House Showing & Inflatable Kayaks

The showing went well yesterday.  It was an older man (not too old) and his son that came by to look.  The son lives here in town and the father has a house and 40 acres in Virginia.  The father and his wife are the ones interested in the property.

Our Realtor said they like the house, but are not ready to make a decision, and  they have a house to sell first.  He sent pictures of our place  to his wife in Virginia.  It sounds promising, except for the house in Virginia that needs to be sold.  Oh well.

For the past year or so, Al and I have been trying to figure out an easier way to carry and haul our kayaks.  We love our Wilderness Tarpon kayaks, but they weigh about 70 pounds each.  We carry them in the back of the pick up truck.  We looked at some of the newer and lighter weight kayaks and found a few that we really liked, however there is still the issue of transporting in the back of the truck.  We have a Nissan Frontier truck and a Honda CRv.  We much prefer riding in the CRv.  It's a lot .more comfy, but can't carry the kayaks unless we get a roof rack.  We don't want to carry the kayaks on a roof rack because they weigh 70 pounds and you have to put them up there.  Even the lighter weight kayaks would have to be a bit of a problem putting them onto the roof. They do have gadgets that help you with that, but we feel putting them in the back of the truck is easier.

This morning I read Nick's Blog where he tested one of these Sea Eagle inflatable boats.  Nick currently uses a kayak similar to ours,  so I was anxious to hear his opinion.  Although the boat he tested wan't exactly the kayak we would order, it gave me a good idea of the comparison.  You don't want a boat that veers left or right whenever you paddle and you want one that glides easily in the water.  That was my concern.  He seems pretty happy with the one he tested.

Howard and Linda of Rv-Dreams have a couple of these Sea Eagle kaysks  that they really love. I've been reading their reviews and stories about their kayaking trip for a couple of years, but we always felt those boats were not for us.  We usually paddle upriver, or into the current, so we need a hard bottomed boat that tracks well and paddles with minimal effort.  Howard and Linda frequently paddle downstream and use their 2nd car to ferry them back to where they started.  That won't work for us.    These boats are expensive enough that we didn't want to buy one without trying them out, so we've waited.

Our kayaks serve the purpose well, but are a little heavy.   Now that we're getting closer to our new fulltiming life, we are reconsidering what will work best for our new life. The inflatable boats can be deflated and then stored either in the truck bed (covered) or the back of the Honda.  We're trying to find a place that sells them so that we can test paddle one. 

This is the one we think would be best for us.  Of course we need two because we like each other currently and want to keep it that way :)   Most of the people I know that kayak in a tandem kayak ended up fighting.  We had the same result in a canoe so we like our own boats!

Well today is a good day to hang around the house.  Al is splitting some wood on his DR power splitter before we sell it.  We're getting a good supply of firewood for this winter!

The temperature is supposed to get to 78 so it's a perfect day.  I think I'll mow a bit and clean up some of the sprouts that have popped up.  It's too nice to sit inside.

Productive Day

It sometimes seems like we work all the time and never get anything accomplished.  We have good intentions, but it seems we always have to make a trip into town for something. 

Yesterday we stayed home and actually got a lot accomplished.  Al went through the entertainment center and sorted  Dvd’s, Cd’s,  cables, wires and all kinds of junk.  I copied 55 Cd’s  to the computer.  I have more to do today and then back up my laptop to my handy new back up drive!

We’re going to sell  the originals at our yard sale.   This way, I can always make a cd and I’m saving some space.  I don’t know if anybody will buy these, but I’ll guess we’ll see Saturday.

We found out that the city wants a $75 fee for a garage sale permit.  You are allowed to have 2 per year, but after that you need the permit.  I don’t know if the permit allows you to have more than one, or what.  Al is going to call city hall later this morning.  I think it’s ridiculous, but I guess it stops people who keep a junkyard in their front yard making a living having garage sales each week.  It makes me mad though!  If the $75 fee allows you to have as many as you want, it might be worth it…at least we could put out more signs without fear of getting caught!

We’re getting kind of excited about our upcoming trip to Florida.  Although it’s not until December, we’re sure looking forward to it.  I was thinking about what a pain it’s going to be to get packed up and ready.  We’ll have to make sure we leave the house in perfect condition, bring clothes for all seasons, load the kayaks, bikes, kitties, Al’s Pest Control stuff, and now Al’s talking about bringing the boat!  I don’t think the boat will be coming with us, but it would be nice to have it there as there are a lot of nice rivers perfect for a small boat.  We plan to be gone 2 1/2 months.  I guess we’ll be Snowbirds! 

A Light Bulb Went Off

We’ve been trying to figure out the best way to give rid of a lot of smaller things that won’t fit in the motor home when we start to travel. 

We’ve sold a few larger things on Craig’s List   and E-Bay, but there are just so many small things that I hate to just trash or give to Goodwill.

It's been too hot to even consider a garage sale, but the fact that we live in a small town and in the country makes having a garage sale even more difficult.

I hate the thought of going through all the work to put stuff out, and either no one comes, or no one buys anything and we have to put all the stuff back.  Our garage is full of with the boat, riding mower, golf cart and yard equipment and tools.  Anything not sold would have to be pushed aside and it's awfully dusty there.
 
I have been against renting a storage shed.  I did not want to endi p leaving town with a bunch of stuff in a storage shed.  When we leave town, I want to take everything with us…and I don’t want “everything” to be that much stuff!

I got to thinking that maybe renting a storage shed on a month to month basis might work for garage sale items.  We could start taking sale items there now and getting them of the house.  I keep trying to clean but I have so much stuff that needs to be sold that it's difficult. I find myself just moving stuff around.  If we rented a storage shed in town on a busier road, maybe we could actually start selling a few things, but at least I could move some stuff out of the house.  The nice thing is that what didn’t sell could stay right there.  I don’t know how many people attend garage sales in this heat but it would be easy enough to just go out on a Saturday and put a few signs out.  We could test the waters.   Of course the cost of the storage unit would probably eat up all our profits!

I just don’t think we’d get much traffic here at the house.  What do you think about the storage shed?

Dirtiest House in the Country

It was thundering and raining yesterday so we had to stay inside.  Somehow we started watching the tv show, The Dirtiest House in America.  The premise of the show is that they find the dirtiest house (who would want that distinction, I don't know),  force the people that live there to let go of all their clutter, and then magically, come back and give them a clean and beautifully decorated house.   It is kind of interesting seeing the ways people justify keeping and collecting all their "stuff."    These houses are way beyond clutter, the one today was absolutely filthy and disgusting.  However, when they finished the house all is clean and beautiful.

After watching the hour long show, it got us motivated!  We went into the "stuff" room and made some tough choices.  One batch to the consignment shop, one to Goodwill and one to trash!  I guess we need to watch that show every week!

Nellie wrote in her blog that she was very happy on trash days.  We felt like that when we went through the moving process when we left Tampa.  We got trash pick up twice a week and about half the time one of our trash days fell on a holiday, so we missed it that week.  Here in the country, we have no trash pick up!  We have to haul our trash to the community dumpsters and it's kind of nice, because every day is trash day!  With our property off the highway, even if someone came to pick it up, we'd still have to haul it up to the road, so it's not really a problem.  Now of course Al may tell a different story, because it's his job to haul the trash :)

Al is feeling a little better today, but is still having some problems.  He has become sensitive to smells, dust, chemicals and cleaning products.  These kind of things bother his lungs.  I think he may have a sinus and respiratory infection.  He had some antibiotics (z-pack)  that he got last year so he took them.  He started to feel much better right away, but then yesterday he started going back down hill again.  I think he started doing too much and relapsed.  Anyway, we decided to look into an indoor air-purification system.  With the cats, we have lots of dander and dust from kitty litter.  Maybe this will help.  I did a lot of research and we ordered  this:  Rabbit Air MinusA2 Air Purifier SPA-780A - Pet Allergy (White)   I ordered it from Home Depot, so if we don't like it, it's returnable.  It was expensive, but since he's having lung issues, I think it might be a good thing.  Once we're living in the motor home, we'll be in closer contact with the cat dander and kitty litter dust, so hopefully it will help him.

Visit From The Realtor

We had the Realtor who originally sold us the house come out Friday.  We liked her and she did a good job for us when we purchased the house, so we figured we'd probably use her to list the house when we get ready.  I explained to her that we weren't quite ready to list it, but just wanted an idea of what she thought it was worth now. It was idea to come out and look at the property.  She sold us the property, but was not the listing agent, so I wasn't sure she actually knew all she should know about our property.  After we talked a while, I gave her the golf cart tour of the entire property.  I wanted to make sure she knew exactly where our property lines were, that the pasture is fenced, where the out buildings are, that we have a storm shelter, etc.

She was all set to put the for sale sign up, but we explained (again) that we were not ready for that yet.  She left with some comps for previously sold houses in the area and a few more of ones that are currently listed.  The trouble is that here, we are in the country and there are no other properties that are really comparable. It's very different from when we listed our house in a subdivision in Tampa.

In some ways, I wonder if we should just go ahead and list it and continue to work to get it ready.  After all, what if our one buyer is out there, just looking for this type of property?  On the other hand, I don't want to scare off the one buyer with a house that isn't in as good of condition as it should be.  Plus, if a realtor called and said they had someone wanting to come look at the house tomorrow...I'd just panic.  No way am I ready for someone to look...everywhere!

It was stressful enough making everything presentable enough for the Realtor.  We tried to get everything all mowed, trimmed, and prettied up outside.  Inside, I basically cleaned and de-cluttered the surface areas.  The cupboards need work and the two other bedrooms are full of  "stuff".   We're trying to keep everything picked up and start living like we expect company :)  Boy, do I hate that!

So, I guess we are going to try to get some of the outside painting done and work on the two "junk" rooms and try to get it listed before the grass turns brown!

Al has been under the weather the past few days, so we haven't made much progress.

Motivation

Al and I have been talking about our options and were wondering if we could take some extended trips in the RV before we sell the house.  We may be able to find some shorter work camping jobs to keep the expenses down.  The benefits would be that we wouldn't have to wait for the house to sell before we can start exploring some places we've been wanting to go.  Even though we lived in Florida over 30 years, there are still a LOT of places we haven't been to, or explored enough...believe it or not.   If you have never lived in Florida, you can't imagine all that it has to offer.

Most of our time in Florida we were scuba divers, not rv'ers, so the kinds of places we went were different than the kinds of places we enjoy now.  We still intend to dive though and there are lots of places that offer both.   We have not explored the east coast of the state nearly enough.  Al wants to start at Jacksonville, and work his way down.  Sounds good to me.  We were thinking if we work camped, the cost of living in the rv would be about the same as if it was just parked here.  We may be able to save a little on the home a/c, but the other expenses would be about the same. We're not thinking of doing this for a while because for one, we're not ready to put the house on the market, and two, too much yard work to do this time of year.  BUT, some January, it may be a possibility...if we continue to get rid of STUFF!    Hummmm??

Slow and Steady?

We spent Monday just hanging around the house.  Al had to take an online continuing ed class for his Pest Control License.  He's not a computer whiz and needed some assistance occasionally.   On top of the computer issues, he wasn't feeling very well, so he was a little grumpy :)

I spent some time cleaning out cabinets.  I don't know why, but I just can't bring myself to toss out very much stuff.  I know once we get the house sold and we're under the gun, I'll have no problem with most of it, but for now I'm having trouble tossing things like spices, rubs, seasonings, hand creams, perfumes, and that kind of stuff.  Most of what I found I didn't even remember I had it, but most of it is usable.  I just need to USE it!  Why do we have so much stuff?  We buy it, forget we have it and it gets put away in some place never to be seen, or remembered again.  I guess a little at a time and we'll eventually get there.  I've read several blogs and one thing I find pretty consistent is nothing really gets done until the house is sold and you have to go like hell!  I know Al and I work better under pressure so we'll probably be doing the same thing.

Our big old heavy Tv started acting up again.  We were hoping it would last until we were ready to hit the road, but it appears it may be dead.  Yesterday we got sound, and no picture.  We got it fixed and it was fine.  Today it was fine, then all of a sudden the color was gone.  Later on, the picture and sound were gone. We moved it out and checked all the connections and they all seemed fine.  It's such a big monster that we have to use a hydraulic table to lift it.  We were hoping to be able to sell it to 2-3 really big guys so they could take it out of here.  Al is going to mess with it a little and see if he can figure something out, but more than likely it's a dead soldier. 

We sold an item on E-bay.  I had two things listed and only one sold.  It almost seems like more trouble than it's worth.  Last week, Al found a bunch of old albums and 45's that his parents had collected.  We went through a few and thought we'd hit the jackpot.  There was a John F. Kennedy memorial album. It has a bunch of his speeches on it.  We thought we might be rich!!  I checked on E-bay and it appears a few dozen other people also thought the same thing.

Little by little, we're selling things.  Last week he sold a speargun and power head.  We aren't really in a good area to have a garage sale and there are no good flea markets close by, so I don't know how to unload large quantities of stuff quickly.  I'm thinking Goodwill is sounding better and better.

The Realtor is coming by Friday to help us get an idea on how much to list the house for. We're not at the point where we are going to list it, but we wanted to get an idea.

Scuba Gear for Sale?

Maybe not!  Al pulled out all of our scuba gear and we went through it all.  I even tried on my old Buoyancy compensator.....it felt good to have it on, kind of like an old friend.  We haven't been diving for probably 10 years but we still intend to do some more diving before we're too old to lift a tank!  It's just not as convenient now that we don't own a dive boat.

What brought this on is a friend is interested in buying some of our dive gear for her husband.  Al is willing to sell a speargun and I have a dive computer that I had actually forgotten about.  I turned it on and it started right up and reminded me how user friendly it was.  Do I want to sell it?  Probably not.  It's small, doesn't weigh much and is very expensive to replace, so I would probably never buy another one.  Someday soon, I hope we can get back to diving.

I think we will get rid of some of the stuff though...like those old wetsuits that must have shrunk.  I hate diving in a wetsuit anyway.  We will need this stuff when we get a chance to dive again, but where will we put it?   The Geeks on Tour do a lot of diving when they winter in Fort Lauderdale and they find room for it, so I guess we will too.

It's going to be difficult to put all of our toys into one 32 foot motorhome! 

Progress

The heat has been terrible the past few weeks. It got up to 99 degrees yesterday and that has been pretty typical the past 10 or so days.  It's still 95 degrees at 7pm, so there is no good time to work outside.  That's a good thing though because Al and I always prefer working outside and now that it's just too hot we are working inside and making PROGRESS!  It's forcing us to stay in the house and work on some projects that need to be done before we put the house on the market.

Unfortunately, the heat is keeping us from loading up stuff and taking it to the dump, Goodwill, or the consignment shop.  It's just too darn hot to go outside.  We need to do some painting outside on the porches but the heat is making that impossible.

We read a  blog about a couple that are in the process of finding a motor home, and selling their house and becoming fulltimers when they retire next year.  They listed their house on  Zillow-Make me Move  just to test the market.  They got an offer on the house and were needing to be out of the house by mid July!  Rush Rush.....however they had no Rv to live in and couldn't find a rental in their town for 6 months.  In the end, the contract fell through and they are back to square one.  Check our their blog....it's definitely interesting. 

After reading about the success they had on Zillow, we had been thinking about listing ours there under the "Make me Move" category.  We need to get a little further along though, because if some fluke would occur and we would get someone wanting to come look at the house...we'd just.....????   Well,  I don't know what we'd do! 

Anyway, we're working towards that goal and since it's been too hot to work outside, we're actually making some progress inside!

Today is our 37th anniversary, but I don't think we'll do much celebrating.  We'll go out for a nice dinner the next time we go into Tallahassee, but just don't have the desire to do it today.  Heck, maybe I'll make Al a special dinner tonight....I'll put some extra pepperoni on the frozen pizza!

Stuff

I read quite a few blogs written by fulltimers and just discovered this one called  Midlife Cruiser.  It is about a couple in their mid 30's that have sold their home and are preparing to start out on their fulltiming adventure.  She has quite a sense of humor and a flair for writing.  Check out the blog. It's so funny.  They are in the process of getting rid of stuff, just like we are and she posted this funny George Carlin video. It's about STUFF!   It is so appropriate but there are a few bad words...just a warning.  

Decision Made

We have been trying to figure out a new name for our blog once we start our new fulltiming Rv lifestyle.  We are not very creative but have been running through a few things.  With Blogger, you have to make sure no one else has already chosen the name you want, so what I did was "reserve" a few names. 

A few I was looking at were:
Going Fulltime
Rv Trip
Expedition RV
Rv Freedom
Rv America
Home is Where the Rv Is
RV-Wanderlust

I told you I am not very creative! Sure wish Al's dad was still alive. He would have come up with a great name!

I think we have decided to go with Rv-Wanderlust.  I think it kind of fits how Al and I have always been.  We definitely have a case of wanderlust.  We have always enjoyed just getting into the car and exploring new places.  It's sure been a lot more enjoyable since we've had "Jane", our GPS.  I think that's what our new blog will be called once we go on the road.  Now if I can only figure out how to transfer it over, or link the new blog to the old one?  Any suggestions?  Of course I am not changing anything until we officially become fulltimers and with the housing market like it is, who knows when that will be.

Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)

I just love good customer service and Truck system Technology Systems  has provided it.

If you remember, we purchased a Tire Pressure Monitoring  System from Camping World about a month ago.  I had done some research online and liked the TST system, mainly because of the good reviews and the fact that it monitors not only tire pressure, but temperature.

The problem was when we got the TPMS they only had one available and it only had 6 sensors.  We needed 10 for the Motorhome and tow vehicle, but we figured 6 would be better than nothing.  The system was easy to set up and the directions were in English!

We had been trying to get the additional 4 sensors for a while now.  Camping World had them on sale for $74.99 for two, but were out of stock.  I checked their online site again today and now they don't even show these sensors.

I called TST to order them, but they were listed at $100 for two sensors, but they said they would honor CW price, even though they were no longer doing business with Camping World.  Anyway, I ordered them and my total cost was $150...no tax and free shipping!  They are to be shipped today, so we'll have them by the end of the week

Having those sensors gives you one less thing to do at the last minute before you take a trip. The tire pressure is constantly being checked, so you don't have to worry about that.  I feel much more secure driving that big motorhome knowing the shape of the tires.  Sometimes the peace of mind is worth the cost.


That is one more thing to check off of my list of things we want/need when we start full timing.

RV Fulltiming Budget

Over the past few years I have been reading a lot of blogs from people that live full time in their RV's.  I am trying to get a sense of the actual costs of this lifestyle. I understand that the more money you have, the more you spend.  We don't have a lot of money and will need to keep a close count on it, but it appears to be something that is doable.

I went over some figures from the actual living expenses of Howard and Linda Payne, from Rv-Dreams.

They document every expense and have complete records for 4 1/2 years.  That gives me a pretty good idea of the cost to actually live full time in a recreational vehicle.  Of course we will have differences in actual expenses depending on how much or little we travel and how much or little we decide to work camp.  At this point, we are thinking of doing quite a bit of work camping, as long as it still leaves us time to explore each area we will be staying at.

I have come up with some initial figures but need to tweak them a little more to make sure I am accurate.  Some things I can only guess on until the time comes.  One of them is RV insurance.  It will change/increase when we become fulltime rv'ers, but I'm not exactly sure how much. 

It's just another step in the process...run the numbers.

I am also trying to get a sense of all the things we will need for the motorhome, like solar power, new window awnings, etc. 

A week or two ago, I walked around the house and gave everything a once over, thinking what would go with us and what would not.   It may be a tight fit to get all of our stuff inside the RV!


What I need to do now, instead of writing on this blog...is go clean out stuff and start tossing junk!

Zillow.com?

A few days ago I was reading some of the blogs I follow.  Most of them are written by full time rv'ers but a few are written by "wannabees."

This one had an interesting post that immediately caught my eye.
On The Road To Retirement

It is written by a guy who is researching the purchase of a Class A motorhome so that they can live full time in their RV.

They are going to retire in February, 2011.

He mentioned that he had listed their house on Zillow.  I was familiar with the old Zillow, where you could enter an address and find out the houses that sold in a nearby area.  It was helpful when we put our house in Tampa up for sale.

It appears that Zillow has changed some and now you can also list your house on the site.  There is a part where you can list it called, "Make me Move."  From what I read, you list it there for what you would like to get (when you are ready to sell) and if someone comes with an offer that will "make you move" early, then you have a deal!

Well, this couple listed (for FREE) their house under the "Make me Move" category and 3 months later, they got a call that someone wanted to come see the house.  Of course they needed a few days to "make it ready."


The bottom line is....they SOLD their house and closing is July 16th!

Their intention is to sell everything that won't fit into the motor home they DON'T have yet and hit the road when they retire early next year!  WOW....that is a lot do do!

We're not quite at that point yet, but we are considering doing a "make me move" listing on Zillow.   We're in a rural area in a small town,  but we're hoping to market to people that survived the winter and are looking at relocating south. 

It sure gives us something to think about!  I need to do more research on Zillow to  educate myself on their fees, etc.

We're Getting Anxious

Maybe it's because of our successful camping trip last month with all the kitties.  Maybe it's because I have been reading a lot of blogs where people are traveling all over the country.  Whatever it is, we're both getting anxious to hit the road and start our fulltiming life.

We've been trying to do something each day in preparation for putting the house on the market.  Today, we stopped by a newly opened consignment shop and found out how it works.  They sell our items, and we split it 50/50.  Sounds like a good deal to me.  All we have to do it load it up and bring it down.  We price the items together.  We brought some clothes, lamps, lead crystal, table cloths, some cd alarm clock radios and some other miscellaneous items.  We tried  to price it cheap enough so that it would sell.  I sure don't want to be hauling it all back home :)

Another project was to get an appliance serviceman out to look at our just out of warranty dishwasher.  This is the second Whirlpool appliance we've had recently that malfunctioned way too early.  We used to always swear by Whirlpool, but I think we've changed our minds.  Their quality doesn't seem to be as good as it used to be.

We have some outside painting to do.  We couldn't do it last summer, because it was too hot.  We somehow missed Fall, and of course it was too cold in the winter.  So guess what...it's summer again.

Tomorrow is another day.

Fulltiming Would be Easier

We are getting ready for our upcoming camping trip and doing the usual things…getting groceries, loading the motorhome, doing laundry.  We keep the RV on our property, but it’s on the top of a hill about 300 feet from the house.  The golfcart makes it much easier to haul stuff  “upstairs.”

We decided to have some lunch, but most of what we needed was already packed,  but we were able to srounge up some lunch meat and bread.  All the new loaves of bread were already in the MH but we  managed to put together two sandwiches.  We made the sandwiches and got ready to get a big glass of milk with our sandwiches….and guess where the milk was?   Frustrating!

Fulltiming would be much easier!  All our stuff would be in one place!

We’re watching the weather and with rain coming tonight and tomorrow, we may just end up postponing the trip until Tuesday.  I guess we’ll wait and see what it looks like.  I don’t think we are having any of the tornado’s or severe weather, but we don’t like to drive in the rain if we don’t have to.

Cancel the Motivation

I got some good feedback regarding my previous post about lack of motivation to start our fulltiming lifestyle. 

I think our main problem  is because we are so happy here in our beautiful place in the country.  We're not happy here forever, but for now, we certainly enjoy it.   We're certain we want to go full time, but we don't feel the sense of urgency that we felt before we left Tampa.

When we sold our house in Tampa, we never looked back.  I think when we leave Georgia, we will miss this place.  It's just so beautiful.  Every window I look out, I see something pretty.  We enjoy just walking or riding the golf cart around the place and looking at all the beautiful flowers, plants and birds.  It's truly a wildlife refuge!   When we found this place, we felt we had bought the perfect campsite.  It had everything we always looked for in a campsite....and more.   We have wished we could move this piece of property somewhere in central Florida!  Of course there are things we don't like, and the main one being the fact that we're just too far from the beach or any good kayaking places.  In Tampa, we could get to numerous places in just a short time....beaches, woods, rivers. 

One of the comments I received from the last post  said if we put too much pressure on ourselves or  have too many deadlines, then it becomes work.  Life is too short, and yes we can take shorter camping trips for now and full time when we get ready.  I think the time is coming, but maybe not this year. 

In the meantime, we will continue fixing up the motorhome for fulltiming, and work on the house to prepare it for sale.  We have LOTS of stuff to get rid of and that alone is a daunting job.  Of course we do work better under pressure, so we may not get anything done until we get some pressure!

Need Some Motivation

We aren't sure exactly when we will start our fulltiming life, but we do intend get rid of excess "stuff" and work towards getting the house ready for sale.

The problem is:  lack of motivation!  We always seem to find something else we prefer to do and not what we should be doing.  We thought a camping trip (or two) might help to provide some incentive.  That didn't seem to work, except for some projects we did in readying the motorhome for our travels.

Al has headed back to Tampa for a few days, so I am determined to box up more stuff for Good Will.  A garage sale when you live in the country, just seems a little pointless, but maybe we should still try one to see how much traffic we get. The only thing is, we are kind of hidden and we're not sure we want to be found!  Is it worth it for a few hundred dollars (maybe) or would our time be better spent elsewhere?  Of course we have a lot of  "good" stuff that we won't just give to Good Will.  I have been slowly selling some of that on Craig's List and E-Bay.  We have had pretty good luck with E-Bay, but it's kind of a pain.  It takes longer to post an ad than on Craig's List and then you have to box it up and mail it.  

Another problem is that the weather has been so nice and we much prefer being outside, and of course there is a lot of yard work to do.  Once it gets a little hotter, maybe those hot afternoons will bring us inside to start sorting and tossing stuff/junk.  Of course those hot afternoons are the perfect time for a nap:)

Installed TPMS

We purchased the Truck System Technology Tire Pressure Monitoring System from Camping World yesterday.

Today we decided to install it, and were pleasantly surprised to find it was easy to install!  Sometimes this type of gadget can be tricky to understand the directions.  We went with this brand because it has a temperature reading as well as tire pressure.  We felt this was important for safety reasons.  A hot tire is a dangerous tire and we prefer to know it before there is a major problem, or blowout.

The system comes with an antenna, and 12v adapter.  You can use the monitor with or without the 12 v adapter.  The monitor has a built in lithium battery that has about a 3 hour battery life.  It recharges when hooked up to 12v.  The monitor can be taken out to tell what the pressure is when you are adding air to the tires. 


This is the monitor and two of the sensors.  They just screw onto the valve stem by using a special tool.  They are not completely theft proof, but you need the installation tool to remove them or put them on.  Better not lose it!  They highly recommend metal valve stems. 

The system we bought only has 6 sensors in it, so we will need to order the extra four.  We need 6 for the Motorhome and 4 for the tow car.  The TST system is on sale at Camping World for $299 with 6 sensors.  The other 4 sensors will cost $150.  It's not cheap, but we feel it's good insurance.

One thing we found out about all of these TPMS is that the sensors have a battery with a life of about 5 years, and the battery is not replaceable.  You have to purchase new sensors when the battery goes.  I feel this is something they could resolve, but I guess it keeps them in business!  I believe more people would buy them if they didn't face replacing sensors every few years.  One thing I learned though, was that the sensors don't all go at the same time, so you can replace them gradually :)  When the vehicle is stored for a period of time, if you take the sensors off, you will save battery life. 

Anyway, as far as installation.  You just turn on the Monitor and program in each sensor.  The sensors each have a specific number on them and you program that particular number into the corresponding tire position showing on the monitor. You give it a minimum and maximum setting for pressure and a maximum temperature.  When Al was putting on the sensors, he let a little air out, and the tires were a few pounds low to start with.  So when we programmed the tire in, it gave us an audible alarm and flashed a red light that the tire pressure was low!   I guess it works.  The temperature of the tire was also there.  I need to do some research and see if exactly what temperature we need to have as a high temperature warning.  The tire temperature will change with the weather and movement.  I don't want it beeping for just normal heat.  The RV-Net Forum is a great place to find that kind of information.


We decided until we get the other 4 sensors, we'd put 2 on the motorhome front, and two on the outer rear tires, and two on the toad front tires.  That would give us a pretty good warning on the most dangerous tires.  We don't have a backup camera on the MH, so if the toad blew a tire, we might not know about it for days :)

Work Camping Offer

We got another call for a work camping position.

This one is at Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park.  They are working for someone for 4 months.  We went there once to check it out and liked it.  Sure wish we could accept, but we just can't commit to 4 months at this time : (

It seems that finding work camping positions in Florida will be pretty easy...at least in the summer :)