Bought a Tow Vehicle

As much as I like my 1994 Chevy 2500 Cheyenne truck and it's temptation to use to save some money, I thought it might be uncomfortable for not only the hounds but also myself. Traveling on a single cab bench seat might not prove to be the right decision a 1,000 miles down the highway. The hounds love the ride in the truck to the vet but that is only 24 miles round trip. A lot different than traveling 1500 miles to get there and then through the western states. The more I thought about it, the more I knew three things.

I needed:
   -  4x4
   -  Crew Cab
   -  1500 or 2500HD or F150

The crew cab for the hounds and the HD and 4x4 to keep me out of trouble.Now I can tow anything I want. I have no desire to tow a 'house' but at least this gets me out of the range of 18' trailers.

It's strange how putting pictures of things you want work, but a few weeks ago when I decided to sell the Class C and go the truck/trailer combo, I changed my desktop picture on my iMac to my friends picture of his 2003 Chevy Silverado towing a trailer in Utah. Well today I bought a 2006 Chevy Silverado about the same color as my friends.

The day started with me heading to Bloomington to check out a truck I had seen on a local website. A Chevy 2500 4x4 that was priced fair but since those lower priced (less than $25K) don't seem to hang around long in this area, I realized there was a chance it might be sold. I was right. I got to the car lot early Wednesday morning to find out it sold the night before and had not been updated on the dealer's website yet. So I drove down the street to a friend of mine's car lot, one where I have bought a few (my addiction) cars from him. He usually has a good choice of used trucks to choose from.

So really for the first time in my life, I pretty well knew what I was looking for and what price range I would settle for. He will budge some on his prices but not much. As I pulled in he was taking pictures of a truck that had just been detailed that morning and had been parked not 5 minutes before I got there. He had the trucks I had seen on his website but they were more than I wanted to pay. I didn't drive over to look at those. I was wanting to see if something might have just come into his lot or at least let him know what I was looking for.

He was taking pictures of a 2006 Chevy Silverado 2500HD, 4x4, Crew Cab (4 doors), short bed. It was one of my favorite colors, light between a silver and gold. I checked it out from bumper to bumper, including scooting on my back to check out the underside of the truck. It had only a couple of small dings in the body, nothing major and to be honest I always like a truck that has kinda a used look to it. Not trashed out but not showroom quality either, because it is going to get used off-road and about once per year I make a mistake (joke) that causes slight damage.

By the time I crawled out from under the truck, with a satisfactory inspection, he was back from his office tossing me the keys and told me to call him if I got it hung up someplace. Good salesman eh?? He already knows I have the bait in my mouth and very close of being hooked. Well to say the least, it drove like a dream. Smooth quiet and had power when I needed it. A lot of room inside front and back. Great condition. No rust, which is rare for a Midwestern truck.

So here is the new tow vehicle with the hounds starting their inspection:

Now that has been taken care of, it is time to find something to live in. My plans seem to be moving on right on schedule. This retirement life isn't a bad deal, I like it.

Retirement Has Started Early

Last Friday when I sent in my resignation, I didn't want to go back to work.  I had a great weekend, great weather, had a close friend visit that I had not seen in 18 years....and by Sunday night I mentioned that I had no desire to return to work. So would I sacrifice some vacation pay to start my retirement earlier than April 25 and keep my sanity?

By late afternoon Monday I requested and received approval to take 9 days vacation, all the way up to my 1pm exit interview on the 25th. So starting tomorrow morning, the iPhone alarm clock will no longer be going off. That doesn't mean I will not rise early, it just means it may not be until right before sunrise. The hounds will be happy being able to go out multiple times per day everyday, instead of sleeping all day. I will be happy because I am finished with a job that I couldn't stand by the end of the day.

I come close to meeting the retirement date I stated on this blog in October 2011 and that was to retire in May 2014.

So I have been going through the gauntlet of vehicle possibilities. Not trading trucks but what to buy as far as a camper or a trailer. I know with the hounds, it looks like a trailer. As a couple of fellow readers suggested by email, with the hounds I have, nothing less than a 24' trailer.

So it looks like I am trailer bound. No answers back from my questions on the used Nash trailers I have found for sale. One Bigfoot trailer possibility. Of course nothing in my Midwestern location for those two brands of 4 season trailers.

Don't forget the lunar eclipse later tonight/early morning.

I Sent My Resignation Letter Today

After years of analyzing and the past few months of thinking about it, analyzing all the personal financial information on my spreadsheets and trying to make it until May 30, 2014 .... I decided today "enough is enough".  I had been unhappy in my job rut for quite a while but liked the money. I'm not sure if I was burned out but there were just too many new plans that I wanted more than just making more money.

I sent the required resignation letter to my HR department and Department Manager today, stating that April 25 will be my last day of work.  I had a quick response from the HR department and they will set up my exit interview and the processing of my separation package.

Major relief was felt on the dog walk this afternoon.

I've been spending time looking at the All-Weather trailers made by Bigfoot and Nash. Thinking of hooking one of those up to a 4x4 pickup truck and going with that combination. I can say that I feel much better that the RV is sold, than I did when I bought it.  I was happy I bought it but I am thrilled that I sold it. With the recent weather changes of cold weather at night in the SW and Southern Texas, I thought an All-Weather trailer would be the way to go.

The plans may have changed recently but they look clearer and closer to happening than they have ever been.

The RV is SOLD!!

The 2004 Coachmen Freedom 258db was sold last night and the buyer picked it up today, cash in hand. Now before you 'sprint' to the comment section, let me explain.

"She" fought hard to stay. The buyer did a very detailed look over, even on the roof. Let the engine idle but turned down my offer of a test drive. ONLY LATER after he left I found out why his refusing the offer was a GREAT idea. See even from the first day of buying this RV, Murphy's Law has always been sitting on my shoulder and last night was a glowing example.

The buyer left, gave me a deposit that was not asked for and said he would be back today to pay in cash and pick it up. I thought I would drive down to the local station and top off the gas tank for him, as I did just a couple of weeks ago when I checked tires.  Only this time while the RV had been sitting on leveling blocks on ground that was more than saturated from the winter weather but this past Monday we had 2" of new rain.

You are getting the picture.  Here is a hint ... don't laugh too hard.  :)

Yes, you're right ... The 'sold' RV was stuck in the mud. So with a calm response (surprising), a shovel and some plywood .... and time ... I was able to drive it out of the muck. 

That lead to another hour or so, hosing off the under carriage, in between the dual tires that had solid mud between them and the tire sidewalls inside them and outside. By the time I finished everything looked like new, including my Keen shoes.

The Coachmen never felt like the right vehicle. I had buyer's remorse very soon after the purchase. The more time I spent inside with the hounds, the bigger the hounds looked and the less space the RV looked like it had. The more I looked at my list of things to take, the storage was an issue. I'm not planning on taking a ton of stuff but just the basics. I would have had to tow to travel off the beaten path once camp is set up plus have a vehicle for emergencies without packing everything up and driving only the RV.

I basically bought this RV 11 days  after swearing last September I would not buy anything until I got down to just one basset hound and giving any of the hounds away was NOT an option. It was local buy, only 12 miles away which had me thinking of the $1,000's of dollars saved by not buying out of state. It was in great shape, yada yada yada.

All the options of towing or not towing were analyzed beyond the norm. I didn't want to tow the Mini Cooper because that would be a terrible off road vehicle. Towing the H3 Hummer with the 5.7L and camper weight was borderline at best. Storage was the next concern. With what I would need to take with me, just traveling with the RV was out of the question, very little storage in that model of Coachmen.

I plan on selling my all of my vehicles, raise more cash, combine that will my vacation pay that is owed and other separation pay I will receive when I leave my job on May 30... then buy something for cash.

It is great to be shopping again for addicts like myself.

I have a plan in place to still hit the road. I still plan on retiring May 30 and at the minimum take the 3 hounds out west on a 'vacation' in some sort of camping vehicle.

Of course one of my local friends suggested keeping my Mini and towing something like this ... LOL.  The trailer does fold out into the tent that is pictured below.

Stay tuned for future developments! I've got to get to Utah no matter what.

The Blog is Back - RV is DE-Winterized

(Editor's Note: Not an April Fools Joke)

As you look at the home page you will notice the most recent posts I did are gone .... not sure why? A week or so ago I decided to delete my blog, get out of blogville so that is where I've been. At times it bothers me with the amount of personal information that is online. Also soon to be retired the question kept bugging me on how much or how many commitments do I really want after I retire. Will more followers/readers require bogging on a more frequent basis. Would I want unexpected visitors while traveling, like I have read recently on other blogs.

So the easy way was to just delete the blog and forget it. Still there are times I do enjoy writing. It's kind of like a journal for my whole process of "bad brain" thinking and at the same time a source of information for others that are looking for trailer info, towing info, motorhome info and traveling with dogs. So maybe all of my gibberish may help someone in the future if it hasn't already.

As of today and for the future the blog is back and I'll try to blog on a regular basis. I just find it hard to post since the weather has FINALLY changed for the best here in the Midwest plus I am not traveling yet.

So there are many days I don't have anything I feel would be interesting to my readers to put on the blog.

Last Saturday it rained most of the morning with a good weather forecast tarting last Sunday. My 10 day forecast looked like the over night freezing temps were over for the year, so I decided to de-winterize the RV.

Since I have been paying for road side service via insurance (too high), I decided to call and have them come out and repair the flat tire I had from sitting in the winter. I am glad I did because the lug wrench would not have worked. He used an impact wrench to get the lug nuts off and had the spare installed with the valve extensions, without a problem. He then aired up the flat tire because I had told him it sounded as if the loss of air was from the extended valve. 24 hours later the tire still the full amount of air in it, so it is a bad extended valve that caused the flat.

Sunday I started early with the de-winterizing process and It took less time than the process of winterizing. Then I pulled the chalks, fired it up, headed down the narrow drive with just enough room to miss the corner of my house and headed to the local air pumps to bring the tires up to the required weight. I took about a 12 mile test drive and the rig rode smooth and quiet. I wanted to keep going without going back to the house, it was that enjoyable.

So the blog is back, the rig is ready to hit the road and the weather has been great for a change.

The Momentum Train Comes to a Screeching Halt

All that momentum from my last post a few weeks ago, came to a screeching halt soon after that post. I'm not sure if it slowed as the temperatures dropped to below zero as a daily high ... but the thrill and anticipation is gone!

A few times over the life of this blog I have had these urges to sell everything and hit the road. All those beautiful blog pictures of where people were traveling ... could be me and the hounds.

So what's the problem?  Why did I pull up the For Sale sign numerous times last summer?

At the start of this month I was in the final stages of downsizing. Plans to retire and plans to leave by this spring, full-timing for at least 18 months so I could miss Indiana's winter next year. The thing is, as I moved from room to room, things that were left I did not want to sell or give away. What books I had left, I didn't want to sell or donate to the local library. I didn't want to sell my new "road" bicycle I bought last spring, nor my custom made all campy racing bike of the 80's. Add the music collection, from vinyl records to cd's or the sports memorabilia collection ... I just didn't feel like packing those away to storage while I traveled, sell or donate them.

To find out if I had a 'true' burning desire to travel or was it the blogs I read daily that kept that 'hitch itch' alive .... I moved all of my RV bookmarks from the Google Chrome bookmarks bar back with all the other 1,000 bookmarks. I moved my blog off the bookmarks bar, so I didn't see it, nor the list of blogs I read daily along the left side. I quit reading blogs, rv forums, rvs for sale...anything rv.

I let go of all the thoughts trying to make a decision. Didn't think about it.

My mind changed as fast as my weather changed. Last Saturday I am shoveling snow and ice with a windchill temp of 17 degrees and as I write this it is 64 degrees with a Tornado Watch warning until 10pm tonight.

When I stopped looking in on the RV world my thought process started showing me what a nice house I lived in, how I may not like the area at times but the location was great not only for me but the hounds. They have 10 acres of hay to put their noses to the ground and sniff all they want ... without a leash. It's paid for with a very low tax base. My year round electric bill is $129 per month, adjusted annually in May based on previous year burn rate. I have lakes, woods and camping nearby.

So I decided this house finally would became my base camp.

The time I drove the '94 pickup through the snow drift and went for a ride just for a change, I didn't want to get rid of it. Same with the Mini Cooper. They don't get driven daily but when I want to, they are there when needed. I didn't want to sell either vehicle when I tried to type the for sale ad.

I started finding out that I did not have a burning desire to pack up and travel. I am glad I found that out before I sold out.

I had more of a desire to ride the bicycle when the temps rise and the weather breaks in about a month. I had more of a desire to fix some things that a brutal winter does to a house rather than dumping tanks, taking navy showers and picking up after a bloodhound and two bassets that can lay 'land mines' bigger than I want to pick up in a plastic bag. The urge for solitude was there but I have that opportunity on any spring, summer or fall night in the backyard of my house looking at a sky full of stars.

I realized I didn't have to spend all day in the dusty desert to read a book, I could read here or down by a local lake with few if any people around.

I started thinking about RVing 6 months and living here 6 months. I felt good with that decision. I could trade highs of 7 degrees and snow for 75 degrees and sand, wind and mountains even if it dropped to the 40's at night. I starting thinking maybe of leaving in November and coming back in April. Then if I had the urge to continue, I'd keep driving down the road. If I had the urge to get back to long hot showers, room to stretch out with three hounds and a place that is paid for to hang out ... I could do that.

So that is where I stand as of today or these past 7 days. It's ok if I want to stay where I'm at. It's ok if I want to RV on weekends this spring and summer or take a week trip somewhere. Who knows, those trips might change my plans.

It's good for me and good for my hounds living here. We have our laid back routines. My mind is no longer racing 500 mph anymore. No fighting with myself on what to do. Maybe the blogs and feel good stories of full-timing is/was more of a desire than what was inside me.

Everything is good.

Just Sitting Winterized and a Flat Rear Tire

How many have changed their own flat tire on a Class C?

All of my tires were filled to 65lbs in November, the day I winterized the rig. Since November, temperature highs have ranged from low 40's to -9. After a couple of major snow storms with a lot of snow stacked on top of the Coachmen, I would check the inside for leaks, water stains on the walls or any water drops on the floor ... all good, nothing leaking.

Luckily the flat tire is on the outside. I put in around 30lbs of air but when I turned off my air compressor I thought I heard a hissing sound. Within 15 minutes that 30lbs of air was gone.

I have some blocks of wood to set my 6 ton jack on, I do have a spare tire fully aired but the ground was already saturated from the melted snow and it's been raining all afternoon and tonight with another snow storm predicted tomorrow.

It could be another week before the weather breaks before I can attempt the tire change.