COUNTDOWN 10 days until take off

Today I heard from the RV dealer that my Freedom Express will be ready for pick up on Monday the 13th. I will go with my son to pick it up and bring it home. I am 90 % ready with my downsizing, purging to proceed on the next leg of my full-time journey. I have purged my closet and dressers twice already but have to get rid of more. As you women may know, I had way too many clothes. But I had work and casual clothes. Since retirement and heading into full timing, I will only need casual clothes with a few nicer outfits. Also since it is winter here in PA with yesterdays high of 8 degrees, sweaters and sweats have been the mode of dress. I will pack most of those away (but will take some along) since I hope to spend most of my time in the warmer climes. 

My family will help with the loading up of the RV and within a week, I will be heading toward FL. The plan is to get South of the Border on the 2nd day of travel so I don't have to worry about bad weather (snow,ice). Then 1 or 2 more days depending on how it goes with the driving and I will arrive at my brothers house in FL. Since I previously drove a 350 Ford dually truck pulling a 36' 5er, I am confident I can handle this. However, I only spelled my husband in allowing him a few hours break and have never driven completely on my own before. This will be a new and exciting experience for me. 

One more doctors appointment on Friday to get final clearance after my appendix surgery and I am all ready to go.

I placed an order on Amazon today for water and sewer hoses, levelers and assorted things I will need to be delivered within the next week. I am certain there will be things I overlooked but I can do a run to Camping World or Walmart in Fl as needed. It's a shame I didn't keep some of these things when I sold our 5er after my husband passed away. But, naturally, I never dreamed I would be beginning this adventure again but on my own, this time. I am SOOOO up for the challenge.  

I will try to blog every other day until I get to Fl. Then I plan to blog everyday when I have Internet access to keep family & friends updated with my travels.

Until next, safe travels to my fellow RVers and Love to family & friends.

Another snowstorm and still in PA

I was hoping I would be closer to starting for my fulltime adventure by now. As it is, I am still in PA waiting to hear from RV dealer as to when they will have my TT ready for me to pick up.   I ordered my 2014 Coachman Freedom Express TT on 10/3/13 with the agreement they would install a slide out cover and a ladder with my package. I was just to let them know a week in advance (as they stored it for me) to come pick it up. Now 3 months later, the slide out cover was incorrectly   
ordered and it's not ready yet. Hope this is not a prelude of how things are going to go. I bought new so I would not have problems (repairs). 

In the meantime, I just keep going
through my stuff getting rid of whatever I will not take in the RV or store. My 
son & grandson will stay in my apartment for now, so I do not have to get rid of big ticket items (furniture, TV, refrig., washer, dryer, etc.). I will probably have to deal with that next year when he is getting married and 
moving to bigger place. 

Snow here is PA today with 10" predicted with wind chills tomorrow at -12. That's way to cold for me and one   reason I am anxious to get moving on to warmer climes.


For now, I will stay inside where it's nice and toasty warm, check in with my blogger friends and do some more research on full-timing. Safe travels to all.

Out with the old...in with the new

Finally, things are coming together. After weeks of recuperation from medical issues, I am getting closer to "hitting the road". I am officially RETIRED and lovin it. My plan was to pick up 2014 Coachman TT on 12/30/13.  But a call from the RV dealer today informed me that the manufacturer of the the slide out cover they were supposed to install, sent the wrong one. Now I have to wait until Wednesday to hear back from them on a new pick up date. However, that will not delay me. I will continue to clean out my apartment and box up the stuff to go in the RV. Once I get that call, it won't take long to load up the RV and I will be ready to roll.

Here is picture of my tow vehicle - 2007 Chevy Tahoe.

I will add a picture of my RV when It finally gets here. I am just learning this blogging stuff so I hope the picture comes out ok. Let me know. Thanks.

Now that the new year is right around the corner, it is a good time to look back on the past year, but more importantly look forward to the new one. I am getting extremely excited about my new "RV travels". Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Safe travels to all and a  Happy, healthly New Year too.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY

I want to wish my fellow bloggers and followers a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy your meal, family and friends. Also, let's all remember to be thankful for our military service men & women who keep us safe daily. 


The stuffing is made and ready to pop in the oven in the morning. That's my contribution to the family Thanksgiving dinner at my nieces. I remember that when I was young, my parents called it bread filling or was that just a Pennsylvania Dutch thing! What family traditions or memories of this day come to your mind -Turkey Day football games, Macy's parade, pumpkin pie? I'm looking forward to seeing some of the family that I don't get to see that often. In looking back, I am thankful for the good health of my family and also that my recent health problems seem to be resolving. Looking ahead, I have about 6 weeks until I hit the road on my full-time RV travels. Next year, at this time, should find me in a sunnier climate.

I have had enough of this cold weather even though November is not yet over. We have had  snow, ice and rain for most of the last 2 days. Thankfully, no accumulation - but the traffic has been backed up for miles with lots of accidents. People just don't want to slow down and drive to suit the road conditions - in a big hurry to go nowhere. I will stay inside where it's nice & warm until I go for dinner. Then a few days off to continue purging my apartment.

Stay safe, everyone, and enjoy your holiday.

Getting Back on Track

Hi, fellow RV's. It's been weeks since I've blogged and a lot has been going on here. Since then I've had a bit of bad luck with some health issues. I am getting back on track with only 2 more weeks or go wearing a CAM boot on my left foot for that ankle I broke at work a few weeks ago. No problems there but it's a bit of a pain to lug around. 

However, I did end up spending 3 days in the hospital for a ruptured appendix ,was on 3 weeks of IV antibiotics to clear up the infection. The good news is the Dr. agreed to let me go on a vacation I had been planning for some months to St.  Marteens with some friends. I had a great time and needed the R & R. The bad news is they need to operate and take out the appendix within the next few weeks. 

Everything's good. I am moving forward with my downsizing. It is going slower than I hoped but that's ok. All good things take time. 

I am still on track for retirement at the end of the year and to begin my full-timing adventure in mid- January.

Safe travels to all.

MORE TESTS & DR. APPOINTMENTS

Temp. 57 degrees with humidity @ 87%. We are getting a lot of heavy rain today and high winds. It should be over later tonight. Clear skies tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I am scheduled for an MRI and an appointment with orthopedist on Thurs. We will see what the verdict will be on the broken foot - surgery, plaster cast, air cast, boot? Since I leave for a weeks vacation in St. Marteen on Oct.26, I'm hoping for a waterproof cast if it has to be casted. Also hope it will be a walking cast or I may have some difficulty maneuvering. What ever, I'll deal with it. I am definitely going (I've never been and have been really looking forward to this trip.)

I have been working on downsizing and purging but this has thrown a little monkey wrench into that. I can't manage too well on the crutches handling boxes, etc.  But as soon as I get a plan of action on the foot, It will be full steam ahead. I need to get this all done by the end of the year. I want to keep my plans for full time on target for early January - right after my birthday.

This has made me think of life in general and how we all need to roll with the punches. There will always be some obstacle we will face along the way and we have to be able to handle it and keep on track. I guess it's a matter of seeing a glass half full or half empty thing. A positive attitude goes a long way toward success. One thing I know for sure, I am positively looking forward to my new life as a full timer

SAFE TRAVELS TO ALL . I hope I'll meet you down the highway.

Broken ankle & a chink in the plans

In the blink of an eye, snap, 1 broken ankle.

This was my week end to work - one out of every 9 weeks. Not so bad. But this was not a good one. I finished up my shift, getting ready to close out the day, cash out and turned to put papers on the desk. The body turns one way and the ankle rolls sideways. SNAP!!  I catch myself mid fall. Since I work in a Drs. Office, it should be ok, but the docs already gone. I drive myself to the hospital, they take an  X-ray confirm it's BROKEN.  It's immobilized for now, I'm on crutches til I see the orthopedist and see what the next step will be.

Now I'm leaving for a weeks' vacation at the end of the month with friends to St. Marten's. The beach, and some R & R (which now I'll really need). But I'm still going. I may have to make some adjustments along the way, but we'll deal with it. My biggest concern now - is it a clean break? Just healing and stay off of it for 6 weeks or will I need surgery. If so, that will cause a chink in the plans since it's only 3 weeks away and it takes time to get these kind of things scheduled & executed.  

I hope to stay on course for my travels beginning early 2014. Fortunately it's my left foot. I can still drive since  I have automatic shift. 

Stay safe, fellow bloggers. I hope to meet you down the highway.