OUR ROAD TO FULLTIMING
November 14, 2000: ALMOST THERE!!!
Another month has passed, and we are sitting in a campground in Effingham, Illinois, about 250 miles away from our "new home"!!! This cross-country odyssey has been memorable, to say the least, for various reasons, which I will touch on later.
Ron's retirement came and went rather uneventfully because of the attitudes of the management people. He did take his "parting shots", however, in the form of an email letter circulated to other long-time employees. The whole idea of "retirement" really hasn't set in too much because we had so many other things that had to be finished in preparation for our departure for Indiana.
We brought the SunnyBrook home on Saturday, October 21, and during the following week, I filled every nook and cranny with all that we would need until returning to California in December. I also finally managed to find, at Target, some collapsible shelves that fit every so neatly into these RV cabinets with absolutely no shelves. These made "stashing stuff" so much easier and even somewhat organized!!! I washed our clothes for the last time in our washer and dryer, ironed the items that needed it, and crammed our clothes into our limited closet and cupboard space. Then, one week later, we moved the trailer out to Jojoba Hills SKP Park, which is about 25 miles from the house in Murrieta. So, officially, on Saturday, October 28, 2000, we became FULLTIMERS!!!!
For the next ten days, we drove back and forth in order to take care of the last details of the estate sale and to get the rest of our belongings into the storage locker. Our dogs were so confused with all this---at the house during the day and the trailer at night plus riding in the van or the truck everywhere. At any rate, we finally cleaned out my office (remember the "last bastion" that I mentioned!!) at 6PM the night before the estate sale started and put the last things in storage at 645PM, just 15 minutes before it closed for the night!!!
The estate sale went very, very well!!! Three people spent the better part of two weeks sorting, arranging, cleaning, and pricing all the items that were to be sold. We were not present during the actual sale hours, but we did come around the closing time each day to check on the progress. When the three days were over, we still had some of my framed and unframed limited edition prints and an antique sewing machine cabinet. Fortunately, a dear friend offered to store them at her home until we could move them to our storage locker. Everything else that was left in the house was picked up by the Salvation Army on Monday, and we received our proceeds on Tuesday, along with a complete itemization of everything sold. All in all, we were very pleased with the way everything was completed.
After depositing the proceeds from the estate sale, just before noon, Tuesday, November 7, we were actually on our way!!! Unfortunately, we didn't get very far because of the 60-MPH Santa Ana winds reeking havoc on the area. Traveling only an hour north, we pulled onto a side street and waited three hours for the winds to subside. Needless to say, because of the delay, we did not travel as far as we had hoped. Our first night out was spent boondocking in Barstow's Wal-Mart parking lot!!!
Leaving early from Barstow, we managed to travel to Winslow, AZ, on Wednesday and on to Albuquerque on Thursday. After visiting with Ron's mom and having dinner at his brother's house, we continued on our journey to Elkhart the next day. Up to this point, everything had been going very well, despite the deplorable conditions of Interstate 40. But, just after crossing into Texas from New Mexico, we stopped at a "picnic area" to let the "puppies" out. As Ron is returning to the rig, he yells out, "I think we've got a problem!!!" Somewhere, after leaving Albuquerque, the plug connecting the trailer to the truck became unplugged!!!
It had been dragging on the ground, and almost half of it had worn away. Darkness was coming, and we were in the middle of nowhere!!! I tried calling Progressive, but they really couldn't help us. Ron finally found another plug, in all his "stuff", that, at least, connected the lights, but we would have no trailer brakes. We had already driven unknown miles with no trailer brakes, so that became a moot point. (In fact, I realized later that I was the one driving most of the time that the plug was dragging on the ground!!!) With lights connected and darkness falling, we drove the 50 miles to Amarillo, TX. The next morning, we found an RV supply store and bought the proper replacement plug, which Ron installed, in the wind and rain, at the Flying J parking lot. The funny thing about this episode is that we found out that different plugs and receivers can become disconnected very easily, something that we didn't know. Needless to say, the new plug was the same brand as the receiver on the truck!!!
Continuing on our journey, we overnighted in a KOA outside of Tulsa and in a rural park near Waynesfield, MO. The weather was varying combinations of fog and rain with temperatures in the 30's and 40's during the day and usually below freezing at night. But we were to have one more delay!!! At one point, Ron had lifted our 80 lb. yellow Lab, Cassie, into the truck because the usual coaxing wasn't working. He felt something wrong in his back; he then was in pain until he finally asked that we please find a hospital. Thanks to the Exit Authority, we found one in Rolla, MO, where, two hours later, he got his shot of Toridal and a prescription for Vicodin. Filling the prescription at Wal-Mart took yet another hour!!!
As an aside, somewhere during this part of our journey, we spotted a very interesting sign in a Wal-Mart parking lot. There were many semis parked in one area of the large lot, also near some fast food restaurants, so we parked in the same area because of our length. When we returned after shopping, I spotted a sign, high up on a lamp post. I guess that hunger takes precedence with truck drivers!!!!
So, after that long day and less than 250 miles, we are sitting at Camp Lakewood in Effingham, IL. This park is close to the Interstate, though far away, in the trees, next to a small lake. Tomorrow is another day, and we hope to make it all the way to Elkhart and our "new home"!!!
November 1, 1999 THE BEGINNING January 25, 2000 THE DOWNSIZING BEGINS February 6, 2000 RECEIPTS AND TAX RETURNS March 12, 2000 THE FIRST "DENT" April 27, 2000 DUMPSTERS, DOCTORS, AND TRUCKS May 24, 2000 OUR TRUCK DECISION July 2, 2000 BITS AND PIECES July 21, 2000 MEDICAL CONCERNS July 27, 2000 STEPS TO A FULLTIMING BUDGET August 8, 2000 OUR TRUCK DELIVERY SAGA September 15, 2000 AN UPDATE ON OUR PROGRESS October 2, 2000 SIX WEEKS TO GO!!! October 15, 2000 MORE HURDLES CONQUERED December 21, 2000 ELKHART.....FINALLY!!! December 21, 2000 LET THE COMEDY BEGIN!!!