remember over these past few years I have looked at, blogged about, a lot of different ideas, a lot of different rigs, a lot of different trailers. So what I am going to explain was NOT just something that flashed through my mind and a minute later I decided to do it .... I might be crazy but I'm not insane.

Last week after looking at the RV in Indy, since I was near one of two large RV dealers in the area, I stopped in to look at used trailers and new trailers. They all had one thing in common, they felt like trailers when I stepped inside them. Nothing impressed me, new or old. They were poorly constructed, it was just a feel I had again about them. When winds out west are up to 50mph at times and I am moving the trailer a little bit just by stepping inside ... I see that as a problem. It wasn't  something I had not thought of before or felt before.

Through all my research there were a few manufacturers that had topped the list. Probably the Nash, Arctic Fox, Bigfoot and Escape (Canadian) always seemed to end up in my "favorites" folder of trailers I liked. The Jayco makes good stuff but it had that feel I described earlier.

So last week I was on a forum and saw "Production Dates" for a specific manufacturer. I didn't think much of it, because I always assumed I'd buy a used one. The problem with that theory was twofold. One, few were available and Two the used ones had retained their value to where there were a few $1,000s difference between a old and new one. The difference was small enough in most cases to make you consider just ordering a new one. Also rarely did I find a used trailer having everything I needed. The thing is with all of these trailers based on my past research and past Excel spreadsheets to compare ... they all ended up about the same total price but they all had different standard equipment and you were going to have to buy options to get what you NEEDED, not what you WANTED.

So a long story short .... {drum roll}

I called Escape Trailers in Canada today, late this afternoon, to place a deposit on a new build for a December 2014 delivery. I found out the last reservation spot sold earlier this morning. So they took down all of my information except my cc number and I am to call back soon for a January 2015 production date.

That is the trailer I am going to buy, no doubts, no changing my mind. Not only have I thought about that trailer before but with my recent change of tow vehicle, that changed the amount of weight I could tow ... it's all good, it wasn't a surprise. I have a close friend that has inspected them for me in real time, stepped inside them, touched and felt them and the trailer came highly recommended. With over 15 years of being on the road, more on the road than off, I felt their knowledge was more valuable than me traveling 2,000 miles to find out for myself on what very little experience I have.

Now that the trailer date has been decided ... and it definitely has ... that changes my plans of leaving  this week or next because based on my other decision I am about to tell you about ... after months, if not years of thinking about it ... Since my retirement roughly 6 weeks ago, I found out some things that I suspected would happen and have. Some of these reasons are personal and will not be blogged about nor discussed with anyone but basically it is something I thought about last year, all through this year and even years before an RV was even part of my vocabulary. I felt that once I retired I would have my answer ... that has come to be true and I have an answer.

I am selling my house.

My two cars are already listed for sale as of today and in fact one was cleaned today and is parked down by the US Highway I live on, that gets a lot of traffic. It will take longer than my 1994 Chevy which lasted about a day down by the highway before it sold. Now before we all go freakazoid about this move, don't look at this decision as if I'm selling out to go full-time rving/traveling, something I have never done but look at it with the perspective of the hounds and I relocating back to the western states where I spent over 20 years of my life. Only this time I'll not be looking to live on the beach in Carlsbad Calif like I did in 1977, nor Whidbey Island NW of Seattle where I spent 10 years before moving back to Indiana for job related excuses. Some where out in states many miles west of the Mississippi River, there is a place that will let me know when the time is right ... that's it. In the meantime, what little I keep will be stored at a friends and small enough amounts that things can be shipped or driven out to me. There will not be much to take because honestly after my downsizing last summer and fall, I really don't have that much stuff to move.

So the new plan is and has already started:

1.  Get down to one vehicle ... my tow vehicle the FJ Cruiser ... Two other cars are currently for sale.
2.  Deposit on a new trailer after years of study.... the time spent searching for a rig or trailer are over!!!
2.  Once the cars and house are sold I will hit the road and will either tent camp on my way to the western states and then find something locally to stay in until the January 2015 delivery date for my new trailer.
3.  Based on weather, I plan to leave Indiana no matter what has or has not sold, no later than October 15. Based on local market information I received last week in a conversation, it is very possible that my house will sell faster than one of my cars.  :) but I have to clean it out and clean it up for it to be shown to prospective buyers.

So as you see there is a reason I am not leaving for vacation or some camping like I had planned a couple of days ago. I cannot justify taking time off from here until I have prepped my house so that it it's prepared for the local Real Estate agent to show it. That also includes a final downsizing of possessions.

I HAVE A LOT of work to do, not only to prep the house for showings but also to get rid of the last of my possessions that I no longer want. It's NOT everything, just a few things that fall into that folder of either selling them online or donating them to libraries, Goodwill or local charities. This is stuff that I have not used or looked at in over a year or longer!! The stuff I blogged about in the past 3-4 months, that I didn't want to get rid of, most of that is going with me.

It's already close to June 1 and October 15, IF NOT SOONER is just right around the corner, so I don't have a lot of time. Currently the vehicles to do lists are all finished, either they are for sale or have been registered and have new tires. The humidity hit today and the hounds are panting on occasion and that's never a good sign. Highly motivating for me to get into action.

As far as selling the house and the moving part, I basically saw that decision weeks ago but put it on the back burner so to speak. Each day forward I could see it was the right thing to do.

So that is my plan update. Everything seems to be falling into place, just like I thought it would once I was in the retirement mode. I'm some of the readers are taking or placing side bets on if this happens ... when it does, I want a percentage of the winning amount.  LOL

I do not plan, as some of the blogs I read a few years ago, do daily or weekly blog updates about the downsizing of possessions, the status of car sales or house sale. I'm going to be off the blog for a while doing what I just discussed. I will finally have to get my butt off this chair and away from this computer day after day to get the things done in time for hounds and I to head west.

Time waits for no one.

Do I have ADHD?

You know when I haven't posted in 4 days or longer, things may be happening .... and they are.....lol

A year ago in June 2013, someone told me that I had to make a choice to either find my comfort level in my tow vehicle or in my trailer.

During my drive home last Friday after looking at the 1984 33' Holiday Rambler I realized I might have to make some changes. I didn't like the longer larger vehicle (rv or truck). I know if I had only one dog that my idea about traveling would be small and off the grid as far as possible. One of the full-timers I follow has a big ole F350, towing a 26' trailer, he is off the grid a lot but has mentioned at times even though the truck is diesel and 4x4, he is in locations that he is hesitant in either approaching or has attempted with things bottoming out. That's not good when your truck is 20' and you have an additional 26-29' behind you. I thought about that for a few miles that I was driving last Friday. I was also thinking about a 33' RV towing the smallest toad ... still limited.

I also started thinking about the older Class A idea and how much that was really going to cost me in the long run for any kind of repairs lurking around the corner. I was sure they were similar to any old vehicle, in my case it was the VW buses I had a few years ago. That was, even though they were in great shape and road worthy, something always needed to be repaired.  Also that 33' HR I looked at was on a different website for sale .. no year listed but shows it was 37'. The paperwork inside that RV shows also that it was not a 1984 but a 1982. I also remembered past and current Class A owners that wanted or want to downsize. Parking something smaller was going to be more comfortable to me. So you can probably already tell that the "brain cells" have been moving, somewhat non-stop at times.

The other night I asked a follower that has traveled full-time in every thing possible, from a cargo trailer to a 40' motorhome with slides. My question to him was what did he think was the best traveling combination. He replied traveling solo he preferred a truck / trailer. With my hounds, I could still to do a truck / trailer. Yet, I was finding out with my recently purchased larger Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4 Short Bed, it was feeling bigger than I thought it would be. It was my first larger truck but I was getting use to it, hadn't backed into anything or sideswiped anything. I knew it could basically tow anything that I would want to live in. It would be a great truck hauling down the highway pulling a 30' trailer or even a 5th wheel but that was not what I wanted to do. I knew with the size, even though it was 4x4, it was not like a Jeep, Hummer or FJ Cruiser 4x4 ... that could get off the grid without problems.

Like all shopping addicts ... I had been looking at some particular brand 4x4 vehicles recently .... around my RV inspections ... lol. I've missed my H3 with cylinder problems and I also know that was my 2nd choice at the time I bought it. There is one vehicle I have always wanted and a few use that same vehicle to tow a trailer and it's tow rating is a little more than the H3 I had. It has a bigger engine than the I5 engine my H3 had.

A few nights ago I asked myself if you were down to just one vehicle (my plan) instead of 3 .... what vehicle would you chose for normal travel, off-road trips and still have the ability to tow a 19' trailer???

It's the Toyota FJ Cruiser.

Yes, I know 2014 will be their last model. That's fine with me, parts will always be available. After all, the H3 Hummer was no longer being made either.

Actually I had been looking at the FJ Cruiser online for quite a while....years. I had a price range it needed to fit in, miles? really didn't care but I wanted all the off-road packages..the rock rails, the skid plates, the 17" wheels, tow package, brake controller, transmission cooler, luggage rack and on top of that it should get 15-19 mpg. I'm told around 13 mpg if a trailer is being towed.

Well late, late Sunday night I was poking around online and found one that met all the requirements.  It was not listed on the site I normal doing my searching. A friend had recently bought her new used car from a different site and I decided to try that.....and there it was. A short drive away, all the photos shows it's in great shape. Good enough to call and possibly go see it. I don't mind a little wear and tear in the cargo area.  So I called the dealer first thing Monday morning, a couple of hours away, to get a ballpark figure for the trade in value of my Chevy Truck. The range was acceptable and even if he gave me the lowest number, a deal could be worked. I cleaned up, made a fresh cup of Seattle's Best Coffee and hit the road.

Long story short, he gave me more than the trade in range we spoke of on the phone. In his area, trucks like mine are popular. The FJ was in fact better shape outside and inside than I had anticipated. It sounded great, drove even better and one I knew I wanted after the test drive. At the time I did not know what they were going to give my for my truck. I knew that I was willing to accept even a little below the number we spoke of on the phone, this FJ was that good. I'd make up the difference with cash. Neatly folded and tucked into the owner's manual at different maintenance dates, were all the applicable receipts for oil changes and routine preventive maintenance. Someone liked record keeping just like me. It was a 1-owner, bought new and had all the options that I had been looking for.

Will this FJ be a 'toad'? That is doubtful. I have decided to move away from the old Class A option. I was always going to supplement my rig, rv or trailer with a 8x10' PaHa Que tent for the hounds and I during the day. Maybe something like a screen room. So I am back to a 19' trailer, around 3,500 lbs max. I know this is hard for those that travel in 35'-40' motorhomes ... but it's what I am comfortable doing and basically has been more original plan.

Another thing that got me thinking this way was the drive back home on Friday after the disappointing motorhome inspection. That is .... I need a vacation. I don't want to spend the summer or the next month spending time tracking down a trailer to travel in while time moves forward. I need to get away for at least a few weeks, maybe a month before it starts getting extremely hot and humid where I live. I can handle extremely hot and low humidity. I will probably even avoid places that are extremely hot for the hounds peace of mind.

So I am going to pack up my new to me vehicle, find my scattered camping equipment and buy new what I can't find ... pull out my 2015 Travel Atlas and hit the road. I still plan on boondocking but for the next few weeks to a month it's going to be pretty low key and camping like I use to, only with hounds this time. If it doesn't work then we will turn around and come back, no big deal.

So I have replaced the 7 year old tires on the FJ with Bridgestone Duelers AT's, checked all the belts, fluid levels. I have done tests for the hounds to get in and out of the back of the FJ, either from the side or the back door (seats fold down flat) and they have passed with flying colors....all except Winston. He loves to ride, loves to go ... so he refused to jump out the back , refused to even stand up to let me pick him up and help him to the ground.....because he loves to ride, loves to go anywhere in a moving vehicle.

So there you have it. For the hundredth time I have changed my mind on rigs and combinations. I have a tow vehicle that I have always wanted, even if I wasn't traveling. I am more confident taking that places off the grid than that long wheel base truck. I can live with whatever trailer I buy and so can the hounds.

Like my friend told me last year, whom I cannot remember, you have to find your comfort level either with your tow vehicle or with your trailer. I chose the tow vehicle.

I'll not be around for a while to update the blog. When I say I need to get away from my location, I also need to get away from computers. I'll take my iPad for GPS purposes and email ... but I will not be blogging for a while. I want to live days right now without a lot of electronics ... just good 'old school' daily activity.

I just need a break.