Last day of work, 1 April 2010

Last month I (Alex) was pretty nervous about givng up my job and income. Now that we're only 4 days from jumping off into the wild blue yonder, our nerves are steady and resolve set to make this a fun adventure. We're remarkably calm and ready.

So, April Fools' Day is my last work day, then Friday the 2nd we're off to Kerrville, TX. ( Pictured left is the skyline of Corpus Christi .)  We'll make a short stop at the local Freightliner company to have a recall for a brake pedal adjustment handle taken care of and to have the rig weighed while it's fully loaded (like its crew). We need to drop off an antique rifle and Civil War pistol at our storage unit in Kerrville. We were going to send them to Bill in Mexico, but it appears Mexico has enough guns down there and you can't even send an old 1860 rifle/pistol to an heir. Then we're off to The Big Bend National Park. It's along the Rio Grande River next to Old and New Mexico. Lots of things to see in a short tourist season because it's either cold or blazing hot most of the year. After 4 or 5 days we'll see about driving to visit family in Arizona.

Enough About Us

What about you? What do you think of this change in lifestyle? Could you do it? Would you even want to do it?
Well, we've gotten all kinds of reactions when we tell someone what we are doing. The spectrum runs from, "Are you crazy? How can you leave your family and friends behind. How selfish.", or "You are going to give up everything to stay in a sleazy mobile home park with trailer trash?" to "Wow, I wish I could do that" and "Tell me how I can do that and travel all over the United States, Canada and Mexico."
To those of you that might be interested in how one would learn about this lifestyle or just because you are curious, here's some info.
Believe it or not there are a million plus people doing this. People from all walks of life.
Most full timers are people who decided that they wanted a change in their life, a big change. They want something more than working to pay for their big house, 2, 3, or 4 cars, tv's, etc., etc. They want to get out from under the normal daily grind and see something new. This means giving up their stick house, usually a job, and the comfort of living in the same familiar place.
There are thousands and thousands of web sites about full time RVing. How to find the right RV, how to test drive it, how to find great campgrounds, how to find the best repair shop and how to set a budget. Really there's so much information all you need is time to learn. And if you are thinking about doing something like this, our advise is to learn as much as you can and take your time before you quit your job and buy a RV off Ebay. Yikes.
Alex and I planned, researched and saved money for 16 years while we were raising our son. You won't need to spend that much time, thank goodness, because there is excellent info out there now. Here, are but a few to start with.

Escapees: http://www.escapees.com/
Discussion board: http://www.rvnetwork.com/
RV Dreams: http://www.rv-dreams.com/
RV Dreams Journal: http://www.rv-dreams.typepad.com/
One of our favorite blogs: http://www.birdingrvers.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to check out the National, State, County and City campgrounds. You'll be amazed at the places you get to see out your window.

Well, we could go on and on but these will get you started and, you won't have to stay in that sleazy park. Have fun.

Kerrville

Alex and I decided that we needed to get this coach moving before the round tires turned into squares. He took a few days of leave and we headed to By The River RV Park, http://www.bytheriver.com/ in Kerrville.
Kerrville is in a beautiful area of the Texas Hill Country. Lots of trees, hills, deer and other critters. We stayed in a spot right on the Guadalupe River. While the weather wasn't that great, except for one glorious day, it was nice to get out of Corpus.
The ride in the coach on the way up was wonderful. There are air bags somewhere in this coach and it feels like you are riding on a cloud. Well, most of the time.
Alex, the jet pilot, has learned that you can't be agressive driving one of these things and has slowed down and taken on a whole new attitude towards driving it, much to Chris' relief.
Once we arrived and pulled into our space, people from the campground started visiting with Alex while he was "hooking up". Well, it turned out being a party at our picnic table with 5 couples who are now our good friends. Everyone brings their own chair and their own drinks. Alex and I had a blast.
Pilot is getting use to the motor home. Before, he did not like it when we put the 4 slides in or out. We can understand why, it changes the entire inside of the coach. Well, this trip he just layed on his blanket and rode the slide in. Amazing. He had a fantastic time out on the island in the middle of the river. He was able to be let off the leash and ran like a greyhound should. He loved the river and was able to have a drink and go in up to his tummy. We swear he had a smile on his face. We think he's going to like this traveling around also. It was a wonderful way to start our new lifestyle.
By The River is a nice campground. Small, clean, friendly, strong WiFi and we had cell service on our Sprint phones. They had a breakfast on Saturday, and on Sunday, a Superbowl Party. The only downside we could find was that the spaces are on grass, which means mud and dirt. So, we battled the mud inside the coach. Not a big problem for us. We are glad that the living room and kitchen has tile flooring.
We had a nice drive back to Corpus. We both agreed that this trip was very important in that it confirmed to us that we are doing the right thing by taking on this new lifestyle. That makes us feel very, very, good.

Spinning Heads

Our heads that is. Getting a contract on the house and finding out that we have 27 days to get rid of everything we own and then, actually making that happen, what do you get? Spinning Heads. Two garage sales, some things in storage and then, everything else is gone. House, truck, boat, furniture, stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. Gone. Good.
We haven't stopped spinning even though we've now been in the coach on base for almost a month. We still have many things to take care of. Change of addresses, canceling insurance, getting insurance, doctor appointments, vet appointments, banking things, etc., etc. It goes on and on. Downsizing is hard work. Mentally, one is in a state of shock, yet you have to get on your game and get all these things done.
Does that sound like I'm complaining? I better not be. We've waited so long for this to happen. Sometimes we didn't think it would/could happen. But it did!!! And we are very thankful.
So far, we've been very comfortable in the coach. Plenty of room. We did such a good job of getting rid of stuff that we still have room left in the coach. We are trying hard not to fill it up. The only thing we miss is our back yard for our greyhound to go out and not have to take him out on a leash. If that is the worse thing about RV living, then we are in great shape
The Phaeton is a wonder. We discover something new about it almost everyday.
We have decided to try to leave Corpus a little earlier than first planned. We may be able to leave at the end of March rather than the end of April or May. That's the good thing about this lifestyle, you always have the choice to change your mind on things like time and direction. That's a good thing.

Timing Is Everything

Timing is everything. I'm beginning to understand this. After 16 years of researching, planning and saving, it looks like our dream of full time rving may be coming true.

We got tired of waiting for our house to sell in Corpus Christi, Texas. So we decided to go ahead and order our dream motor home, a Tiffin Phaeton. We figured we could use it this winter to go up to the Texas Hill Country, relax and learn about RVing. We arrived back Nov. 28th from a 9 day trip to Mississippi to pick it up at the dealer. Then spent a couple of days getting it cleaned up, finding a place to store it and unpacking. No sooner did we settle back into the house to start thinking about Christmas, when our agent called us to say someone wanted to see the house. Well, now we have a signed contract and we have to be out of the house by Dec. 30th.

We don't understand how we can be so stressed and happy at the same time. Oh, and a little afraid. What in the world have we done? We feel like we're dropping out of school. We are giving up a nice house on the water down the street from the beach, Alex's easy, fun job teaching young military pilots how to fly in the simulator, friends, neighbors and a mean feral cat named "Nasty Cat". For what? Driving around in a 40 foot monster motor home, looking for that perfect spot? Looking to get back in touch with nature? Have we lost touch with nature or our minds? You be the judge. More later. Chris