I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! This was "our last" Christmas in the "sticks n bricks". While it seems a bit sad, we are already looking forward to flying the kids out to the Florida Keys next year for our FIRST Christmas as fulltimers! So while it may be our last this, or last that, we definitely are going to have a great time making new discoveries along the way.
We are looking forward to January 1, when we can say, We're heading out THIS year! The next 6 months are going to bring much change! Selling the business, the ranch, vehicles and lots of stuff! Then the FUN part. We'll be heading to the TN rally in April, buying the truck and rig and then heading out to who knows where!
Happy New Year Everyone!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Kartchner Caverns State Park & Campground Review
This state park is amazing! Facinating "live" cavern. They offer two tours. Both are about 1 1/2 hrs. and are worth doing both. Not your usual claustrophobic, climb down 200+ stairs, look around and come back up. This has a nice, wide meandering path in a very tropical climate for a cave. The grounds are super clean, spread out and has a nice butterfly/hummingbird garden, campground and hiking paths.
The campground has 62 sites, several pull through, W/E, showers, dump station and nice, wide and deep level sites for $25 a night. We will definately be coming back to spend some time next October.
Here is a link to the state park campground info:
Kartchner State Park Info
This is a great jumping off point to visit: Old Tucson, Tombstone, Biosphere 2 and Bisbee.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
We're going Live!
I guess it's time. Not that I'll have too many posts until January, but I figured I'd put this blog on-line for now. It's looking like our small, family retail store will be closing in January if the sale does not go through. If that is the case, January we'll be busy liquidating. We hope to get the house up for sale around March and be heading to the RV Dreams Rally in April. The last two kids graduate May/June and then we hope to head out full timing.
Once the store is sold I'll be spending lots of time on e-Bay selling off Hubby's sports memorabilia, getting rid of "stuff" and getting ready to go. Holiday time is very busy at the store, so life will be heading down the fast lane. It will be interesting to see if the timeline works out. Selling the ranch will be the biggest hurdle.
Once the store is sold I'll be spending lots of time on e-Bay selling off Hubby's sports memorabilia, getting rid of "stuff" and getting ready to go. Holiday time is very busy at the store, so life will be heading down the fast lane. It will be interesting to see if the timeline works out. Selling the ranch will be the biggest hurdle.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Reflecting
The beautiful color of the leaves changing, the smell of the air full of fires and leaves burning, the sound they make when blowing in the breeze and crunching underfoot... Fall is always a time of reflecting for me. I like to think about previous times, choices I've made (good and bad) and how I've got to where I am now. It always makes me a little melancholy but very thankful for what I have and who I have in my life.
Since we now only have months until we begin our fulltime travels, I'm already starting with the, "This will be our last fall", the "last fill-in-the-blank", etc. I'm trying to breath it all in and store it away for next year when Fall arrives and I can look back and say, "Wow, who'd have thought this is where we'd be for our first fall on the road".
Seven months. Life still seems business as usual. But after the next two months things will begin to fly! So for now, I'll take a few pictures and a nice autumn hike and enjoy it before I trade my hiking boots in for snowshoes. Perhaps for the "last time" I'll be snowshoeing?
Since we now only have months until we begin our fulltime travels, I'm already starting with the, "This will be our last fall", the "last fill-in-the-blank", etc. I'm trying to breath it all in and store it away for next year when Fall arrives and I can look back and say, "Wow, who'd have thought this is where we'd be for our first fall on the road".
Seven months. Life still seems business as usual. But after the next two months things will begin to fly! So for now, I'll take a few pictures and a nice autumn hike and enjoy it before I trade my hiking boots in for snowshoes. Perhaps for the "last time" I'll be snowshoeing?
Thursday, August 22, 2013
More Friends
Last night we had dinner with 2 more RV couples. Dale & Ruth of RVEscapees and Bill Loretta of WhenPigsFly. They were a wealth of information as well. We loved Dale & Ruth's truck set up. It's nice to get info from others that are still working as Steve will be working from the road.
Today I also met Jane who travels alone with her cute dog. More great stuff. She invited me in to show me all the mods she has done to her motorhome.
Today I also met Jane who travels alone with her cute dog. More great stuff. She invited me in to show me all the mods she has done to her motorhome.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Meeting New RV Friends
We have been doing lots of reading up on blogs, books and RV internet sites. We had the opportunity to meet Jason & Nikki of Gone with the Wynns. What an exciting time they have been having FTing so far. They work on the road and have so much information to share. We enjoyed showing them around Placerville and sharing RV plans and some good foothill wines. Check out their website which has wonderful info on internet on the road and solar set-ups.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Our First Big Purge
Today we sold Wally. He's our beloved 1996 Coleman Key West pop-up we bought new back in New York. We have so many great camping memories with the kids in the pop-up. We camped all over the US in Wally. We only camped in it once without the kids, a couple summers ago. It just wasn't the same. So while it was hard to sell it, it is a big step forward to our new upcoming adventure. The trailer fund begins. There is so much more to downsize in a large home on a small ranch, but we're on our way.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Rally Time
We signed up for our first rally next April with RV Dreams. It's in Sevierville, TN. We may not have our truck and/or 5er by then, but we will be learning a lot in the seminars about fulltime RVing. We both have camped all of our lives, but there is a lot to consider when living and working fulltime in a home on wheels. We are looking forward to the information and meeting people who already seem like friends.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Planning and more planning!
We've been making lots of lists, looking at RVs and trucks and just putting a general timeline together. Steve is quite a collector and while I can throw what I need in a backpack, this downsizing is going to be much more challenging for him. He's making progress though, he's thrown out 3/4s of his baseball hats. That's serious stuff!
We've talked to family and friends and everyone is excited and not that surprised about our plans. We've always been adventurous and living here in Placerville, CA for 15 years is the longest we've been in one place other than the 7 years we lived in Brockport, NY. We are ready to travel.
Being further away from our kids and my family will of course be the most difficult. But we will stay in touch and be home for the holidays each year. Hopefully they'll join us along the way some times.
But we will not be all alone. Our oldest sons dog, Hurley, will be joining us for the first few months while our son finishes school. And Hurley seems happy to become a "trailer dog". He's my hiking buddy and also loves to go out in the kayak, so he's going to have just as much fun as we are.
We've talked to family and friends and everyone is excited and not that surprised about our plans. We've always been adventurous and living here in Placerville, CA for 15 years is the longest we've been in one place other than the 7 years we lived in Brockport, NY. We are ready to travel.
Being further away from our kids and my family will of course be the most difficult. But we will stay in touch and be home for the holidays each year. Hopefully they'll join us along the way some times.
But we will not be all alone. Our oldest sons dog, Hurley, will be joining us for the first few months while our son finishes school. And Hurley seems happy to become a "trailer dog". He's my hiking buddy and also loves to go out in the kayak, so he's going to have just as much fun as we are.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Deciding to Full Time RV
Big decisions have been made. We will be selling the store that I own with my sister this year and downsizing... a LOT! The last of our four kids will be finishing college in 2014 and since we were going to sell our ranch and get something smaller, this was the perfect time to get something... MUCH smaller. And mobile.
The blog postings will probably be sparse until things start happening. When I decide to do something I dive all in. I've already been researching, reading others blogs and talking to others that have made the jump to full time Rving.
The blog postings will probably be sparse until things start happening. When I decide to do something I dive all in. I've already been researching, reading others blogs and talking to others that have made the jump to full time Rving.