06/09/1999 -205 days
The house went on the market today. It was a big step for us. We have been discussing going fulltime in our motorhome for several years, but up until a couple of weeks ago we thought we had several more years to go. Libby retired from BellSouth over two years ago. She started work for the telephone company while still in High School. 30 years later at age 49, she had had enough. She started as a non management employee in Orlando, Florida stuffing bills by hand as was done in 1966. She ended up a mid level manager working in the information technologies department at headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. I started with BellSouth (then Southern Bell) in 1979, also in a non management job. I am currently a mid level manager in our Atlanta headquarters.Anyway, we have a retirement policy that says when you are management and reach a combination of age and service that equals 75, you can retire. Of course, there is a severe penalty in your monthly pension for such an early out if you do not have at least 30 years service. The best way to beat this penalty is to take your retirement in a lump sum. That is what Libby did and that is what I intend to do. The reason I am still working is that I do not have 30 years and I need to hit the magic 75 for health insurance coverage. A few weeks ago Libby was speaking to the Benefits office. She casually inquired into covering me as her spouse on her retirement insurance. It turns out that the difference in me working for 27 more months and then paying $34 per month for health insurance and having Libby cover me now is $11 per month. Let's see, I can work for two and a half more years and then retire or I can leave now, take my lump sum retirement and 401k, roll it into an IRA and get my health insurance for just $11 more than if I wait. Big Decision!
06/12/1999 -202 days.
It looks good to see the for sale sign on the house. We have been busy the last few day. The 55 foot ham radio tower is sold, the 45 inch big screen tv is sold and several other pieces of furniture have been claimed by neighbors. I figure hauling that radio tower around on the top of the Saturn would be a little difficult, so I reluctantly am parting with it. I also had a hard time convincing Libby that the big screen would be out of the way if we just stuck it in the hallway of the motorhome while traveling, so I guess it goes out the door too.
We have made a list of everything that needs to go and put tentative prices on all of it. When the house sells, I guess we are going to have the mother of all yard sales. I hate to part with my air compressor and table saw. The saw built our house in Loxahatchee, Florida back in the early 80s. It has moved 5 times with us over the years, but off it goes.
We spent a good part of the day puttering around in Winnie trying to decide what could go with us and where to put it. We (read Libby) cleaned out the interior cabinets and repacked most of them. It is pretty amazing at how you look at the "stuff" you carry for living as opposed to weekending or vacationing.
I wanted to include some pictures of the motorhome and toad, so that as things change over the years, there will be a graphic record of all of our toys. This picture is Winnie at the Georgia Winnie Rebels State Rally in Warner Robbins, Georgia in April, 1999.
We have certainly had a lot of fun with Winnie in the year we have had her. We pondered trading her in on a diesel pusher but decided that the value of a one year old coach wouldn't be much as a trade in. We will wait a few years and see if we really need that pusher or if it is just a "manly man" thing.
Libby and I spent most of the day going through more "stuff". My neighbor came over this afternoon and we cut down several dead trees that I wanted to get out of the way before the realtors start showing the house. He burns firewood in a wood furnace during the winter, so it works out well for both of us. He gets wood and I get rid of the trees. Luckily we did not hit the house or any vehicles while doing our lumberjack thing this afternoon. I suppose I will have to sell my chain saw too. Not much call for a chain saw in an RV!
I reorganized most of the basement bays. I put egg crate bins along the sides and installed a multi position fishing rod holder in one bay for my bait casting and fly rods. Things are beginning to look like we understand how to do this. I'm sure time will prove that we think we know and that there is probably a better way.
We went to Wally World yesterday to pick up some "stuff" for fulltiming. It cost us $104! Most of that was synthetic oil which I use in Winnie. Unfortunately, I bought 15w50 and the owners manual says not to use that weight. Its back to WalMart tomorrow for an exchange or refund. The oil (Mobil 1) cost about $4 per quart, so I sure hope it really is better for the engine. I also use it in my genset.
I have installed extenders on the rear duallies because it is such a pain to check tire pressure on them. Hopefully, these metal extenders will last longer than the rubber ones. I have never had any good luck with those. I also put extenders on the air bags up front. The P30 Chevy chassis has inflatable bags inside the coil springs in the front suspension. Its a pain to crawl under Winnie to check and inflate them, so the extenders should make that job easier.
We sold some more furniture today. We won't let anyone have it yet, because the house is on the market. After it sells, I'm sure we will be in a hurry to get rid of everything else. I think I even sold my pickup truck today. Of course, it has to stay until the very end or Libby won't have any wheels.06/16/1999-198 days
We sold some more trinkets and tools today. Yesterday one of the neighbors came over and bought some of our furniture. Pretty soon, the house will be empty and we won't have any place to sit! Actually, we are sticking with our rule, it doesn't go out the door until the house sells, unless it is not part of the display.
We are getting ready to spend the weekend in Hiawassee, GA. at the Bald Mountain campground. One of the Winnebago Itasca Travelers clubs that we belong to is having a camp out there. Since it is only about 15 miles from our house, we aren't making extensive preparations for the journey.
I have to go to Montreal next week for a business meeting. I guess I am going to miss some of the "free" travel I have done over the years. On the other hand, we will be "free" to travel wherever we want.
I have been mulling over the installation of a Banks PowerPack on the Winnie. Since we decided not to buy that diesel pusher just yet, it might satisfy my Tim Allen desire for bigger and faster.06/26/1999 -188 days
The camp out last weekend was a lot of fun. We rolled into Bald Mountain Campground in Hiawassee, GA Friday afternoon. We parked and got the satellite dish aligned in record time. (about 20 seconds) Actually, I cheated with the dish, since we were so close to home, I already knew the heading and elevation so I just pointed and found the bird. About 8 or 9 rigs were there Also, a Honda Gold Wing rally was in town, so there were several big rigs towing trailers loaded with Gold Wings. We ate a lot, visited and I got in a round of golf at Brasstown Valley Resort. I wasn't great, as usual, but it beats the office any day. We also were visited by our friends Rich and Diane Edmond from Atlanta. They plan to be full timers next year and drove up to see Winnie II and the Georgia mountains. We gave them the deluxe tour and then went to lunch in Hiawassee.
I spent 4 days this week in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A very nice city. It was very European, very French and fairly expensive! I flew home on Thursday, stayed in Winnie II at Bleakely's RV in Douglasville, where I had left her on Monday on the way to the airport. I let the dealer change my oil, but never again. It cost me $50 plus the cost of the filter and I took my own oil with me. I can change the oil and filter for about $32. I had them do it because I had the coach in for some other stuff, but no way is it worth almost $60 for this service. I guess I am going to have to figure out how to do this on the road or maybe just go to the Jiffy Lube. Overall, I am very happy with Bleakely RV. They have had some problems in the service department over the last year, but appear to be on the way to getting them fixed. Friday morning, they finished up the service work I took the rig in for and I headed home toting the Saturn behind me.Next weekend, our daughter, her husband and the grand twins will be here, so no RV trip. However, the week after that, we are off to Forest City, Iowa for the Winnebago Grand National convention. We hope to see Winnebago's new diesel pusher, the Journey at the rally. Libby is taking a driving class and we are both going on factory tours etc. (yes, I still haven't completely given up on starting our fulltime adventure in a pusher)
The Realtor showed our house today for the first time. We haven't heard from them, but it was a start at least. We made another dump run this morning. This is the third pickup truck full of stuff we have thrown away in the last couple of weeks. I guess we are slowly getting the unwanted junk out. We have now sold almost all of our furniture and haven't even advertised as yet. When we do have a yard sale maybe the only thing left to sell will be the yard!