I thought the hard part was behind us but this last two days before we hit the road full-time Are the hardest. We mostly packed the Fiver and its parked on the street in fron of our house. We've already had an email from the HOA about RV's being parked for longer than the allowed 24 hours, but like we care at this point. 😛
The hard part is the final sort through of stuff we thought we could take but it's not going to fit. This is "character building" buig time! Still chaos in the house and the people who bought our bedroom furniture are coming this morning. We sleep in our own bed tonight. If I had to do it again, I'd take the advice of others on here and hire an estate sale company and let them take care of everything instead of 4 garage sales 4 weekend in a row. What were we thinking.
We are excited but tired. All Dr. Check ups & tests are done (my last tomorrow afternoon). Last haircut in an hour by my favorite funny hair dresser.
if we get out of town on schedule it will be a miracle! But the good thing is we have to be in Oregon to start new job on the 15th so if we're not ready, we don't go Until we are. No reservations made anywhere so we'll take it as it comes.
We are so looking forward to it!
Sherry
NWescapee said
04:13 PM May 1, 2013
Good luck Sherry! Hang in there, freedom is just around the corner. Have a great summer in Crater Lake!!
PIEERE said
04:14 PM May 1, 2013
Separation Anxiety---it probably has got the best of all of us at one time. When you are finally into your journey and kicking back; you will be saying all of "it" was worth it!!! A change of the landscape as you travel and new 'view' outside your window. Enjoy' Have Fun; Relax and enjoy the new life of full-time RVing! Pieere
janni said
04:22 PM May 1, 2013
Oh Sherry I feel for ya but as soon as you get down the road it will get better. Hang in there and sometimes having a little cry doesn't hurt. TC
Loretta said
06:47 PM May 1, 2013
I know this feeling. Believe me all of the anxiety fades as soon as the wheels hit the road. It has been 8 months for us now and we laugh as we remember scurrying to get last minute stuff done. We threw all our stuff inthe RV and, if you ever saw the show "Hoarders" that will give you an indication of what it looked like. What didn't fit we realized we didn't need. Besides there are stores on every corner if we need something. We are still 'downsizing' and I belive, it will be that way for a while. Good luck to you. It is a great life!
Lucky Mike said
06:52 PM May 1, 2013
Another Grand......H a P p Y Dance.......!!!!
Good luck Sherry & Jesse you have worked hard for it......Let the adventure begin!!!!!!
Hdrider said
09:30 PM May 1, 2013
You will soon forget all the troubles that go along with getting ready to hit the road. It probably won't feel like it even during the first week but not long after it will hit you and you will realize how good things are on the road.
GENECOP said
12:02 AM May 2, 2013
Congrats, hope you are having funnnn.
dianneandsteve said
06:28 AM May 2, 2013
Congrats Sherry and Jesse! Let the fun and new memories begin.
Safe travels and hope to see you down the road.
WestWardHo said
10:20 PM May 2, 2013
Awww, thanks for all the encouragement and support wonderful friends. Thursday, today, we're almost done! Can't believe that the last of the organizing/loading has gone so well yesterday and today. Am sitting in my Sedona Doc's waiting room for last ck. up. We did have to take out some things that I really wanted to take but don't need.
Loretta, bet we'll be donating stuff all along our route. We'll stop and weigh the trailer on the way to the highway as we leave town tomorrow morning. May have to drive back to our storage unit and put some more in! 😄
For anyone working to unload house and get on the road here's a suggestion that might be helpful: As you go thru house, put all things going into storage in one room, put everything you hope to take in another, donations or gifts in a third or the garage. We DIDN'T do that and that's why we're where we are now/or I should say ' where we were' before today. Also gift/donate more than you planned. The good new is that anyone shopping at the humane society gift shop in Cottonwood will have access to some really nice 'stuff'.
Updat on the HOA, an email arrived this morning as well as a letter in our mailbox. The HOA Manager stopped by this morning to say he'd had several calls about violations. Then he said, "You're the ones who are moving? We forgot that you called to alert us and that you sent an email last week saying this was your final week and your fifth wheel would be there Monday thru Friday morning!" Just when we seriously attempted to be proactive and give everyone heads up. But we were smiling all they way.
Slept in our new home last night on the street and we are so happy with it! Bet Jesse sleeps for a week when we go!
Thanks again, Wonderful RV-Dreamers!
Sherry
NWescapee said
04:01 PM May 4, 2013
Travel Safe!! We can relate to not being able to take all that we had thought we would be able to take, reality is setting in for Dale in a big way that he's going to need to pare things down more than he thought.
Have a great trip to Crater Lake, we've had some late snowfalls in the Cascades this year, so hope you packed the warm clothes for the evenings and early mornings, you'll need them.
WestWardHo said
04:14 PM May 4, 2013
Dale and Ruth,
We're sitting by the Colorado River in a small park on our way to So Cal (where cold rain is predicted for the three days we're there) to see my daughter before we head to Oregon. First day of travel was smooth and easy but the closet rod came down (did in our last rig too, will we EVER learn??) and even though I Velcro strapped the residential refrigerator/freezer doors closed we opened up to melted Popsicles, partially thawed meat and yucky cat food on the floor.
This is the learning process I guess but now have a big dent in our refrigerator door where it hit the island. Jesse is off at ACE is the Place to buy and install some rod bracing and a child lock for the fridge.
We're pretty exhausted but we'll recover. Hope to see you.
Sherry
NWescapee said
09:07 PM May 4, 2013
Sherry - sorry to hear of your trials. Each rig seems to have it's own little quirks regarding special fixes that are needed. Hope the rest of the trip is uneventful.
Are you guys taking I-5 all the way north into Oregon? If so, on your way through Medford, if you want some good pizza check out Kaleidoscope pizza! BTW, Valley of the Rogue State Park just north of Medford is big rig friendly and convenient access on an off I-5. We've stayed there a couple of times and managed each time to get a spot overlooking the river, there's a great bike riding trail through the park.
bjoyce said
10:41 PM May 4, 2013
It might be late enough in the season to take US395 north. That will give you some mountain driving experience with your new setup. We just came up I-5 and are in Vancouver, WA.
bjoyce said
11:09 PM May 4, 2013
I have not taken US395 because I seem to travel when the weather is not good. We have taken some of it, but have missed most of the CA58 to Carson City section. Our preference is US101, except in the SF Bay area. We also prefer CA99 to I-5, especially Stockton to Bakersfield. Once we took CA1 from US101 to Fort Bragg, it took us two hours to do the 44 miles. If we go back to Fort Bragg/Mendicino, which we loved, we will take CA20.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Saturday 4th of May 2013 11:11:57 PM
NWescapee said
03:44 AM May 5, 2013
Bill - welcome back to WA! You arrived just in time for some fantastic weather! Question for you, regarding I-5 and US395, which route do you prefer and why? We've only done the I-5 route due to the fact that we were on a schedule, had to get to CA for 3 art shows and then again after the art shows were done we had to get from the Bay Area to Harrisburg, OR for the rally last Sept and only had 2 days to get there. We hope to be taking that trip at a much more rationale pace in the future once we're full time and were looking at US 395 for our Aug trip to CA.
WestWardHo said
08:50 AM May 5, 2013
Thanks Bill & Ruth. Bill, seems like we're following you around the country! Its warmer where you both are than it is here in SoCal. We are planning on 395 N.
We should start a blog but until then (maybe never).... As Jesse was draining the tanks to leave yesterday he noticed a screw in a 5er tire but it wasn't flat. River Breeze office pointed us to to. Goodyear tire dealer in Blythe and called ahead for us. Fueled up both vehicles and drove there. We hadn't known they close at noon and it was about 11:45 when we got there. We have a Tyron system on our tires and when they realized that, they did put spare on for us called RV Dealer in Palm Desert to see if they could fix. (Why don't people answering the phone tell you that the service department is closed rather than just dumping you unto VM?) called back and was told we need to call Tyron 800 number for service. On to Seal Beach.
Arrived at Naval Weapons Station after hours and they let Jesse in the alternate gate but I needed to go to other gate in car & wait for Jesse to drop Trilogy and come escort me in. We did so. When we both parked at our spot he asked me if I wanted the good news or bad news; I never did find out what the good news was! The child safety latch had broken on the refrigerator/freezer and since we had driven thru 101 degree California desert we had a two hour clean up job of clean up of a dozen eggs mixed with beer, flour, sugar, melted butter, olives, pickle relish and sausage that had to be thrown out. It took a spatula to scrape up the partially dried on mess. Two bags of garbage, buckets of hot water, wash, rinse, wash, rinse again. We were so tired but laughing at our luck at the second day on the road. Jesse was most upset about missing his frozen Razzleberry Pie that melted in the mess. Sat down after feeding the starving fur kids for a beer and a wine before I said I'm not cooking or cleaning anything else tonight so we want out for fish tacos and came home and collapsed again.
While Jesse was unloading the the 5er the camp host came over and officiously announced that he should have checked in with him since the office was closed. (We had stayed here last Christmas and were told they don't reserve spots just take any open one.) Jesse wasn't completely set up yet so said, "Look, I have a refrigerator dumped all over the floor, my wife is waiting at the gate for me to escort her in (I need the official sticker on my car and office doesn't open until Monday) so if you'd like me to move just tell me." "No Sir, you just stay here but next time you check in w/me first!" We have a lot to learn.
Thinking of bungie cords around a board across door handles? Any refrigerator suggestions PLEASE? It's a double door Frigidaire.
Edit: oh yeah and when we got back from dinner a curbside security light was on. Tried every switch in here to try and turn it off and no go, Jesse even pulled fuses but we can't get it off. We need to apologize to neighbors this morning and try to figure it out.
Sherry
-- Edited by WestWardHo on Sunday 5th of May 2013 09:02:46 AM
bjoyce said
04:16 PM May 5, 2013
Camping World has bars to put inside the fridge to keep stuff from coming out if the doors open. It sounds like you need some kind of spring to close the doors if they pop open, even a little bit. Short bungees should help and they don't break.
fun2travel said
11:54 PM May 5, 2013
Sounds like some frustrating times to start out, but I'm sure when you're a little further down the road, you'll look back fondly at your beginning.
I'll try to remember that once we get going in 2-3 more years. Have a great time!
Leslie
NWescapee said
02:33 AM May 6, 2013
Sherry - can you replace the latch on the fridge? We haven't had that issue in our new trailer but in the old trailer we had to replace the latch with one we could lock while traveling. I think we bought it at Camping World or possibly through our dealership.
WestWardHo said
04:33 AM May 6, 2013
Dale & Ruth, great suggestion! Calli g the factory in the am. Bill, we have the bars and buckets. We will strudy your route suggestions again. Wednesday when we travel it will be 4, yes, FOUR bungees on the fridge.
We are relaxing today, tomorrow we grocery shop to replace lost food and hope to rest up before we travel again!
Thanks all for your help and advice.
Sherry
NWescapee said
05:32 AM May 6, 2013
Sherry - sleep well, just know that nothing you are facing hasn't been dealt with before. I know it's overwhelming at times, we've had a few of those moments, especially when it took 17 days to get our truck and trailer "home" to be packed and now it's at the repair shop, but as Howard and others told us at the rally, RV'ers are resilient. Don't ask me about the ant invasion when Dale was 500 miles from home:) NOT my finest moment with a trip to Lowe's just before they closed.
Sleep well and hopefully we'll see you on our trek through OR headed to CA in August!!
PIEERE said
02:01 AM May 7, 2013
WestWardHo: Didn't we tell you that it wasn't about the destination....OK; maybe it is about the destination!!!! Skip the Journey!!! Really it can be frustrating at times; but when your visiting and relaxing or maybe just relaxing doing your own thing it will feel great!! Trust me::; maybe not....Really folks; it get's better once everything finds a place and the mishaps become less and less. I know.. your saying what a wiseguy...I've been through it before and will again...then the dust will settle..and we will be grinning as we travel along to our next destination, enjoying the journey along the way.
WestWardHo said
04:03 AM May 7, 2013
Nah, Pieere, not saying you're a wise guy. Enjoy your comments on here. Only mishap today is a piece of inside trim fell off, but Jesse glued it back on. On Thursday we hit the road again after we get screw out of tire tomorrow and replace the spare at a nearby tire co. Our dealership service expediter really came thru and contacted a tire place for us.
Having a wonderful few days with my "miracle daughter" who is now 47 and happily in a local care home for the disabled. She had meningitis at 3 mos. of age which left her blind, physically & mentally handicapped and with a severe seizure disorder. Today she can see, is totally verbal (takes after her mother) and ambulatory with help and wears glasses. She is the sweetest gal you'd ever meet with an uncanny ability to say absolutely the wrong thing at the right time. She's given her family a lot of love and laughs.
Sherry
Fergizmo said
03:30 PM May 8, 2013
Sherry, you should start a blog of your travels. So far you tell quite an exciting story. We love to hear all about it. Continue safely down the road. We plan on visiting you guys at Crater Lake later in early Sept.
I thought the hard part was behind us but this last two days before we hit the road full-time Are the hardest. We mostly packed the Fiver and its parked on the street in fron of our house. We've already had an email from the HOA about RV's being parked for longer than the allowed 24 hours, but like we care at this point. 😛
The hard part is the final sort through of stuff we thought we could take but it's not going to fit. This is "character building" buig time! Still chaos in the house and the people who bought our bedroom furniture are coming this morning. We sleep in our own bed tonight. If I had to do it again, I'd take the advice of others on here and hire an estate sale company and let them take care of everything instead of 4 garage sales 4 weekend in a row. What were we thinking.
We are excited but tired. All Dr. Check ups & tests are done (my last tomorrow afternoon). Last haircut in an hour by my favorite funny hair dresser.
if we get out of town on schedule it will be a miracle! But the good thing is we have to be in Oregon to start new job on the 15th so if we're not ready, we don't go Until we are. No reservations made anywhere so we'll take it as it comes.
We are so looking forward to it!
Sherry
I know this feeling. Believe me all of the anxiety fades as soon as the wheels hit the road. It has been 8 months for us now and we laugh as we remember scurrying to get last minute stuff done. We threw all our stuff inthe RV and, if you ever saw the show "Hoarders" that will give you an indication of what it looked like. What didn't fit we realized we didn't need. Besides there are stores on every corner if we need something. We are still 'downsizing' and I belive, it will be that way for a while. Good luck to you. It is a great life!
Good luck Sherry & Jesse you have worked hard for it......Let the adventure begin!!!!!!
Congrats Sherry and Jesse! Let the fun and new memories begin.
Safe travels and hope to see you down the road.
Loretta, bet we'll be donating stuff all along our route. We'll stop and weigh the trailer on the way to the highway as we leave town tomorrow morning. May have to drive back to our storage unit and put some more in! 😄
For anyone working to unload house and get on the road here's a suggestion that might be helpful:
As you go thru house, put all things going into storage in one room, put everything you hope to take in another, donations or gifts in a third or the garage. We DIDN'T do that and that's why we're where we are now/or I should say ' where we were' before today. Also gift/donate more than you planned.
The good new is that anyone shopping at the humane society gift shop in Cottonwood will have access to some really nice 'stuff'.
Updat on the HOA, an email arrived this morning as well as a letter in our mailbox. The HOA Manager stopped by this morning to say he'd had several calls about violations. Then he said, "You're the ones who are moving? We forgot that you called to alert us and that you sent an email last week saying this was your final week and your fifth wheel would be there Monday thru Friday morning!" Just when we seriously attempted to be proactive and give everyone heads up. But we were smiling all they way.
Slept in our new home last night on the street and we are so happy with it! Bet Jesse sleeps for a week when we go!
Thanks again, Wonderful RV-Dreamers!
Sherry
Have a great trip to Crater Lake, we've had some late snowfalls in the Cascades this year, so hope you packed the warm clothes for the evenings and early mornings, you'll need them.
We're sitting by the Colorado River in a small park on our way to So Cal (where cold rain is predicted for the three days we're there) to see my daughter before we head to Oregon. First day of travel was smooth and easy but the closet rod came down (did in our last rig too, will we EVER learn??) and even though I Velcro strapped the residential refrigerator/freezer doors closed we opened up to melted Popsicles, partially thawed meat and yucky cat food on the floor.
This is the learning process I guess but now have a big dent in our refrigerator door where it hit the island. Jesse is off at ACE is the Place to buy and install some rod bracing and a child lock for the fridge.
We're pretty exhausted but we'll recover. Hope to see you.
Sherry
Are you guys taking I-5 all the way north into Oregon? If so, on your way through Medford, if you want some good pizza check out Kaleidoscope pizza! BTW, Valley of the Rogue State Park just north of Medford is big rig friendly and convenient access on an off I-5. We've stayed there a couple of times and managed each time to get a spot overlooking the river, there's a great bike riding trail through the park.
I have not taken US395 because I seem to travel when the weather is not good. We have taken some of it, but have missed most of the CA58 to Carson City section. Our preference is US101, except in the SF Bay area. We also prefer CA99 to I-5, especially Stockton to Bakersfield. Once we took CA1 from US101 to Fort Bragg, it took us two hours to do the 44 miles. If we go back to Fort Bragg/Mendicino, which we loved, we will take CA20.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Saturday 4th of May 2013 11:11:57 PM
Question for you, regarding I-5 and US395, which route do you prefer and why? We've only done the I-5 route due to the fact that we were on a schedule, had to get to CA for 3 art shows and then again after the art shows were done we had to get from the Bay Area to Harrisburg, OR for the rally last Sept and only had 2 days to get there. We hope to be taking that trip at a much more rationale pace in the future once we're full time and were looking at US 395 for our Aug trip to CA.
Thanks Bill & Ruth. Bill, seems like we're following you around the country! Its warmer where you both are than it is here in SoCal. We are planning on 395 N.
We should start a blog but until then (maybe never).... As Jesse was draining the tanks to leave yesterday he noticed a screw in a 5er tire but it wasn't flat. River Breeze office pointed us to to. Goodyear tire dealer in Blythe and called ahead for us. Fueled up both vehicles and drove there. We hadn't known they close at noon and it was about 11:45 when we got there. We have a Tyron system on our tires and when they realized that, they did put spare on for us called RV Dealer in Palm Desert to see if they could fix. (Why don't people answering the phone tell you that the service department is closed rather than just dumping you unto VM?) called back and was told we need to call Tyron 800 number for service. On to Seal Beach.
Arrived at Naval Weapons Station after hours and they let Jesse in the alternate gate but I needed to go to other gate in car & wait for Jesse to drop Trilogy and come escort me in. We did so. When we both parked at our spot he asked me if I wanted the good news or bad news; I never did find out what the good news was! The child safety latch had broken on the refrigerator/freezer and since we had driven thru 101 degree California desert we had a two hour clean up job of clean up of a dozen eggs mixed with beer, flour, sugar, melted butter, olives, pickle relish and sausage that had to be thrown out. It took a spatula to scrape up the partially dried on mess. Two bags of garbage, buckets of hot water, wash, rinse, wash, rinse again. We were so tired but laughing at our luck at the second day on the road. Jesse was most upset about missing his frozen Razzleberry Pie that melted in the mess. Sat down after feeding the starving fur kids for a beer and a wine before I said I'm not cooking or cleaning anything else tonight so we want out for fish tacos and came home and collapsed again.
While Jesse was unloading the the 5er the camp host came over and officiously announced that he should have checked in with him since the office was closed. (We had stayed here last Christmas and were told they don't reserve spots just take any open one.) Jesse wasn't completely set up yet so said, "Look, I have a refrigerator dumped all over the floor, my wife is waiting at the gate for me to escort her in (I need the official sticker on my car and office doesn't open until Monday) so if you'd like me to move just tell me." "No Sir, you just stay here but next time you check in w/me first!" We have a lot to learn.
Thinking of bungie cords around a board across door handles? Any refrigerator suggestions PLEASE? It's a double door Frigidaire.
Edit: oh yeah and when we got back from dinner a curbside security light was on. Tried every switch in here to try and turn it off and no go, Jesse even pulled fuses but we can't get it off. We need to apologize to neighbors this morning and try to figure it out.
Sherry
-- Edited by WestWardHo on Sunday 5th of May 2013 09:02:46 AM
I'll try to remember that once we get going in 2-3 more years. Have a great time!
Leslie
We are relaxing today, tomorrow we grocery shop to replace lost food and hope to rest up before we travel again!
Thanks all for your help and advice.
Sherry
Sleep well and hopefully we'll see you on our trek through OR headed to CA in August!!
Trust me::; maybe not....Really folks; it get's better once everything finds a place and the mishaps become less and less.
I know.. your saying what a wiseguy...I've been through it before and will again...then the dust will settle..and we will be grinning as we travel along to our next destination, enjoying the journey along the way.
Having a wonderful few days with my "miracle daughter" who is now 47 and happily in a local care home for the disabled. She had meningitis at 3 mos. of age which left her blind, physically & mentally handicapped and with a severe seizure disorder. Today she can see, is totally verbal (takes after her mother) and ambulatory with help and wears glasses. She is the sweetest gal you'd ever meet with an uncanny ability to say absolutely the wrong thing at the right time. She's given her family a lot of love and laughs.
Sherry