Monday, October 3, 2011

10/1/11 The BIG DAY!

Six months and counting!
After 5+ years of talking about it; 4 ½ years of trial and error; and 1 year with the 40’ DP Saturday was The BIG DAY! Move-in day; no more talking; just action. But let’s catch you up on what’s been happening.

During the last year we’ve made a few changes to the MH. One of the first changes was to remove the pull out dining room table that stuck out into the room. That left a hole in the cabinet that measured about 4” x 30” where the table mounted. We had a carpenter come in and turn it into usable space by adding a bottom ‘shelf’ and fabricating matching cabinet doors.
He did such a good job. You’d never know it wasn’t original. We replaced the dining table with a ‘wing’ table from IKEA. The table has ‘wings’ on each side that will fold down when not in use. When closed the table is only 10” wide. And the table has additional storage space with 3 drawers on each side of the base.
Our MH floor plan had an entertainment center rather than the standard full-size couch. It’s one of the design features that drew our attention when we were shopping. However the small couch that came with the coach was not that comfortable. So we sold it (Craigslist is great!) along with the dining room table and chairs.


 We replaced them with two Poang chairs from IKEA.  These changes really opened up the living room and made it feel much larger.

Now back to the present. We made the decision to go full time about 2 months ago when we elected to rent out our townhouse. We started at the beginning of August giving away large items from the house to family members. Then an indoor ‘yard sale’ (it was 97 outside and holding the yard sale in the A/C was a great idea) to get rid of the smaller items. A couple of car loads to Goodwill and a large stack of ‘stuff’ curbside. Then we moved our remaining possessions to my parent’s house on the lake for an interim stay.
The view of the lake from every room made it feel more like we were on vacation. Going to bed each evening and waking up every morning with a view of the lake was wonderful.




Being able to see the gorgeous sunrises and wildlife was great.

 











But finally the day had come. The BIG DAY!

Saturday started early with us up and out by 7am. A good breakfast at Carlos’ to get us started, then off to pick up the MH and take it to the campground. Lot 78.


Our new address until we hit the road April 2012. The car was packed with our clothes; at least the ones we thought we would need and be able to fit into the MH closet. Joan put a lot of thought into where we should put things. Hopefully we’ll be able to remember where everything is; at least until we decide it needs to be somewhere else. One of our goals is to keep things put away.  Clutter drives Joan crazy!

Then it was back to the lake house for the next load. Two carloads this time. Groceries and refrigerated items; the last dregs from the liquor cabinet (if you saw all the liquor we gave away as well as the bottles we kept you would think we were real lushes); pictures and personal items; and some of the office ‘items’. At one point I thought Joan was going to have a ‘melt down’. But I just gave her space, let her take her time and catch her breath. One thing I did do was only allow her one box at a time. She wanted me to bring them all in and I disagreed; rather only bringing in one in at a time and only bringing in the next one when the previous one was empty and all its contents put away so we didn’t get overwhelmed. By late afternoon we were worn out and ready to call it a day.

I have to admit it looked pretty good. Joan did a great job! And we have pics to prove it.

Saturday night we slept in our memory foam bed (Joan loves this bed!). When we woke up Sunday morning we were ready for a break. We decided to take our motorcycles for a breakfast ride with our friend Tom.  Our bikes were still at the lake house so we told Tom we would meet him there at 8. He was right on time. But he was not alone.  When he came down the drive there were four more bikes following him. So instead of a quick ride to breakfast we ended up with seven bikes and 11 folks on a ride that lasted most of the day and covered over 100 miles. It’s always fun to meet new people. It was a great ride on a beautiful Florida day!

So that’s it for now. Wish us luck as we start our new adventure. Hope your weekend was a good one too!








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