Everything Must Go!

We've scheduled an estate sale for Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Though my son Mark may come out before then to load up his car with his favorite picks of the stuff, and we will be taking what we need in the trailer, everything else will be for sale. We are not going to keep a storage unit because we don't want to be tied down to any particular location, or pay the monthly fee.  Hope you locals will consider coming.

We're looking at Saturday June 11 for the "trailer warming"party.  Invitations will be going out as soon as we finalize the arrangements with the KOA. They don't actually open until April, but when they do we'll make a reservation for the first couple of weeks of June, and talk with them about their policies regarding guests, cars and pets. Most places are fine as long as pets are on leashes. It'll probably be a picnic sort of thing from noon to 8ish, so there will be plenty of flexibility around when to come out.  Or folks could bring their tents and get a campsite, and we could have a big slumber party!

Joy Riding

Went to visit our truck today, which is still sitting on the dealer's back lot. We don't really have room in our driveway to keep it at home while we still have our other cars. So we go visit it. Today we spent a long time just sitting in it, figuring out how all the systems work. Then we took it out for its first highway ride! Joy riding...It was a little hard not to think of the price of diesel, and not to let it take the joy out of our ride, but we managed to have a really fun and free afternoon away from the house. It was a beautiful early Spring day.

There is a lot going on at home, and we are feeling just a little stressed at times. Rick is working so hard on the paperwork to establish our residency and mailing address in South Dakota, register the truck, and take care of the things that came up in the house inspection. The inspection results were reasonable, though a little surprising, and the things we need to do are not really major, just a pain in the $%#*!!  It's a lot to juggle while also arranging the estate sale, and doing the taxes on top of that! But he's handling it all. Amazing. I'm so grateful for his competence and steady effort at these things while I go off to work.

The house is going, going....

Well, the sale of the house is imminent. We got a decent offer from a sweet young couple who are having a baby any minute, and wanted a closing date of May 31. Perfect! We have a signed contract, and the inspection went smoothly. What a relief. We did take a hit on our overall investments in the house, but understood this was a possibility in the current real estate market. It's so worth it to know that we won't have to wait around for it to sell, try to rent it, or leave it empty.  It feels now like we are in this whirling vortex of preparations all heading toward the closing date. Whoooosh!!!

So, we are planning a bon voyage party for early June, at the KOA in Union, IL. Come back soon for the details!

The Truck! The Truck!

Today our truck arrived at the dealer, Village Buick GMC in Naperville IL. Our salesman, Mark Oliver has been a trooper over the last year, fielding all our questions, and becoming a real truck expert along the way. The truck is a GMC, 3500 SLT crew cab dually. We went to see it and had a chance to sit in it to be sure it had all the features we expected. (It did.) It was covered in snow from its trip all the way from Flint, MI.  We do feel good about supporting US economy and all those GMC factory workers. We won't be able to pick it up until next week when we have our South Dakota address and license plates. It'll probably stay parked at the dealers for awhile, as we don't really have room in the driveway!  Here's a photo:

Canoetopia

Spent the weekend in Madison, Wisconsin to shop at Canoetopia, a huge gathering for everything to do with canoeing and kayaking.  Many venders selling beautiful handmade and other kinds of both boats, as well as anything you could ever want to pimp your ride, in a very eco-friendly manner of course. We picked up two Werner paddles and two life vests. Now we are ready to try them out, as soon as it's warm enough to get on the water.

No, we didn't go to the capital to demonstrate or even observe. We skirted that part of town. On the way home we did stop at Rock Cut State Park, near Rockford IL to scope out its potential for camping this summer.  It's a lovely park, with a beautiful lake, and one of its camping loops looks like it has some sites that would be big enough. Sycamore, IL also has a small RV park with two ponds that would be perfect for trying out our kayaks. But the RV sites are really close together and it would be a tight squeeze during peak season, especially with our neophyte backing up skills. They seemed to have only a few pull-thru sites.  Its only advantage is that its the closest place to the dealer, Holiday Hour in Cortland, IL.

We need to find someplace to stay right after we pick up the RV, near the dealer so we can get back easily and quickly if we discover any problems or need help figuring out how something works. We think we'll spend at least a week nearby before we head out to South Dakota. During that time we are planning on having a party so our friends can see our new home.  Hope you'll come!

Wish list

Family, loved ones and colleagues have been asking what they can give us as a Going Away/House Warming gift. That's a tough question. When asked "What do you need?" all I can think of is "Less!" I don't mean to be flip, but our heads are so into letting go, that it's hard to think of anything more.  In fact the first time someone asked me that question my first answer was "Health insurance," but then I figured out what she was really asking, and I've given the idea some more thought.

In this new life we are thinking along the lines of experiences rather than things. And consumables. I realize these options don't fit the bill for the "little thing that we will remember you always by," but they will make our adventure richer and more enjoyable in many ways.  For instance, our National Parks Senior Pass will allow us into all the National Parks at a much reduced rate for the rest of our lives! (But we have that already.)

So here are some ideas in case you are interested:

RV club memberships: For an annual fee we get reduced rates at many campgrounds. Here are the most popular ones.

           Passport America: http://www.passportamerica.com/
           Camp Club USA: http://www.campclubusa.com/

RV education: There are folks offering educational DVDs to help us learn how to drive the dang thing and keep it rolling safely.

            RV Education 101: http://rveducation101.com/rvtrainingproducts/

Consumables, gift cards: These are places that are almost everywhere in the US

            Camping World
            Shell (yes, gasoline)
            Walmart (The RVers best friend - I know, boring)
            Massage Envy
            Itunes
            Amazon (for Kindle books)
            Starbucks (got to have that espresso!)

Oh and one thing:

            A small, easy to use, all-weather digital camera with a small zoom lens.
                

The incredible shrinking home

Just noticed an interesting change in our daily living habits. We have unconsciously reduced the space we are living in to be about equivalent to the space we will have in our RV. We have stopped using our offices  and other spaces for the most part and mostly hang out in about the 400 square feet we will soon be living in full time. It's plenty of space. It's just part of the whole preparation process, along with shrinking the amount of our possessions, such as clothing, papers, CD's, books, photos, furniture. Every day we find a way to give away, sell, throw away, scan or copy something.

Another Big Step

Our house is now on the market. It's just a matter of waiting, and cleaning every day. We're sitting in a puddle of melting snow - not the best appearance for the moment. But that will pass soon. Anyone want a lovely home swimming in the suburbs of Chicago?

Happy Valentines Day!

Rick and I gave each other folding kayaks for Valentines Day. They will take up less room in the basement of the 5th wheel. Here they are assembled in the basement.

First BIG step

We ordered our new home. It will be a combination 38RESB3 and 38TKSB3 Mobile Suite by DRV. That's a fifth wheel trailer, pulled by a truck. Here is their website: drvsuites.com
Next we will order the new pickup truck to pull the DRV.