Thursday, August 27, 2009
Update
We decided not to travel until Spring so we ordered a 120 gallon LP tank. This will keep us from having to move our RV every few weeks to fill up our onboard tank. Current LP fuel is $2.12 a gallon if bought at this RV Campground and $1.35 a gallon if delivered to our 120 gallon tank by an off site LP company.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Update
Having been in our RV for over a month we are surprised as to how comfortable we are. Getting used to the small cooking area didn't seem to be a problem at all either. It actually takes less time to clean up after a meal then it did in our old kitchen.
We bought a few items of luxury that we did not have in our house. One was an electric flat grill which we store above the couch until we want to use it. The grill fits nicely over the stove burners too. We also bought an electric skillet with a lid, it too fits over the stove burners. We use it for frying chicken and slow cooking roasts.
We bought a few items of luxury that we did not have in our house. One was an electric flat grill which we store above the couch until we want to use it. The grill fits nicely over the stove burners too. We also bought an electric skillet with a lid, it too fits over the stove burners. We use it for frying chicken and slow cooking roasts.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Getting Your Mail
Vehicle registrations and drivers licenses require a physical address. Just having a Post Office box does not meet this requirement. Also when you travel you may want your important mail forwarded to you and the U.S. Postal Service does not forward your mail for you.
Although you can find mail forwarding services online they are a bit costly so we chose to use a local UPS Store to handle this for us. We rented a box at the UPS Store for a year to start with. We do not have to drive there to check our mail as we can call them anytime during business hours to find out if there is mail waiting to be picked up. We also paid an advanced payment for forwarding our mail should the need arise. This payment covers the cost of postage and fees involved when mail is forwarded to another location.
Using a mail box service has another advantage over the U.S.P.S. You can receive packages and mail sent through carriers other then the U.S.Mail. This means you can still shop online and have UPS, Fed-Ex and DHL deliveries as well as items through the U.S.P.S. Also items not picked up within the U.S. Postal Service time frame will not be returned to senders. Big plus, no more pure junk mail.
Although you can find mail forwarding services online they are a bit costly so we chose to use a local UPS Store to handle this for us. We rented a box at the UPS Store for a year to start with. We do not have to drive there to check our mail as we can call them anytime during business hours to find out if there is mail waiting to be picked up. We also paid an advanced payment for forwarding our mail should the need arise. This payment covers the cost of postage and fees involved when mail is forwarded to another location.
Using a mail box service has another advantage over the U.S.P.S. You can receive packages and mail sent through carriers other then the U.S.Mail. This means you can still shop online and have UPS, Fed-Ex and DHL deliveries as well as items through the U.S.P.S. Also items not picked up within the U.S. Postal Service time frame will not be returned to senders. Big plus, no more pure junk mail.
Monday, August 3, 2009
From House to RV
Our house was 1040 sq. ft. more or less. It had two bedrooms, a living room, bath, kitchen and den. The spare bedroom was used to store stuff, lots of stuff. Our computers were in the den set up side by side. We enjoy each other and prefer it that way.
For the seven years we lived in our house our meals were cooked in a toaster oven and stove top. We spent our time at either the kitchen table where we liked to talk to each other or at our computers researching things or playing games on line.
For the past year or so we talked about how nice it would be to be mobile, like travel around the country. We researched that idea a lot and decided that staying in an area for a month or more would give us plenty of time to site see the areas. Daily and weekly RV space rent would eat our income before the end of a month, so monthly rentals was the answer.
Before taking the plunge in to the purchase of our RV we researched our own living environment. The actual space we used on a daily basis. How long we spent in each area of our house. We found that a motorhome that is 32 to 35 feet long would surely suit our needs.
For the seven years we lived in our house our meals were cooked in a toaster oven and stove top. We spent our time at either the kitchen table where we liked to talk to each other or at our computers researching things or playing games on line.
For the past year or so we talked about how nice it would be to be mobile, like travel around the country. We researched that idea a lot and decided that staying in an area for a month or more would give us plenty of time to site see the areas. Daily and weekly RV space rent would eat our income before the end of a month, so monthly rentals was the answer.
Before taking the plunge in to the purchase of our RV we researched our own living environment. The actual space we used on a daily basis. How long we spent in each area of our house. We found that a motorhome that is 32 to 35 feet long would surely suit our needs.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Our Residential Vehicle
We found a 1989 Georgie Boy IMPULSE class A motorhome on eBay in May of 2009. The bid was tempting so we placed our bid not expecting to win at all. Fate had other plans for us and gave us the winning bid. At that point we knew the motorhome would be ours come what may.
Was it the smartest decision we ever made, by all means no! Could we have done worse, we would have to answer yes to that one.
Let us start at the beginning. What were we looking for and for what reason.
What we wanted:
1. Full or Queen size bed.
2. Toilet not close to our bed.
3. Booth or table.
4. Enough room for both computers.
5. Gas engine
6. 32 foot or longer
7. Under $10,000
Reason we wanted a Class A Motorhome.
1. Downsize our cost of living.
2. Do some traveling.
3. Save on fuel cost when not traveling.
Back to the 1989 Georgie Boy IMPULSE class A motorhome. It wasn't as described however those conditions were not known until it was ours and over 1600 miles down the road. The motorhome was in Reading PA and we were in New Mexico.
Upon purchase the first thing that happened were the front brakes had blown out the brake lines. We were lucky that it was being driven by the person we bought it from when that event happened. The seller paid for the repairs.
The next thing that happened one of the fan belts broke and caused the rest of the fan belts to brake. This cause the engine to overheat and blew both head gaskets. This happened right in front of a KOA campground near Elk City OK. We were able to make it from the interstate highway into the KOA campground without further damage. At this point we were just 250 from getting it home. 15 days and $3700 later the motorhome was finally parked in our back yard.
Now with the motorhome in hand we were ready to put our plan in action. The first thing was to check out the motorhome to find what was working and what needed repairs. We found that the motorhome had not been winterized as stated. The hot water heater had frozen and split across the top. There went another $549 and change to buy a new one.
We removed the two swivel chairs and the small table between them and installed a 6 foot long table top for our computers. We also washed all the cushions that are on the couch and booth. Painted the stove hood and replaced the vacuum cleaner system. Repaired several places on the roof that were leaking. Repaired leaks in the water lines to the kitchen sink and toilet.
We moved the items we wanted to keep in to the motorhome and waited for the day to come when we would actually move in. That day was July 22, 2009. We drove the motorhome across town to a nice campground where we could pay by the month.
On August 1, 2009 we auctioned off our house and all the contents. Smart move on our part, why pay a house note when you don't have to.
Was it the smartest decision we ever made, by all means no! Could we have done worse, we would have to answer yes to that one.
Let us start at the beginning. What were we looking for and for what reason.
What we wanted:
1. Full or Queen size bed.
2. Toilet not close to our bed.
3. Booth or table.
4. Enough room for both computers.
5. Gas engine
6. 32 foot or longer
7. Under $10,000
Reason we wanted a Class A Motorhome.
1. Downsize our cost of living.
2. Do some traveling.
3. Save on fuel cost when not traveling.
Back to the 1989 Georgie Boy IMPULSE class A motorhome. It wasn't as described however those conditions were not known until it was ours and over 1600 miles down the road. The motorhome was in Reading PA and we were in New Mexico.
Upon purchase the first thing that happened were the front brakes had blown out the brake lines. We were lucky that it was being driven by the person we bought it from when that event happened. The seller paid for the repairs.
The next thing that happened one of the fan belts broke and caused the rest of the fan belts to brake. This cause the engine to overheat and blew both head gaskets. This happened right in front of a KOA campground near Elk City OK. We were able to make it from the interstate highway into the KOA campground without further damage. At this point we were just 250 from getting it home. 15 days and $3700 later the motorhome was finally parked in our back yard.
Now with the motorhome in hand we were ready to put our plan in action. The first thing was to check out the motorhome to find what was working and what needed repairs. We found that the motorhome had not been winterized as stated. The hot water heater had frozen and split across the top. There went another $549 and change to buy a new one.
We removed the two swivel chairs and the small table between them and installed a 6 foot long table top for our computers. We also washed all the cushions that are on the couch and booth. Painted the stove hood and replaced the vacuum cleaner system. Repaired several places on the roof that were leaking. Repaired leaks in the water lines to the kitchen sink and toilet.
We moved the items we wanted to keep in to the motorhome and waited for the day to come when we would actually move in. That day was July 22, 2009. We drove the motorhome across town to a nice campground where we could pay by the month.
On August 1, 2009 we auctioned off our house and all the contents. Smart move on our part, why pay a house note when you don't have to.
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