hdrider

15 hours ago, palmeris said:

At the super show in Tampa earlier this year, I spoke to Brian at the NH show trailer about that, he said they no longer will install them as they had too many complaints of bikes being damaged " shaken apart " is what he mentioned. 

That is the first I have head of that, when we were there in June they were still doing it. Things have changed I guess. 

17 hours ago, RV_ said:

Excellent! Thanks. A must read for new to RVs people trying to decide. Makes me want to sell the new house and take off again. My SH does not want to full time RV any more, but does let me play with one for weekends.

Nothing wrong with just weekends.

23 hours ago, palmeris said:

I was curious as to how you would be hauling it if you still had one...I hope your future is full of smiles and many miles...Harley or not

 Well actually New Horizon builds their own frames and the frames are so solid that they will install a Hydrolift on the rear and this unit can haul a full dresser on the rear. And thanks,

18 hours ago, palmeris said:

Nice write up, and nice NH rig you got there but wheres the Harley?

 LOL, no Harley any more. I had been using the HDrider login for so many years that when I sold the last bike I never stopped using it. There might be another in the future.  

8 hours ago, Tee Jay said:

You went mid level MH to Upper level 5th, we went mid level 5th to upper level but older MH.  Pretty much agree with your analysis.  We are reluctant to run the propane heater on the 5th going down the road, so very cold bedroom at 35 degrees.  The aquahot can be set to 70 and runs off the engine radiator when traveling, warm on arrival. Same with cooling, run the AC going down the road off the genny in the MH, not always an option in a 5th.  Not available in all MH, but a difference.  In the MH, the stove is the only propane, and it used about 3 gallons in 2 years of 4 to 5 months a year usage.  In the 5th, with the electric/ propane water heater and propane heat, I was filling the propane tanks monthly or sooner, but at lower temperatures.  The aquahot just makes heat using electric or diesel, and diesel is about 4x the heat as electric, plus it can use engine heat going down the road, or become a pre=heat for the engine in colder temps.  Had no issue hooking up the 5th, but it requires a long reach to get to the hitch lever, especially over a dually fender.  The biggest difference may be bathroom access when travelling.  For some it is an issue, not one for others.  I think your truck turns better than a 3500,  The turning radius in a 42' mh is amazing.  Turning radius differs in that  the trailer turns way farther inside than the rear axle on the MH.  Just practice wide, square turns, and a bit wider with a 5th.  A   dually truck is no issue as a daily driver, unless you want to go to downtown hotels or parking garages or most drive-thrus.  I still use the dually for a daily driver.  We (you and I) have flipped weights, The MH is 43,000 and 5th was about 25,000.  I really liked the variable turbo in the Ram, but the Jake in the MH works as well, and in both pay attention to gear choice.  In either case, an electric or household fridge is the only way to go.  Thanks  for the comparison, Happy Travels.

 Glad you enjoyed the read. Enjoy that new (to you) MH!!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Yup, Diane likes her car and I must admit, it is handy at times over the truck, but I like my truck LOL!! 

This question has gone on for years and will for many more I'm sure but now that we have fulltime in a Class A for over 6 years and switched to a 5th wheel for the last 6 months I thought I would give a comparison through our eyes on the topic in our Blog. Here is a link if you care to take a peak. https://wp.me/p2Dund-4iu

To answer you question Kirk, I don't think there was a real plan when the annuity was started other than additional income and the financial advisor we had had done such a good job for us that when he suggested it we sort of got on board all those years back. Back when the annuity was started we were still working and really didn't have an idea of what we would be bringing in when retirement came around.   

 As far as what happens to the money of one person passes, the other gets the current cash amount which at this point is $114K but who knows what it would be at that point, more or even possibly less.

 Is there a smart train of thought of when to start drawing annuities? Our scenario roughly. We currently have enough monthly income that we don't really need any more. We have a well versified portfolio in the stock market and CD's and don't draw anything from them and we have a small annuity that has a 5% guaranteed growth each year, small being $114,000 current value with a $155,000 high water mark that the monthly payment would be based on if we chose to start drawing.

 Our thought is that if we started drawing the $662 allowed payment from it now that we would need to draw a payment each month for over 14 years before we would break even with the cash value. I'm thinking at our current age it might be a good time to start taking money unless we want the policy holder to come out smelling like a rose instead of us LOL!!! And no, we have no kids to worry about leaving anything to.

 I don't know, leave it sit and don't worry about it or add a little money to our eating out and entertainment budget each month LOL!!        

 There are a lot of good ideas out there and we have done a couple of them and our own versions but what we ultimately did was buy a Berkey water filter for our drinking water. Here is a link to our blog post on it if you care to have a look. https://wp.me/p2Dund-49T

After 6 1/2 years of fulltiming in a Class A we switched to a 5th wheel in April. Pro's and con's to each. We are still anylizing but will also do a blog update comparing the two. Hands down we like the MH best on travel days, hands down we have more storage in the 5th wheel and that is after taking everything from the 42' MH and putting the exact same stuff in our 40' 5th wheel. Each floor plan is different and stories will vary.

 I'm no expert but we had the true uncapped unlimited pre-paid plan with the Ellipsis hot spot and wanted the 8800L. When we went to Verizon they said if we bought a new hot spot we would loose our unlimited as we know it and have to switch to their newer (not really) unlimited plan.

 I went to Best Buy and bought a 8800L with no plan attached to it, took it home and switched the sim card from my Ellipsis to the8800L and all was done and working well with no hiccup.  

We had the Ellipsis for a year and hated it most of the time and just switched to the 8800L and have been VERY happy. We have only had the 8800L for a month however.

 We are in Ignacio just 6 miles rom Tom & Diane's home. Had a great visit and tour of their home a couple days ago and they stopped by our new home yesterday and then spent the afternoon in Durango together. Sure great to see them again. I think tonight we will all be at a Block Party in Bayfield, bound to be another enjoyable evening. 

 When we sold our motorhome we waited until we hit or winter spot in Arizona then listed in on Craigslist a RV Trader. A couple from Phoenix came down to see and test drive it and then hired a inspector to go through it and ultimately purchased. Lots of RV's sitting at the resort we stay at and I'm sure it's like that in most of the parks. OH, the lead from Craigslist is the one that sold it.

9 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

First, we were all nervous the first few times we went on different types of roads.  If you were able to do Highway 199 from Grants Pass, then the 101 up Oregon will be easy for you.  Just take your time.   There will be some curves, some climbs and descents, but none are horrific and if you travel at all in the west, that is just part of all of the different types of geography we have for one to enjoy.    NO to Highways 42, 126 or 20, which are as hard, or harder than the 199 and will get you on the I-5 with the Siskyouses in front of you - - now THAT is a climb/decent that you might not enjoy!

Go north on the 101, then depending upon where you want to go, take either Oregon 38 from Reedsport over to I-5 or  north of Lincoln, Oregon 18 which runs into Portland.    There is US 20 from Newport over to Corvallis - not one of my favorites, but not bad.

Yup, those are al good roads. And as mentioned, if you made it on 199 all of the routes mentioned will be a breeze and 101 won't bother you much. Enjoy the Oregon Coast.

A little over 2 months ago I just started feeling uneasy and moved over half of our funds out of the market into staggered CD's. At that time our financial advisor warned me about trying to time the market to which I said I wasn't but I just need to feel more secure for a while.

 Even though the CD's are not making much, a little over 2%, I'm content with it rather than what would have happened if left alone. Now as the CD's mature each month we just roll them into another and when hairs on the back of my neck lay down again we will roll them back into the market but I don't see that happening any time soon. 

 I just got tired of hearing the old saying "leave things alone because they always come back" even though history says that may be true.

 Yup, a belated Merry Christmas to everyone and a early Happy New Years!! 

 As far as the our seasons go, we are still in Arizona and will be for another 3 months staying as far away from ever seeing all four season ever again. 

 But we are in a cold snap right now so we almost see all four seasons in each day, freezing at night and shorts weather during the day for the next 4 days. And if we go out for a bike ride or walk close to evening or early morning we can pretend that all of the white fabric the park covers plants with is snow and that's as close to seeing snow I need to be LOL!!  

12 hours ago, chirakawa said:

Really?  What Jetpack and smartphone do you have which is 5G capable?

Hmm, well maybe I don't. Just going with what the dude at Verizon said.

We made the switch yesterday. Chatted on line first but that person finally asked me to call the sales team. Once I did the fellow on the other end knew exactly what I was asking about and with very little effort was able to get our account switched to the Prepaid and even gave us a $20 discount on our 1st bill because he thought he had us on hold to long. I personally didn't think we were on hold any longer that we normally expect to be during something like this but hey, I'm good with saving $20.

 We just have our Jetpack and 1 smartphone. He did make mention that 5G would be available soon and that our devices would automatically taking advantage of the 5G when it becomes available in our area, which will be a moving target.

23 hours ago, Onthego said:

When in May? Kerrville is about 1 1/4 hours away from our house. Would be great to get together again. 

Roger, y'all going south this winter?

Travel safe everyone.

Jeff    😊

 The rally is May 6th through the 10th.

Well ya old fart, pour a cup of hot chocolate and grab a good book because I can't think of one good reason to go outside if it's 28 degree's. 

 Hey, we are going to Rv rally in Kerrville Texas in May after we pick up our new 5th wheel, how close are you to that?

 Congrats on getting rid of that boat anchor. The happiness had to rival the happiness you felt on the day you had your first born.  

 We are still here and checking in. Because we just attended one event with the group I guess we still feel a bit like outsiders even though we formed a couple lasting friendships from it.

 We are still on the move about every week after leaving Arizona in March. We are now in Washington and will be sliding into Idaho in a week. Not sure from there yet. We have reservations in Arizona again starting in November so that's the only real plan so far.  

 Lots of changes going on in everybody's lives, fun stuff.