Time to wrap up this eventful year... I would have to say that this was the year of total direction change for the older Bennett family. Even though we had talked about switching from a sticks and bricks life style to a mobile full time RV life style, it was always just talk. But by January 2016 we were picking up steam toward actually doing something about it. We pretty well made the decision to give it a go for at least two years, then reevaluate. Of course that meant we had a lot to do. Most of which did not get done as the year ends, but more progress that we could have predicted at the beginning. Early on we decided that though we would research, study, and make some preparations this year, we made the decision to go slow until we returned from the Washington D.C. choir trip our church had planned.. Well, we did. We spent the year looking at RV's and RV camping places. Studying on the reviews of different manufactures, the ...
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Pressing On Toward the Goal... Guess it is time for an update on where we stand with respect to our full time RV adventure. Progress: slow and halting, but progress. Of course you know we have purchased our new home. It is a Grand Design Solitude model 369RL. It is 39 feet of fun and adventure waiting to happen. We had some great help from our friend Tim and Becky. They took a day out of their lives to drive up to Alvarado and tow our new home back to the Lindale area. What a gracious couple. Tim said it towed like a dream. He was just pumping me up, but I appreciated it anyway. Right now it is parked at our friend’s house while we finish getting ready to go. All we have left to do is get rid of all our stuff, sell our house, buy a truck, and hit the road. ;) This pix is picking it up in Alvarado Tx. This is Tim,Becky, Karen, and Russ watching my first try at auto level on new sigh...
Pulled the Trigger Well it happened. After nearly two years of research, study, leg work, and listening to knowledgeable RV'ers and less than knowledgeable salesmen, we pulled the trigger and bought our first fifth wheel. It is a Grand Design (GD) Solitude 369RL. It is thirty-nine feet of pure RV joy. At least that is the way we feel today. We found the GD in the normal way, RV Trader. It stood out because number one, it was a Grand Design and in my price range. Grand Design had come to the top of my list because of a series of articles by Greg Gerber called the RV Industry Death Spiral which he documents and bemoans the precipitous drop in quality of RV manufacturing in this country over the last few years. In the article, however, he cites one company which has kept up their quality at a time when the RV manufacturing industry is in a downward quality spiral, Grand Design. By the way, GD was purchased a few wee...
The Saga Continues: Of course it has been a while since we posted anything new on our blog because there really has not been anything new to post. We have more or less entered a holding pattern waiting for the perfect time to take that next big step. We have had a new floor put in our house expecting that the wood floor update will help to sell our house. Next there is some painting (inside and out), more flooring (carpeting), some landscaping issues, and downsizing. We grow faint every time we consider that last one, not because we are unwilling to part with a lot of stuff, but we have sooooo much stuff. Anyway, last week we drove to Lufkin to look at a Big Horn 5'er that is a little older than we are considering, but it was in great shape. I took my used RV check list and went through as much as I could without powering up. It was obvious that it had been kept inside its whole life. It at least made me think a little more about so...
What in the world am I thinking?
[Originally written on 1-16-2016] I have had an idea. It is a wacky, new, off the wall, couldn’t happen in a million years idea. After all I’m nearly 70 years old, time to slow down, settle in, sit back and relax. Wait to die. Really? That doesn’t sound too much like me. I think I prefer going with: I’m nearly 70 years old, time to change directions rather than slow down, shake things up rather than settle in, step out rather than sit back, get busy rather than relax, and begin a new kind of life rather than just wait to die. So what’s this crazy idea? Depends on if you want (A) the “I’m 70 waiting to die” version, or (B) the “I’m 70 waiting to live” version. ...