Memorial Day

I never recycle posts, but I think last years for this day was on the mark:)

http://goldenshoervtrip.blogspot.com/2011/05/memorial-day.html

Enjoy the day, but remember those who are not here to enjoy it because of their service to our great country.

Grounded and rewired

May 15^th marked the end of our full time journey as we pulled out of our campground after spending our last two weeks in the new motorhome.  This checkout period, in addition to checking out the systems, also confirmed that we could function for reasonable periods in this much smaller space.

It has been a hectic couple of weeks as we searched for some minimum furniture to allow us to at least camp in the new house.  Once that was completed, it was time for a break, so we went on a road trip to Robertsdale, AL. We were invited to attend an outing of the Panhandle Winnies at the Robertsdale Camping World for a “show and tell.  We found them to be a fun group and promptly joined their local club.  When we returned home on Mother’s day, we were surprised to find flowers on the counter. Also found new sheets on the recently delivered bed a four slice toaster!  Thanks Heather and Ryan.

 Our next big priority was to rejoin the wired world and get cable and internet installed.  Things have changed a bit since we went on the road and I did get some advice from our SIL on what we would need.  So now we have high speed internet with a full house network that I admittedly still do not fully understand along with cable entertainment with TIVO and other stuff I am going to eventually learn about.  What I am sure about is I have a lot of digital boxes and wires that need to be hidden once the cabinets on order show up.  Then there is the new paperwork that goes with an address change, like all new drivers’ licenses and notifications to apparently everyone in the known world.  I will admit to longing for the simple life of starting the engine and just moving on.

Anneke did manage to invoke her “Oma” privileges and go with mom and Victoria to the Zoo this last weekend, while I continued to work around the house.  They had a great time at this small and privately owned zoo.

Since we bought an almost new house on a street with available lots, it was expected that we would be watching some construction for awhile. There is a house nearing completion next door and now two new lots are being cleared for construction, one across the street.  So there will be some noise and dirt for awhile.

Honey, I shrunk the motorhome

Wednesday, we took the next big step in the transition from full timers to any timers.  We have enjoyed six good years traveling in our Meridian 39 diesel motorhome visiting all but a few states.  It was hard to let go of a coach that worked well for all those miles and years, never leaving us stranded and having no major failures.  I know from following other folks’ journeys, this is not always the case.  

We bought the Meridian specifically to full time and while I know many use this type of coach for travels of all kinds, we felt that a change in lifestyle was also a time for a change in equipment.  It was a great way to see the country, but its size also included some restrictions on the kind of places we could go and camping opportunities.  Simply put, we were looking for a change to a simpler way of traveling. 

Of course, we could not say goodbye to the Meridian without a reminder of the trials of life on the road. The biggest of the day/night shades decided to fail again, just before the trade in.  So, for one last time, we restrung another of those poorly made shades.

We always considered ourselves to be good at not carrying around a lot of stuff and were always well under the Meridian’s weight limits.  However, the emptying of the coach was a bit of a surprise.  Since most of what carried would not fit in the new coach, we hauled it all to the new house.  We have stuff everywhere.  Clearly, we were not as careful as we thought.

In some ways we have come full circle to where we started.  Our first, of now four motorhomes, was about the same size as our new one, but certainly a lot less sophisticated. We are hoping to enjoy the new one as much as the first three.

The new one is a 2012 Winnebago View, which is around 40% smaller than the Meridian.  It is also our first Mercedes.  It is a Sprinter Chassis with a Mercedes Diesel engine.  It will also get over twice the MPG as the Meridian. Our plan is to travel whenever and try to tow a car as little as possible.

Just like the Meridian, we have started off with some electrical issues right away.  We took delivery on Wednesday and were back on Thursday and had the failed converter replaced.  I still believe there is a problem with the 12 volt system and that the dealer managed to kill the house batteries, as well.  This is almost exactly how we started with the Meridian.

Since we do not have much furniture yet and have been released from our babysitting duties, we hope to make a short test run next weekend to a Winnebago gathering in AL.

Fulltimers-no longer

We have been pondering a lifestyle change for months and yesterday we closed on a house in the panhandle of Florida.  It was a difficult decision for us to give up the fulltime lifestyle, since we have enjoyed it so much.  When we started out, we knew that for us, it was not going to be a forever situation and I had thought that three to five years would likely be the time frame for the adventure.  It is now been five and a half years and we would not likely have made this decision except that the desire to spend more time with our two grandkids.  We feel that the best way to do this is to have a fixed home base.  

So while continuing our babysitting assignment for another week or so, we are starting the process of thinking about such mundane things as furniture, since we really have none, and all the other things we had pretty much forgotten about  while on the road.

We are now working on just how we will continue our travels in what many folks refer to as “anytime RVers.  We hope to make a final decision on that tomorrow.  Perhaps that is why my brain is feeling a little sore:)

The house is nearly new and certainly very lightly used for less than 11 months. The couple that bought it new last year found It necessary to sell after less than a year. It is a bit larger than we need and located in a very quiet area on over a half acre lot that backs up to several hundred acres of wooded land.

This little project we will be keeping us busy for a few months, I am sure.

The pictures were taken during the home inspection.