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CLASS OF 2016


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Well, I thought maybe we were going to get pushed to 2017, but this week I moved my retirement from 2/17 to 6/24/16!

 

The Wonderlodge is in the shop getting some fixups, and we still have to sell stuff and the house, but everything just pulled forward about 6 months.

 

Where's that GIF of dancing Snoopy? :)

1994 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WB40

Full-timers since 2016, domiciled in Crestview, Florida

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Hey Gannet!....you're retiring the same day as me! We are already out of the house in the rv and loving it, but I have to work until 6/24 for it to be official! :)

We've had a few kinks, but nothing major so far, and we are loving the relaxation already and the pace of the new life! I'm thinking this is going to be fun and and a real adventure! These next few weeks are going to be the longest of my 41 year working career! I'm sure the same for you as well!! Have fun and good luck!

Gracie's Golden Getaway

Barry and Marianne traveling full-time with Golden Retriever Maggie

2014 Ford F-450 DRW Super Heavy Duty Lariat with

2015 Solitude 305RE since June 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hello all, I am a recent retiree and have downsized once from 3,800 square feet to 1,200 square feet as part of a divorce. Am now downsizing again to 128 square feet in a small travel trailer. I traveled a lot with my job as a field biologist and I miss it terribly. So do my 3 labs. I know the trailer will be tight and it's not a long-term solution, but it's a better situation for us all and the savings in rent/taxes/utilities, even if I choose a $30/night campground are significant. Rent in AZ for a house with a yard for 3 dogs is not cheap. My goal is to eventually move up to a mid-sized class C or smaller class A down the road. I am in the final stages of downsizing, with a hard "hit-the-road" date of 1 July 2016. I have not found it as hard to downsize as I thought. Scanning all the photos and other documents and memorabilia was really helpful here. The rest is just stuff that takes up space and has to be cared for and space to care/store it paid for. The hardest thing for me to downsize was my library. Thanks to kindle, though, I have been able to convert most of my field guides to digital versions that take up no space at all, they are all on line. I will have to put some things in storage (family pieces) because neither my niece nor nephew are in a position to take them (not old enough) but want the pieces down the road. Everything else, except the dogs: GONE!!!

Anita, and the 3 Labs: Ace, Boo-Boo, & Morely

Looking for Critters to Photograph and Lakes to Swim and Play in

Full-timing in our 2014 Subaru Outback towing an

Itty-Bitty 1990 Skyline Aljo Aly 1661

Yes, we may be just a bit nuts to be doing this :P

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Hello all, I am a recent retiree and have downsized once from 3,800 square feet to 1,200 square feet as part of a divorce. Am now downsizing again to 128 square feet in a small travel trailer. I traveled a lot with my job as a field biologist and I miss it terribly. So do my 3 labs. I know the trailer will be tight and it's not a long-term solution, but it's a better situation for us all and the savings in rent/taxes/utilities, even if I choose a $30/night campground are significant. Rent in AZ for a house with a yard for 3 dogs is not cheap. My goal is to eventually move up to a mid-sized class C or smaller class A down the road. I am in the final stages of downsizing, with a hard "hit-the-road" date of 1 July 2016. I have not found it as hard to downsize as I thought. Scanning all the photos and other documents and memorabilia was really helpful here. The rest is just stuff that takes up space and has to be cared for and space to care/store it paid for. The hardest thing for me to downsize was my library. Thanks to kindle, though, I have been able to convert most of my field guides to digital versions that take up no space at all, they are all on line. I will have to put some things in storage (family pieces) because neither my niece nor nephew are in a position to take them (not old enough) but want the pieces down the road. Everything else, except the dogs: GONE!!!

 

Welcome! My wife and are just retired and are on the road full-timing for now in a 5th. We're in New England volunteering at a COE facility.

 

Where do you plan to go? What will you be doing? Enjoy.

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R. Walter--

 

I am going to go wherever the road and scenery take me. The dogs and I are big hikers, explorers, and like to see and do new things. Am also an avid amateur photographer. We do plan to drive up to Alaska next spring and spend the entire summer up there wandering about, fishing and just taking in life. I am not in a hurry. Right now, no plans to work-camp, but may volunteer from time to time as a naturalist, hike leader, or similar at parks and other sites. Will just have to see how it goes. Am looking forward to hitting the road in 3 weeks :)

Anita, and the 3 Labs: Ace, Boo-Boo, & Morely

Looking for Critters to Photograph and Lakes to Swim and Play in

Full-timing in our 2014 Subaru Outback towing an

Itty-Bitty 1990 Skyline Aljo Aly 1661

Yes, we may be just a bit nuts to be doing this :P

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We will be moving into our 5W in August. Have camped for years, moving from tents to popups to TT then a couple different MH but knew we wanted a 5W for fulltiming. We started the process last fall buying the RV and truck and also selling the house and downsizing 30 years worth of STUFF! As hubby still had to work, we moved into a small apartment, keeping only a small amount of furniture. And in the meantime making modifications to the RV to get it ready for fulltiming.

 

Fortunately he has been able to retire earlier than expected in February of this year, so now we are just waiting out our 1 year lease on the apartment plus we are babysitting grandkids this summer. But come August - kids are back in school and we can move out and get rid of the rest of our things. We've spent the last few weeks scanning many pictures and documents that had been stored by not only us but both of our deceased mothers and my grandfather. Really freeing to get rid of all the paper accumulation. Hoping not to have to leave anything in storage.

 

I think the only hard part will be being away from the grandkids for long periods of time. We see them a lot now and they grow up so fast. But there's always Skype and facetime so hopefully it won't be too bad.

 

Vicki

Vicki, Mark and Sadie 

Fulltime and having fun!

2016 Newmar Ventana LE 

2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk 

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Great to see everyone's updates! Here's ours: House is under contract (took 8 days). Just had our 2nd yard sale today and started donating items not sold. Waiting on appraisal and inspection by buyers bank, but expect to close by July 15... We'll be full time in the coach likely just after July 4th, just before we head to the Escapee rally in Boot camp. Handy that it happens to be in our back yard this year. Coach has been excellent and we're both sleeping better in it than the home bed. Got our Thousand Trails Elite connections membership which will help us keep camping costs down. Decided to register in Maine which was painful but ended up being cheaper than FL for this year, but we'll change domicile next spring when we get to FL. We've got a blog setup to chronicle our travels... will add URL to signature soon once it's spruced up a bit. We plan to stay in Maine until mid-late August (except for Escapees rally in July) then head towards the Adirondacks to visit some relatives then on to NC to see my nephew's 1st child (my brother's 1st grandchild). Everyone wants to know what "our plan" is and seem perplexed when we tell them "our plan is not having a plan". We ended up trading wife's leased Subaru for a Jeep Grand Cherokee (she loved it 5 minutes into the test ride and "happy wife=happy life"). So we're flat towing, although, now that we've done it, a dolly is looking awful good! We thought our furry best friend Emma would start our new life with us, but sadly, she didn't make it, although she made it to 14 years old. I do plan to write a paper and post on the blog about buying a coach in Canada and importing into the USA. We saved 6 figures ($) over NADA pricing on our coach buying on a US dollar worth $1.41 at our time of purchase. And the dealer in New Brunswick Canada couldn't have been nicer to deal with. From Maine he was closer than almost any other decent sized dealer (about 380 miles). So that's the update from here. Any other 2016 classmates attending the Escapade and/or Bootcamp in VT?

Cheers,

 

Don

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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Update

 

I retired February 28th, had a knee replacement March 28th, moved into my 5th wheel full time April 28th.

I'm really enjoying this lifestyle it's a big adjustment but I wouldn't be giving up the full time living any time soon.

:)

Mike
2007 Montana 3500rl
2005 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD

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Hey there. I'm Brent and I live in Colorado. I moved into my TT in Sept of 2014 but have been stationary (she got the house :P ). I will take my son to college in August and be mobile then! I'm working on domicile, mail, downsizing (I have 5 bikes!!), etc. I think I'll spend a month in the Asheville area, back to CO for some fall cycling, then on to some warmer place(s) for winter. I'm very excited and optimistic! Hello and good luck to everyone!

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Hello all.

 

WE DID IT! The AwesomeSauce Duo and Team are officially full timing! Today was our very first day on the road!

Rig did great, Toad did great, cats were great (and adjusted VERY fast), and we managed not to panic too much. We made it to our first stop - Cripple Creek KOA. The Highest KOA in the World (elevation wise).

 

We couldn't be happier to have June 15th, 2016 be our graduation day! Yay!

Rig: 2000 31ft Class C Forest River Sunseeker (The Great A'Tuin)

Toad: 2009 SmartCar (Tyrian, of House Mercedes)

 

Kevin (Awesome K) of House AwesomeSauce

Genevieve (Sauce G) of House AwesomeSauce

Three Cats;

Sir Archer Funnyfoot of House Fluffington

Lady LanaBoBana of House Fluffington

Miss Matilda Pants, First of Her Name, Hun of the Andals, Queen of the All the Things, Khaleesi of the Great A'Tuin, Breaker of Souls, and Mother of Dragons.

 

http://awesomesauceadventure.com

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Wow, it's been awhile since I've been here! Kids moved out, two out of three married, sold house in April, moved into apartment for 6 months while we finish work. We pick up our new home in Michigan in August and we are taking a couple of weeks or so to drive it back to Washington and will have to store it for a month before moving in around the 1st of October before retiring around November 1st. Soooo many changes in such a short time. Excited. Anxious. Mostly impatient!! Wondering what the future will hold. Been dreaming of doing this for so long but now that it's almost here (and while you're not actually "doing" it!), you wonder if you're making the right decisions. But we have been encouraged by reading the experiences of those before us and whether it's 6 months or 6 years, we know giving it a shot is right for us!!

 

Now I need to go back and catch up on our fellow class of '16 adventurers!!

 

Ellen

Pat & Ellen

Newmar Bay Star 3009

?? for a toad...

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, we finally made it as of about 6:30 last night, we closed on our house here in Southern Maine. We had been living in the coach for a few days, but somehow the house being gone makes full-timing seem much more real! Now it's just some banking to attend to in the next few days and off to the Escapees boot camp and VT rally next week. We'll spend August back in Maine near our daughter at Pumpkin Patch RV where we'll also attend the Northeast Escapee summer Lobsterfest rally while there. Then a slow migration south and west. So I guess we've graduated! Hope to meet some of you at the VT SKP rally and boot camp!

Cheers,

 

Don

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Congrats. Don. I'm glad things worked out well with the house sale and that you like the Newmar. We have been procrastinating and are on a 3 month trip right now. Heading to the UP of Michigan, then the Dakotas followed by the Newmar rally in Pueblo, CO. After that we're off to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and then finish up with the Hoots rally in Texas. Once we get back we start in earnest with the house. Our "drop dead" date is April 1st even if it hasn't sold. We will be hitting the road then full time and only returning for closing. May even do that electronically from the road.

 

Best of luck to you and I look forward to your blog. Enjoy the Rally in VT.

 

Steve

Steve and Liz
2016 Newmar Ventana 4041 DP
2011 Ford Edge, Blue Ox Aventa Tow Bar

http://fulltimingit.com

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Still up here in Massachusetts volunteer working at a COE facility. Plan to head back to New Mexico on August 29 going through the UP of Michigan for a week or two.

 

Weather in New England this summer has been unusually warm and dry. I thought I'd get some cool weather compared to central NM, but I guess not.

 

Just thought I'd post this update.

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Well, it's official! My wife is planning to quit her job for good by the 12th of August (I have been retired almost three years). We sold our house and closing is supposed to be the 12th of August. Originally it was the 22nd of July, but but a snag with my buyer's buyer caused the slight delay. I am really looking forward to the new adventure. She is a bit more hesitant, but I lived out on the road for over 8 years driving semis and two years in my trailer while working away from home. Now to see where life takes us!!

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Congrats. Don. I'm glad things worked out well with the house sale and that you like the Newmar. We have been procrastinating and are on a 3 month trip right now. Heading to the UP of Michigan, then the Dakotas followed by the Newmar rally in Pueblo, CO. After that we're off to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and then finish up with the Hoots rally in Texas. Once we get back we start in earnest with the house. Our "drop dead" date is April 1st even if it hasn't sold. We will be hitting the road then full time and only returning for closing. May even do that electronically from the road.

 

Best of luck to you and I look forward to your blog. Enjoy the Rally in VT.

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

 

Great to hear from you. Hopefully, our paths will cross at some point. We'd love to do the balloon festival but can't quite make the timing work this year, but definitely putting it in the plan for next year! We're also planning a trip into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to board the ferry to Newfoundland and spend some time over there (I've been to Newfoundland and Labrador on the bike a couple times, but Jane has never seen them).

 

Good luck with the house sale. It really maxxed us out cleaning things out and coming down to the wire on the closing. My buyer used a "Midnight mortgage company" (1st time home owner thought he'd save a few bucks) which gave him fits and we didn't have a firm closing date/time until 3 hours prior to closing! But it all worked out in the end. Phew... It does feel pretty liberating to have zero debt, coach title in hand, and no lawn to mow, and no need for a snow blower to clear a driveway! We hope to maximize use of our TT/RPI membership to keep RV site costs down where possible.

 

So tell me what the Hoots rally is and how do I find info on it? We're heading out of Maine sometime after labor day and going out through the Adirondacks and Rochester NY and thinking of stopping by Newmar on the way out before heading south/west. Take care and keep in touch!

Cheers,

 

Don

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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Hello class of 2016

 

Time for us to join.

We moved out of our home on June 6th. We had quite the whirlwind of activity as we decided to put the house on the market on May first, we figured it would take about 2 weeks or more to sell with a 45 day close- the first day we had five showing and an offer that night. They wanted a 30 day close and we agreed to it- we got rid of just about everything.

 

Sold a lot to friends and family and gave our niece all the family heirlooms (tables, chairs and a dresser, etc..) had a yard sale and after it was all said and done we had about 12 bins of “stuff”, a riding mower (sold) generator (sold) small trailer and my car- will offer for sale in September.

 

We left our home and spent a few days at friends outside their barn- they are so awesome he put in a 50 amp plug for us! After that we did a state park, a month at the Elkhart Campground, back to our friends, a few days at a state park, a week at another campground and then on July 26th we headed to the upper peninsula of Michigan and now we are in Marquette.

 

In our early 50’s we both still work and are able to as long as we have a WIFI connection. We are really enjoying the freedom of full timing and can’t wait to go south this winter. We have been camping since 2005 when we purchased a used travel trailer to check out a few state parks, we were hooked the first trip out!

 

Happy camping-

Steve and Dara

2016 Bighorn 3760EL

 

Steve, Dara and Mattie dog

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  • 4 weeks later...

Things have moved a long way for us. I moved my retirement forward, couldn't take it anymore. I retired at the end of July. The DW retired yesterday. The coach comes back from the shop next Monday and we start moving into it in the driveway. I will regard us a "full timing" when we're sleeping and cooking in it, even if in the driveway. :)

 

We still have to sell our stuff and get the house sold. I'm not sure if we'll make it by the end of the year, but we should at least come close. So, more or less on schedule.

 

Actually moving in, that's kinda scary! :)

1994 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WB40

Full-timers since 2016, domiciled in Crestview, Florida

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Not sure if we totally qualify yet as we have not sold our house . We currently live in Ct. In a house I have lived in for 50 years and town I was born in 60 years ago. 3 years ago we bought a 1986 Winnibago Elandan ( with only 7000 miles on it) with the thought of spending 5 years remodeling and getting it ready for us to full time starting 2018. But due to family reasons (helping mother in law in Texas) we decided the time is now. We will be heading out mid September . Hope to meet some of you on road. Jim and Lisa

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We are officially in this class! Although S&B isn't sold yet (lowering price next week), our larger FT rig starts build 9/7 and we should be able to move in to it before the end of October 2016. I told DH that once I move into our new baby, I won't be moving out :-)

 

After a few last Dr. appts, we intend to head south early November. We are planning on spending much of this winter in various places in TX - haven't been there in an RV yet :-)

 

We established TX mailing addy and prepped for FL domicile earlier this year prior to a 6-8 week US/Canada Rockies trip. I have a few insurance quotes and need one more. Our medical is also fluid until after the first of the year. I did sign us up for the two day driving class from RV school since the new rig/toad combo will be longer than previous setups, plus our first DP with all the big-boy equipment :-)

 

SO glad to be here! Do it while you still can!

CC, Paul, & Duckie

Counting down to FT

New baby DSDP 4018 due 10/2016

Heading towards TX starting 11/2016

Jello plans: US Rockies 2017, Alaska 2018

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Any other 2016 new FT folks heading to TX for some of the winter? What are your favorite parks and campgrounds for a week or so?

 

We are looking forward to RVIng there for the first time. Previous trips were just short fly/drive.

CC, Paul, & Duckie

Counting down to FT

New baby DSDP 4018 due 10/2016

Heading towards TX starting 11/2016

Jello plans: US Rockies 2017, Alaska 2018

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Any other 2016 new FT folks heading to TX for some of the winter? What are your favorite parks and campgrounds for a week or so?

 

We are looking forward to RVIng there for the first time. Previous trips were just short fly/drive.

 

We'll probably be down in TX late fall to visit friends (maybe check Bentsen Palms in Mission TX) then on to NM & AZ into early 2017 before heading back towards FL in Mid-March or so. We haven't been either so not sure where we'll stay but may hit some of the Escapee parks along with Thousand Trails as we are members of both.

Cheers,

 

Don

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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Any other 2016 new FT folks heading to TX for some of the winter? What are your favorite parks and campgrounds for a week or so?

 

We are looking forward to RVIng there for the first time. Previous trips were just short fly/drive.

 

Woops. Sorry for the dupe. Internet was flaky here...

Edited by Mainuh

Cheers,

 

Don

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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