NEW TOWING MIRRORS AND BACKING UP LESSONS

I purchased replacement towing mirrors for the Tahoe and my brother was kind enough to install them for me. He saved me a lot of money and they sure do look nice. What do you think? 

They even have a bottom concave mirror and turn signal arrows built in.  I took it out for a day of shopping. They are a great help in seeing behind me on the highway. Now to test them when pulling 

the RV.  

I had my first lesson in hooking up the RV to the Tahoe on my own. Well, sort of!! Little brother was right there beside me with guidance, but I did all the work. Since he was a truck driver for many years and a guy, he was a great help. Just pointed me in the right direction and I "got 'er done".!  Then I backed the whole sebang up, between a post on one side and a mailbox on the other - with a ditch on both sides. Look at this.

Then the real learning experience began. I have to say, it took a little bit of back and forth, turning and pulling ahead. But  I DID IT!  Mike said I did good - for a girl (...brothers.... What can u say). No, really, he said I did good for my 1st time. I know it will take a lot more practice. Experience is the best teacher and slow and steady wins the race. But who's racing - I have lots of time - I'm retired. Here's my new parking spot for the next week.

I wanted to be able to access both sides of RV to organize storage under it. That's part of why we moved it. Also I need the practice backing up, lining up RV and Tahoe. This way I can do it anytime I want since the tongue in now pointed toward the driveway. That's my goal for this week.   PRACTICE! practice, practice.

That's all for now. All my RV blogger friends, safe travels. To my family and friends and PA who are getting hammered by snowstorm after snowstorm with more to come, just remember only 6 MORE weeks of winter. HA, HA. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Really, stay safe, warm and inside if you can. Love to all.

VELCRO WORKS & SHELVES DONE

The velcro on the back of the pictures works much better than 2 way tape. I got the industrial velcro and that seems to be the way to go. Time will tell when I am on the road and the RV gets some heat in here. Look at the nice shelves we installed in the corners to put my stuff on. They work great for just 1 item - pretty, are useful, and make the RV look "homey".

I also added some pictures to my bedroom area to give it a bit of color. These are needlepoint and appliqué that i made years ago. Anyone who does this knows it takes quite a bit of time to finish. I didn't want to part with these and since they are light-weight (no frames - just cloth) they make a nice addition. What do you think?

I am setting up my printer & paperwork area. I can stow maps of area I'm traveling in, extra printer paper, even my iPad when I'm not on it in here. That way things have a home, are easy to find and NO CLUTTER. Yeah! Thanks again, Mike, for your help and advice.

Safe travels to my bloggers friends and love to my family in PA. That's all for tonight. Be back tomorrow with more improvements!

SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS MAKES ME HAPPY

With a high today around 70 degrees, I opened the RV windows and got a nice breeze in here. The sun feels good after the cold of PA. I am enjoying it even though most of my day is spent in RV getting it organized. 

Today we got the Wii and TV hooked up, cable and DVD connected to make sure all in is working order. Made the miles of cords disappear with the help of some wire ties so no more spegetti factory hanging down. 

My brother installed window vents on my Tahoe so I can get some air flow even if it is raining when I'm traveling. Thanks for the help, Mike.

I got the pantry situation finished and was able to 
bring a box of food I had in the Tahoe inside the RV and put it away where I can use it. Now I have lists 
of what I put in what cabinets so I can just consult 
the list instead of pulling all the cabinets apart 
looking for what I want. We'll see how that works until I get used to my new home.

I talked to the neighbors here who have a 

motorhome and do a fair amount of traveling. They 
gave me some good ideas that I will be looking into. 
Also gave me some guidance on cell service (Verizon is what I was considering and that's what they have and love it). They have mifi for internet and say they can get online almost everywhere they go. So when my contract will Sprint is over in 2 weeks, I'm heading to the Verizon store for info. I'm also checking out straight talk through Walmart since they have no contract. We'll see which is the better fit for me. 

Tomorrow my brother and I will work on putting up some shelves. I had to make a trip to Home Depot today since the picture I put in the bathroom yesterday with 2 way tape  fell down during the night. I got industrial strength Velcro so I'll try that - see it it holds.

That's all for now. Safe travels blogger friends and love to family in PA.

ORGANIZE AND RE-ORGANIZE

Even though it is colder than normal here in FL, it is way warmer than my home state of PA which is having single digit temps. With the heater on in the RV in the evening and early morning, temps inside are 70/72 (nice and comfy). 

I am spending my days getting some organization chores done in the RV.  Yesterday the bedroom area was cleared out so I can actually get out of bed on the right side and make up the bed. Today my brother helped me by hanging up towel bars, toilet paper holder, etc. and a pretty picture in the bathroom. Looks great and now I can turn around in there and also find things. YEAH!!! Thanks, Mike.

Take a look for yourself. 

Tomorrow the game plan is to work on the kitchen/pantry area. I need to have the things/food I use on a daily basis in the front of the cabinets and pantry. The things that are not, will go in the back of cabinet or in a 3 drawer plastic unit I have for them. That should help to clear up some more of the clutter. As any Rver knows, clutter makes your small RV look and feel even smaller. I will take more pictures as I progress.

That's all for now. Safe travels to my blog friends and love to family back in PA.

ON THE ROAD TO WARMER WEATHER.

I finally made it out of PA and am now sitting in my Freedom Express in Mulberry, FL. 

I left PA on Sunday just before a major snowstorm dropped 8 + inches of snow and single digit temperatures. I could not be happier to have escaped that cold weather. 

Since this was my 1st solo driving experience in an RV, I took my time. I did the trip in 3 1/2 days, stopping after 7-8 hours each day on the road. I stayed at campgrounds with pull thru sites & electric. Since my RV was still winterized, I did not have water hookup but instead used bathrooms/showers at campgrounds until I was south of the border. Then is put fresh water in my holding tank so I could use bathroom at night. Worked great for me. I had no problem pulling into gas stations - just took my time and made wide turns in & out. There are so many stations just off the exits, it is easy to make one stop, gas up, use the bathroom and get food & drink if wanted. 

I arrived today (Wednesday) at my brothers home in Mulberry, Fl.  I will stay here for 3 - 4 weeks. I have numerous jobs on his To-do list and some things I want to check into while I'm here. I need a new phone (my contract with Sprint is up on Feb 1). Verizon seems to be a better option when traveling especially out west. If anyone has a better idea, please let me know.  Also want to look into back up camera & other mirrors for my car. 

When we packed up RV, we basically put stuff in quickly so I could leave before the storm. Now I want to evaluate & reorganize where everything is for ease of use. These chores should give me enough to stay busy for a few weeks. Now I can kick back, relax and enjoy the sunshine. Even though FL is having a cold spell also, it's not as cold as PA and NO SNOW!!!!!!

Here is a picture of my set up.

That's all for now, folks. Stay safe and warm (to those in PA). 

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.