Day Two - Nesting

Last night, Phil took a picture of me sitting in our little motorhome, blogging away. Yesterday was moving day, and I was one tired girlie.

I remember playing in my cousin's "playhouse" when I was a youngster. I loved visiting her so that we could play "house". That's how I have always felt in my little RV.  I enjoy washing the dishes, tidying things up, cooking - and just hanging out. When we first got our RV, we parked it at our house. Many times, I would go outside and just sit in it, and sometimes sleep in it!  

I think the RV seems more manageable than a house. It is so much smaller, and there are fewer places to look when something has been misplaced. And, that happens a lot!

Today was spent nesting. I love nesting! I organized the cabinets, the closets and the drawers. It was a beautiful day and I did spend some time sitting in the sun with my Cute Cat Paleo. Phil finished up at the condo, and locked it up for the last time.

Closing is tomorrow, and we will be without a "stick and brick" house. And it feels good.....

Eight Days!

Unbelievably hectic. Friends have been dropping by to pick up the items that they bought from our sale. One week ago today, I sent to friends that live locally, an email with a link to pictures of the things we were plannig to sell. I put sticky notes with a price on items that we didn't plan to store nor take with us on our new adventures. Folks started coming by and scooped up almost everything! It was awesome. We even sold our truck and car!

Our new truck and RV are on order, and we will live in our little Winnebago until the new fifth wheel comes in. We have been enjoying our friends coming by and picking-up their new purchases (free movers!). When we come back to visit, we can see our stuff at our friends houses! We had our local auction company pick up things that didn't sell, our dining table and chairs (lovingly covered with organic fair-trade coffee bean burlap bags), an antique sideboard, a few Persian rugs, and a couple of side tables. This weekend, it's more packing, and next weekend, we are outta' here!

It has been a little sad, looking around at the "stuff" that we have accumulated, knowing that it is now in the past. But, we remind ourselves of the good times ahead, collecting memories of adventures instead of stuff! 

Happy Trails,
Deborah

Sold more stuff!

We have a buyer for our old truck, and he is letting us drive it until the new one comes in! Ordered our new truck in Knoxville, TN yesterday. I really do think I'll need a cowboy hat, boots and chiffon skirts to drive that baby! We also finalized our decisions for the new fifth-wheel. Planned to order, but the owners of RV's For Less had to make an unplanned trip to the emergency room, so we will order tomorrow by phone. Lots of friends came over today and bought LOTS of "stuff". It has been hectic, wild and crazy. We close in two weeks! Yep, got a little weepy again....sure will miss my friends. Exhausted.....

Downsizing, RV'ing and Carbon Footprint

I love the idea of less stuff. We just downsized two years ago from 3700 sq. ft. to 2100 sq. ft. and now we are preparing to move into a 360 sq. ft. RV. We also have to consider how much that stuff weighs.

I always felt guilty living in 3700 sq. ft. in that it took lots of resources to heat and cool, furnish, and maintain such a home. I felt that it was overkill for two people and that I was doing a good thing for the environment to downsize. But, to be fair, it had been neglected for many years, so we did do a good thing by buying and restoring the house. 

We then moved into a 2100 sq. ft. condo, that is concrete and steel, and is extremely energy efficient. We live downtown and can ride our bicycles for our errands. We work from home and drive very little. I have struggled a little with justifying our increase of fuel usage moving around in our RV. I always saw myself driving one of those electric cars, or holding out for a car with a solar panel and windmill on the roof. Now, here I am planning to buy and drive a 3500 dual-wheel diesel truck.

I think that we will spend several months in one place each year, which will cut down on fuel usage.  And, I think that our plan of not being in extreme temps and the reduction of square footage to heat, cool and maintain will offset our carbon footprint. We will buy and consume less, because of limited space. Although it is harder to recycle on the road, I know I will find a way, or else, the guilt will kick in. I don't like feeding our landfills with stuff that can be reused.

I think that RV'ers are viewed by some as being resource hogs, because of the fuel usage and the fact that they "plug" in. And, many folks are critical of RV'ers having some of the amenities of a Stick & Brick house, but call themselves "camping". But I think that if those that are being critical would consider that they too are "camping" in a fixed place, probably with a much bigger carbon footprint than RV'ers.

I think the real heros with the least carbon footprint in our country are the homeless! They use things other folks have discarded, they often share a community kitchen, and they typically walk wherever they go. I love supporting the homeless as I downsize. We are very fortunate and should never take our ability to have food, clothing and shelter for granted!

Do other RV'ers ever think about these things?

We have a contract!

The offer was not dead after all! Our agent is pretty persistent and persuasive, so in the end the buyer came back with a little more after our counter, and we knew it was time to fold 'em. We were pretty lucky in that we bought two years ago and sold for a little more than we paid. (It's those sales commissions that are a killer.)

So, we are scheduled to close March 21st, and there is so much to do! We made reservations today at a local campground here in Chattanooga, where we plan to stay after closing, up until the RV-Dreams rally in Sevierville, TN. We have to buy a truck, sell or trade two vehicles, sell or trade our Winnebago View, buy a fifth-wheel and then - we are outta here! Still not sure of hubby's retirement date as there are still some things to work out there.

Yipee! I am hoping our luck rubs off on everyone else with their house for sale!

Happy Trails!
Deborah

: ( Offer expired...and I had mentally started packing....

Life is a roller coaster at times. Yesterday it looked like we were on our way to a contract, and today - nodda. It was one of those rare deals, cash, no contingency, no appraisal, no inspection - almost too good to be true. The buyers were looking for a bargain, and we met them half-way, but that wasn't enough. Drat!  I was so disappointed. Oh well.

Shhhh....don't want to jinx the offer

We got an offer on our condo today! Countered back at 'em and it's in their hands....so, we may be working toward a contract! If so, we will close March 21...only one month away! Now I am in panic mode. Yikes!


But, I have made life changes so many times that I know that it will all come together, and the madness is only temporary. (Remind me of that later when the panic really sets in.) Whoo hoo!!! Wish me luck!!

I'm So Excited....I Just Can't Hide It

Yesterday was our first showing since putting the For Sale sign up about a month ago. So, we loaded up the cat and the dog and went RV shopping. We ended up at RV's For Less in Knoxville and looked over their 5'ers. They had just gotten in 3 new DRV Mobile Suites and we really liked one of them. We have been flip-flopping between a 5'er and a motorhome, just because of the fear of driving a honker truck pulling a honker coach. But after talking to the owner at RV's For Less we feel better about our original choice of a fifth wheel. This guy is sold on the Suites. He once built Prevost buses and seems to be know what's what in the quality of RV's. So, I think we have made our decision about what and where to buy. Now on to the other decisions, like which hitch, which truck. So much to do, so little time!


While in Knoxville, we got a phone call from our agent. After the prospective buyer took a peek, he called our agent and wanted to know - get this - if we would consider including our furniture! Whoo Hoo....they would be doing us a huge favor if that happens! No offer, but that sounded positive. We have another showing today. Keep your fingers and toes crossed.

Happy Trails,
Deb

"Sticks and Bricks" For Sale

Love the rotate issue with Blogger and Canon Power Shot cameras!

The term "Sticks and Bricks" is used mostly by people who live full time in an RV, referring to the house they lived in prior to their "home on wheels". Our "Sticks and Bricks" is more of a "Steel and Concrete" house/condo. Regardless, it is officially for sale. Yipee!


Our plan is to downsize (again) and take advantage of not having the responsibility of a "sticks and bricks" house, while we are still young.  ; )  We want to follow the sun, (avoiding cold weather), and explore the USA, Canada and maybe even Mexico in our RV. Mr. Phil works primarily from home, so he can work anywhere he can get an internet connection. And, hopefully, he won't work forever! 


It gets complicated preparing for not having a "sticks and bricks" house. You have to consider not only how you will get your mail, but also vote, renew drivers licenses, register automobiles, tag renewals, and insurance. Lots of people in the full time RV world take advantage of not having a permanent residence by choosing their state of domicile based on tax benefits. A few states do not not tax personal income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, Washington, Wyoming, South Dakota and Texas. Tennessee has no income tax, but taxes interest and dividends. When I began contacting the various county and state departments regarding how this would work for us, I was told by my county clerk office, that if we sell our house and do not buy or rent another house that we would be considered homeless!  That was a very odd response, and one that I had never considered. I told her that we would not be homeless, we would be taking our home with us! I explained that we would have a mail forwarding service that would provide us an address in the same zip code. I finally found someone with the state that told me how to go about handling our business while on the road. Whew!


So, keeping fingers crossed that the "For Sale" sign will soon change to "Sold". With the downturn in the economy, and with condominium owner want-to-be's treated like "trailer trash" by banks - it could be awhile. In the meantime, I will keep taking "stuff" to the Community Kitchen and Habitat for Humanity. It is amazing just how good that feels! We have gone from 3700 square feet 2 years ago, to 2150 square feet today, and if we realize our dream, we will live in about 400 square feet for a few years. I love it! That is a small footprint!