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We made it! Started our full time life this weekend.


BlueLghtning

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We did it! My wife and I were able to join the ranks of fulll time and the class of 2017 officially on Aug 13th, 2017. We are now calling ourselves Two Wheel Ramblin

We bought our truck & 5th wheel in April this year and then focussed on our house to get it on the market. Memorial Day weekend (May 26th, 2017) started our great house purge along with everything needed to get it on the market which included all new floors and new paint, plus a big yard sale. Exactly 30 days later on June 26th after a solid month of not stop work, we had moved out of our house and put it on the market. 48hrs later, we had multiple offers on our house and accepted a $2k over asking price cash offer. From listing to closing, we sold our house in 25 days and closed on July 21st. 

Since that all hapened so fast with the house and where all our focus had been, we weren't quite ready to get on the road and still had several items on the truck & RV to sort out so we moved in with my parents for a short while and put the RV in a storage lot close by. My wife left her job at the end of July, but I'm taking mine on the road and I had a very busy time towards the end of July. We decided to stick around until Aug 11th which was my software release. After that would be much less stressful on me. 

The final weekend of Aug 12th was a full day of loading the RV and sorting out last minute details. We spent all day getting ready including more time on Sunday, Aug 13th, but managed to pull out around 2pm and make it to TN. It's a small victory, but it feels so good to officially be on the road. We still have a lot to learn, but so far so good! 

The day our house went on the market
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We kept the RV had a storage lot once we sold our house, but we needed bring the truck & 5th wheel over to my parent's house to load it up. We started in the street but decided if it was going to be overnight, we better get it in their driveway. It was tough to get this beast into their driveway, but I managed!
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We wanted to run the fridge overnight so I had to really drop the front to get it level, but it worked
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A rest stop along the way on our first day
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It seems like it's been an eternity to get to this point and get on the road, but in actuality this all happened in about 3-4 months from buying the truck & 5th wheel, selling the house, and getting on the road. I think we did pretty goood there. 

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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Hi Dan,

I wish you and your wife the best. I hope some day to get a chance to meet you and your wife. Stay safe on the road and enjoy the ride.

Al

2012 Volvo VNL 630 w/ I-Shift; D13 engine; " Veeger "
  Redwood, model 3401R ; 5th Wheel Trailer, " Dead Wood "
    2006 Smart Car " Killer Frog "
 

 

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GOOD FOR YOU GUYS!!  Working down that road ourselves.  You bought your truck in Simi Valley, if I remember the subject post.  I live about 2 hours from there and looked at that truck.  Hope you have safe travels and enjoy the journey, because this is NOT about the destination.

Marcel

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8 minutes ago, jkoenig24 said:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!! 

 

Hope to see you at an HDT Rally soon.

We are definitely considering the National rally in Oct, but we gotta see how that fits into our timeline because that could involve a lot of driving to get there and back to where we want to be. 

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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1 minute ago, rpsinc said:

GOOD FOR YOU GUYS!!  Working down that road ourselves.  You bought your truck in Simi Valley, if I remember the subject post.  I live about 2 hours from there and looked at that truck.  Hope you have safe travels and enjoy the journey, because this is NOT about the destination.

Yep, I bought it from Joe in Simi Valley. He was a great guy to deal with and made it such a smooth transaction. The truck had a few things to get sorted as expected of its age, but it made the 2k mile trek back to GA okay. I keep seeing some other great deals pop up on here now and then too on older rigs. 

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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Congratulations. You did this in a very short time frame. We took a year to get rid of everything and the house. that was 8 years ago. If you can make the rally in hutch you will have a great time and probably learn a thing or two.

 

Brad

Brad and Jacolyn
Tucker the Wonder dog and Brynn the Norfolk Terrier
2009 Smart "Joy"
2004 VNL630 "Vonda the Volvo"
2008 Hitch Hiker 35 CK Champagne Edition
VED12 465 HP, Freedomline, 3.73 ratio, WB 218"
Fulltiming and loving it.

 

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Good gad!! You folks are still just "youngins" (couldn't tell much from the helmet head) and got all that truck and house behind you?

I say.. CONGRATULATIONS! I started barely "ripe" myself and wouldn't change a single moment. I'll be the protagonist here and say that despite your enthusiasm and more tender years it's still going to be an "adjustment", but if with a little patience and 4-6 months under your belt youre gonna LOVE it! I for one am very happy to see some of our younger and up and coming generation take on the lifestyle.

I envy you to go back again... to have a support group like SKP's and others to rely on.. but it's still a process. Vow to give it 6 months and by then... you won't even remember your vow... lumps, bumps and all :lol: It'll just BE your "way of life" and the freedom it will give you will be immesurable in your relationship with each other and will reflect in your professional life as well.

Well played you two!

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2 hours ago, Yarome said:

Good gad!! You folks are still just "youngins" (couldn't tell much from the helmet head) and got all that truck and house behind you?

I say.. CONGRATULATIONS! I started barely "ripe" myself and wouldn't change a single moment. I'll be the protagonist here and say that despite your enthusiasm and more tender years it's still going to be an "adjustment", but if with a little patience and 4-6 months under your belt youre gonna LOVE it! I for one am very happy to see some of our younger and up and coming generation take on the lifestyle.

I envy you to go back again... to have a support group like SKP's and others to rely on.. but it's still a process. Vow to give it 6 months and by then... you won't even remember your vow... lumps, bumps and all :lol: It'll just BE your "way of life" and the freedom it will give you will be immesurable in your relationship with each other and will reflect in your professional life as well.

Well played you two!

Thanks and yeah I guess early 40's is still youngins although we both didn't want to let life pass us by and decided it was time to make a change. We both love to travel, although my wife really has the gypsy blood in her and was getting restless after 9 years in the same place. I was the one that suggested full time RV life, but my wife thought it was just another crazy idea of mine at first and kind of blew it off. When we actually bought the truck & trailer, she knew we were serious and the fire was lit. Then it was her pushing me to get stuff done! :)  

We have traveled by motorcycles a lot over the past years which for me included riding all lower 48 states and Alaska. We loved our MC trips, but it always felt like a huge rush to see what we wanted to see and then get back home to our jobs. We aren't ready to give up our motorcycles, but we'd rather travel to a destination and enjoy our time there and being able to move our house where ever we want to visit. We also just took up mountain biking and hope that helps with keeping us active, in better shape, and overall staying healthy.  

This forum has been a phenominal help and helping educate us and make informed decisions, so I can't thank you guys enough.

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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3 hours ago, Alie&Jim's Carrilite said:

AWESOME!  Kinda like the timeline we had.. All the pieces fell into place faster than we intended but it all worked out great!

Yeah, we definitely weren't expecting everything to fall in place so quickly, but it is great it did! 

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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Congrats! We are in a similar situation just 6-8 weeks behind. We sold our house in 1.5 days for full price? And are now on our way to MT to register the trailer and then head down to Kansas to wait for it to be finished. We are not retired and somewhere in your age range. We are living in hotels and 2 vehicles with 2 dogs ? Glad to hear we are not the only "crazy ones"?

We are also MTB'rs trying to get back in shape? 

Chris, Tracey, Aria & Lola

2018 Volvo VNR 400, D13 I-Shift

2018 NH 48' Majestic

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A couple of tips from 8 years on the road.

As others have said this will be an adjustment for you (more than you can really imagine right now) and be sure to allow time to settle into it.

1) As Nick Russell says 'Be sure to pack your sense of humor' because there will be some days that you will need it. I can vouch for that.

2) Be sure you have Roadside Assistance. Myself I have Coachnet. It will pay for itself with one call.

3) You think you are done trimming down. You are not. Give it 6 months and you will be surprised what you have not used and can get rid of. Example, we brought a bread maker because we used it all the time in the house. 6 months later it had not been out of the cabinet. It is gone now.

4) Don't rush. Take your time and enjoy the travel. The back of our truck says 'No where to be and all day to get there'. We are also members of the 230 club. 230 miles or 2:30 in the afternoon and we are off the road unless we have to get some where.

5) You think your rig is pretty big. Remember this about size. It has room for "cocktails for 6, dinner for 4 but it only sleeps 2".

 

Brad 

Brad and Jacolyn
Tucker the Wonder dog and Brynn the Norfolk Terrier
2009 Smart "Joy"
2004 VNL630 "Vonda the Volvo"
2008 Hitch Hiker 35 CK Champagne Edition
VED12 465 HP, Freedomline, 3.73 ratio, WB 218"
Fulltiming and loving it.

 

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1 hour ago, Brad & Jacolyn said:

A couple of tips from 8 years on the road.

As others have said this will be an adjustment for you (more than you can really imagine right now) and be sure to allow time to settle into it.

1) As Nick Russell says 'Be sure to pack your sense of humor' because there will be some days that you will need it. I can vouch for that.

2) Be sure you have Roadside Assistance. Myself I have Coachnet. It will pay for itself with one call.

3) You think you are done trimming down. You are not. Give it 6 months and you will be surprised what you have not used and can get rid of. Example, we brought a bread maker because we used it all the time in the house. 6 months later it had not been out of the cabinet. It is gone now.

4) Don't rush. Take your time and enjoy the travel. The back of our truck says 'No where to be and all day to get there'. We are also members of the 230 club. 230 miles or 2:30 in the afternoon and we are off the road unless we have to get some where.

5) You think your rig is pretty big. Remember this about size. It has room for "cocktails for 6, dinner for 4 but it only sleeps 2".

 

Brad 

Yep, lots of great info although I know we are going to break a few of those rules right away, but those are our goars to adhere to. We have a few weeks of craziness, then things will settle down a bit I'm sure and we'll slow our pace down drastically. I definitely can see we will be trimming down more or finding better ways to do stuff. It becomes apparent very quickly when things don't work as you expect. 

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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40 minutes ago, BlueLghtning said:

Yep, lots of great info although I know we are going to break a few of those rules right away, but those are our goars to adhere to. We have a few weeks of craziness, then things will settle down a bit I'm sure and we'll slow our pace down drastically. I definitely can see we will be trimming down more or finding better ways to do stuff. It becomes apparent very quickly when things don't work as you expect.

There's a trick for that , too : Don't expect ...

Goes around , comes around .

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Gee whiz.....I am envious.  We also love motorcycling...thus the toy hauler but I am so hooked on driving the big rig as well.  My wife just retired from her job TODAY...and we leave for Charleston Saturday for a week.  Just me and her and the bikes.  I wish you guys all the best and Lord willing our paths will cross.  Stay safe and enjoy.

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1 hour ago, chief916 said:

 We also love motorcycling...thus the toy hauler

Thus the "916" in your signature?

KW T-680, POPEMOBILE
Newmar X-Aire, VATICAN
Lots of old motorcycles, Moto Guzzi Griso and Spyder F3 currently in the front row
Young enough to play in the dirt as a retired farmer.
contact me at rickeieio@yahoo.com

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