The Countdown

We are down to our last 10 days at Shady Oaks! Preparations for the trip have been progressing smoothly.

Bill has been busy finishing the cabinets where the old TVs used to live.  It’s great to have 2 more spots for indoor storage. One for laptops and the printer.  We added a fun map of the US that is a scratch off version.  You scratch off each state as you visit it.  Just like a scratch off ticket!

 

The back cabinet sports a framed picture of my favorite flowers: lupines. Inside is a massive amount of room, so I moved my crafting materials up there, along with extra bedding and other bulky items. It’s so much neater in the bedroom now, with everything stowed away.  In a small space, any amount of clutter makes the whole area seem trashed.

In February, I listed my top 5 challenges.  Here are the solutions we have in place.

1. I’m not retirement age (yet). So I will have to buy health insurance until I find work out west.
   I decided to buy the COBRA insurance my employer offers by law.  Obamacare wasn’t any cheaper for our family.  I can use COBRA for 18 months if I need to.
2. We plan to move our belongings from a 3 bedroom house and garage into a Class A RV. Downsizing and purging is required.
   Although somewhat painful, the downsizing and purging went fine.
3. We will want to tow a vehicle and neither of the vehicles we own is towable. We need to sell our cars and buy a “toad.”
   We decided not to buy a “toad.”  We had chosen to just rent a car if we felt the need to have one. But later John and Peggy asked us if we wanted travelling companions to caravan with us.  Yes! AND, they are pulling a toad!  We have successfully sold both of our cars and are driving borrowed vehicles until we leave Sept. 2.
4. Our house is in a town where the largest employer (a paper mill) closed its doors a year ago. The housing market may be soft.
   Amazingly, we sold our house 6 weeks ago after a relatively short time on the market.
5. Leaving my family here on the east coast is going to be very difficult.
   Still working on this.  I’m going to miss my kids and grandkids a lot.  We’ve been trying to get together as much as possible this summer.  The plan is to video chat and telephone, utilizing the technology that is available these days.  I have an idea for postcards to the grandkids I’ll elaborate on later. I keep telling myself that there are many grandparents whose kids have moved away with the grandkids.  We’re just doing it backwards!

 

Can't believe we're almost ready to blast off!

Thirty days out

Who knew we would get to the 30-day mark?

We have closed on the house and our youngest daughter has moved to California to finally live under the same roof as her Marine husband.  The newlyweds are doing fine and recently got a puppy.
Life in the RV park is interesting and we're grateful to have a place to live until we go on the road. But we can't help but wonder about the attraction to staying in park all summer in a vehicle with wheels...and not put them in motion until fall comes.  At least we have taken 2 trips this summer.  one to Cobscook Bay State Park and one to Naples, Maine for a family get-together.

 

We're obviously anxiously waiting for our trip to begin, but we really need to still be employed by our company on Sept. 1. Why?

1. The company will pay our health insurance until the end of the month in which you leave. That means "free" health insurance for the month of September.
2. We are heading to the southwest, among other places. August in the desert is HOT.  So September it is.

 

Ok, yes.  Bill is still putting the finishing touches on the interior of “The Cabin.”  The removal of 2 giant CRT televisions in the front and back of the RV left 2 large storage cabinets.  Our flat screen TV is mounted to the right of the front door.

The front cabinet is now outfitted to accommodate the printer and our 2 laptops. 

The faux kindling on the outside of the door is contact paper… easier than trying to match the elusive cherry stain.  The back cabinet is under construction, but I hope to store craft items and extra blankets in the huge space left by the removal of the TV.

Although we got rid of a massive amount of our "stuff", there are still some major pieces to be sold.

Bill had a utility trailer he used to take garbage to the dump, etc.  As luck would have it, a guy who came to our yard sale asked if he could buy it, but we had to say, "No, but maybe later," as we were still using it to haul trash.  The guy left his name and number and actually drove from Farmington pick it up a few days ago.

And there are the 2 cars.  My 2012 Hyundai Sonata is on the market and I plan to drive my daughter's car until we go on the road.  Once it sells, Bill will put the older Chevy Malibu on the market.  If it sells before we leave, I hope my co-workers will give me rides to work so Bill can use the "spare" car.

Hoping!