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!

Home from Boston and To This Heat

Well a week ago today I returned from my trip to Boston. What a great little get away. I left Houston Wednesday morning at 7:15.. Got upgraded to First Class, which makes such a difference in flying. I was served a nice breakfast and watched a movie. Before long, I was flying over familiar territory. My daughter and my 20 mos old grandson accompanied me on this trip, however they flew in coach due to the 20mos old. We promptly rented a car and started on our way. We didnt get too far when bam, we got slammed into from behind. I pulled into a hotel parking lot, assuming the car that hit me would follow. Well, guess what, they didnt. A police officer was accross the street and he came rushing over. Luckily while we inspected the car there didnt seem to be any damage. We were all quite amazed. It was sure a lucky thing since the person that hit us hadn't stopped. What a pain that would have been with a rental and all the paper work.. We continued on our way. Spent the three days visiting family and friends. I didnt get much sleep but it was sure worth it. We also enjoyed the cooler temps, although we had rain. They sure are getting alot of wet weather there.. We arrived back in Houston to the horrid heat on the weekend. Since then we have had five days in the 100's.. It is really bad. I have worked three days and the air conditioner at the golf course hasnt been working well, so the temps inside in the 90's.
Kevin and I did go out on Wednesday and purchased ourselves a vucube satellite system. Of course we don't have a clue how to connect it. We had planned to take the trailer up to Lake Conroe this weekend but because of this severe heat we opted out of it. We have a feeling we may have a wiring problem in the RV and may not get it to work. We have had several people try to help us connect to satellite with our portable dish and never have connected. The salesman told us it is possible that the wiring was never connected properly. Soooo, we shall see. I guess if we can't get it working we will have to bite the bullet and bring it into a dealership and pay the $90. per hr to have them look it over. Wish we knew where else to go but we don't.
In the meantime we are hanging in the house trying to stay cool. We take a few dips in the pool but the water is getting warm and it isnt that refreshing. I have been spending too much time on this computer farming and fishing!!!!
Looking forward to cooler temps this week.. Ya, they say 98!!

Hot Here In Texas

Man, is it hot this week. It's not even summer yet..What do we have to look forward too, yuck..
Temps have been 98 the last few days with high humidity, feeling like 108!! Too much for me.
Last summer I said this is the last summer here for me but here I am and once again saying THIS will be the last summer in this unbearable heat.
I had my usual schedule of work this past week. On Monday, we took the truck to a place that was recommended to us to have the bedliner sprayed in our new truck.. We also caved in and paid to have the siderails(nerf rail, as they call it) put in. We decided it just wasn't worth the fighting with the dealership to get them to do it. Actually, the dealership themselves said they wouldn't but the salesman said he would pay for it...Ya, I'm sure that was going to happen.. Anyway, I am a happy camper now that I can get into the truck with ease. Tomorrow morning we have an appointment to bring the truck to the dealership to have the detailing done which they never did and also to have our electric brake installed. They have put us off on that also, so we shall see. They were told to take it out of our trade and reinstall it in this one.. We can only hope for the best....
I am taking a little mini trip to Boston on Wednesday. I got a call from a good friend that they are having a 90th birthday party for a great lady that we worked with for many years. I couldnt pass up the oportunity to go and see all my old working buddies. We had a great group of people and got really close in the 23 years that I worked in the hospital. I am looking forward to seeing all of them again. Who knows when the opportunity will arise again.. Kevin opted out of this little trip. I guess he wanted to stay in the heat of Tx instead of being cold in the delight of 70's for a few days! I will fly into Boston and arrive early afternoon Wed. I have a full schedule of visiting already planned. I plan on taking the 5:30am flight out of Boston Saturday morning. I fly standby and must look at the best opportunity of getting on a flight. I must be home as I am scheduled to cook a Fathers Day Brunch at the golf course on Sunday... Have to be in at 6am for that, so I will be rather exhausted..
Today I am off from work but we do have the gkids. I will try to get my things organized for I am working the next two days. Once that is done, will either stay cool inside or lounge with the kids in the pool.. One way or another we will try to stay cool....
See you in chat tonight. Happy Birthday Deb....

Not Much News

Well, I have been a slacker.. I really don't have anything exciting to report. The last few weeks have been the same, work and some babysitting.

We are still having a problem getting things done on the truck that were promissed. I doubt they will ever get done. The major one is the running board that they said they ordered. I really do need that to get into the truck. Also, they were to take out the electric brake from the old truck and reinstall it in the new truck. No luck so far. Sooo, it will probably cost us some money to do these things on our own. We do plan on having the spray in bed liner done on Monday. Just not sure if it is worth my blood pressure going up every time we go to the dealership and they say, oh part not in yet.....

We haven't done any more shopping for 5th wheels. The last salesman sort of discouraged us by saying we would have to put down ten to fifteen thousand dollars to get a loan. I know we should check it out on our own but havent as of yet. We go back and forth as to whether we should buy now by financing while rates are down or take our chances and wait til real estate gets better and sell our house.. So many decisions...