Class of 2020

[skeet]

Please correct me if I'm wrong...but I don't see a Class of 2020...

Edited October 9, 2019 by skeet

[sandsys]

It's up to anyone going full time in any particular year to start a thread for that class. It looks to me like you may have just started the 2020 class thread.  If so, tell us a bit about yourself and see what happens next. Just know that some classes become more active than others and that would not be a reflection on you either good or bad. My class of 2008 felt a bit too small so we invited the class of 2009 to join us and that worked out well. There are no hard and fast rules about classes, we just find it helps to get to know people about the same stage you are in to support one another through the transition from house living to RV living.

Linda

[skeet]

Thank you Linda   I guess I started the Class of 2020..  My DW says I'm only good at starting trouble....I hope she's wrong....this one time😊. I was in the class of 2019...but life got in the way. So now.. the house goes up for sale the first of march 2020. In the meantime...we'll be looking at motor homes and spending Thanksgiving and Xmas with our son and granddaughter in Texas.

We've been in our house for over 26 years...and even though we love where we live....we don't enjoy all the work(5 acres) like we used to. We live in SW Washington state and we get about 65-70 inches of rain and sometimes a lot of snow every year. The winters are wet, gray, long and gloomy.  We would like to chase spring like weather year round and see as much of the U.S. and Canada as possible. 

I've been reading this site and and others..since 2007..and I've learned a lot. But..I know once we're on the road....I'll really get an education.  

I hope I don't get too lonely in the Class of 2020.

[Kirk W]

The class thing began some years ago with a group who were planning to meet in Quartzsite, AZ to celebrate the move to fulltime RVing. Since we are not into desert dry camping and my wife can't deal with dust, we have never taken part in that gathering and it started on the forums several years after we hit the road. It seems to have evolved to include pretty much anyone who is planning to go fulltime in the particular year, where the first few classes actually gathered on the desert in January of the particular year. At one time the classes had a BOF as well but I'm not sure how active the group is but it is still listed in Escapees Magazine.

[agesilaus]

WE plan to be in that class tho late joiners. My wife can retire and qualify for early SS in September 20 but we will hit the road in late May.

We live in north Florida, and have done extensive camping. I think we started in the 1980's tho I had done quite a bit before I got married. We started tent camping with a trip up to the Wind River's, YNP and Craters of the Moon. I don't actually recall everywhere we stopped on that trip.

Over the years we worked our way thru the towable inventory: several popups, a hybrid Trailmanor, a 35 ft fiver and our latest AF 25Y TT. We visited all 48 states with the kids over the years as my seniority and thus my vacation time grew.

The kids have all ejected and I retired and so we downsized to our Arctic Fox TT and are very happy with it. We did almost 9000 miles in it this summer. And except for some stupid mistakes on my part and some minor problems in the RV it was a successful trip.

Right now I'm working on a todo list for the AF including getting the 400W of solar hooked up and running. We did some boondocking this summer and want to do a lot more. Plus we are interested in workcamping intermixed with traveling.

I'd like to go to the National but it is very far off and the timing is bad since we can't leave here until Memorial day so I think we'll have to wait this one out. We do plan to do some of the eastern Boondocker BOF meetings this winter which are just about in our backyard. I looked at the GA chapter meeting but the agenda does not appeal so that one is problematic.

Our travel will have to be mixed with returns to the home area so my wife can get her hit of grandkid time. Most likely around the holidays for sure. That would be a great time to workcamp at one of the local state parks but I understand they are flooded with volunteers starting around that time since the snowbirds are flying south.

Looking forward to meeting some or a lot of you.

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, agesilaus said:

I'd like to go to the National but it is very far off and the timing is bad since we can't leave here until Memorial day so I think we'll have to wait this one out.

Memorial Day will be May 25, and Escapade opens on June 21, leaving 4 weeks to travel the 2,100 miles or so to get there. If she can be gone that long, think about attending!  😀

[agesilaus]

That's true, I'll have to re-think this.

[agesilaus]

Kirk you sure changed our plans for this summer, from Colorado and Utah boondocking to a run up to Wyoming then across to the Sawtooths and then into Oregon with a dip into the Peoples Republic for Lassen and then up to the Cascades. Heh

Trying to figure out where to kill a week before the Escapade.

Edited October 14, 2019 by agesilaus

[Kirk W]

11 hours ago, agesilaus said:

Trying to figure out where to kill a week before the Escapade.

There are many choices between FL and WY, or you could make a side-trip to somewhere like Yellowstone Park. You cold easily route to visit Rocky Mountain NP. If you have not been to Nashville it would be easy to spend several days there. If you travel by way of I-24 you pass through the "Land Between the Lakes" area which has a lot to offer, or you could spend a few days in Springfield. The Arabia Steamboat museum is in Kansas City and it is worth a day. There are plenty of choices, once you select your route.

[agesilaus]

I won't have any problem finding places to go. Right now I'm looking at Flaming Gorge, we have wanted to boondock there for a couple years and this is our chance. And maybe three days or so in the Cheyenne/Laramie area. Looks like a lot to do around there. We generally avoid urban areas so Nashville is some place to get thru as fast as possible...heh.

[BocoGirl]

Hey Skeet!  Glad you started this thread.
I just purchased my Mini Max the other day.
I'll be housesitting and doing some 'test-runs' in my camper during Nov and December to do a run of the systems and pack/organize my belongings. How do you fit a life into 16'?? And, work full-time?
It's all fun so far with the planning. And, I do love the minimalist lifestyle.

I'm based out of Colorado for now, but will most likely change my domicile at some point.

Looking forward to learning about everyone else's plans and how you're getting the ball rolling.
Thanks!
Michele

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, BocoGirl said:

Looking forward to learning about everyone else's plans and how you're getting the ball rolling.
Thanks!
Michele

Welcome to the forums!  The big gathering will be in Quartzsite, AZ with the high point of the action taking place with the "big tent" in January. If you are still around Colorado in the spring, you won't be that far from Rock Springs, WY and the 2020 Escapade. You may find it worthwhile to sign up for RVers Boot Camp just before the rally begins. 

[agesilaus]

We just put in out reservation for the Escapade.

Someone said something on another list that made me think: "Fulltimers are not on vacation.", Meaning we don't want to rush from place to place but rather should take our time. He was commenting on someones post complaining about spending so much on fuel when they started fulltiming. So go slower burn less diesel.

So with that in mind I reworked our trip to Wyoming starting at the end of May and added 3 and 4 day stops. And I added two overnight Cracker Barrel stops and killed two CG stops. My thought right now is what do you do if you get to Cracker Barrel or Walmart at 3 PM. I'm assuming you wouldn't want to drop your RV and head out to explore. Maybe looking for a Boondocking site might be better.

[sandsys]

11 minutes ago, agesilaus said:

My thought right now is what do you do if you get to Cracker Barrel or Walmart at 3 PM. I'm assuming you wouldn't want to drop your RV and head out to explore. Maybe looking for a Boondocking site might be better.

You go inside and eat or buy groceries. Then you came back out and catch up on computer stuff including future trip plans. Or just crash because you've been on the go so much and you are not used to that.

Linda Sand, Class of 2008

[cactus]

On 10/8/2019 at 9:50 PM, sandsys said:

It's up to anyone going full time in any particular year to start a thread for that class. It looks to me like you may have just started the 2020 class thread.  If so, tell us a bit about yourself and see what happens next. Just know that some classes become more active than others and that would not be a reflection on you either good or bad. My class of 2008 felt a bit too small so we invited the class of 2009 to join us and that worked out well. There are no hard and fast rules about classes, we just find it helps to get to know people about the same stage you are in to support one another through the transition from house living to RV living.

Linda

Well put Linda

[skeet]

12 hours ago, BocoGirl said:

Hey Skeet!  Glad you started this thread.
I just purchased my Mini Max the other day.
I'll be housesitting and doing some 'test-runs' in my camper during Nov and December to do a run of the systems and pack/organize my belongings. How do you fit a life into 16'?? And, work full-time?
It's all fun so far with the planning. And, I do love the minimalist lifestyle.

I'm based out of Colorado for now, but will most likely change my domicile at some point.

Looking forward to learning about everyone else's plans and how you're getting the ball rolling.
Thanks!
Michele

Hey Michele...Thanks for joining and hope to hear more from you as you get closer to the start of your journey. I'm still working on projects around the house and property. I should be done with the all the major upgrades by Xmas...then when winter is over...I can put the house on the market. Hoping for an early spring(so is my real estate agent) DW and I want to get on the road! Wishing you the best during your test runs. Keep us posted how everything is coming along.

Take Care

Skeet

[Danandfreda]

We are planning to join the 2020 group. We have a contract on our house now just waiting for the buyer to sell theirs so we could be homeless anytime. Wife is retired and I’m 4 years from retirement but I will quit working soon after the house is finalized. We to are tired of the work we have 40 acres in central Illinois great hunting and fishing but a lot of mowing and tree trimming. We are going to order our hdt when the house is final and change our domicile. We are hoping to be gone by spring and can’t wait

[skeet]

Dan....welcome to the 2020 class. Sounds like you are as anxious as I am to get on the road. Where you gonna change your domicile to? I was just telling the wife a few minutes ago...that I hope we're someplace warm by next Halloween.

[Danandfreda]

Thinking South Dakota domicile and Montana vehicle registration. Me too on the weather it’s 27 and snowed all day with high winds. Ready for warmer weather

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, Danandfreda said:

Thinking South Dakota domicile and Montana vehicle registration. Me too on the weather it’s 27 and snowed all day with high winds. Ready for warmer weather

So you plan to garage the vehicle in Montana? if not, what are you going to use as an address to register the vehicle?

Linda Sand, Class of 2008

[Danandfreda]

Getting info on an LLC to see if the sales tax savings is worth the price. The hdt will be new and fiber will be too. It might be just as cheap to pay South Dakota sales tax though. 

[Steven@146]

Well Hello Class of 2020. The Wife and I will be joining ya'll next year. Currently we live 8 miles from Bastrop Texas near Austin. I am retired, Wife will next year in Sept. We will put the house on the market in spring and hope to have it sold before May. Still have to get rid of a lot of stuff yet but we are working on it. We are not new to RVing just will be new to the fulltime lifestyle. We  purchased in February a new fulltime living capable 37 foot 5th wheel and new 1 Ton truck to pull it. We will live in the RV here till Sept then travel up to Northern Indiana and Ohio where the rest of the family lives. Just after the Holidays 2020 will come back to Texas for the winter. Most likely winter in the Bastrop area since  we have lived here 17 years, have lots of friends here and there are now some 30 RV parks in and around this area. Winters here are not bad cold wise. Last night got down to 29* but this afternoon its supposed to get up to 62*. We really also love the Gulf Coast and Galveston Island and will probably share winter time there also. We will keep our Texas residency. Have the Class A Non CDL Texas drivers license already. We recently made a camping trip to Livingston to check it out and got the grand tour of the mail facility. Also did the SmartWeigh while we were there. We will get the paperwork done and transition our residence to Polk county.

We are members of the Escapees Alamo Texas Chapter and attend their Rally's.  Our Rally's are centered around the Texas Hill Country. They are great fun and we have made some good friends with this group.

We have Escapees membership stickers on our truck back window, if you see us stop by and say hello.

Steve & Tami Cass

[sandsys]

8 hours ago, Danandfreda said:

Getting info on an LLC to see if the sales tax savings is worth the price. The hdt will be new and fiber will be too. It might be just as cheap to pay South Dakota sales tax though. 

It is my understanding is that an LLC is a business that would own your truck and that has all types of implications including registration, insurance, truck scales, etc. Please, do lots of research before deciding to go that way.

Linda Sand, Class of 2008

[skeet]

9 hours ago, Steven@146 said:

Well Hello Class of 2020. The Wife and I will be joining ya'll next year. Currently we live 8 miles from Bastrop Texas near Austin. I am retired, Wife will next year in Sept. We will put the house on the market in spring and hope to have it sold before May. Still have to get rid of a lot of stuff yet but we are working on it. We are not new to RVing just will be new to the fulltime lifestyle. We  purchased in February a new fulltime living capable 37 foot 5th wheel and new 1 Ton truck to pull it. We will live in the RV here till Sept then travel up to Northern Indiana and Ohio where the rest of the family lives. Just after the Holidays 2020 will come back to Texas for the winter. Most likely winter in the Bastrop area since  we have lived here 17 years, have lots of friends here and there are now some 30 RV parks in and around this area. Winters here are not bad cold wise. Last night got down to 29* but this afternoon its supposed to get up to 62*. We really also love the Gulf Coast and Galveston Island and will probably share winter time there also. We will keep our Texas residency. Have the Class A Non CDL Texas drivers license already. We recently made a camping trip to Livingston to check it out and got the grand tour of the mail facility. Also did the SmartWeigh while we were there. We will get the paperwork done and transition our residence to Polk county.

We are members of the Escapees Alamo Texas Chapter and attend their Rally's.  Our Rally's are centered around the Texas Hill Country. They are great fun and we have made some good friends with this group.

We have Escapees membership stickers on our truck back window, if you see us stop by and say hello.

Steve & Tami Cass

Welcome Steve & Tami...Nice to have you join the rest of the 2020 class. It sounds like you have everything planned out ..and you have a quality truck and fiver. We haven't yet decided where  to domicile.... in SD or Texas. Our son and granddaughter live near Dallas...we'll be spending a couple months a year with them...so leaning towards Texas. We haven't spent any time on the Gulf coast...but sure want to some day. Keep in touch.......Skeet

[Kirk W]

On 11/1/2019 at 6:57 AM, Danandfreda said:

Getting info on an LLC to see if the sales tax savings is worth the price. The hdt will be new and fiber will be too. It might be just as cheap to pay South Dakota sales tax though. 

It has been a while since I had any contact with them, but the Bennett Law Office in Missoula, MT used to be quite well known in the RV community for such services and for their solid advice. When I looked into it they advised me that it would not save enough to justify the cost and work. That advice was not billed for either.