5 April 2005

Dear RV Diary,

"When one door closes a window opens...But these hallway's sure are a B&$%@!"

Or so the saying goes...I think i'm in the hallway at this time :(

Now that I am deep into the looking and ready to buy process for my RV...I would like to get some issues out into the open that I am currently experiencing just in case somebody else runs into these issues...Maybe you won't feel so alone....

#1. The bank is NOT your friend...Awesome RV loan rates are nothing more then a teaser to lure you in.

#2.  NADA value is never accurate (especially for used Airstreams).

#3. NEVER under any circumstances tell ANY bank that you will be living in the your motorhome. (Which makes NO sense...Because, even if you are only traveling in it for a week to Aunt Mabelle's house...Can't this be considered "living" in your RV?).

#4. Since I have lived in Alaska for the past 7 years I have pretty much lost touch with what's actually happening in the States...But it is VERY strongly becoming apparent that CHOOSING to live in your traveling home is NOT looked upon very highly by A LOT of people.
I was informed that this is because people are qualifying for motorhomes, moving into them, driving off and NEVER making a single payment...They get a free home and the banks can't find them.
Also, for lack of better wording (but much more rude and vulgar then what i'm about to say), "They are homeless scum that want hand outs...Drunk, mentally ill criminals...AND the reason the U.S. is going to S%$T!"

I occasionally like a margarita (especially watching the sunset on the beach), at times I admit I am pretty unstable...But PMS is never a joy for anyone...And yes, I will admit that my criminal activities run the gamut from speeding when I am jamming to some awesome music...To walking on the grass when there is clearly a "No walking on the grass," sign well within my view.

I'm dangerous, I know! But that's how I roll baby! I break ALL the rules! :)

Moral of today's story: Keep your chin up, be happy and confident in your own life plans...And NEVER, EVER under ANY circumstance let anyone dictate to you how you should feel about yourself or the life you choose to live.

Love, Vivi

3 April 2012

Dear RV Diary,

Well, it's finally happened...I have NO wifi!
At almost 11:00 PM last night I had to drive around and finally found connection at McDonalds. My Son and my Niece only told me where to find it after I agreed to buy them food there.
I gotta hand it to them...They gave me what I want...I give them what they want. :)

Now I am sitting at the food court at one of our grocery stores using up what I can in a short amount of time.


The hunt for my RV is right on target!
I found Poulsborv.com and have been working with Bruce.

So I am in the works of getting this lovely little Winnie :) More to come about that!

I am trying to wrap up some open ended stuff...Turns out nothing ever gets wrapped up so I will just the best I can.

More to come soon Diary when I scout out a good little cafe or book store with free wifi!

Love, Vivi

1 April 2012

Dear RV Diary,

Well moving day came and went and it took me a few days to get myself situated enough to where I can post.

Papers are signed and I officially have SOLD my little house.  I am SO happy it sold right away, stress and me don't get along very well.

I was briefly emotional, kinda on the verge of teary eyed when I was cleaning the last of the house for the new buyers....but I really didn't feel horribly attached to the little house that I worked so hard to update and do what I could to bring it up to par.
Probably because I physically couldn't deal with it anymore and I know that the new owners really love it!

I didn't have very much to move...Mostly last minute stuff of personal items that I was and continue to use. The rest of my belongings, once I accepted an offer on the house, I already had boxed up and took to my moms house slowly through the past few weeks to store in her extra bedroom until I am ready to load up the Uhaul and roll down the highway through Canada. (More on that later...).

I think I really did myself a favor starting around a year ago...Getting rid of stuff. At first I thought I didn't get rid of enough...Turns out I did a great job now that I have about 7 weeks until my "RV countdown begins," OFFICIALLY. :) (Actually it started awhile ago, more on that later)...

Having just said that, now that I have a better concept of what I have verses what I really need I plan on going through the 3 boxes or so out in my sisters garage and the 12 or so at my moms house to try to whittle down even more of whats left.

Since I am staying with my sister until I leave around May 17 or 18-ish I had to bring into fruition if my "hobby" was going to go with me....

I am an artist, watercolor and sculpting.

Watercolors can travel...But sculpting clays?  Can they?

Last year when I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis in my hands, my doctor said that maybe I should get some clay and just roll it around to keep my hands from stiffening up (which is why I have taken such a long vacation from watercoloring). So being a professional artist I couldn't just roll a ball of clay around, I had to make something. AND although I am a professional artist I never took any sculpting classes, except briefly in high school 20 + years ago.

Long story short, I fell madly and deeply in love with sculpey clay...And the question my new passion was screaming..."Will I be able to sculpt AND BAKE my creations on the road."
I have a portable oven made just for sculpey and have been baking sculptures for the past two days with it in my sisters kitchen.

SO...From what I can tell SO far, yes, I will be able to continue sculpting on the road. (www.lostinthewoodsstudio.blogspot.com)

I wonder if I can use a solar oven...Then it will be free and I don't have to worry about using up electricity AND fuel or propane.

Hmmm....  A future experiment FOR SURE!  :D


Love, Vivi

Calm....

23 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

Could it be?...Really?...IS IT really happening?....Is the house really going to close on Tuesday?

Although this is what is slated to actually happen we know we NEVER count our chickens before the eggs have actually hatched! (What a great pun, especially because Easter is right around the corner)! :)

I find myself typing this and getting all giddy at the same time. I am renting a uhaul tomorrow and moving what remains in the house, out, which is the larger stuff I am giving to my parents.
On Sunday I will scrub the house clean for the new buyers, because I think that is the right thing to do and i'm not a heathen.

Selling a house is NOT fun. It's stressful!
I am trying to not get sentimental about the house. I guess I will just suck it up. I will be living with my sister until James and I leave in May.
I promised James we would attend his best friends graduation. Dennis is my other son. The boys have been buddies since they were about 7 years old.
Now James is off to college and Dennis off to the Navy. SO proud of both of them...Both of my sons.

Time goes by Dear Diary...

I guess after Iraq, I think I have learned to never take for granted the moments we are given...This was not an over night journey to get to this point of understanding and acceptance...But I feel at peace.

Calm before the storm?...We'll see...

Love, ~Vivi

Bartering? GREAT idea!

20 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

I like the thought of bartering on the road. It’s a great concept.

I read :

“The Frugal RVer: Living well for less on the road.” By Nick Russell

(Ebook........................Paperback.................Kindle Fire)


It reads a bit strange and refers every few lines or so to: “Fred and Franny Frugal.”

But I really did get some great ideas for saving money and I am glad I did read it.

Some ideas are common sense and others are things I imagine one would hear and see after being in the RVer circle for awhile.

 But for me it did bring a few things to the forefront that I hadn’t even known was a consideration as an RVer…Such as bartering (GREAT idea especially on my tight budget).

Bartering for things like a home cooked item or meal for something like installation on a water pump…Mending a pair of pants or shirt for lets say a gift/craft item.

I began to take inventory of my own skills that I to could barter for.

I can’t cook (although once in awhile I surprise myself…And others, good and bad).

I can sew, but don’t own a sewing machine (can’t justify buying one right now).

I can paint and write (great at painting, still working on the writing part) ;)

I can sculpt.

Computer stuff (also blogging, facebook, twitter, etc.).

I can also do some other things that qualify me for a survivalist or a mercenary.

(not anymore actually…My body is broken, I walk with a gimp and on a good day my body pain is tolerable, not to mention my arthritis…And my brain injury along with fibromyalgia…Those two right there combine on special days and I have very little capability to have a thought process that is very useful (and on those days it is wise to stay back from me for at least 50 feet).

Maybe I could clean, but I don’t even like to clean my own stuff (having said that, yes, of course I clean my stuff).

Pet sit while the owner runs a few errands (IF they get along with my own critters)….

I think it’s interesting to start a list of this sort and for me it’s a bit humbling and I wonder what else (legal) bartering skills people may have.

Love, ~Vivi

19 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

Hmmm, well no real new developments. But possibly my realtor has fallen off the face of the earth, cause I haven't heard from him by email, or phone, or messenger pigeon, or Morris Code, or telepathy...Nadda, nuthin, ZILCH!

But on the up side the last boiler people that came out are actually coming back to try to get me back to where my hot water was before they stopped my hot water from working, at no charge.

This is good: 1. Because 30 seconds of luke warm water is painful to my arthritis and 2. I am BROKE no joke.
3. It's the least they could do since the guy should never have left a client with no hot water in the first place.

Ahh, I see right along with common sense, common courtesy is out the window...It is a mere tale your parents told you about as they reminisce about the good ol' days of their youthful years.

Let's see what else...

Starting to have some medical issues that once again need addressed. I was and am still trying to hold out until I can get to a good VA hospital in most likely Arizona this Fall. I just hope any damage that's being currently done is not irreversible.

My Aunt Telly and I got to talking this afternoon (Aunt Telly has always been the one who got me hooked on the whole RV thing, ever since I was a kid and we RV'ed to Valdez in her Winnebago). She was telling me about a motorhome show she watched on TV about million and multi-million dollar motorhomes and how AMAZING they are...Which they REALLY are a marvel! She was most impressed with the one that you could boondock with for up to 6 months!! Then you would have to come back in to empty the tanks and get more water.
VERY cool!
I saw a motorhome on TV onetime where you press a button and a lamborghini comes out from underneath the Class A behemoth.
It sure made your eyes light up in delight and I couldn't help but "ooo" and "awww."
Hmmm, I guess that's how the wealthy party, not sure, I have never been amongst their ranks

My aunt Telly used to live about 100 miles from me in a small fork in the road called Delta Junction, but she now lives in Colorado and ventures to Arizona when the winter months start drawing in.
Long story short, she was telling me about Veteran ONLY RV parks all over, and not just in Arizona.
So I have been researching them today, I know about the MWR but I wonder if this is what she was talking about.
I am compiling a list of the Veteran/Military campgrounds (even though I already know there is a publication and website dedicated to this information). I am including: State, website, GPS coordinates, phone number and address of each location. I will also list out any and all Veteran friendly RV parks.This will be great in my arsenal I think. More to come on this subject Dear RV Diary.

Love, ~Vivi

Darn YOU Mercury!

17 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

Today is Saturday….And on Tuesday, when I said: 

“Can my week get any worse?”

It was a rhetorical question…Not a challenge.

               

Then yesterday I read a headline: “Is your week going bad? Mercury in retrograde.”

YES, it is! YES, this MUST pertain to me!

Ok, well then that explains everything! 

So I read the article which would tell me when my woes would come to an end.

April 4^th

It is now March 17^th.

It also highly recommended aginst signing any paperwork and avoiding at all expense any legal situations.

There is NO WAY in this world I can avoid either…At all.

Lovely.

So getting back to you on the boiler sitiation…

I suppose maybe since I am military trained and learned to get squeaky clean in the matter of a mere minute if that long was needed (which my showers I felt were of a good length). 

The hot water was indeed not up to par with whomever. 

AND knowing that makes me really ponder: “Just how much water are people wasting?” And, “No wonder there are water shortages throughout the US." 

I too try to solve my life changing issues in the shower...But how many problems do you have?!

*(Diary…Did you know it is illegal to rain harvest in several US states…They said even the rain belongs to the government…Next it will be the air!).

So, my realtor sent out three different “Boiler Specialists.” 

I have shelled out nearly $800.00 of borrowed money from family to pay these people for their shenanigans!

NOW….I have only seconds of luke warm water and an empty wallet.

The solution they say will be to pay them each varying amount of sums to fix “my problem.” 

And the sums range from $6,000 to $13,000.

I would say that when I told my realtor I wanted my home sold “AS IS,”

He did not selectively hear me and this is NOT what I signed on for.

Bottom line is I cannot afford their solutions, not even to have it compensated out of the loan because I have to pay the realtor for his outstanding job about $12,000 to $13,000 dollars while I myself will only be getting around and if all goes as it is now: around $4,500. 

If it is $4,500 and not less it has all got to go towards: renting a U-Haul trailer, tickets for the ferry ride for me and James to Washington state (gas is FAR to expensive to drive Canada), my pets their shots, food, gas, a down payment on a motorhome, hotel until I find a motorhome, etc…And I will be utterly stuck if my SUV breaks down.

See my dilemma here?!

Now I am entirely lost. 

They made my water problem worse, now I can’t even have a decent shower (to figure out a solution) and the whole sale of the house I believe literally hangs in the balance.

As a buyer I would be VERY unhappy and probably cancel the whole deal.

As the seller, I am mad that the realtor didn’t and isn’t listening and probably lost the whole deal.

DARN YOU MERCURY!

Love, ~Vivi

Not KOSHER!...In Vivi Land

14 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

Well the engineer came back for his second walk through and to make sure all the things on his “to do” list were accomplished. I promise you I completed all that was asked and did it with pride…

He was not impressed with…The amount of hot water that was NOT coming out.

Back story: My home was built in 1982, thus it has an old boiler. And in my honest opinion, just because something is old doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. In fact it works perfectly, just the way it did the day it was created…In 1982.

It has had yearly upkeep and is a beast but it’s the heart of my home…I hear its mighty roar and I know I will be warm! Oh, I’m sure if I had the $10,000 dollars lying around I could update with a fancy computer controlled new fancy “Auto-2000.” But I don’t, never did…So with proper maintenance, the new younger owners who undoubtedly come from the “Give me NOW generation,” should have many years left of a wonderful beast that will keep them snuggly warm…IF they take care of it.

I don’t know for sure, but having met the engineer for the first time ever in my life, yesterday…I think he came from a privileged family, and he was condescending to no end…The perfect storm for the perfect a$$&*#@.

I will cut through all his arrogance and snubbing everything and get to the good part….

SO, as he complained sitting on the side of the bathtub with the water on…He put his hand under the water and complained it was cold. (Uh, yah, I don’t have “On-Demand hot water,’ and I have never known anyone that has, guess that’s what I get for being the unprivileged poor who grew up in the woods of Alaska). In his bitching and trying to explain to me (because I was obviously and ignorant woman who grew up in the woods), why there was no hot water, I heard my beast kick on (*giggle*), so after he was done “schooling” me on the mechanics of how  hot water works (thanks be to Jaysus he did, without his VAST knowledge I may never have known what hot water was)…I SWEAR to you…He then turned around and stuck his hand back under the running water…and burnt the ever loving PI$$ out of his hand.

He slammed off the water and angrily snarled: “NO, this is not good!”

I looked him dead in the eye and politely asked:

“Would you like some burn cream for your burn from my non hot water?”

 He was unamused with my forest-person sense of humor.

After that he talked some crap about the real estate company I chose to represent me and then left after telling me he wants to know right away what the buyers think of the “cold water situation.” 

What a Jack-A@@!

So I called my realtor and my realtor then told me that the buyers are freaking out over buying a house with no hot water…

Hmmm, something’s not kosher in Vivi Land (my spidey-sense are tingling)…..

Either the buyers want more money from me, which they will NEVER get…OR….The engineer is in it with the buyers and trying to get a “Free NEW “Auto-2000” out of me….OR…SOMEBODY is stirring the S%&t-pot and I think it’s the arrogant engineer.

I will figure it out here in about 2 hours when my realtor comes over to find out what the issue is with the hot water.

Hmmmm, something’s not kosher in Vivi land….I will get back to you on this matter RV Diary.

Love,

~Vivi

10 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

I was doing a bit of browsing on the ol' iphone and found a GREAT website: www.rveducation101.com

It has a what seems like a never ending treasure trove of RV information, ebooks and videos. When I have some extra money I will purchase some of the ebooks and let ya know how I feel about the content and if it was at all helpful for the extreme novice such as myself. I drove humvees and big ‘ol LMTV’s in the Army but that was almost 10 years ago! GOSH it goes by fast~! But I still feel fairly intimidated driving what could end up being a Class A motorhome…IF I decide to purchase that big.

Yesterday...My Dad bought me a  Kindle Fire...WHOA!!! How did he know I wanted one?! Its like he's known me my whole life *giggle* :)

This Kindle Fire is the cat's meow for sure! I have already loaded some free ebooks that are out of copyright date and are classics! I also purchased some ebooks about RV'ing and in future posts I would like to do some book reviews. 

I JUST love the Kindle Fire so far...I am excited to know that my library for the most part can all be stored onto this device. But some collectors books that are REALLY old I will keep because I LOVES them and I won't part with them :)
I have also put some music that I enjoy onto the Kindle as well, and I can listen to music while I read if I want! OR I can watch a movie...Even load pictures onto it OR when I see some great thing on the internet such as an RV modification or a funny picture I like, I hold my pointy finger down and it asks if I want to take a photograph of it...Then I push yes and the image is saved! COOL!
Having wifi on this thing is great! Having it save pictures of things I find on the internet I think will benefit me because if I see a motorhome modification or some awesome product that I want at a later time I have it saved so when I have the money I can purchase it!

There is also another blog I have been following for quite sometime because they are Tech-Geeks and their knowledge of RV's and technology such as getting internet in your RV and TONS of other great RV related tech info is on here: www.technomadia.com

   On a side note...I think that the appraisal went well, will hear something back this week. No need to really stress about it, I know I have boxes everywhere...But I arranged them nicely :) And he has GOT to know the seller (that's me) is moving soon, yes?
I am in the thought process right now that since I have driven the Alaska Highway a few times that this time I think I will take the boat!
WHAT A GREAT IDEA!:)  http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/
I have never traveled by boat (other then just a kayak ride or a dinner cruise in Hawaii). Also, since I am a disabled veteran I believe that I may get a discount for travel. (I will update the information I find out on this subject in future blog posts). I think its a five day voyage but the wear and tear it will save me on my pathfinder may be worth it because i'm not sure if I will keep it or trade it in to go towards my RV.
Also, without fail...EVERYTIME I have driven the highway, I ALWAYS get a rock chip or two in the windshield :( But the scenery is unmatched! :)
Maybe drive up and then take the ferry back down! <----Travel idea alert for me when I come visit family next Summer! Hmmm, maybe I should get a small caravan going :)

Love,
~Vivi

MUST rest....

8 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

I am UTTERLY exhausted…

Tomorrow the appraiser is coming through the house, I honestly thought he already did, turns out it was just the engineer.  L

All I have done is sweep and mop and all my muscles are going into spasms. I have SO much more to do so the house looks tip top but I’m not sure if I can endure anymore today.

I am taking a bit of a rest to type this.

I am EVER so grateful that the house sold as fast as it did and I am excited to move out and get on with life. I feel very unsatisfied having a sticks and bricks house. I only bought it so the kids would have a home to grow up in. I guess they are grown enough to move on now…So I must do the same thing!

Just when you think you have your head above water, here comes the next wave…I guess life is like that.

I chose to swim!

Love, ~Vivi

7 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

I had the most AMAZING dream…

I didn’t have to shovel a drive way in the dark and cold (and not be slightly paranoid a moose may stomp me into the ground).

I didn’t have to do lawn mowing or fertilizing or watering or weeding.

In my dream I didn’t have to maintain a house that had become too much for me to maintain…Painting, redoing a roof, washing big windows after I drag out a ladder. Cleaning rain gutters and balancing on a ladder because I have no one to help me.

In my dream, I was free from worrying about if my fuel tank for my boiler would run out of fuel and I could not afford to fill it so my home freezes and all the water lines burst and my home would be worthless because I could never afford to fix any of it.

In my dream I didn’t cry anymore from the pain I endure while doing all of these basic house hold chores because of my Fibromyalgia.

In my dream I had, I was free to do and go where I pleased…And not worry about having no money because the cost of living in my sticks and bricks home devoured all of my money and I could never afford to go anywhere or even get a new dress except at the second hand store.

What a GREAT dream!

I think I will like living full time in a motorhome just fine!

Love, ~Vivi

A bit of a rant

6 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

I REALLY loathe Craigslist. 

Although it’s the cheapest and fastest way to sell ones belongings…It’s like the people DON’T read what is posted.

For example:

Saturady evening I placed my bicycle, James’ bicycle, the glass table, my kayak (which sux cause I love that thing but at this time there is NO way I can take it) and my little portable generator.

The two bicycles sold within an hour of posting them~COOL!

Then I got a phone call on Sunday for the kayak…This is when Craigslist starts to get ridiculous…

In my adds I CLEARY tell the potential buyer that I have a back injuury so I will NOT be lifting OR bringing the item to you. (I am still unclear why people think Craigslist is a delivery service of goods).

SO the guy comes for the kayak…Meanwhile I get a text from another interested party for the kayak. I tell him I will let him know either way what this guy on the way takes or no takes.

So, the guy gets here with is “brother” and they discuss whatever…Drop me a $50 dollar check (not happy about this at all, but accept) tell me his wife will come get it tomorrow and bring me the rest in cash because he has a kia and can’t transport it.

WELL, it is NOW Tuesday…Although he called yesterday around 5 pm and I informed him if he wants it to come get it before noon today…It’s now 1:20…No phone call, NOTHING! This IRKS the crap outta ME!

Next on the agenda…The generator…

I get an email early yesterday morning: “Kayak still available?”

Then I text back: “Good Morning! Yes it is!”

Then two hours later the same guy sends me an email about how he will have his assistant send me a money order but he needs my FULL address because he will be flying to London and his assistant will send out this money order. ALSO, if I take it off of Craigslist and already consider it sold he will throw in an additional $30 bucks.

Really?

I was born in the morning…But not this morning!

Sure stranger, I’ll give you my FULL address so you can come beat me and take my crap.

If you are SO privileged to have an assistant then spend the extra money and go buy a new one at Wal-Mart.

SO I just emailed my phone number and told him to have his assistant call me THEN I will make whatever plans with him…

Haven’t heard nothing since…SURPRISE!

Well, Rv Diary…I don’t like being negative so I am going to take a nap.

It is snowing like crazy here so I need to have James shovel the driveway and make a trail to the shed so we can get stuff out of there for the upcoming move this weekend and part of next week. My Fibromyalgia is really flairing up and I feel exhausted.

I sure won’t miss the snow or the cold…AT ALL!

Love ~Vivi

Page 2: Forming a plan for my pictures and sentiments

5 March 2012

Dear RV Diary,

Well it’s unofficially official…I have decided on an RV that I am wanting!

Purchasing something sight unseen has very rarely ended well for people BUT in the next few weeks I may be doing just that.

In the past every RV’er I have talked to just rave about having a slide. I gotta tell ya…I’m not really sold on the extra 3 feet and the maintenance that I could incur with having a slide in my own RV…So that’s just another reason I am really smitten with this RV…NO SLIDE OUT! J

I appreciate the way it is laid out and I think it has a nice flow…Fung Shui, if you will, feel to it.

Interior wise and mentally I have already moved my stuff in and can visualize the upgrade to the flooring and some little things I will be improving on.

All that needs to check out is mechanical wise (AND the money from my house being sold AND an RV loan AND the trade in allowance from my Pathfinder) and the RV dealer has himself a deal!

I guess I’m not really a fancy bells and whistles sort of gal…I really thought I would be more into that… But I am actually more concerned with mechanical…and when I say mechanical I mean a good solid engine and a good solid none leaking, no damage, NOT flashy that screams “Rob ME” sort of an RV.

I think I found just that!

It is a 2003 Thor Dutchman 31. So with any luck it will still be available when I am ready to purchase it in April/May and it will have a solid engine, solid generator and solid interior. (This is where I say a quite whisper prayer to my angels and the big “G”).

Aside from my usual RV daydream I accomplished packing a few more boxes and will start bringing a few at a time over to Mom’s house. I really have less then 20 boxes and once I get them all over there and me out of here I plan on going through them and downsizing at least once more. Its SUPER hard to predict what you will need and what you won’t miss at all. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, I am the keeper of tons of crap that has been handed down to me and qualifies as “sentimental.” And I can’t forget my own personal stuff that I think has historic value, such as my military uniform, ribbons/awards and some photographs of my military service of when I was in the war.

I think stuff like this should be held onto especially since I am the first women on either side of my family trees to ever be in the military and also be in a war.

Hmmm, maybe I can vacuum seal this stuff so it fits smaller.

The other option: Mom said I can store stuff at her house. I really just want to down size and get rid of it all BUT some stuff I may just have to. 

James already said he wanted the dinner set I brought back from Iraq. Which is great and all but he is just now turning 18. SO this will be stored at Mom's until he one day has a home of his own to have it in.

And I plan on scanning like 95% of my photographs into my computer/cd or giving the kids pics with them in it…But the other 5% are antique pictures of family and some modern photographs that are priceless to me…Also I plan on hanging them around my RV…After all it is my new home!

Love ~Vivi

Page 1: Introduction

4 March 2012 

Dear RV Diary,

I know that I don’t  "actually” own my RV just yet…But I figured this is as good of time as any to start this diary…

It’s almost been 1 year since my daughter informed me she wanted to live with her dad because she wanted to get to know him. I think that was only part of it, the other part is I think she is exactly like me when I was her age…Restless and in much need of life adventure.

My son James, not to long after this, informed me that he would be off to University in the Fall (2012).

Since I live in Alaska, I wanted to be closer to them. My plan was to eventually one day Full time RV anyways…But I could see the opportunity to move the RV date up much sooner then expected.

I started “cleaning out” the house and I am REALLY glad I started early, it has meant less stress for me now, especially since I knew I would be putting my home on the market towards the end of January (2012).

My house was on the market officially the 1^st of  February 2012 and sold (with competing offers in a recession) 9 days later!

I owe it to preparation and LOTS of POSITIVE thinking (and praying to my angels asking them to put out the word)! Also, making sure that my house was spot on perfect and fresh smelling with each new walk through was really important. It kicked my OCD into overdrive but I think it paid off.

The actual selling of a house is a TON of stress and I am SUPER happy I decided not to do it myself.  Which I had been playing with the idea because I had refinanced to a lower rate about 1 ½ years ago…Which looking at the numbers game, would leave me with a LOT less money to start my “new life,” if I hired a realtor.

Being a disabled veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2004) and understanding what stress does to me, I knew my health for sure would have suffered and that’s the last thing I needed right now. 

So I ended up going with a realtor…it came down to the question for me: “What is my health worth?”

Turns out my health is REALLY EXPENSIVE! (And this would be the part where I insert a few...OK, MANY choice swear words, then go drop $10.00 dollars worth of change into my swear jar).

I am just praying that all goes smooth from here on out. Even after I am supposed to move out (by March 15) Alaska has a law that states even after a person purchases a home, they have 30 days to say for any reason they don’t want it and the deal goes south for the seller of the property...NOT cool for sellers, but a dream for a buyer!

When I wasn’t downsizing my belongings I was dreaming, surfing the internet and reading everything I could about RV’s…Glad I started the journey early because I really needed to educate myself about what I was getting myself into.

But as with all things, is anyone really ever prepared?

No, not really.

Experience NEVER rarely makes up for education…And one can never prepare for a new life adventure enough! (Even though I sure am trying)!

I have decided that I will be purchasing a class C motorhome.

I have also decided that between 27 and 31 feet should be sufficient for my full time living and any friends or family that come to visit (also enough room for Frank the Weenie dog and Furball 1 and Furball 2 to have their own spaces far enough away from each other).

Now that I am more aware of where my finances will stand…I have decided that I really wish I would NOT have a monthly payment…BUT…In reality this is NOT going to happen. (I’m NOT looking to rough it…This is my new HOME, not a camping trip).

I will need to keep my monthly payment under $500.00 (not including insurance and other monthly costs)…A LOT will depend on my interest rate  ~eesh~

I have found some GREAT candidates for my new potential home on wheels…But more about that in the next upcoming weeks.  

Love,

~ ViVi