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Class of 2018


wfuge

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First post, been lurking since 2015!

We are planning to list our Ct. home in April, and then I'll retire in July 2018!

We have owned our coach (Newmar Canyon Star) since 4/16.

We are trying to work through our possessions and figure out what to keep (and store) and what to get rid of.  

The DW is already on Medicare and I have healthcare as a USN retiree.  

I plan to establish legal domicile through Escapees soon, need to decide what state. Thinking costs of vehicle insurance could factor in our decision.

We intend to go semi-full time next year, wintering over in Florida, and traveling in 2019 while seeking our next home location (Carolinas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania are on our list so far).  We will likely spend time here in New England on some regular basis to visit friends and see doctors.

We do not have kids and we are currently pet free.

Those are our current plans!  Look forward to learning from others here!

Happy New Year!

Vince & Louise

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On 12/26/2017 at 10:38 AM, wesslvm said:

First post, been lurking since 2015!

Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are happy to have you with us and look forward to your joining the club as well. I would suggest doing that part soon to get mail service started well ahead as it allows you to be sure that all important mail has your new address and things are going there before your house sells. We started to shift our mail over several months before the house changed hands and just put in an order to Escapee Mail to send things to us each week. That also allowed us a very easy change of location when the house sale closed, just sending Escapee Main new instructions. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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14 hours ago, wesslvm said:

Vince

EMC(SS) retired!

It is also great having another sub sailor on the forums. I was an IC1(SS) when I left after 8 years. The fact that I would have had to change to EM in the next year or so to stay nuke and that was part of my decision to get out. I was in from 1960/68.

One advantage you do have is not needing to worry about health insurance. It has become the biggest single problem for most people who go fulltime prior to qualifying for Medicare.  Of the three states that Escapees have addresses for, FL seems to have the best healthcare options. When we went on the road I had continuing coverage from my employer until Medicare but few companies can afford to provide that today. 

Edited by Kirk Wood

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Happy New Year 2018!!!  Hey everyone, our year is finally here :D  Are you all as excited as we are?  We are jumping off later this month,  four weeks to be exact.  We will be watching the weather in case we need to adjust that by a couple of days.  The initial plan is a slow trip to Bushnell, Florida.  We sure will be glad to get to some warmer weather.  This cold blast has been pretty wicked here.  Brrrrr.  

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Yes-We are pretty excited and anxious too. So far its going pretty easy. We actually have TWO potential buyers for our house. One offered to buy it now and told us we can move out when we want. We are thinking June so we are holding off on the sale.

We plan to officially change our domicile in July.  We have a vacation trip planned to Myrtle Beach with our kids (They are campers too) and we will head to Florida after that. Then back to Pa to finish out the summer, as a visitor!

Still trying to compile a plan for next winter, but I guess we have time for that yet.

Keep warm, spring will be here before you know it!

 

Rob and Marie (Class of 2018)

Lucy and Ethyl (Chihuahua Shitzu) (sisters) 

2016 GMC Sierra 2500HD

2019 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wife and I will be part of the class of 2018. Will be selling the house in a month or so. Hoping to be in the 5th wheel full time by June.  We haven’t been planning for 20 years but have been talking about it for 25.  Our honeymoon was in an RV. We decided then that was how we wanted to retire. 

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Looks like July will be a busy month for the class.  It does make more sense than fighting the weather of January.   One week from tonight we will be spending our first official night as fulltimers.   Yikes.  After all the researching and planning these last couple of weeks have still been hectic.  There just seems to be a lot of last minute things to plan out and schedule. I sure have appreciated all the information and tips we have learned from this forum.  It has been invaluable.   Also, I am having some panic over the last minute downsizing.  You think you have it under control but then reality hits...too much stuff...still!!!   Uhgg!!!  

Dan & Rhonda

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OK, we're in.

It all started a year and a half ago, or so. We decided our house had too many floors and too much landscaping. We decided to sell and get a single story for our retirement. We are retired now so I guess for the rest of our retirement. Looked around our town and couldn't find anything that fit, and no lots we liked enough to build on. SO, we started looking further afield finally deciding on Prescott AZ. We've spent March and April the last 3-4 years in Arizona, all over Arizona, and like it.

Well, we reasoned, if we're going to sell most of our stuff and move 1000 miles let's take a year, or two, or five, or more and full time in our trailer. Sounded good and still does. We're now wintering in Brenda, AZ (outside Quartzsite). When we go "home" in early April we'll put the house up for sale, pack away what we need to and hit the road.

We'll likely spend some time (summer/fall) in Prescott looking for a house we like. If we find one we'll buy it, then turn around and rent it until we need it. I think it better to have the $ in a house we'll eventually use than in investments. Investments are getting more and more scary.

We have a 19' Escape-19 fiberglass trailer. Our tow vehicle is a Nissan XTerra. Probably try this then decide if we need a pickup for more storage on the road. So might change the TV but the Escape will be permanent. It allows us to easily get into National Forest and BLM camps a larger rig wouldn't.

If we buy in Arizona we'll domicile there, if not likely South Dakota. Just starting to work though the details and timing of all that. What's everyone else doing for domicile?

Any other "class of 2018" alumni near Quartzsite this winter?

It's going to get real crazy for us starting April. You all have a good year.

Hugh & Denise

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21 hours ago, Hugh Currin said:

What's everyone else doing for domicile?

Welcome to the Escapee forums. I suggest that you take the time to read this article from Escapees Magazine on domicile. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Hi Classmates. We have moved forward at a faster pace cleaning out the house.  Local flea markets are keeping me busy with deliveries.......

most of the furniture is already sold.  Buyers kind enough to let us use it till we move out.  Can’t do that until April 1.  Then put the house up for sale.

We plan to go to Florida after the sale to change domicile.  

We are currently outfitting the TT with stuff we wanted for being full timers.  Leaning towards boondocking in Arizona next winter.  

That’s all we got for now.  

Rob and Marie (Class of 2018)

Lucy and Ethyl (Chihuahua Shitzu) (sisters) 

2016 GMC Sierra 2500HD

2019 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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On 1/24/2018 at 6:55 PM, Ridgekid said:

Hi Classmates. We have moved forward at a faster pace cleaning out the house.  Local flea markets are keeping me busy with deliveries.......

most of the furniture is already sold.  Buyers kind enough to let us use it till we move out.  Can’t do that until April 1.  Then put the house up for sale.

We plan to go to Florida after the sale to change domicile.  

We are currently outfitting the TT with stuff we wanted for being full timers.  Leaning towards boondocking in Arizona next winter.  

That’s all we got for now.  

If you don't have it, solar, solar, solar. If you can afford it, overbuild your system. Just means you can run more stuff, longer.

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Good advice!!  We are installing two group 31 batteries (210 AH) , a 1500w invertor and already purchased a 200w SOLAR kit (suitcase) from renogy.  We already have a Honda 2000eu for a backup.  

Rob and Marie (Class of 2018)

Lucy and Ethyl (Chihuahua Shitzu) (sisters) 

2016 GMC Sierra 2500HD

2019 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

If you can believe it, we are trading in the 2017 cougar 28RLS for a 2017 Outback 334RL.  We love the cougar but feel the outback makes a better TT for full timers.  As we have been cleaning out the house we decided we needed a little more than the bare essentials.  

We are now even more excited about going full time. We have a extra burst of energy to get r done.  The only real furniture we have left is our master bedroom. This is really going faster than expected. We hope the snow will melt soon (So we can get our current camper out of storage) or we might be sleeping on the floor!

Edited by Ridgekid
typo/added comment

Rob and Marie (Class of 2018)

Lucy and Ethyl (Chihuahua Shitzu) (sisters) 

2016 GMC Sierra 2500HD

2019 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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How is everyone progressing?  Wfuge, are you enjoying your new coach and getting it all set up?  Ridge kid, the amount of stuff “needed” does seem to grow the closer you get.  Haha. Your time is quickly approaching !

 

Well, we did it...we graduated!!!  We left Indiana and headed to Bushnell, Florida on January 30th. We took our time and stopped 3 nights on the way down.  In Bushnell we stayed at the Escapees park Sumter Oaks for 10 days getting acclimated and establishing our domicle.  We are now Florida residents!!  The process went really smooth.  It took us about 1 1/2 hours at the DMV but they were super nice and completely understood our situation.  We transferred 3 vehicles and got 2 drivers licenses, one was a CDL, so there was a lot of paperwork which just took time.  I thought it was very reasonable.  Oh, and the warm weather is amazing😁

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just an quick update...the house is 80% empty. The hardest part so far was those paystubs and receipts from the last 15 years. They  took a day to burn. (Wasn't throwing personal info in the trash) We will be another 10%  closer to full time by this weekend and the entertainment center and Master Bedroom get moved out. That will leave only the garage (Single car) to clean out after April 10th.

The house is not on the market yet and a 3rd party has jumped in with interest. (The first two already declined)

We are about ready to pull out the camper from storage and migrate into it until the end of the month. That's when we head to Virginia to get our new TT and spend a week in VA Beach.  Mother nature is keeping us in the house a little longer.......

One major change...since we are passing through South Dakota in June we decided to change our domicile then. Wife was due for another DL anyway.

Rob and Marie (Class of 2018)

Lucy and Ethyl (Chihuahua Shitzu) (sisters) 

2016 GMC Sierra 2500HD

2019 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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Hi Folks

First post, happy to say that my wife and I (and our 9 year old, 80-pound Labrador/Doberman) are planning to join the full-time class of 2018 this Spring! A year later than we originally planned, but life got in way, in form of getting last kid out of college and a knee replacement. Have been downsizing house stuff drastically for over 2 years, and expect to list house in a couple weeks,

Been Escapees members about a year, lurked in forums off and on. After 4 years of using a 20 ft travel trailer, last year we moved up to our planned full-time rig, a 2017 33-foot Grand Design fifth wheel, and logged 9 weeks in it in 2017. Took advantage of a roving Escapees Smart-Weigh service at a owner's rally camping trip last Fall (well worth it IMHO!) and happily found we are in good shape there.

Already have winter reservations for 2018-2019, and depending on timing of house sale, may attend Escapade this year. Still deciding on SD vs Texas for domicile state, plan to decide this week and get mail service set up.

Norm, Mary Ann, and Bandit

 

Full-time since May 29, 2018, formerly from SE Pennsylvania

2017 Ford F350 CC Long Bed, Diesel

2017 Grand Design Reflection 303RLS Fifth Wheel

Andersen Ultimate Hitch

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Welcome to the class of 2018. We chose Escapees mail service and domicile in Florida. Maybe we will meet up sometime in our travels. We pick up our coach the first weeek in July then head for a fall colors tour in New England. After that we will head to Florida for Christmas at Disney World. After that, who knows. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

First- It doesn't look like we are getting the Outback 334RL at this time. There were some unavoidable delays on our part that caused the dealer to put the Outback back on the market. If its still available later we will look at it again.

We pulled the Cougar out of the barn Saturday March 24th. Its our official start date for full timing, even though we are sitting in our driveway. It was nice to sleep in a bed again!  There were only two main issues found on the cougar after her long winters nap. The gas regulator for the LP bottles was leaking and the toilet bowl seal for the flapper pulled out of the groove. It was 17 degrees that night and with two small electric heaters it was COLD! Although raining, happy to see (feel) 50 degree weather.

Four nights in the Cougar and its amazing how our current TT seems to be the right fit after all. We got what we needed in it and still have room for more. I think it helped that we got a cap for the truck. I don't have that much under the cap. Holiday decorations, Dog Food and Snacks, extra food pantry (Once empty it will be used for something else) Paper and Plastics tote and a winter tote. (Just in case I make a wrong turn in Albuquerque-lol)

Tires are pumped up and Greased the bearings. Time for a road trip. VA Beach here we come! 

Have a nice Easter everyone!

 

Rob and Marie (Class of 2018)

Lucy and Ethyl (Chihuahua Shitzu) (sisters) 

2016 GMC Sierra 2500HD

2019 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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