CLASS OF 2016

[Max Death]

Looking forward to retiring in 1313.6 days and joining the full-time lifestyle. Won't actually be retirement age yet but with accrued vacation time should hold us over until I reach that old age mark. Wishing it was down to 10 days instead. Dw and I have all ready started on downsizing furniture and other possessions. Have all ready decided on the keystone fuzion 375 toyhauler and a dodge dually but waiting until 2016 to purchase both. Feel that new should give us less headaches in the long run. Feel that if we get things like the auto level now won't be wishing we had it later on.Plan to spend summers north and winters south. Only traveling will be basically Between destinations. Hardest part for me is convincing myself that we can do the full-time lifestyle on a fixed income. Having worked for so many years and not having to worry about expenses then switching to the mindset of a limited income is going to be tough. Would not want to start out retired then have to go back to work. That would be more retarded then retired

Anyway glad to see a few others will be joining us when we retire. Good luck to all

 

[whatsnext]

Well, my wife and I will "throw in" to the Class of 2016 as well. We have been planning this for several years but have gotten serious about it as we enter into the final 3 years. Our daughter will be done with graduate school (or nearly done) in 2016 so we will be able to "weigh anchor" and begin our new adventure.

We've been RVing since 1995 in TT's but will fulltime in a new 5'er and a new tow vehicle (which I am still researching).

My wife and I have moved 8 times over the past 20 years so we have been in a state of continual "downsizing" or should I say, we downsize each time we move from all the times we "upsized" after each move. Oh well....

We are excited about doing this and look forward to getting together with everyone...especially at our first Q visit!

[imadtchmn]

Welcome to the class of 2016. Glad to have you in our class. Although it is still small, it will grow as time to 2016 gets nearer. Downsizing from a s&b to an RV seems to be the hardest thing to do. We have already done ours and still have a small shed of items at our daughters home. Most of that is tools, though we do keep other items, such as clothes, that we switch out during the winter and summer.

 

We are getting ready to do our yearly maintenance on our RV. This includes greasing wheel bearings, checking and adjusting brakes, checking lights, cleaning the outside including the awning and various other items. Even on the road, maintenance is important. Don't let it get behind or you may pay for it on the road. Learn as much as you can, so if something does happen, you can fix it yourself. Almost everything on the RV can be repaired by common hand tools.

 

Another item that is very important is checklists. "Ah yes", you say. "I know what all has to be done" Until I almost lost a power cord and tried to rip out the shore power, I thought this way also. You can find some checklists in the forum, but use that as a starting point. Customize it to your own RV and use it. Each RV is slightly different and will need items added or subtracted from any list. I use mine each and every time. I do not want a repeat of dumbness.

 

Well again welcome to the class of 2016. Sit back, relax, enjoy the adventures you are about to read in all the forums and post your own adventures. We love hearing about them. BTW I just checked and have 1318 days left, so I'll be right behind Hopeimakeit. Wonder if I can cheat and retire even earlier. I doubt it but like fulltiming, I can dream. Our first trip of the year will be a week in Indian Springs, GA. Can't wait.

 

Be safe on the road, and enjoy this wonderland we call America.

[Max Death]

Been reading everything I can find on the Internet, sometimes wife says I spend too much time. Will not only have a checklist for setting up and getting rv ready to travel but one to go with me when I buy and one for regular maintinece. Most of it have gotten off this forum. Thanks for the welcome. Maybe we will run across each other in a park somewhere

 

[Max Death]

Well bought a new 5th wheel today plus paid for a lot in town. Will be living in the 5th wheel for the next three years until here until my retirement. Then will be hitting the road

[imadtchmn]

Congratulations on the new 5th wheel and upcoming retirement. My DW also thought I was spending too much time on the RV sites until we went looking into Rv's. Now she is glad I did. I am able to do all the work on my 5th wheel and truck so that saves a lot of money that she can spend. I don't hear any more complaints if I am searching for anything. She knows it's to keep her happy.

 

Speaking on fixing things, its that time of year, everyone, to get the maintenance items done on your RV. Check the brakes, repack the wheel bearings, check water lines, check out the electrical and propane system, and don't forget the tires. You want everything to go smoothly while you're out on the road and not have to fix things while on vacation or traveling. I'll be doing mine in the next month or so. Have to be ready by the first part of April. Ah yes, vacations are coming around again.

[imadtchmn]

Well I am getting my wheel bearings repacked and getting tires replaced. Almost time for our breakin trip to Indian Springs State Park in Georgia. It's one of our favorite places to go. Quiet, peaceful and this time, we are going geocaching. We will be spending 5 days there and then back home to do any repairs, etc that we may need to do. I will need to redo the roof this year. A bit pricey on the stuff to put on, but it will be worth it. I wanted to put it on before our first trip out, but the weather has just been too cold to do so.

 

Guess I also need to fix my signature block and see what other changes they have made to this site. Would have been nice to get an email on the changes. Oh well, what is done is done and life is too short for minor issues.

 

Have a safe spring and we'll post about our first trip about the middle of April.

[mike54]

2016 is my retirement/graduation year we are looking at staying on the road for 3 yrs then decide if we are happy living in a RV.

2017 we are planning on a trip to Alaska. We have to get rid of a lot of stuff and decide what we are keeping which we'll

put it in storage just in case we decide to get another house. I'm starting sell some on E-bay and we'll have either garage sales or pack in the truck and go the flea markets to sell it. I think we'll have more traffic at flea markets and be able to sell more. The rest will go to resale shop in town.

This will all change if I hit the lottery

[grayghost03]

Our plan is starting to come together, Corvette sold, motorcycle sold, new Tow Vehicle purchased. Now the hard parts, started today cleaning out our back building, saddles and tack, house furniture that should have been sold years ago. Anyway, starting to get the first yard sale in 2 weeks, the first of 4 over the next 3 yrs. Horse sale in 2 weeks, I will take the saddles and tack there. But we will get the first sale out of the way and get the back building empty and the building moved to another property. This building will then become a storage building for posessions that we want to keep, when the house sales in 2015. The plan is underway. Good lord willing and the creek don't rise (or the stock market crashes beyond belief) we are on schedule. Hope everyone is moving toward the goal line. Enjoy the journey.

[imadtchmn]

Well, its that time of year. Tomorrow we pull out for our first camping trip of the season. As usual, we don't go far for the first trip. We like to make sure any and all maintenance we did goes well, so we do a test run.

 

We put 2 new tires on the rv, repacked all the wheel bearings and will be putting on 2 more tires later, that is if we don't trade it in first. We found a beautifully kept 2005 Holiday Rambler with everything we wanted already in it. It is also a 4 season and fulltime certified according to the manufacturer. It seems to have been well kept and after doing some research, this unit seems to be near the top of the line for Holiday Rambler. I love the fact of it being a 4 season. This means more insulation and warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer. Now if I can get the balance owed financed, we'll be in a new RV by month's end.

 

We hope the weather will cooperate since it is calling for thunderstorms both Thursday and Friday. Saturday and Sunday is suppose to be really nice. Either way, it is still better than working. Now, let's go get some fishing done.

[grayghost03]

imadtchmn, hope both the trip and new purchase goes good for you. We made a 1500 mile 7 day trip last month, shaking out the mods on 5ver and new tow vehicle. All went great. This weekend is the first big yard sale, more "stuff" then can fit in a 2 car garage. One bite out of the sandwich to full timing.

[SRPearson]

Imadtchmn, I will keep my fingers cross and say a little prayer that you can finalize the financing and the purchase of the 5er. Sounds like what you and the wife were looking for.

 

As for us, we had to delay finishing the painting of the master bedroom. The wife found out what happens to wet paint when the ambient air temperature hovers around 40 - 45 degrees. So we will start it up in the next couple of weeks when it stops raining. I also have to lay a new kitchen floor in the next month or so.

Enjoy your fishing ...... I mean your shake down trip, and let us know how it went.

[grayghost03]

First yard sell done, glad that one is behind us. Rear building empty, ready to move.

[imadtchmn]

UGGGG!!!! What a mini vacation. OR should I say the lack of one. We were suppose to go on a 4 day trip to Indian Springs last Thursday and guess what? Things are never as easy as they seem. It had been raining quite a bit lately and the yard was drenched.

 

We got the RV hooked up and everything loaded. Checklist checked over, still raining. I pull forward about 30 feet and the tires on the truck start spinning. Now remember I have a dually. I got out and looked back and low and behold, what do I see? The truck has dug a hole with the short spin on the tires. What I noticed next disheartened me. One side of the 5th wheel was buried down almost to the axle.

 

I decided that I would try to raise the tire and put wood under the tire. Now remember it is pouring down rain and the grandkids are waiting to go camping. I get the jack from the truck and lift the tire up....or do I? Nope, the jack even with the boards under it also sink into the ground. Well vacation time canceled.

 

I did finally get it out 4 days later on Sunday. I had to wait for the ground to dry out so I could raise the axle and get the wood under the tires. I raised the truck and put wood under them also. Now everything was "above ground level." Keeping fingers crossed, I pulled forward and was met with dry hard ground. I moved the RV to a spot near the tree line where I normally keep it. The ground is hard there and I have never had any issue with getting out, even when it has rained for a week at a time. Lesson learned. Never park in a low spot.

 

The grandkids forgave me for the failure and they are now deciding when to give it a go again. I suggested after school lets out so they could go swimming also. Next trip, 52 days and counting.

[imadtchmn]

First yard sell done, glad that one is behind us. Rear building empty, ready to move.

Congratulations, first step taken, second step will be easier, just like walking.

[imadtchmn]

Well I just got done reading the classless class forum and I think it's time to join them there. I agree with some that it's not when you graduate, but that you do what you want when you can and want to do it. I will still be posting in this forum since it is more like home to me and we have a common goal. FULLTIMING!!!!!!

 

Feel free to join me and a bunch of others in the classless class forum.

 

classless class link

Edited May 7, 2013 by imadtchmn

[imadtchmn]

Well we have 2 weeks left to finish getting ready for our first trip, second try, to get away. Hopefully, we won't run into getting the 5er stuck again. Still have one more tire to get replaced and we should be good to go. Getting that done this weekend or first part of next week.

 

The weather here has been really crazy. Wind, rain, cold temps. What has happened to spring weather. We have only seen a few days in the 80's and normally that would be our high every day. Grass is growing taller and can't get it cut since its been raining all the time. All the rain did allow me to find a leak though. Guess I needed something to do. Doesn't look like any damage has been done so I think I caught it in time. It turned out to be the seal at the antenna. The previous owner had built up a dam around the antenna base and I think it caused the seal to dry out and finally leak. I cut some of the dam down on the downslope side and replaced the seal in the base. No more sign of any leak on the last rain so I think I am good to go.

 

Our first trip will be to High Falls State Park the weekend after the holiday. Don't like going when it's crowded so we picked the weekend after the holiday to go. It should be nice and quiet. The grandkids are going with us to help us enjoy the pool there. Hopefully, the pool won't be really cold, but with the weather the way its been, it may be. Oh well, at least the grandkids will have a blast with swimming, fishing, and bike riding in the forecast. Here's hoping the weather holds out.

 

Fun travels everyone.

[imadtchmn]

Well our camping weekend is almost here. We'll be leaving on Friday morning for High Falls State Park in Georgia. We decided not to go on Memorial weekend since we do not like crowds. We have the RV ready and I checked over everything I could think of. The TV is also ready except for the oil change and that will happen tonight after work.

 

We were going to take 3 of our grandkids, but 2 of the 3 decided they wanted to go to North Carolina for a month and visit their uncle and aunt and do some beach things with them. That leaves one with us. Oh well, plenty of time for all of them together next month. This will be our 1st camping trip of the year since we got stuck in the yard due to rain on our last attempt.

 

Went looking for new fenders for the 5th wheel. My goodness, they're expensive. $109.00 each, for plastic. Next project will be making my own fenders. I have some sheet metal laying around that I can make them out of and I think they will do fine. Will let you know how it turns out.

 

I decided that I really don't fit in the classless class since most of them are on the west coast and are more of the formal type. Not that I couldn't fit in, I just like to be able to be me. I like this one better and will remain here. Haven't heard from anyone in quite a while. What is everyone else up to? What did you do for your 3 day weekend? Hello, anyone there?

Edited May 28, 2013 by imadtchmn

[imadtchmn]

Last day at work before taking off for camping. Now counting the hours. I am thrilled that we will be able to spend most of the summer camping. I'll be traveling to work during the month of July, but hey, I don't have to mow grass, clean the yard, etc. Life could not be any better. I will have a long commute, about an hour or so, but then camping does come with some compromises.

 

8, 7, 6, still counting

[steved44]

Dutchman, If you mean we wear new bib overalls for weddings and lift our little finger when we chug our whiskey, then I guess we're formal. We actually are scattered out all over the country right now, from Alaska (coldsmoke), to Boston (Soos), and we are holding down the storm front in Oklahoma (steved44) (we're nuts)!! We sure welcome you to the group, mainly because we need someone else to pick on. The rest of us are picked up, picked on, and picked over!! One thing about it we all enjoy the adventure, and as we crisscross the country we meet up from time to time. this gives us time to talk about anyone who isn't there. We do tend to meet up in the West in the winter, usually Yuma or Quartzsite, mainly because it's too darn cold everywhere else. We actually wound up in Florida last winter as we toured the east coast from Quebec city to Charleston, so we missed the big group out west. Anyway, I'll lay out the welcome mat (if it doesn't blow away). Steve

[imadtchmn]

Well, we survived the beautiful weather, drowning of some worms and just a great time overall. High Falls did have some water in the river side so the grandson and I tried to get some fish. Seems this place has skunked him and I again. Oh well, it still was worth the trip. Sure hated to go back home. Even the DW said she now understood why people stay in one place for a while. It really does get to you. No work, just relaxing times.

 

Next trip, Stone Mountain GA for the 4th of July celebration. Can't wait.

[imadtchmn]

Well today I was checking over the truck and found a leaking rear axle seal. Really not wanting to fix it before our July trips, but I will have to. Shouldn't be much of an issue doing this. Parts should be cheap also.

 

Still have one tire to replace on the 5th wheel and then all tires will be new. Yea!! Now maybe there will not be any blowouts. All the tires are US made so no more China bomb tires there.

 

Hopefully, I will have enought time to make the new fenders for each side. They don't make the fenders anymore and I don't want to have to pay an arm and a leg for custom made. I'll be using sheetmetal for this and hopefully will come out looking halfway decent. I'll bend a ridge near the bottom of the long section so it will have some horizontal strength. I'll try to remember to take some pictures of the fender making process. Once I get going, I have a tendency to forget the picture taking process.

 

Looking forward to the 4th of July trip to Stone Mountain. Only 20 days to go.

[imadtchmn]

Well the tires are all changed, the fenders are done, and only 2 more days of work. Hurray!!!!

 

We will be headed for Stone Mountain Park, GA for 5 days of enjoyment with their 4th of July celebration. We'll be in spot #310 so if any of you want some coffee, stop by and say hi.

 

Where are you going this 4th of July? Let us know.

 

When we return home on the 7th, we have to get a good nights sleep and then head out on the 8th and get our granddaughters in North Carolina and then head back on the 9th. Oh it gets better

 

On the 10th, we head for Indian Springs Campground for 10 days with our daughters church group. Whew, maybe by the end of the month, we'll actually be back at the home base for a few minutes.

 

I'll see if I can get some pics of the fenders before I go. Really need to replace that signature with a better pic anyways. See you all down the road. (or in the campground)

Edited July 5, 2013 by imadtchmn

[imadtchmn]

Well we survived all the rain on 4th of July weekend. We still got some chances to enjoy the place and did do the skyhike. The grandchildren loved going to all the places they had. Even got to go swimming for a bit.

 

Didn't have any issues with the 5ver and was really happy with the fuel mileage. Tried an experiment. I reduced my speed up there and back to the top end of my torque curve, which is 1800 rpm doing 52 mph. I have driven this same route before at 60 and got 11.3 mpg. This time I got an impressive 14.1 mpg. Guess reducing the wind on that wall behind me really makes a difference.

 

Debating on whether to go out on Labor Day weekend. The DW frowned about it and we may select another weekend to go. Who knows. This year has really been abnormal for us. So far we have had almost a month of rain every day. I think I'm growing web feet again. I left western Washinton to get out of the rain, now it has followed me here. Still camping was not bad considering.

 

Haven't seen anyone on this board in quite a while, where are you all, or am I by myself again?

[GER]

Greetings to the class. We plan on joining also. Here's the short story: Semi-retired driving a school bus about 25 hrs a week, getting Social Security and a pension from previous work. The move to fulltime will not be that difficult for us. I haven't lived in the same place for years and years so I have little attachment to a house or property. Grew up in southwest Iowa, moved to California (Bay Area) at age 21 where I lived for about 30 years (Los Gatos, Carmel, Pacific Grove, Aptos, Capitola, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, San Jose) then sold everything at age 50, bought a new Country Coach and went on the road for just over 2 years. Divorced, remarried to woman from Twin Cities area. Bought a big house, lost it in the real estate downturn and now rent a town house where myself, my wife and a 15 year old step-daughter live happily. I'm an information junkie and peruse the web sites selling RVs almost daily. Compare the available units (both fivers and motorhomes) to the research from the RV Consumers Group and wonder if I were able to buy today what would it be. This week it's a fiver with a class 8 truck. Tomorrow it might be a motor home. Work history for me: Radio Broadcasting (longest career), Banking, Mortgages, Real Estate, truck driver (oil fields of North Dakota and over-the-road, now the bus driving. Wife was stay-at-home-mom, banker, VA Loan specialist (her own business which she still has a hand in although not full time), and currently disabled.

 

Look forward to returning to the road!

 

Gene Rusco

Rosemount, MN.