Self induced Stress (09-20-12)

   Even before we arrived in the Novi area of Michigan, Paul and I had a list of things to get done, and several appointments already set- from doctors to haircuts. We set all of those appointments for our first week here, just in case there were any issues that needed to be addressed before we leave again. There were other things that were “time critical” to get done in the first week, such as bringing my sapphire ring to a jewelers to get it fixed and finally framing the cross stitch that I was supposed to have finished.  Oops.  Well, since I didn’t quite get it done, I guess we don’t have to worry about getting it framed quite yet, although I am determined to get it done soon!



"the kids" start right in with their bickering



   Our daughter has a new  full time job, and hasn’t left her old job yet, so between work and school, she hasn’t had much time available to visit with us, but we are spending as much time as possible with her.  She does have next weekend off finally, so we might get a whole day together!

We have done our “fall” clean out of our trailer, taking out things that we have decided we don’t want to keep anymore and either putting them in storage, or giving them to Good Will. 

       There are many ways of “fulltime” RVing.  Some people sell absolutely everything, and only keep what they can fit in their rig, some sell most things and give mementos to a family member to keep, some keep a home or a cottage as a base, and travel most of the year, and some, like us, keep a storage unit filled with things they might want some day.   Many people have questioned us as to whether it is worth keeping all the “stuff” we have in storage- after all, we are paying a fee every month, and it does add up over time.  But, yes, to us, it’s worth the price, at least at this point.  We both agree that we will want to settle down again someday, even though that day seems to drift further and further into the future, and we’ll want at least some of our stuff.  Paul builds furniture, so many of our best pieces were built by him, and we’ll want them when we stop moving.  He also has all the tools to build more furniture, so we don’t want to get rid of those either.  That being said, there definitely are some things we can weed out and we’ve spent some time over the last few days doing that.  On the Upside, I got to go “shopping” in our storage unit.  I grabbed some “new” clothes, figuring that they’ve already sat there for 3 years- so what I don’t want now I am giving away (mostly).

In addition to all of the above, Paul is spending some time working on Jess’s car, as well as the truck.  He has been very unhappy with the chips in the fenders of the truck, caused by flying rocks, and took the truck to the dealer to get it looked at.  He came away much happier, as he discovered that there is a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) on it, so we’ll be getting a new paint job on the fenders, in addition to new, larger, mud flaps, courtesy of Ford Motor Company.  He also ordered new shocks and airbags for the truck, and has already installed the new shocks.  The F450 does an amazing job of towing our trailer, but the front of the trailer, the part that “sits” over the truck is very heavy (pin weight).  It causes the rear of our truck to sag a bit, and the ride to be rougher than we would like.  The new shocks and airbags will help smooth out the ride, and keep the rear end from sagging.



Gary and Leeann

      We are also trying to squeeze in some visits with friends, but honestly, we’ve been so busy getting things done, we haven’t had much free time.  We did finally meet Gary and Leeann, who are also fulltimers who used to live in Michigan.  We've read their blog and chatted with them on forums, and it was nice to meet them in person!

A new truck becomes "Ours"

Lack of consistent internet has caused this post to be delayed by one day:




 

After waiting (im)patiently at Keystone State Park to pick up our new F450, the transaction is finally complete! Once the title to our old truck was forwarded to the dealer, we met with them and finalized the sale. Luckily there were no glitches and no hold-ups. The salesman thought it was pretty cool that he didn’t have to go over any of the truck’s systems with Paul, since Paul pretty much knew more than he did. This truck has so many more features than I even knew, it’s amazing. It can be programmed so that it knows

 how many miles and hours it tows our 5th wheel, and we can program multiple trailers into the memory bank. I will no longer have to write down our “towing miles” to have a record of it.



the hitch goes in last



Of course, the navigation system was one of the main things we wanted and it is user friendly enough that I had our destination programmed within seconds. It does have all kinds of added features that we will have to learn over time. One thing it doesn’t seem to have is the ability to add custom Points Of Interest, which is disappointing because I would have liked to program in Low Clearance bridges across the country.

 
 

With the Sirius Radio, we have instant weather, a 5 day weather forecast, and a weather map, all of which we can access with a push of a button or a voice command. We can also find the nearest and/or cheapest diesel fuel in the area, a very nice perk. I don’t know if we’ll keep all that ability once our complimentary subscription is up, but for now we’ll enjoy it.

Once we got back to the campsite, it took us (mostly Paul) about 5 hours to make the truck “ours”. We pulled off some graphics, and added our toolbox and hitch.  It was a hot and sticky day for working outside, but very satisfying that everything went together well.

We don't fish, therefore we just wait....and wait.

      We're sitting here at Keystone State Park in Derry PA.  Its a fairly small state park with a very pretty lake that is stocked with fish.  There are a lot of people fishing, even though the weather has been anything but cooperative. I think we've had about 4 daylight hours that it hasn't been raining, since we got here.  We went for a nice walk yesterday but I forgot to bring my camera.  If we get a break in the action tomorrow, we'll try to go for another walk.  Everyone I talk to has complaints about the weather, wherever they happen to be.  After a really lousy winter, the spring has not been much of an improvement.
  We're waiting here because we goofed.  We've been so busy for the last month or so working out all the details of buying a new truck and trailer, and moving our residence to Texas, that we forgot one detail.  I guess that's not too bad, considering all the things we've had to deal with.  We are here in Derry to buy a new F450 from the local dealer.  Unfortunately, we have not yet received our new Texas title for our truck, so we can't trade it in yet.  We have been in contact with the state of Texas, and they have assured us that it should be arriving any day now.  Arriving at our mailbox in Livingston TX, that is.  Then we'll have to overnight it to the dealer here in PA.  We don't have anywhere we have to be until next Thursday, so if we have to sit here for that long, we will. We're not anxious to move this trailer too often. We both feel like we're walking on eggshells, hoping nothing breaks before we trade it in.
    Memorial Day weekend is one of those "musical chair" weekends.  It's one of the few times that we really need to make a reservation, if we want to be sure of someplace to stay, especially here in the east, where RV parks are fewer and further between.   I had already begun researching where we might want to stay but hadn't found anything.  We need it to be within 300 miles of Boston, because we have reservations there starting on Memorial Day itself.  My dilemma was actually resolved without much effort on my part.  There is  a couple that we are friends with, although we've never met them, who happen to be in the NY/PA area as well, and we've been keeping an eye one each other's location, to see if we can catch up and finally meet face to face.  As it happens, they have booked a campground in NY, about 240 miles from Boston, for Memorial Day weekend, so I quickly called and made reservations at the same park.  We will finally get to meet them!

Happy Mother's Day!

     So far, it's been a pretty good one for me!  Paul cooked breakfast (as usual) and then we went for a 4 mile walk.  Afterwards, I spoke to my son on the phone for almost an hour.  Can't wait to get to Boston to see him! My daughter and her fiance came over for a late lunch.  David is leaving Muncie today.  He has finished school and after stopping at his parents in Wisconsin for a bit, will be headed to California for an internship in the film industry.

David and Jess

   Paul made it back from Texas with no car issues, after spending a week with his mom. The day he arrived home happened to be Cinco De Mayo, so of course we picked up the kids (in their Lincoln) and headed to the nearest Mexican restaurant for dinner.  The Lincoln he brought back with him is an early (very generous!) wedding present for the kids, from Paul's mother-her 2000 Lincoln LS.  The kids were tremendously excited about their wedding gift, and I admit, its nice peace of mind for me to know Jess has something reliable to drive!  So, thank you Gerry!  

     I'm not sure where the time went when Paul was gone, but it sure did fly by.   I did go for a bike ride the day I planned to, but it was a long short bike ride.  It wasn't that many miles but the first half  I had a tail wind and on the way back I had a head wind that was so strong and tough to battle that when I put my leg down to stop for a minute, it didn't hold my weight, I was that tired!  Ugh.    Since that day I've gone walking several times and I am hoping to go for another bike ride tomorrow, IF the weather cooperates, which it really hasn't been doing lately.  I must say, after being back in the Midwest for a while, the deserts of the west are growing on me. The constant sunshine, lack of humidity and milder temperatures are fond memories. A lot of my full timing friends are still in the western states, and I admit I am somewhat jealous and can't wait to get back there.  All in good time though.  I wouldn't give up spending time with the kids for anything.
    One of the ways I have kept busy for the last week was by finalizing the specifications for our new Mobile Suite 5th wheel.  Call us spoiled, but we have decided to go forward with the purchase of our "new" new trailer, for a lot of reasons, actually (that I am not going to get into here).  We ordered it last Tuesday and it should be built by mid-June or so.  We'll know the timing better next week.  We went back to the factory to look at interior colors and make those choices, and also to discuss some of the customizations we have ordered.  I can't even post pictures of existing units and say that's what we are getting because some of the changes we're making are changing the look of the interior.  We sort of took one floor plan and substituted in parts that we liked from other floor plans, and then put in some of our own ideas as well.
   Now that we've ordered the 5th wheel, we need to buy a new truck to pull it. Ours won't tow that much weight, so we are looking to get a 2011 F450.  We've gone round and round on this one- debating 350 vs. 450 and 2011 vs. 2012.  It's too late to order one and have it be a 2011, and Paul, after talking to his buddies at Ford, has decided he doesn't want a 2012. They are downsizing the brakes, apparently.  Plus, because of the Tsunami in Japan, you can't order one with a navigation system until further notice.
So, we have been searching dealer lots trying to find one that will fit our needs.  We finally found one in Pennsylvania, and we're hoping its still there when we head that way next week.

And now, the rest of the story...

So, here's whats been happening behind the scenes for the last few weeks:
      Paul and I decided about a month or so ago that we are enjoying this lifestyle enough to invest in a new trailer. When we bought our Everest, it was our first 5th wheel. I think we did a pretty good job picking it out, given our options in the state of Michigan, but there are definately things we would have done differently had we known more.  So for the last few weeks, we have been touring the factories of the brands of 5th wheels that we are interested in this time around.  We went to Kansas to tour the NuWa factory, looking at a HitchHiker Champagne, and from there went to Howe IN to tour the DRV factory, looking at a Mobile Suites.  It was after that visit that we went to Keystone to get our trailer fixed.  We left it with them and went to go take a tour of the Carriage factory to look at Carri-lites (of course we didn't tell Keystone that!). After that tour, Keystone told us they would be replacing our trailer for us, but by then we had already narrowed down our choices and gone about 85% down the pathway towards purchasing a Mobile Suites. We had quotes, trade in values for our Everest, and  a list of modifications we wanted to make on a new unit.
   We spent an afternoon looking at Keystone products to pick a replacement, and briefly debated trying to work out a deal where we hand over the brand new trailer to a dealer as a trade in for a new Mobile Suite, but that was trying to get too much done in a very short time frame, so we abandoned that idea pretty quickly.
    Thursday and Friday were spent moving in to our new Keystone Alpine and on Friday morning, after switching our G series tires over to the Alpine,  Keystone hauled the Everest away.  We have no idea what they'll do with it, nor does the customer service rep we've been dealing with.   We checked out all the systems on the Alpine and had a few things looked at before everyone left for the holiday weekend.
   We thought we were all set to get on the road to Muncie, but we were wrong. If it's not one thing, its another, as they say.  5 miles after leaving Goshen with the trailer, the "water in fuel" light came on in the truck.  Luckily Paul knows a lot about trucks. We drove back to the Keystone "campground",  and he drained the water out of the fuel tank through a valve underneath the truck.  We drove around the block a few times, the light came back on,  and he drained it again.  We went back to the station where we bought the diesel, and they of course insisted that no one has had any issues with their fuel.  In all, he drained the water about 7 times and we came close to having to have the tank totally drained and the fuel replaced, but we kept going further and further without the light coming on, and eventually he got all the water out.  It was a frustrating day but at least there was no lasting damage to the truck.
     Once we finally got to Muncie on Saturday, we took a deep breath and got settled in.  The Alpine is a nice trailer, definately bigger and nicer than our Everest!  Is it what we want though? Not really.  I could list all the things we don't like about it, like that the refrigerator is about half the size of the one we had before,  and it lacks the cabinet space we need to be comfortable. There are many reasons, actually, that we have decided to move forward with the purchase of a Mobile Suite.  We are able to customize a Mobile Suite to a great extent and make it a more personal home.  I also loved the HitchHiker, but there are other reasons why we don't think it's the best choice for us.
    Today we spent some time figuring out what options we want, and finalizing what customizations we'll ask for.  We did take a 2nd tour of the factory last week to speak to a rep about some of the things we want to do.  We're hoping to put it out to bid next week and have another new trailer in a couple of months.
   Because of the heaviness of the Mobile Suite, we're going to have to purchase a new truck.  That's not a hardship for Paul- he test drove the 2011 F350 and has had stars in his eyes ever since.  We may end up with an F450 this time though, since it has a better turning radius.  We are going for a test drive on Tuesday morning, before Paul flies out to spend a week or so with his mom.  He can order the truck from anywhere, so he'll probably place the order while in Texas.  For the trailer, we'll get our final quotes, then make a decision when he gets back from Texas.
     As if we don't have enough going on, we have also decided to start the process of changing our domicile to Texas.  We got our new address last Monday and we'll start switching vehicle registrations as we go along.  Paul will hopefully get his Texas driver's license while he is visiting his mom.
  While Paul is gone, Jess and I will try to get a few more things done for the wedding. Since we got here, we've already had Jess and David over for dinner, and tonight Jess came over by herself.  I could get used to that!
Meantime, here are some pictures of our new home (there are more on the right hand side of the page under "our home")!  It's really quite nice!

    
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