2017 In the Rear View Mirror:
If there was ever a momentous year in the lives of two people, this was it. Not necessarily the best year ever because we've had lots of great years filled with great events. Not necessarily the biggest change because we had some whoppers in the past. But in the sense of unexpected life altering, direction changing, out of character, "Where did that come from?", this was it. On January 1 2016 this whole thing was just a niggle in the back of our minds. Something we had discussed and looked at casually, but mostly dismissed. It was something really neat, like a balloon flight across the Atlantic, or a trip to Europe. One of those things that other people do but not us. We get up, drink a pot of coffee, work in the yard, watch Fox, go to bed,wake up and repeat. Maybe not quite that bad, but any adventure, especially travel, was pre-planned, pre-paid, and often pre-empted by something or someone. Thanks to friends God brought into our lives in very unusual ways, and the Interweb that niggle became a full blown itch over the next few months. By August of 2016, though I was overwhelmed by all the ins and outs of the RV life, I was ready to scratch. I collected enough information in those first nine months about Class A motorhomes, Fifth Wheel trailer, diesel trucks, RV resorts, and full timer's problems, failures and successes to fill up a terabyte hard drive. I bought books, talked to strangers, talked to friends, drove through hundreds of RV parks, went to RV shows, and visited RV showrooms. Oh yeah, Mom and I prayed a lot since we knew if God was not in this it was a non-starter. We prayed very specifically and God answered very specifically, just not always the way we expected.
If you haven't already heard the story read on, otherwise you can skip this part.
We began to pray for guidance and wisdom, and for God to open doors or close doors to guide us in the process. We were more than willing to chuck the whole thing if God started closing doors. This was big scary thing and back-peddling was much easier than pressing on toward the goal. Well doors began to pop open. Walter Crum, a very old friend, had shared his story of full timing for several years. (By the way the first time Walter told the story I rejected it outright. Not for me!) Tim Sacrey, a old Lindale FBC friend, who is a good man, a great and willing instructor, and a long time RV'er came back into our lives when we found him attending Green Acres BC. He knew more about RV's and trucks than anyone I knew. Russ and Karen Korbol befriended Mom in the church choir. Mom did not meet them for a long time after she started singing because they were off full-timing in Washington as RV park host. Those two are the giving-est people we know. They are rich in love and service, and can't stop giving. As you know we are "squatters" in their yard. By the way Karen is also a tremendous baker and Russ loves a project more than me. The people God brought into our lives after we started praying for wisdom, insight, and guidance probably had more to do with us moving forward than any other single factor.
As we continued our RV education, we continued to pray. We knew we wanted to buy a used RV. We decided it ought to be a Fifth Wheel. We wanted one like Tim's, a Heartland Big Country. I looked every day for months online and at RV lots. Nothing that met all our requirements. Tons of RV's but not "the one". Daily I prayed, "Father please be preparing some one to sell me the perfect used Heartland Big Country fifth wheel I need". Didn't happen, so when Sep 2016 came around we decided we needed to get serious or give up right after we got back from the Washington DC choir trip. Within days of our return a door popped open. It was not a Heartland Big Country though, it turned out to be something way better. It was a Grand Design. We knew about GD because it was generally though of as one of the best build Fifth Wheels around, and priced that way. We could not afford even the used ones. But a couple of days after our return trip from DC a 2014 Grand Design Solitude popped up on RV Trader Online. It was only 100 miles away, it was the perfect size, it was only two years old, and it was priced exactly at my price point. Had to be something wrong. Besides, it was not the Heartland we had been praying for. Since we were already planning to visit an used RV lot about 50 miles from the town where the GD was for sale we decided to just take a quick side trip to look at the trailer and mark it off our list. When we arrived to look, the owner began by telling us there was a problem. He had discovered after he placed the RV Trader add that it was not a 2014. It was a 2015. (I think this guy, who bought the trailer new off the lot, had more money than sense) I figured too that one year newer meant the price was going to go up. Nope, just wanted to sell it. Fiance' wanted a lake house, not a trailer, so it had to go. When we looked at the trailer, it looked new inside and out. It should have since he had parked it soon after he bought it, and just used it when he went to visit his girlfriend. It was 8 months into its 1 year warranty. There were several items in the trailer he had never even used. For example he did not even know there was pull out desk under the TV. Long story short Mom and I went on to the used RV lot to see the junk (compared to the GD we just saw) used RVs there. Neither of us said it, but both of us were thinking the same thing at this point. That Grand Design was "the one" It was not what we planned on, but we know it was "the one". That evening I called the guy an offer and he accepted, and the next day I went back and sealed the deal. Tim Sacrey was more than willing to go pick it up and tow it back for us, and Russ and Karen had already said we could park it on their land as long as we wanted. I'm thinking at that point this is a God thing, or an awful lot of coincidences at the same time. Definitely a God thing!
I went into debt for the trailer. Not something is did lightly, but it was necessary at least for a while. We needed the trailer first because you match the truck to the trailer, when you have the trailer you can practice living in it, and believe me it takes practice. This aint a sticks and bricks house and you need to get to know it before you take off into the wild blue yonder. But you also need a tow vehicle. A truck. For this I was not willing to go into debt, so we decided we would not buy until after the house sold. At least we would have a place to live while we looked for the perfect truck. I'm not going into all the house and stuff selling story, but suffice it to say God was in it with very specific answers to very specific prayers. Ask Mom.
Again, after painstaking research, I decided on a Ram 3500 dually diesel truck. I wanted a short bed mega cab. Mom didn't care as long as it was not brown. Months of daily Truck Trader visits, but nothing that met all requirements. Of course we weren't going to buy till the house sold, so it did not matter except that in all those visits to Truck Trader and checking out VIN numbers, I learned a whole lot about Ram pickup trucks. So it went until a few days before the closing the house. It was close enough, I thought. Even though we had planned and prayed for a truck after closing, I winked a little and decided I could go ahead and buy betting on the outcome of the house sale. Three days before the closing, the perfect truck showed up for sale. Just what I wanted, at the price I wanted, not too far from Lindale and available. Oh yeah, it was BROWN. Mom said she would okay it, but would not be happy. I hemed and hawed for a day or so, and the next time I looked it was sold and gone. Best thing that ever happened to me. Unhappy Mom is not a good thing. Needless to say the house closed and the next day the perfect Ram 3500 appeared. Not Brown. It was a crew cab and long bed and too far away but other wise just right. We were beginning to believe God was in this and that the timing was no coincidence so we decided to drive to San Antonio and look. I was not much on used cars and used car salesmen but we went any way. Seemed to be an honest salesman and an honest lot, and the truck was immaculate. They even replaced all the tires and discounted the listed price. We drove home in what Mom now calls our, new to us, Big Butt truck. It is a bus, but it turned out to be exactly what we needed. God Thing!
We left mid June, not knowing anything about what we were doing. Oh, we thought we knew something, but we didn't. We got lots of OJT, and it came fast and furious. From backing into a group site in Abilene with 20 people watching ( Mom directed me into the wrong spot then the hitch would not come undone) to a winding 15% grade down into Palo Dura Canyon (some people said their wives would not ride down with Dear Husband driving), we learned about our trailer, our truck, and ourselves. All good stuff, but sometimes tense. We even learned that if you wait till June to leave you better go straight up to Colorado rather than West then up. It was miserably hot for about a week before we got to Colorado.
I'm not going to detail the trip you've all read, seen (5000 pix), or heard Mom tell the stories. I'm just gonna give my impressions of our first foray into full time RV life. It was an adventure of a lifetime without a doubt. Not to say it was always good or fun. There were a few unhappy time (kissing a tree with trailer), even a few (very few) boring times, but it was always an adventure. Even something as boring as going to the grocery was something of an adventure. Where are those eggs, or surprise, Hey,there is a wonderful hardware store behind these groceries. Then there is real adventure. You haven't lived until you drive 10 miles on a forest service road at 3 miles an hour so you can hike to a beautiful hidden waterfall in a rain/sleet/snow storm, we have. Maybe you never met a guy at the top of a mountain pass in August back packing a pair of cross country skies so he can ski the patches of snow still on the mountain tops, we did. You probably haven't had the toe curling adventure of driving the winding roads to the top of Colorado's Grand Mesa and then turning around to see that the view that literally takes your breath away was the one behind you all the time. That happened to us. Simple things become adventures. Standing outside your trailer and have a wild mustang horse walk up to you looking for a treat. Encountering a bear while your out on a hike, even though he is safely across a stream, is as cool as it gets. I guess a lot of this sounds kinda tame, but I have lived a pretty tame life, so it doesn't take a lot to charge me up.
I guess to sum it up we LOVED our adventure. To be sure we missed our kids and grans, but even if we had been here life gets busy and we might have had to stay connected by phone and text anyway. Of course it makes coming back and seeing you all just that much sweeter. Will we keep going on this quest? Oh yes. We have not even scratched the surface of what is out there. There is so much to see and experience we could not get it done in two life times, and since we only have part of this one lifetime left we need and want to keep going. There are adventures waiting, experiences that we will cherish, sights that must be seen in person, people we have yet to meet, and friends we have yet to make. So until it is just not fun anymore or until our bodies just won't go, we will be Rockin' and RoVing. Remember, these are just the ramblings of an old Rocking RoVer rocking and roving on. Thanks for reading.
Pops
If there was ever a momentous year in the lives of two people, this was it. Not necessarily the best year ever because we've had lots of great years filled with great events. Not necessarily the biggest change because we had some whoppers in the past. But in the sense of unexpected life altering, direction changing, out of character, "Where did that come from?", this was it. On January 1 2016 this whole thing was just a niggle in the back of our minds. Something we had discussed and looked at casually, but mostly dismissed. It was something really neat, like a balloon flight across the Atlantic, or a trip to Europe. One of those things that other people do but not us. We get up, drink a pot of coffee, work in the yard, watch Fox, go to bed,wake up and repeat. Maybe not quite that bad, but any adventure, especially travel, was pre-planned, pre-paid, and often pre-empted by something or someone. Thanks to friends God brought into our lives in very unusual ways, and the Interweb that niggle became a full blown itch over the next few months. By August of 2016, though I was overwhelmed by all the ins and outs of the RV life, I was ready to scratch. I collected enough information in those first nine months about Class A motorhomes, Fifth Wheel trailer, diesel trucks, RV resorts, and full timer's problems, failures and successes to fill up a terabyte hard drive. I bought books, talked to strangers, talked to friends, drove through hundreds of RV parks, went to RV shows, and visited RV showrooms. Oh yeah, Mom and I prayed a lot since we knew if God was not in this it was a non-starter. We prayed very specifically and God answered very specifically, just not always the way we expected.
If you haven't already heard the story read on, otherwise you can skip this part.
We began to pray for guidance and wisdom, and for God to open doors or close doors to guide us in the process. We were more than willing to chuck the whole thing if God started closing doors. This was big scary thing and back-peddling was much easier than pressing on toward the goal. Well doors began to pop open. Walter Crum, a very old friend, had shared his story of full timing for several years. (By the way the first time Walter told the story I rejected it outright. Not for me!) Tim Sacrey, a old Lindale FBC friend, who is a good man, a great and willing instructor, and a long time RV'er came back into our lives when we found him attending Green Acres BC. He knew more about RV's and trucks than anyone I knew. Russ and Karen Korbol befriended Mom in the church choir. Mom did not meet them for a long time after she started singing because they were off full-timing in Washington as RV park host. Those two are the giving-est people we know. They are rich in love and service, and can't stop giving. As you know we are "squatters" in their yard. By the way Karen is also a tremendous baker and Russ loves a project more than me. The people God brought into our lives after we started praying for wisdom, insight, and guidance probably had more to do with us moving forward than any other single factor.
As we continued our RV education, we continued to pray. We knew we wanted to buy a used RV. We decided it ought to be a Fifth Wheel. We wanted one like Tim's, a Heartland Big Country. I looked every day for months online and at RV lots. Nothing that met all our requirements. Tons of RV's but not "the one". Daily I prayed, "Father please be preparing some one to sell me the perfect used Heartland Big Country fifth wheel I need". Didn't happen, so when Sep 2016 came around we decided we needed to get serious or give up right after we got back from the Washington DC choir trip. Within days of our return a door popped open. It was not a Heartland Big Country though, it turned out to be something way better. It was a Grand Design. We knew about GD because it was generally though of as one of the best build Fifth Wheels around, and priced that way. We could not afford even the used ones. But a couple of days after our return trip from DC a 2014 Grand Design Solitude popped up on RV Trader Online. It was only 100 miles away, it was the perfect size, it was only two years old, and it was priced exactly at my price point. Had to be something wrong. Besides, it was not the Heartland we had been praying for. Since we were already planning to visit an used RV lot about 50 miles from the town where the GD was for sale we decided to just take a quick side trip to look at the trailer and mark it off our list. When we arrived to look, the owner began by telling us there was a problem. He had discovered after he placed the RV Trader add that it was not a 2014. It was a 2015. (I think this guy, who bought the trailer new off the lot, had more money than sense) I figured too that one year newer meant the price was going to go up. Nope, just wanted to sell it. Fiance' wanted a lake house, not a trailer, so it had to go. When we looked at the trailer, it looked new inside and out. It should have since he had parked it soon after he bought it, and just used it when he went to visit his girlfriend. It was 8 months into its 1 year warranty. There were several items in the trailer he had never even used. For example he did not even know there was pull out desk under the TV. Long story short Mom and I went on to the used RV lot to see the junk (compared to the GD we just saw) used RVs there. Neither of us said it, but both of us were thinking the same thing at this point. That Grand Design was "the one" It was not what we planned on, but we know it was "the one". That evening I called the guy an offer and he accepted, and the next day I went back and sealed the deal. Tim Sacrey was more than willing to go pick it up and tow it back for us, and Russ and Karen had already said we could park it on their land as long as we wanted. I'm thinking at that point this is a God thing, or an awful lot of coincidences at the same time. Definitely a God thing!
I went into debt for the trailer. Not something is did lightly, but it was necessary at least for a while. We needed the trailer first because you match the truck to the trailer, when you have the trailer you can practice living in it, and believe me it takes practice. This aint a sticks and bricks house and you need to get to know it before you take off into the wild blue yonder. But you also need a tow vehicle. A truck. For this I was not willing to go into debt, so we decided we would not buy until after the house sold. At least we would have a place to live while we looked for the perfect truck. I'm not going into all the house and stuff selling story, but suffice it to say God was in it with very specific answers to very specific prayers. Ask Mom.
Again, after painstaking research, I decided on a Ram 3500 dually diesel truck. I wanted a short bed mega cab. Mom didn't care as long as it was not brown. Months of daily Truck Trader visits, but nothing that met all requirements. Of course we weren't going to buy till the house sold, so it did not matter except that in all those visits to Truck Trader and checking out VIN numbers, I learned a whole lot about Ram pickup trucks. So it went until a few days before the closing the house. It was close enough, I thought. Even though we had planned and prayed for a truck after closing, I winked a little and decided I could go ahead and buy betting on the outcome of the house sale. Three days before the closing, the perfect truck showed up for sale. Just what I wanted, at the price I wanted, not too far from Lindale and available. Oh yeah, it was BROWN. Mom said she would okay it, but would not be happy. I hemed and hawed for a day or so, and the next time I looked it was sold and gone. Best thing that ever happened to me. Unhappy Mom is not a good thing. Needless to say the house closed and the next day the perfect Ram 3500 appeared. Not Brown. It was a crew cab and long bed and too far away but other wise just right. We were beginning to believe God was in this and that the timing was no coincidence so we decided to drive to San Antonio and look. I was not much on used cars and used car salesmen but we went any way. Seemed to be an honest salesman and an honest lot, and the truck was immaculate. They even replaced all the tires and discounted the listed price. We drove home in what Mom now calls our, new to us, Big Butt truck. It is a bus, but it turned out to be exactly what we needed. God Thing!
We left mid June, not knowing anything about what we were doing. Oh, we thought we knew something, but we didn't. We got lots of OJT, and it came fast and furious. From backing into a group site in Abilene with 20 people watching ( Mom directed me into the wrong spot then the hitch would not come undone) to a winding 15% grade down into Palo Dura Canyon (some people said their wives would not ride down with Dear Husband driving), we learned about our trailer, our truck, and ourselves. All good stuff, but sometimes tense. We even learned that if you wait till June to leave you better go straight up to Colorado rather than West then up. It was miserably hot for about a week before we got to Colorado.
I'm not going to detail the trip you've all read, seen (5000 pix), or heard Mom tell the stories. I'm just gonna give my impressions of our first foray into full time RV life. It was an adventure of a lifetime without a doubt. Not to say it was always good or fun. There were a few unhappy time (kissing a tree with trailer), even a few (very few) boring times, but it was always an adventure. Even something as boring as going to the grocery was something of an adventure. Where are those eggs, or surprise, Hey,there is a wonderful hardware store behind these groceries. Then there is real adventure. You haven't lived until you drive 10 miles on a forest service road at 3 miles an hour so you can hike to a beautiful hidden waterfall in a rain/sleet/snow storm, we have. Maybe you never met a guy at the top of a mountain pass in August back packing a pair of cross country skies so he can ski the patches of snow still on the mountain tops, we did. You probably haven't had the toe curling adventure of driving the winding roads to the top of Colorado's Grand Mesa and then turning around to see that the view that literally takes your breath away was the one behind you all the time. That happened to us. Simple things become adventures. Standing outside your trailer and have a wild mustang horse walk up to you looking for a treat. Encountering a bear while your out on a hike, even though he is safely across a stream, is as cool as it gets. I guess a lot of this sounds kinda tame, but I have lived a pretty tame life, so it doesn't take a lot to charge me up.
I guess to sum it up we LOVED our adventure. To be sure we missed our kids and grans, but even if we had been here life gets busy and we might have had to stay connected by phone and text anyway. Of course it makes coming back and seeing you all just that much sweeter. Will we keep going on this quest? Oh yes. We have not even scratched the surface of what is out there. There is so much to see and experience we could not get it done in two life times, and since we only have part of this one lifetime left we need and want to keep going. There are adventures waiting, experiences that we will cherish, sights that must be seen in person, people we have yet to meet, and friends we have yet to make. So until it is just not fun anymore or until our bodies just won't go, we will be Rockin' and RoVing. Remember, these are just the ramblings of an old Rocking RoVer rocking and roving on. Thanks for reading.
Pops
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