WOW... that's about all I have to say about this past weekend. Thursday night, my son, daughter-in-law and I headed for MO to drop his truck off. He is coming off the road from being an over the road driver. Left at midnight and made the turn around in 32 hours. 776 miles each way. After getting back here at 8 am on Friday, we find out that a storm was at our backsides, the one that killed 40+ people. Worked with my son on the yard on Saturday and Sunday and finally gave out on Sunday night.

Work, that is what resting is for. Have fun and enjoy life.

  On 4/19/2011 at 9:00 AM, imadtchmn said:

WOW... that's about all I have to say about this past weekend. Thursday night, my son, daughter-in-law and I headed for MO to drop his truck off. He is coming off the road from being an over the road driver. Left at midnight and made the turn around in 32 hours. 776 miles each way. After getting back here at 8 am on Friday, we find out that a storm was at our backsides, the one that killed 40+ people. Worked with my son on the yard on Saturday and Sunday and finally gave out on Sunday night.

 

Work, that is what resting is for. Have fun and enjoy life.

Isn't getting ready for full time work! We are still organizing our clutter to be in a position to REDISTRIBUTE it to others who may not have enough clutter of their own. Glad to hear you missed the storms. Here in NC we had them blow through Saturday afternoon. We were between two cells and other trhan the wind, didn't really notice until the power came back on and we saw the devestation on the news where Sanford, our neighbor 10 miles over, was hit hard. 🙁

We are going out full time in 2013--maybe we will cross paths during one of our trips west?

That Dutchman looks pretty good on that Chevrolet...how do you like that 6.5 diesel?

Who ever thought life could run so fast?

Tim and MAry

Edited April 19, 2011 by zthatzmanz28

  On 4/19/2011 at 5:18 PM, zthatzmanz28 said:

Isn't getting ready for full time work! We are still organizing our clutter to be in a position to REDISTRIBUTE it to others who may not have enough clutter of their own. Glad to hear you missed the storms. Here in NC we had them blow through Saturday afternoon. We were between two cells and other trhan the wind, didn't really notice until the power came back on and we saw the devestation on the news where Sanford, our neighbor 10 miles over, was hit hard. 🙁

 

We are going out full time in 2013--maybe we will cross paths during one of our trips west?

 

That Dutchman looks pretty good on that Chevrolet...how do you like that 6.5 diesel?

 

Who ever thought life could run so fast?

 

 

Tim and MAry

I seen the devastation on the news and feel bad about all of it. We were right on the edge of the storm so, like you, we just seen the winds.

Thanks for the compliment on the rigs. I like the 6.5 and with the turbo, it pulls fairly well. It's not speed demon, but when we go out with it, we are never in a hurry. It will maintain the speed on the hills around here and hopefully will do good on the mountains north of us and out west. We are still fixing up things on the fiver while living in it and as you can see in the signature pic, it still needs new fenders. For the price I paid on it, it serves us well. Still thinking about redoing the bathroom area, but have to convince the DW to invest that kind of money into it. I know I will never get that back out of it if we do make the changes. We are still kicking around the idea of keeping this fiver until I retire and getting a newer one then. Who knows what the future holds for us.

Life is really going fast these days. Sure wish it would slow down sometimes and just go on auto-cruise for a while, but it doesn't seem to want to do that at the moment. We have gotten our clutter down to a small shed at my daughters home and in the fiver, so we are good to go on that. We started just over a year ago and are now at the point and weight that we can go to her home twice a year and just change out the summer/winter clothes. We are light enough that we could, if necessary, carry both summer and winter clothes with us. The shed, however, holds all my tools and toolboxes and I am afraid that I am unable to take all of those with me. Looking at over 2000 lbs of just tools. I will carry the necessary items with me however and will try to keep that under 100 lbs. Don't want to be in the middle of nowhere and not have the tools I need to fix what may be broke.

It may be very possible that we will cross paths sometime in the future. I plan to do fulltiming for many years to come. Love the outdoors and nature. The DW and I are planning a bit of a getaway the middle of next month and then again on the 4th of July weekend. That reminds me, have to make the reservations.

Its been nice hearing from you and be safe on the roads. Stop in anytime as it does get a bit lonely in the 2016 forum. I just remind myself that I have only 1968 days until retirement. Yes I'm on the countdown.

Hey, are there only three of us planning to hit the road in 2016??? Whoa…. We are going to be a pretty small class. Maybe there is an advantage to that; being a small class. We could fit in any small pull out along the road and have a class reunion. Hmmm…see there is an advantage to belonging to a small class.

Imadtchmn, once you are through with remodeling your bathroom, maybe you can come out to California and help me with the two bathrooms I have to remodel before I sell the sticks and bricks.

Anyway, everyone have a safe and Happy Easter

Slopoke

Thanks slo-poke, you and yours have a Happy Easter also.

As far as the bathroom goes, the wife said no and after listening to her reasoning, I must admit, I agree with her thoughts. We have decided that in 3-4 years, we will trade in out Dutchmen and get another 5'er. The next one will have a bedroom slide and the bathroom as we want it. By the time we get ready for it, the ones we have been looking at will be down within our price range. Yup, cheap! In the mean time, this one will do quite well and we will keep fixing it up so we can get the best price possible.

Small class?? It will grow. Its still very early for the class to start growing, and I have always been one to be a lot early than a minute late. Just one of those quirks I have. Wife hates it at times, especially when we head out and I wake her up at 5 am to get to the campsite by 2 pm. But that's me. Or maybe it's the fact of just getting away.

Everyone have a safe Easter weekend, enjoy family, life, and freedom of the road.

Well here we are again. Have another black tank leak. Crap!! (no pun intended) Well tomorrow morning, we will tackle it again. I think this one is coming from higher up. Have to get it fixed soon and permanently. We are going to the Dames Ferry Campground on the weekend of May 27th and don't want any complaints coming from anyone about the smell. We are really looking forward to the short get-a-way. It will be nice to just relax a weekend. Since I have a Dr appt on the May 27th, We'll be leaving out around noon time. It's just a short 45 minute drive from here, but seems a world away. Love getting away. Right now it looks like it may just be the DW and myself, but things around here change fast.

We have decided that we will not redo the bathroom. Instead, we will trade this one in for the one we want when retirement gets closer. Its been a busy week at work, so work at home has been pretty much nil other than the normal cleaning and the normal living things. I hope to get the 5th wheel washed this weekend along with the DW's car and the TV. Maybe some wax if I have time to do it. Also have to get the pool in the yard finished. Got the last item we needed and have to get the bit of water that is in it due to the rains so we can level the bottom. Looks like a busy weekend ahead.

Well on with the adventure. BTW, I have 1959 days to retirement and counting. Can't wait!

Live with freedom, no matter where you are.

Edited April 30, 2011 by imadtchmn

Hi Everyone,

I have been watching this board for about a year now and finally decides to register and throw my hat in the ring. My name is Jim and the wife is Pam, mainly I signed up because I didn't want you to think you were the only 3 in the Class of 2016. We're planning on making the plung then so may as well jump in now and start the planning along with the rest of the class. We don't have a RV at this time, but plan on renting one this summer for a week at the lake, at the end of the week we'll evaluate and move on from there. Can't see us not enjoying it, but we need to rent a few times to be sure. Looking for ward to talking with everyone in the class and hopefull meeting later on down the road. Thanks

Welcome Jim and Pam.

Glad you decided to join our class. Yes, it is a small class, but it will grow as time gets closer to the 2016 year. It's still about 4 1/2 years off, so it's still prettty early. Sounds like you haven't done much camping in an RV. I am sure you will enjoy the get-away from the rat race we currently live in. If you love nature as much as I do, I am sure you will get the 'RV bug' as the rest of us have. Nothing beats getting up in the morning and stepping outside to view what nature has given us, along with no worries or schedules to attend to.

As you take your week of vacation, enjoy the time, don't set any schedule to do anything in particular, and just wing it. I have found that to be the best way to enjoy time away from the stick and brick. I am sure you will enjoy the week away and will find that by the end of the week, you will be looking, even more, to the day you can do this fulltime.

Even at work now, I find that I do not hurry to get things done and find that I get them done faster and more accurately. Weird, I know! Although I am actually fulltiming (live in my RV), I still work at my current job. I will be retiring Oct 8, 2016 and really looking forward to doing much traveling. I may even do some workamping at times, but I think that may come in after the first full year of traveling this great country of ours. Both the DW and I have friends scattered across the country. Some we haven't see in many years due to work scheduling. I am limited to taking 1 week at at time for vacations, so that does limit our traveling greatly.

Again, welcome to the Graduating Class of 2016. Keep us informed of your RV vacation.

Well, had some disappointing news. Everywhere I checked, they were full. No reservations for the upcoming Memorial weekend. I know, I should have looked into it much earlier, however I did learn a lesson and will make my reservations for the 4th of July now. We have decided to make reservations for the weekend after Memorial day and the DW and I will just have it a day shorter. We are in desperate need of some time away and this will be a perfect chance for us to do that. The place we selected is close to home so I don't need to take time off from work to get there.

Finally got the black tank fully sealed. It was a messy job, but had to be done. Did a complete seal around the drain where it connects to the tank. Seems the factory drain was faulty, but it holds now and drains like it should. Glad thats over with. Still have plenty of work to do on it, but the other items can be done at my leisure. We want to do some mods and upgrades to this unit, so when we trade it in or sell it, we can get the most out of it. It serves our purpose for now and eventually we plan to get a 35 footer with 3 slides. The DW wants her front bedroom slide. More weight, more room. Oh well, As long as it doesn't go over 15,000 lbs, I'll be ok with it. If it does, the DW will have to get me a new truck.

The grandkids leave for their trip to NYC and Washington DC tonight so its all out for packing and getting ready. It will be pretty quiet around here for the next week. (skinny dippin anyone?) It will give the DW and I some time to get caught up with each other.

Well thats about it for me. How about the others here, what are you all doing to get ready? Have you made any travel plans?