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.

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.

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.

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.

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.