Class of 2015

[scouserl41]

Made it official yesterday. Wrote my letter of resignation "By reason of retirement".

22 days to go!

BnB

[Arusarogge]

It's been a year since I last posted here. My first post here was back in 2012 when I first got out of the Hospital. The Doctors had given me a 20-30% chance to survive my ailment. DW and I had decided that if I made it, we would get serious with our dream of full timing. The day after Christmas, 2012, my Doctor looked at my most recent CAT scan and declared me fully recovered. Best Christmas present ever!

 

Here it is now over two years later. I retired from my job last October and we just sold our house. We are staying with our oldest son in his house until the end of this month when our youngest son finishes his HS Senior year and DW retires. We are ordering a new MH from Newmar so it will be a little longer before we are on the road.

 

We plan on going to the Boot Camp in Livingston in November. I noticed a few others have mentioned they are going there in November. It would be great if we could all meet up.

 

Mike

[Luv2pik]

Congratulations! So glad you are cured Mike and that you are realizing your dream! We went to Bootcamp last year and learned so much, you will love it.

[ezdays]

So happy to hear about your total recovery and you are going to go full timing. I started this class in 2012 and after three years will be retiring the end of this year. I will start my dream in April 2016 and can't wait. Keep posting here. Good luck and maybe we'll run into each other one of these days.

[ezdays]

This might be a bit off topic but do any of you have blogs? If yes, who do you use for your hosting? Can you post your links. I'm going to start one and just would like to get an idea of what others out there use. I'm not full time yet but plan to be the end of this year. Thanks.

[yourpcgeek49]

Mike -- so glad to hear that things are working out. We will be at Boot Camp in November "come Hell or high water"! Will look forward to seeing you there.

 

I have a blog through my GoDaddy website. I have been planning to redesign it when things settle down. There are many better formats than what I am using, but here is the address of our blog -- www.yourpcgeek.com/blog -- I will try to change to a format to something like WheelingIt uses (http://wheelingit.us/) with a picture & a "teaser" line and the opportunity to read more of the links that are interesting.

 

Hope this helps, Mark

[SRPearson]

There is nothing like adding fear and panic to our already stress filled environment. After a morning of extreme abdominal pain yesterday, I rush my DW to the ER. After a many hours of exams, blood tests, and a CAT scan, it was confirmed that she had an inflamed appendix and it needed to come out. She is doing fine now and will be coming home tonight to recuperate. What a way to start our new life style. We are still planning to be on the road in 10 days.

Enjoy the ride.

[sandra67]

Slopoke, glad to hear your DW will be okay. I had a medical scare this week too. It's like, the big plan is finally coming together now, don't let something happen (Murphy's Law)! Sounds like just a little bump in the road hopefully. Happy travels!

[SRPearson]

DW is home now and doing fine. I'm just glad that it didn't happen when we are on the road. I would not have been as prepared as I was. It will give us something to think about and discuss during our first few weeks of traveling. Now I can go back to focusing on packing the coach and cleaning out the house.

Enjoy the ride.

[jtl2]

Two yard sales, one major trip to Goodwill and we are close to being rid of stuff. Amazing what collects even over a short period of time. The lease on the house we are renting ends May 31st. We are going to set the trailer up tomorrow evening and start the transition. We are excited to start this lifestyle.

 

Thanks to everyone for all the support and information provided in this forum.

 

John & Sherrie

[rwitt]

Well, we are finally at count down to going full time. We got the green light for closing on our house for the end of May so we can now officially start counting the days. Of course we only have to sweat the weather in OKC for the remainder of the time, get rid of everything that is still laying around, get the RV loaded, etc............... Sounds easy to say you are going to go full time RVing until you start getting ready. I can only say, I hope it's worth what it took to get even to this point. We will be staying in the OKC area for the month of Jun so the DW can keep some Dr appointments and then we head to SD first to get our drivers licenses. Hope that is as easy as everyone says. Anyway, wish us luck as we begin this new chapter in our lives.

[sandra67]

I am just a little bit ahead of you in the process, still finishing emptying house, sale of it is closing at end of month, but have been living in RV since April. As far as I can tell, it is worth all the trouble it took to get here. Good luck to you, and enjoy!

[Bill&Cindy]

Several of us appear to be getting down to the wire. We have been out of the house and in the RV since early March. We are leaving May 30 for an extended trip to Bellingham, Wa. I installed the washer/dryer (of course it leaked) and set up our dish this weekend. Both of us finish work on May 29. The last thing to do is to sort out what goes and what stays in storage. It is getting exciting and scary, but we can't wait. Good luck and safe travels to everyone launching in the next few weeks

[sandra67]

Congrats Bill and Cindy! I am jealous of your washer and dryer, two things I no longer have. Spoiled, I have been using a wash and fold service. Pretty nifty. When retired next month and have the time, maybe I will resume the laundrymat (sp?), maybe not! .

[lg61820]

Well, folks, I started in the class of 2013 and flunked that so I joined class of 2015 and now it looks like I'm going to flunk this class also. I think 2016 might be my year (fingers crossed). So I will be leaving your class and moving on to 2016. I still have a house to fix up and a granddaughter to either send back to her mom or get legal guardianship of, but I find I am enjoying my job less and less. This tells me I'd better get a move on. Good luck to you all!

[A ruff life]

We were looking at being in the class of 2016 but things started falling into place and we sold the house. We are closing at the end of June and will be full time then. Just like others we have had numerous yard sales and donated a lot. A few more weeks of emptying the house and loading what's left into the rv. We can't wait to join the rest of you.

[DianeMichael]

We are in countdown mode. We have previously posted under DandM but had to get a new account, so now we are DianeMichael. We have been living in our Alpenlite 5th wheel for almost 3 years now as a way to pay down all our creditors, save some money, make improvements and hit the road Fulltime. Work is done this Thursday and we leave for the road FULLTIME on Monday June 1, 2015. We have been planning, reading, dreaming, researching, purging, selling house, downsizing. talking, listening for seven years and it is hard to believe it is finally here and it is finally going to happen!

I don't post nearly as often as I am on reading the helpful things here on this forum, but reading the forum has given me countless ideas and bouts of encouragement when I have needed it.

For those still waiting/planning/dreaming to finally hit the road; hang in there - dreams do come true!

[scouserl41]

May 29th sounds like a popular date!

I retire the same day too.

We are still struggling to get the house sorted ready to sell. we're in the middle of final painting then we have to rehab 1 bathroom and we're ready to list it.

A fellow Escapee told us about saving 2 1/2% by listing the house ourselves, sounds attractive has anyone else done that and still used a realtor for the actual sale?

Still making a couple of trips to Goodwill a week!!

Keeping plugging, the goal is getting nearer.

BnB

[scouserl41]

Here it is May 29th already. I just did my out-brief with the company and I'm officially RETIRED!!

The house is painted inside and out, I'm starting on the bathroom as soon as we get back from our celebratory weekend Casino campout and dinner.

A realtor is coming 10am Monday for us to interview her.

The landscaper should be doing the front lawn removal sometime this week.

I have to get the garage cleared and the last 3 motorcycles fixed and sold, the trailer sold and my truck sold and that I think will just about do it.

Congrats to the other classmates who are retiring/setting out today.

Brian (BnB)

(that's m with the big stupid grin on my face!)

[rving4us]

Just an update. We have a contract on the house. The closing is June 19th, if the buyers don't have an issue. the house is 80% empty.

If everything goes well the 20th of June we are out of here.

Happy trails,

Cary & Toni

[LHS61]

I did the research and listened to a bunch of old timers for 6 months before my home sold last week... NOW I'M LAUNCHING OUT !! OK... here is my experience and suggestions for those who have not committed to buying an RV yet to do the full time gig. I am getting my drivers license in South Dakota FIRST before buying my RV. Whatever state your DL is in will determine what sales tax and registration fees you will pay for your RV. So the SD tax is 3% and the fees are some of the lowest in the country. So after I get the SD DL, I can shop for an RV in any state and only pay the taxes & fees that apply in SD. After getting the DL in SD Tuesday, I will head to phoenix which is (in my opinion) the best area to buy a used RV. Check craigslist and RV Trader if you doubt this. Vehicle insurance and the whole picture is better is SD. For more info, check out this site (yes, there are other sites): http://www.americas-mailbox.com/

 

P.S. the Montana LLC thing for $1000 set costs plus $200 / year sorta turned me off

[HighwayRanger]

Be aware that the excise tax in South Dakota is now 4%. Still a better deal than most states, but wanted you to be aware.

 

Roy

[SRPearson]

Well, we are out of the house, and on the road. We left on the 24th and never looked back . So this is day 9 and everything is going well. Picked up a Chevy Silverado 1500 (4 wheel drive) to pull behind the coach. I had the base plate and tow bar setup done here in the bay area. The wife had to follow me up to Grants Pass. Oregon to get the supplemental braking system put in and also had suspension work done and front bearings replaced on the coach. We spent a few days along the upper Klamath River just for R & R'ing. Now we are in Redding, Ca so I can take the second week of classes to learn how to set up a RV Inspection business. After that we head across country to Olathe, Ks (just south of Kansas City) to be with our youngest daughter for a couple of weeks. After that a fast trip back to Las Vegas to house sit our teenage gandkids while our oldest daughter and significant other go on a cruise. Whew!!! Then we get to slow down. Glad to hear that a lot of you are getting to that final stage of getting on the road. So I will say, "See you down the road".

 

Enjoy the ride.

[scouserl41]

Well Done SloPoke!!

We found the realtor we will likely use, introduced by a friend and neighbor. This guy will sell the house for 2 1/2% including listing it. That's a big saving right there. The floor of the bathroom was not as bad as my anxiety had me thinking, and we rented a BIG electric jackhammer from Home Depot that got the old tile up in a couple of hours. The thing was so heavy I had to take frequent breaks to rest but still it was a lot easier than a hammer and chisel. Today the replacement floor and bath fittings.

Keep up the good work class!

 

RE SOUTH DAKOTA

If you have owned the vehicle for a year out of the state and already paid more than 4% tax when you registered in the state it was registered then you don't have to pay SD's 4^. Of course if it's new then you do pay the 4%.

BnB

[SRPearson]

Scouserl41, You too will get to where we are. Have faith as my wife would say. My week long class is over in Redding Ca. Now we make a fast trip to Olathe Ks to drop stuff off at our youngest daughter home. After that, Las Vegas.

Enjoy the ride.