What A Week It Was

Well hopefully the worst is behind us. We sorted, packed. sold and stored most of the week. At the garage sale we unloaded some of it, profiting a little over $200. We then sold the big screen tv and washer & dryer to people I work with. The refrigerator is still in the house and hopefully will sell before the house is gone. Our scheduled departure was for Tuesday morning. Monday night I took the evening off to go out to dinner with my co-workers. They took me to Pappadeaux and it was wonderful. They also gave me a big bag of gifts. (one being mexican train, which I will have to learn to play). I have enjoyed working as a cook at the golf course. The hours got to be a bit too much for me but we had a great crew and I will miss them. I have also gained experience, that perhaps will come in handy some day as a workcamper.
Tuesday morning rolled around. In fact we were up at 4am continuing to pack it up. As we began to load the tt the rains came. And they came and came.. We were drenched. We pulled out at 10:30 for our trip to Bay St. Louis, Ms where we would spend our first night. We had rain pretty much the whole day so it was slow moving. We also hit dead stop traffic just outside Baton Rouge, La. But we finally arrived at Hollywood Casino & RV Park. We weren't there long before we headed to the casino. We were tired and didnt stay too long. I came out with pockets a little heavier but Kevin's were lighter. Back at the camper we put on the a/c, oh no, it was shaking and rattling alot. We had this problem last year, called out a tech and it was mud dobbers that had to be removed. We had one fan and it saved us for the night. In the morning Kevin got up on the roof and looked at the unit. He removed one of them but he thinks there are more at an area he couldnt get to. Uh oh, we will have to make do without the a/c and hope that our dealer we our trading it to will be able to do a quick fix. We had breakfast at the casino, played a little black jack (me a winner, Kevin a loser)
We were on the road at 10:30. We had a decent travel day. That was until we hit highway 59.. it was so bumpy. We stopped at a passport park in Arkansas for the night. We noticed we had lost two hubcaps. Another thing to tell the dealer. The inside of the trailer had things thrown all over from the rough ride. Once again we just settled in for the night with the fan and trying to stay cool.
Day 3, we pulled out around 10am. We had a shorter drive today. I called ahead to an Escapee Park in Knoxville to see if they had any open sites and they did. We arrived at Raccoon Valley around 1:30. (oops 2:30 we changed time zones). I checked in and got my first hug. This was a first time at an escapees park. It is okay, sites are close together and gravel. Lots of nice people. I actually did laundry and met a very nice lady and we passed time just talking. I had washed the spread that came in the trailer but had forgotten to wash the shams so that was the reason for the laundry to be done. I called our dealer and we are scheduled tomorrow at noon to pick up the new 5th wheel. We will spend the night on their lot and then they will send us to Pigeon Forge for Sat and Sun night. That way we will be close by if anything goes wrong. Oh, we did go to Walmart for a few errands and picked up another fan to get us through another warm night.
It is now Friday morning and we have a few things to do here. Kevin is outside cleaning the grill that came with the tt. We are excited and hopefully all will go well today.

Oh, What A Week

Last Friday we were informed that the house here in Tx may be sold. Oh, no with that info in tow, we knew we had quite a week ahead. We are scheduled to pull out next Tuesday for our trip to Tn to pick up the new 5er. From there will go directly to Florida for the month of October. So we had no other choice but to start packing up our house. I had to work Sat and Sun and came home exhausted both days so nothing was accomplished. I told them at work I would not be available the rest of the week. Friday still isn't covered. But early Monday morning I was at it. Errands to be done, boxes to be picked up and storage rented. This is so much harder than just moving to another house. In that case, you just pack everything up and move. Here we have to decide what we need to take in the RV, what needs to be sold, what needs to be thrown out and what my kids can use. We have both been going non stop and looking around the house right now, it looks like a bomb hit.. The storage place is having a huge yard sale on Saturday so we decided to partake in that. Maybe we can unload some there and if not it will go straight to Goodwill. I have advertised the washer, dryer and refrig on what is like Craigslist here. No calls yet, so I guess I will have to try my hand at Craigslist.
Not too sure if we will have it all done in time. I get so stressed just looking at all of it, that I walk in circles. Too much for one week!

Its Done

Okay I think we are almost there. We flew to Knoxville Tn yesterday and looked at the Big Horn we had found on the internet. We found it to be all that we had hoped for. We are adding a 2nd a/c in the bedroom, a lighting package and surge protector. We are scheduled for pickup on Sept. 25th. So unless the stock market crashes today or tomorrow, it should be a go.
We plan on leaving Tx on the 22nd and although we don't have a route yet, will arrive in Knoxville probably on the 24th and stay in a park close by. The day we pick up, we are to stay onsite for the night to be sure everything is working okay. The owner then puts us in a campground for two nights in Pigeon Forge. Hopefully all will work out fine and we can then take a few days to drive to Santa Rosa Beach, Fl for our arrival at Topsail on Oct 1st..
If anyone is looking for a Heartland RV, RV's For Less is definately a place to look. The owner is the best we have come across. He seems to have all the answers and actually told us he knows the units so well that he could build one from the ground up. I believe it! He will take all the time you need to sit and just ask away. We feel very comfortable with our purchase. He actually told us things about our new Dodge Ram that the dealership didnt tell us about. We can't wait to get back there and soak in all he has to teach us. We arrived back home last night about 7:30, tired but excited from a full day.
This morning we headed to Best Buy. My laptop has been acting up lately. Norton has been bothering me with all kinds of reminders for quite some time. Most recently it has been shutting down on me when I close a program, and the last few days I couldnt open an email or send one. Rick from the chatroom told me it sounded like a Norton thing because it kept saying Symantec has encountered a problem. So off to the Geek Squad we went. They ran a program to test it and also removed Norton for me. They assumed I had a virus and if I did it would cost $199 to fix. Yikes... We went to lunch and when we came back they said no virus detected. Yeah.. I asked what I owed and he said no charge.. I couldnt believe my ears.. So hats off to the Geek Squad. I am now home and all seems to be working okay. Can't imagine why Norton was causing all those problems. Will keep the fingers crossed.
Resting the remainder of the day. I am still exhausted from my 5 days of work. I start all over again tomorrow unless it rains.

Better Luck This Time

Well, keep those fingers crossed. We are one step closer to buying a 5th wheel. Our hopes of getting the Landmark Augusta quickly faded this past week when we couldnt get the financing. But not to worry, we had another plan in place in no time. We made the decision to withdraw retirement funds.. after all this is our retirement and what better way to spend it. This was extra money that I put away in an annuity account while I worked my part time job in Massachusetts for many years. Like everyone else I lost quite a bit when the market took a hit. So might as well put whats left to good use now. Never know if any would be left if we just leave it there. So plan B is to buy the Heartland Big Horn since it is $10k less. I researched and couldnt find one that I really wanted in Houston. I did find one in Tn that pretty much has all we wanted. The fireplace, the 4 door frig, the dual pane windows. So I was on the phone with the owner and told him we would like to come look and hopefully buy. A plan was made. We will fly in tomorrow and he will come pick us up at the airport. I thought that was very cool. We don't have to rent a car. If all goes well, we will make the deal. We should have our money by next week and hopefully can leave here on the 21st to drive to Tn to pick it up. We are on a schedule as we have our workcamp commitment in Destin area on Oct 1st. How nice if we have it in time for that.
I just finished working 5 straight days at the golf course and I am so tired. Working on my feet for 7 hours is a long day for me. I have given my notice however and my last day to work will be the 19th. Only two more weeks. Hooray! A few nights I was so tired I couldn't even think about chatting. Last night I tried a few times and couldnt get into the chat room at all. Whats up with that.. I shall try again tonight, that is if I can keep my eyes open.
I hav

Waiting

Well the last week has been a busy one for me. Besides the usual working and babysitting we have been actively looking at 5th wheels to purchase. Our search has been narrowed to the Heartland product. I have researched quite a bit and it seems for the most part people are happy with the company. Sooo, our eyes were first on the Big Horn 3670. We went to Camping World in Katy and found one and liked it okay but then the salesman took us inside a 2009 Landmark Augusta and we really like it. We did get a good look at friends Lynette and Greg's while in Kerrville in March. It is beautiful. Pretty much the same setup as the Big Horn with just a few upgrades. Now there were several imperfections such as an inside molding missing over the slide, most of the doors and drawers were off line and a crack on a molding outside over the tire. They assured us it is normal and would be fixed before us taking possesion. So into the office we go. They do have a way of confusing me. They never would come out and tell us what they were giving us for our trade. Anyway to make a long story short we told them if we could get financing we would buy. They tried for 3 days to get us a loan thru one of the three banks left that will finance and we were denied. We don't have a big enough income for them. We felt it all happened for a reason. Next step back to surfing the internet for a Big Horn and yes, now an Augusta. I found a Big Horn in Virginia and Tn. that has sparked my attention. I have spoken to both and they are on our short list. But before commiting to them we found a Landmark Augusta in Oklahoma, just over the Tx line. We took off Tuesday night with an appt with the dealer for early Wednesday morning. We loved the unit and really liked the dealership. We tried to get them to come down on the price but they couldnt. Now we have a decision to make. Do we put out the extra money for the Augusta or go back to the Big Horn probably in Tn. The Tn location would be a long trip and they won't trade. We would have to sell the tt ourselves. That to me is a hassle. Another possibility is to put it on consignment. We have a dealer up the street that would like that. Of course we would then have to keep up with the payment on the tt and also carry insurance on both. Such big decisions! We will post when we know which route we take.
Also, while in Oklahoma we just had to find time for some casino action. Of course we left our donation with them.
For now I am off to have dinner with work friends. I am hoping for some rain over the weekend as I am scheduled to work 5 straight days..

Will Fall Ever Come

I guess its about time I post again. I think this heat has just about done me in for this season. I sure hope I never have to experience this heat for this length of time again. Hoping next summer to be somewhere with pleasant temps.
The news on the homefront is we are beginning to prepare for fulltiming. Now that we have the truck we are on the lookout for a good deal on a 5th wheel. I found out that the good ones go very fast.. I had my eye on an Everest at a very good price and the next day poof it was sold. I also check PPL in Houston daily to see if they get something in that sounds like a deal. We will probably have a problem financing but at least we will try, if we see the right one. We may even put our Florida house on the market in January and just see if it will sell. The problem with that is, we would have to notify our renter and she would probably move and then no rent coming in... Such decisions.. I did give my notice at work for the end of September. I think they burnt me out. I have been working much more than I intended too. I do like the people and I am glad to have the experience. It just may come in handy if we ever take a workcamp job that is looking for cooks. Speaking of workcamping, we are returning this year to Topsail Hill in Santa Rosa Beach to work again for the month of October. We are really looking forward to it. This year we will be there for their Halloween celebration that brings out all the kids in the area. They have asked us to stay until Nov 2nd. No problem. Hopefully we will be driving the tram to the beach again. Usually work just a few days a week and then have the rest off to explore and laze on the beautiful beaches.
In my spare time I have been catching up on everyones travels and blogs and chatting with the dreamers most nights. Can't wait until we are on the road and have more to report..

A Nice Getaway

We had an extended weekend getaway last week, spending 5 days in Florida. My godchild is having her first baby and I didnt want to miss her baby shower. Kevin preferred not to go with me but I convinced him that we would have a good time. I made a reservation at a Doubletree Hotel on Redington Beach (near Tampa) with Hilton Honor points that we had saved up.  I thought some rest and relaxation was in order for the two of us.  The weather was great and the beach beautiful. We ate out alot and savored our seafood.  Spent time both on the beach and the pool overlooking the beach.. It was just what the dr ordered.. Until Monday morning when we were getting ready to leave at 5am. We fly standby and all the flights had filled up overnight Tampa to Houston.  So we drove to Orlando by way of the Hard Rock Casino. (this casino never had blackjack tables when we lived in Florida so Kevin was thrilled to find this and had made a visit on Saturday night while I was at the shower, had won about $500 that night)l.. So we spent a few hours depositing some money, (well at least I did, Kevin gave back a bit) then stopped at Downtown Disney to waste some time. Our flight wasnt until 8:40pm.  We didnt arrive back in Houston until 10pm and then they lost Kevins baggage.. We then spent 1.5 hrs looking for it and filling out paper work.. It was a very long day but at least we arrived home safely, even though it was late.. The luggage was found and delivered next day to us!

I have worked everyday since we got home. All that relaxation has now left my body.. I need another vacation!