R. Walter

Going on our third year.  Now in Mass for the summer.  Back to NM in August.

happy new year- we had a great time in Summerdale at the Rainbo Plantation- made many new friends. we are now at Topsail - just got done with my first day of volunteering in the maintenance department. everyone here is friendly and there is so much to see in the park. we did the first day hike with the ranger and enjoyed that, also got to go down to the beach and walk in the surf!! right now it is pouring rain- still beats snow any day.....

 

hope all are well

 

Steve

Just wondering... is that Topsail in NC, FL or somewhere else?

We are in Florida as well. Where abouts are you staying? I have heard Betty's RV park is nice.

Right now we are in Blue Angel RV Park (USN) until early January when we head over to the east coast of Florida near Cape Canaveral.

My wife and I left northern NM a week ago and are currently staying at Betty's RV Park in Abbeville, LA. Nice place and fun people here! Heading for Florida in a few days.

My wife and I left off our Hitchhiker in Chanute, KS for some maintenance and will pick it up in several weeks. Meantime we are at our homebase in northern NM about 100 miles north of Albuquerque. We go back and forth to Albuquerque or Farmington for groceries and supplies as necessary. My son visits me beginning Oct 8 and we both drew out for elk and will hunt that week in unit 5b.

In December wife and I head for the Florida panhandle to visit our other son in Pensacola and will spend most of the winter in Florida. Between now and December we plan on several weeks in Arizona or southern NM. After Florida its up to New England for the spring and then... Alaska next summer. Anyone have Alaska on their itinerary next summer?

Fracking has been going on longer than 08/09.

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.

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.

I'd like to add my best wishes to you, Lee, and a rapid recovery for you. I've been following this thread for over a year and have especially enjoyed your posts, Lee. In fact I even stopped by in Deming over Thanksgiving 2014 to say hello, but missed you.

Today I retire or, rather, its my last day of regular work. In the next 2 days my wife and I hit the road headed east to Florida to visit our 2 sons and then we're volunteering in Massachusetts at a COE facility for the summer. And back to NM for the fall.

Good Health to you , Lee!

I am one more step closer to going Full Time ... I passed the tests for my Texas Class B Driver's License. Thanks to everyone here with great information to help. The remaining step now is to get the house sold.

Would renting your house work out for you as far as making it easier to hit the road?

Hi guys/gals!

 

R. Walter- I'm NM based too, at least for the moment but more in the central part of the state.

I grew up on a ranch about 85 miles SW of Magdalena. Many years ago...

Two more weeks before wife and I hit the road headed east to Massachusetts for the summer. Wife retired 2 weeks ago and I retire Apr 29. We plan to leave from northern NM about May 2. We will be full-timing, but keeping our place as a home base.

We have our rig all together which is a 2005 Hitchhiker 5th pulled by a 2016 Ram 3500 srw. Can't wait to get going. We're volunteers for the summer at a COE facility in MA. Hope the COE does not work us too hard. See you on the road!

I am finally retired Feb. 26th 2016 been moving stuff out to the 5er since the weather has been warm.

I have knee replacement on March 28th need everything to go good and I need to heal fast so I can get to my summer work camping job.

Today I had new tires put on my truck I still need to get ball joints replaced one side and an alignment then the truck will ready.

I have a phone interview in a couple days for a work camping job in Mission Texas for the winter not really where I was thinking of going but I like the job description and I checked out the campground on line it seems like a nice campground.

that's my update

 

 

Where is your summer work camping job?

My wife retires March 31. I retire April 30. We're keeping our ranch in northern NM as a home base. We're hitting the road in early May and will be in New England for the summer as a host at a COE site. After summer, we plan to head back out West for the fall and hunting season. So, 2016 is working out for my wife and I as full-timers (?).

Wow! That sure was a lot of damage! Maybe you can get a new fangled paint job too!

 

Sandi got her permanent orders and will be stationed in Pensacola permanently so her mom is flying down the end of March/first of April. We'll start heading west when she leaves but that'll be April. The Colorado River TTN is on our penciled schedule but I'm sure you'll be out of there before we get there. Keep us posted where you'll be. Hopefully we'll be able to cross paths.

Excuse me for butting in, but I'd like to share that my son and his wife (both USN) will be spending the next 3 years in Pensacola. They've both been there since July. And my wife and I've already scoped out the RV park at Pensacola NAS which is right on the water.

Hi Gang,

 

A little update, I'm retiring 12/24 and have the rest of this week off so 4 more work days. While that's certainly a step in the right direction, we took another big step last weekend and bought ourselves a rig to full time in. We found a pristine 2008 Newmar Mountain Aire with 53K miles on it. Bought it in Canada where our dollar is currently at $1.37 so we got it well below NADA retail. It's got a Cummins 450hp with 1450 ft/lbs torque and a CCC of 9766 lbs. The dealer will keep it in heated storage for us until we take delivery in late April (can't do much with it in Maine next few months anyway. It'll be a long wait to pull it out, but means we won't have to make trips to FL, TX or AZ this winter to look at rigs. The wife will be working into spring, but I'll be working on home sale prep, selling off stuff, etc. We had kind of been focused on a Tiffin bus, but this beauty fell into our laps and truly was a deal we couldn't pass up.

 

Nice looking outfit............ Betcha can't wait till warmer weather. I'll be up in your neck of the woods this summer. Actually a little farther south at a COE facility in Mass.

Steve & Liz,

Congrats!! It's gorgeous. Thanks for sharing the pictures. I've got 22 work days left. Can't wait to start rig hunting in earnest after the holidays.

Enjoy and hope to see it in person sometime soon!

 

 

 

Yes... nice looking outfit. I have 163 days until April 29 when I stop my work life. Looking forward to it! All downsized and ready to go.

My wife and I would also like to join the Class of 2016. Originally, we kind of planned on 2015, but decided to work a little longer and tie up some loose ends.

My wife retires in December from the US Customs and Border Protection and will return to New Mexico to join me. I plan to stop work on April 29, 2016. She currently has been on assignment in the DC area for the last 16 months.

Next summer we have a volunteer host assignment that's been offered to us in her home state of Massachusetts. It's not my preferred location, but she's been in New Mexico with me for many years and I promised her that our first summer retired we'll go back east. We'll buy a unit, probably a fifth wheel, after Jan 1. We'll be visiting PPL in Houston when we return from her retirement cruise over Xmas out of Galveston.

I'm not sure where we'll be after next summer. We'll probably return to NM for the fall (hunting season) and then go to Florida where our 2 sons are stationed.

We have our house in Corrales, NM already rented (rental started September 1) and all of our things (the few that remain) are in storage in our garage/workshop on the property which is not part of the rental. For over the last year I purged heavily and, especially in the month or two leading up to September 1, when our lease commenced, I sold and gave away a bunch of stuff. I'll never miss the stuff that I did purge and it feels really great to have the casa all arranged.

My wife is excited about next summer in Massachusetts. I have concerns about what to do since I'll no longer be working. I'm very much outdoors most of the time whenever I get the chance. I'm thinking about getting a metal detector to occupy my time.

We have two sons, recently married, and both are military active duty. No grandkids yet, but would expect to hear that kind of news in the next 2 - 3 years. Exciting times ahead for us, but a little scary.

What the heck are you finding in Gallina. They painted over that town when they put the stripe down the center of the highway. I hope they did something for that highway down from El Vado. The last time I was on it, it shook my filling out plus a few other things.

 

 

Go easy on Gallina. The hen is only about 16 miles down the road from me.

I'm in Eagar, AZ now. The ride up the hill was beautiful. The Navion averaged 17.1 MPG going from 4300 feet elevation to nearly 9000 the back down to 7000 feet. That I like. I'll be staying here for a week. I'll have to cut this trip short and go back to Deming prior to 15 sept. It just dawned on me that I have to submit my quarterly Estimated Tax payment prior to that date. And naturally I forgot to bring the 1040ES form with me. (banging head against wall) I won't put my trailer back in service while there. I'll just pick up the form write the check and stop at the post office on the way back out of town. It sure is lucky that this rig gets good fuel mileage.

 

It's 1PM and only 72 degrees with bright sun. The bad news is they have been having really bad thunder storms every after noon. That I won't like but will accept over the 100 plus degrees I've been contending with in Deming. This sure is beautiful country. Mountains, meadows, streams and rivers, many small lakes and lots of wild game to watch. I saw a few wild turkey on my way here. Didn't see any elk but there was lots of evidence they are here in number. I stopped at Luna Lake Forest Service campground on the way here. They had Bear Warnings posted all over the place.

You can download a 1040ES from the IRS website or numerous other websites. If you have a printer you'd be all set. You wouldn't have to go back to Deming. Just print and pay.

South of Pensacola you're going to need a boat. (Smile)

And, I believe under NM law, the dealer has 30 days to get it titled (or you can return the vehicle to the dealer.) At least for regular passenger cars. Unsure about RVs.

I was going to go to Northern NM but I may go back to Deming and get my other

I see you've mentioned several times spending some time in northern NM this upcoming warm season. I've got a little place (house on 160 acres with electric, water, etc) in the middle of a bunch of large ranches in northern NM if you were interested in setting up there for a week or two or three. Look up Lindrith, NM. That's the local post office nearby.

Cold and windy again today but at least the sun did shine and the future looks a little brighter and warmer. I've got to start taking stuff from my trailer to my shop and bring stuff I want in my trail back over here. I need some warmer weather for that. I'm also not able to take my walk in the morning. The 20 something air would not be good to my lungs. It looks like our magic day will come about Thursday or Friday when it's warm enough to get something done outside.

 

TID BITS:

If you were standing on the moon looking back at earth, the earth would look about 4 times as wide as a full moon looks here on earth. The diameter of the earth is 7926 miles. The diameter of the moon is 2159 miles which is 27% of the earths diameter. In relation to their planet our moon is the largest in the solar system but Ganymede circling Jupiter is the largest of all moons in the solar system. Our moon comes in 5th among all the moons. The diameter of Ganymede is 3273 miles. The moon's gravity is only 16.6% of earth"s gravity. I hope you don't think I'm mooning Y'all.

I find all the astro-physics stuff that you share all quite interesting. On a side note, I just returned from Holidays at my son's in Rockledge, FL (Brevard County - home to Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral AF Station, Patrick AFB) He took us on a visitor's tour of the Atlas IV (I think) control center, horizontal integration facility, pad standup and stacking facility from which launch occurs... really very impressive. They launch about 12 - 14 rockets per year. Also got to see the Delta IV (most powerful rocket currently in US arsenal) as well as old launch sites, now abandoned.

My golf cart had a flat tire and putting air in it didn't do any good. I wish that tire around my middle would go flat. Anyway Chad from the motorcycle shop came and took the wheel back to the shop with him. When I came home from dinner I saw that the wheel was back on the cart. It was dark so I don't know if he put a new tire on or was able to repair the old one. I'll go to his shop in the morning to pay him and find out what he did. I took a cowgirl to Denny's tonight. We had Salmon and it was pretty darn good. I've alway liked their breakfast but never though much about them for other meals. I'm going to visit them more often. I found out that the gal in the exploding trailer has a niece that is going to come and I suppose take her home. The hospital says they will release her in a couple of days but she has bandaged hands, belly, and face so she will definately need someone to help her do just about everything. They started a collection for her and the guy from the other trailer that was damaged today at happy hour. He didn't have any insurance on his trailer. I think it could be made inhabitable though. Just needs a couple of windows replaced and outside cabnet doors replaced. The Awning is toast but you don't really need that to live especially out here where the wind would probably tear it off anyway. The rig that exploded did have insurance but the lady can't remember the name of the insurance company and of course the policy was burned in the rig. I suggested they take her license number and query the state because they require she has insurance before they will issue a plate for it. The trailer plate is pretty well chard but the truck plate is in fair shape. Well that's the news from Deming.

I don't believe that the state of NM tracks the actual name of insurance companies that owners/drivers are insured with... only a yes/no as to whether you have liability insurance.

BTW, I stayed last week for a night across from LOW in Deming at the 'Ol West' rv park. It seemed to be all permanent residents living in RVs. Not the usual definition of a full-timer.