So how did I get here?

This blog has been going on for a while now – I started writing the blog on Wednesday, October 7, 2009. It was a place to park my thoughts… It has transitioned from our initial hopes to retire early, be financially independent and find a quaint sticks and bricks place to settle down near some beach or mountains… or a beach :) Then there was a turn, on the road to retirement, to where we are now… looking for an RV with the hope of living in it for a while. We want to be able to explore places where we may eventually call ourselves retired and settled… So how did I get to this point in my life?

In the beginning … :)

…I was a child that grew up in a military family. My father was a “lifer” in the Air Force after starting in the Army during World War II… he joined when he was 16 after running away from an orphanage and lying about his age. During his 29 year career we moved often… more often as he got closer to retirement. I never knew exactly what he did but he apparently did it very well as he was one of the first E9’s in the USAF. We lived in many states and moved to Europe (Germany) three different times.

One thing I can tell you about “military brats” is that as a result of moving often, breaking friendships, and making new friendships, you usually end up in one camp or the other.  You either love moving often or you want to settle and stay put. As a result of all the moving (I went to four different high schools) I ended up in the nomadic group. Staying put was, and is, not my style! I still get the itch to go somewhere and do something after we are in the same place more that a year or so.

…to be continued… :)

So what is next?

My son and his wife and grandson are here visiting and sleeping in  after he got to attend his ten year high school reunion (the granddaughter didn't visit on this trip). As I sit here today watching the end of the Tour de France I am waiting for everyone to wake up so I can whip up some breakfast.  But mostly I am wondering about what lies ahead… 

As I have mentioned before my retirement day and day of the beginning of our full time adventure is March 2, 2011 but could be a month earlier if all goes well. So that means that we could be pulling out of here as soon as six and half months from now… not much time left for all that still remains to be accomplished.

So where are we now? We have gotten rid of lots of stuff… mostly smaller items but have also begun to rid our lives of larger items such as out piano, canoe and some smaller antiques.  The house has been on the market for 9 days and we have had a few showings but no bites… On the employment front I have moved most of my departments IT network under another department as I plan for my imminent departure so the work load will lighten up considerably in the coming month.

So what is next? We are going to have to become more focused on finding an RV, more focused on determining which toad we want, more focused on which apartment we will live in if the house sells sooner than hoped for, continue to find stuff to get rid of, plan for the transfer of collectibles to the kids… alas… there is still so much to do in not so much time…

what to do next…

Buying the elusive RV…. where to buy it…

Well we have been looking at RV’s over the past four months as time and opportunity permits.  We have stopped in many states while traveling to peruse their lots so we better understand what we like and dislike. We are pretty comfortable with what our likes and dislikes are and what our “deal breakers” are when it comes to buying our future home.

So now we spend more and more time on-line looking for those “unwanted” RV’s out on the internet as we are getting closer and closer to being ready to pulling the trigger and buy an RV. So what are our favorite on-line resources for web shopping… 

Web links to check:

• http://www.rvs.com/
• http://www.reposales.com/
• http://www.craigslist.com specify your location
• http://www.crazedlist.com multi location Craigslist
• http://www.rvclearinghouse.com/index.php?
• http://www.tiffinrvs.com/default.asp
• http://www.rvsearch.com/
• http://www.pedatarvcenter.com/rvinventory.html
• http://www.buyusedrvforsale.com/rv/search/
• http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/index.html
• http://www.rvsearch.com/
• http://www.crankyape.com/default.asp?pg=DisItems&Cat=6
• http://www.classyrv.com
• http://www.motorhomesonsale.com
• http://www.rvhunter.com
• http://www.rvtraderonline.com
• http://www.roadtrekchapter.org/roadtreksforsale.htm
• http://www.vancityrv.com/pre_owned_list.asp
• http://www.vantasticvans.com
• http://vehicles.oodle.com/?q=class+B+rv&sc=vehicle

So when buying online you want to know if the title is free and clear and on hand. Get the VIN number to check for defects and recalls and be sure it's VIN matches the vehicle you are purchasing. Other good advice from fellow RV’ers is to find out where most of it's life has been. A rig that has been lived in obviously has had more intense continued use and therefore wear on all the appliances etc. A weekender should have much less use and the summer road trip rig, somewhere in between.  Also, if it was used extensively in areas up north and along the coast there could be some future rust issues.

Lots to see and look at… we hope to have one by the end of October…

The day the music died…

Well we have been selling a lot of items on craigslist and we also already had two garage sales… and as I mentioned in the last post there isn’t much left to throw away.  So what is next?  The BIG stuff… and the first to go (besides my table saw – it went in a garage sale) is our piano.Well it went on craigslist about three weeks ago… and after several “I am interested” emails I finally had a serious inquiry and a fellow and his wife came by to look at it.  A really nice Asian couple… she looked over the piano very carefully and you could tell she knew what she was doing. When it was all over we agreed to a price and they will come pick up the piano on August 1st… There is no doubt this piano will be loved because she was a very gifted piano player… I can hear the music now…

… bye bye Miss American Pie… I drove my Chevy to the levy and the levy was dry…

I would have very much like to keep our piano…

But I knew I was out of luck… The day the music died…

Trash day makes me smile…

What is it about trash day that makes me happy?  It falls on a Thursday which isn’t even a special day… but every Thursday at around 8:00 am I can hear the trash truck making the bend on the road behind me and for some reason it makes me smile…  Why?

You see for the last 6-7 months trash day has been one of my favorite days. Each weekend I would troll around the house searching for items that were unworthy of donating to the goodwill, salvation army or any other charity.  Once an unworthy item was discovered it made its way to the city garbage can. This happened until the trash can was nearly full.  Then Thursday would come along so on Thursday mornings after I had my coffee I would go out front and peak inside the trashcan to see if it was full… if not I would search for items to fill it with…

So why does trash day make me happy?  Well after performing my trash ritual for the last 6-7 months we have ridded ourselves of so much trash and of many worthless items that our attic is practically empty and our garage is de-cluttered… likewise if you look in our closets and any drawer in the house they are fairly empty and organized…

So now it is almost impossible for me to fill the trash can on Thursday mornings… So why am I still happy on Thursdays?  Because it is apparent that we have now cleared out nearly all the trash in our lives that we had accrued in this home over the last 16 years… and that means we are getting very close to reaching our goal of leaving our house, retiring, and moving on to our dreams…

which makes us both happy… enjoy your day!

WiFi on the road for us… one solution…

Well one of my concerns on the road is going to be access to the internet… I must have access to the internet as it is a source of information and much entertainment for me. So there is a good possibility that we will be getting our internet via satellite to our rig and yes, I know, it is not cheap.  Something like the Motosat image below along with a value added reseller like DirectTV or Dish will likely be our internet solution. But that is only part of the solution as my darling bride will also want to be able to get on the internet at the same time I am on…

Now I have read and researched a lot on this subject and most seem to want to go out and purchase the equivalent of a wireless router that broadcasts an inbound connection wirelessly to others able to pick up the signal. But I wanted a software solution if one existed and I have found one and even better it is FREE… that is right, it is free if you have windows 7 (I have not tested on other OS’s such as XP but the claims are it works).

So let me introduce you to a piece of software called Connectify.  I had read about it and downloaded the most recent version of it -  Connectify 2.0.1.15550. Well it was simple enough to install and the wizard for setting up a hotspot was a snap… but it didn’t work… I tried everything and then I found their blog.  It suggested the best thing to do was to use an older version (also free) version 1.2 and it would work better because the newer version was a bit buggy for now (they hope to fix it soon)… So, I downloaded the new version and followed the steps of the wizard,clicked on share the internet connection and created a hotspot named hey-me, and then started the hotspot.  Next I got on  my daughters laptop and in the wireless networks I saw hey-me and connected to it… viola instant wireless internet connectivity… and just as fast as my inbound connection. So there you go everybody go to their site and download version 1.2 and you will have a wireless connection without any of the equipment hassles…

Enjoy…

Officially for sale…

The house has finally been listed with the MLS and is officially for sale. I chose to list with a flat fee realtor and for the fee I get quite a lot i think…

• a sign for the yard
• a MLS listing
• get added to realtor.com’s database of MLS houses for sale
• a lock box for the door
• and all the contracts and advice of a broker without the cost of a broker. 

Only time will tell if this strategy works out and here is to hoping it doesn’t take too awfully long.

So our lives will change a bit and our routines will need to be altered to ensure that the house is in ready shape.  So the morning rituals now include cleaning and staging for the hope that each day will be the day that a prospective buyer comes into the house and falls in love with it like we did.

So now that the house is listed I can refocus our efforts on finding an RV that we can call our next home…

Happy July Fourth!!!

Well here in Texas we are still feeling the remnants of the last hurricane with intermittent showers and winds but that didn’t stop us from going to the Lake and enjoying some of the pre-fourth festivities. We have been going out to the lake for over 30 years to meet up with a group of people who we visit and enjoy the day with. The day wasn’t complete without some fine Texas BBQ and some frosty adult beverages.

On the home front the house should officially get listed on Monday with its MLS listing.  The agent is supposed to drop off our FSBO sign and a lock box for our front door. Then it is our job to keep the home clean, neat and tidy until it is sold. While at the same time we need to continue to look for our perfect rig… which seems to be going to cost more than we originally planned. 

My first thought was we could get our rig for 50-75,000 bucks but that number has nearly doubled now that we have a better idea of what we need and want. But the good news is that there are starting to be more and more of our type rigs showing up on the market so we hope to land one before too long.

So here it is July 4, 2010 and it is time to reflect upon the freedoms we have as a result of the deaths and efforts of many before us and those overseas today. How fitting it is that this year we are considering the new freedoms we will have in the future…

Enjoy the day…. we will…