DON’T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS……….

Well it fell out of escrow. For some reason the buyers pulled out. The worst part is they pulled out within the time limit to get there $5000 deposit back. This seems to be just a minor setback though. We have already had two families look at it and are very interested. We will just have to see if they come up with an offer. We are still going ahead with out plans to move into the motorhome the first week of August.

I accept!

We have accepted an offer on the house. It is pretty much a done deal since it is a cash offer. It is not contingent on an appraisal or getting a loan. I cannot believe how much houses are selling for in Southern California. We have until the first of August to get rid of all the stuff that will not fit into the motorhome and move out of the house. It is going to be a hectic month but there is a rainbow at the other end.

Phone’s Ringing

We went looking at phones today. I have decided, after talking to other fulltimers that Verizon is the best choice for traveling. They seem to have the best coverage and have a really good customer service. The only decision was what phone and what plan. The plan is simple. You simply choose a plan that appears to be goods at the time and if it doesn’t work, you simply change plans at no charge. That’s another good thing about Verizon. The phone is somewhat simple for us also. Their 2 least expensive phones are both tri-mode which is what we need for the best coverage and internet use. We have decided on a flip phone because we want to put it in our pocket without punching buttons and calling 911 by mistake. Now that we have it pretty much figured it out we will pick it up when we need it.

Another piece in place

Another piece to the puzzle is in place. The 65 Mustang has just left with it’s new owner. A very nice Father just bought it for his 17 year old son. I wish I had a car that nice when I was 17. Wait, I did. I had a ’63 Ford Falcon Station Wagon, red with shag carpet and tie-die curtains all around. My girlfriend’s mother called it a Sex Wagon. Why? I don’t know…

It is very sad to see the ‘65 go since I have owned it for 27 years and put a lot of time and pride into it. But it just doesn’t fit into our new lifestyle. I know I will miss it but I will also enjoy the freedom of our new life.



Click on photo to enlarge

I love the beach

Doheny State Beach in California is a really nice place. If you get lucky enough to get a beach front site, you are literally on the beach. We were in for a Big surprise however. We reserved our sites, sight unseen. As you can see we barely got the Aerbus in there with enough room to put out the slides. We had just enough room to open the door and walk to the front. Fortunately we had a whole lot of beach to hang out on in front of the motorhome. The weather was great and we had a great time. I love to listen to the ocean while sleeping.

Well when we got back, we had an offer on the house. I am rather disappointed with my agent. She must have forgot how much she suggested and listed the house for because the offer was pretty low. I can’t believe she even came to us with an offer like that. Well it’s still early in the game and we have plenty of time.


Click on photo to enlarge

How can you just sell everything like that?

It’s funny how we keep getting the same question over and over. “How can you just sell everything.” People don’t realize that we are not merely selling everything and living out of the back of a car. It is more like selling a house and all the furniture and buying a new house and new furniture. Who wouldn’t want that? As a matter of fact, in some ways, our motorhome is better than our house. Our house doesn’t have Corian counter tops throughout, it doesn’t have air conditioning. But the best thing is our new house has wheels. We can change our view and neighbors when ever we want. We will be able to travel this country of ours and have our house and all our belongings with us. Besides, it’s not like we will never have a “stick” house again. When (If) we get tired of the road, we will buy it all back again.

Another Big Step

Well, the house is on the market. See it here. This is another big milestone in heading toward Fulltiming. The realtor says she already has a potential buyer and our Daughter has someone that is interested also. The average time a house has been on the market in this neighborhood has been 5 days. Some have sold in as little as 3. We had better be ready! I also had someone that looked at the Mustang this weekend that looks like a good possibility. I often wonder what I am going to do if we have to be out of the house before the Mustang sells.

As soon as we accept an offer we are going to jump into the motorhome and head for the hills, literally. We plan to spend a week in a nice little mountain community near here called Julian. We love it there and it will be a welcome getaway.

The trials and tribulations of Fulltiming

I have just added a new section under Interesting Writings titled Trials and Tribulations. It seems that everyone is under the impression that Fulltiming is all fun and games. I don’t know maybe it is. We will have to see.

It’s Baaaack…

Got the Aerbus back today. Just as I thought, it was a fairly minor problem. The number 1 and 5 spark plug wire was fried.

Although I highly recommend Temecula Valley RV in Temecula,CA, I am rather disappointed in them this time. I told them that I had already talked to Workhorse about this and was informed that there is a known problem with an exhaust manifold gasket leaking and blowing hot exhaust gasses on the wires. But they only replaced the wires and did nothing with the manifold. I mentioned that spark plug wires just don’t go bad in under 3000 miles and asked them what the root cause was. They said it could have just been a freak thing. I said, “or a Leakey exhaust gasket”. I told them I will be bringing it back after our next trip and we will call Workhorse and get the go-a-head to do the job right.

But I have it and it is running like new again. Just hope it will last until I get it back to them.

The internet is a great thing

I came across this on the RV.NET and just had to share it with you.



From Gunship Guy, as written on RV.NETs “The Open Road Forum”

Posted: 6/1/2004 6:14pm

I've been reading everyone's stories about their camping adventures this past Memorial Day weekend. I spent my weekend flying combat missions over Iraq and thoroughly missing my wife, sons, and camping.



I'm thankful that we are able to get internet access in this hell hole. I log on once in a while to read about anything related to RV'ing. Your stories have made me a bit jealous, but I appreciate those who've taken the time to share their experiences. If I can't be out there camping with my family it's still nice reading about others who are.



I'm halfway through my 6th deployment over here since 9/11. I'll be home for the last half of my sons' summer vacation. We'll catch up on the camping they've been missing these last few months. Please continue to share your camping stories. Some of us over here who are avid campers really enjoy your shared experiences.



Thanks!

Where is all my stuff?

Having the luxury of keeping the Aerbus at home while we get ready for our new lifestyle has it’s down side. We didn’t realize how much stuff we have moved to the Aerbus in preparation, until I left it at the shop. There are so many things I needed this weekend that are in there. Susan even made the comment that she was needing a lot of items that are in the motorhome.

It cost money to sell a house

It’s incredible how much it cost to sell a house. There is the commission to the realtors, the Escrow costs, repairs of the things that you have lived with all these years, ect. Today I had a termite inspection done. Living in Southern California it is giving that your house HAS termites. Along with the termites comes the termite damage. More things to repair.



Too bad I have to waist a holiday weekend working on the house. Might as well, the Aerbus is in the shop.



Oh yeah! I almost forgot to tell you. We have lined up a job as Camp Hosts at Carlsbad State Beach when we come back to Southern California for the Holidays in Nov and Dec of 2005. That’s two months of free living. Christmas will be good. If they like us, and how could they not, we will be in for every year. What a plan huh?

It's in the shop

Well I limped the Aerbus over the hill to the service center this afternoon to get the engine misfire fixed. I was pulling the toad so it was a struggle. There is a couple of hills between here and there and the Aerbus was like “The little Engine that could”. Fortunately there was a loaded car hauler ahead of me that could only do 35 mph up the worst hill so I hunkered down behind him. I felt better that I wasn’t the one holding up the parade. Can’t wait to get it back!




Pechanga Campground Resort in Temecula, CA
Click on photo to enlarge

OH NO, I got a miss!

We are back in our stick house. While traveling this weekend, the Aerbus engine developed a miss fire. It is not bad and I was able to drive it the rest of the way to the campground and back to our stick house. This is not supposed to happen. It is a new motorhome. Well I guess it is good to get these things worked out before we hit the road. I have read where some people have had some problems with the plug wires. I am considering replacing all the plug wires to see if this will fix he problem.



I got some email asking what type of prep I need(ed) to do to go fulltime. I will be writing a page on the logistics (as I know it) of become a fulltimer.



Stay tuned.

Temecula, CA

We are in Temecula California. We are staying at the Pechanga Indian Casino Campground Resort. This is a real nice place. It a clean well manicured resort style campground. We have full 50 amp hookups with satellite TV. The casino is within walking distance from our home. The trip out was quick but not without problems. The motorhome developed an engine miss just as we were approaching the campground. After a while it went away, but you know what that means. It will be back, and in the least convenient time. We need to take it in to have all the brakes replaced on a recall so I will mention it to them and see if they can find anything.

Hard to say goodbye

It is going to be hard to say goodbye to friends and family. Especially the grandson. It will be hard for him to understand where his Nana and Papa is. He is used to seeing us a couple of times a week and asks every time when he can go camping with us again. We have so much fun with him. He is not going to be old enough to fly out to spend time with us for a number of years. Fortunately we plan to head back to Southern California for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year so he can spend some time with us in the motorhome then. He will like that.


Click on photo to enlarge. 

The Toad

After all I have heard about Saturn from other fulltimers, I decided it might be a good car for us to tow behind the motorhome. See, Saturn is one of the few automatic transmission cars that can be towed with all 4 wheels on the ground.

We went to the Saturn dealer and requested a 2000 to 2003 Silver SC2 with an automatic transmission. We also gave them a max price. Richard said, we will find you one. About a month later he called and said he found one. I went to check it out and it was a beauty. Saturn does not just sell used cars. They sell reconditioned cars. It has new tires, brakes, battery and a complete turn up and fluid change. And then they detailed it. It is the next best thing to a new car. Everything we wanted. This car was about $1000 higher than our max but they agreed to sell it to us for our price. All I can say is, it was money well spent. We have towed it once so far for about 300 miles and it tows exceptional well.


Click on photo to enlarge 

Choosing the right realtor

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been almost a week since I made an entry into this log. We have had a couple of realtors over to talk about selling the house. We made our decision and will be notifying the realtor next week. We want to get the house on the market by the first of June. I doubt it will last long but we are going to price it on the high side. We don’t have to be in a hurry so we will see what happens.

I took the Mustang to a rebuilder to see if I have it priced right. Turns out I have it listed for about $1,000 high so I reduced the price. I hope someone buys it soon. I really need to sell it before we have to be out of the house. Use the link to the left to see the Mustangs web page.

The emotions start

As the time gets closer and we get things in order the emotions start to come out. We can’t help but wonder if we are doing the right thing. We have owned our house for 20 years and it is paid off. Isn’t that the American dream? This makes it hard to give the realtor the go ahead.

Watching the Travel Channel makes it all go away however. After all, it’s not like we will never have it again. For what we can get for our house here in San Diego County, California we can pay cash for a nice place just about anywhere and have enough left over to live on for many years.

New addition to Random Thoughts

Vintage-Vacations

This, Vintage-Vacations, is a really cool site. It is full of vintage RVs. You really have to check it out if you get a chance.



A Realtor is coming by tomorrow to talk about selling the house. We may list it next month. I don't plan on being out before September so if it sells quickly I will have to adjust the escrow accordingly.



I called Alternative Resources , a mail forwarding service in So. Dakota today, to ask them about changing residency and registering the motorhome before I have to pay California's outrageous fees. They say I have to show up within 90 days to get my drivers license. Don't know if I can make it there by then.