Class of 2011

[EagleEye]

One more step. Had another garage sale this weekend. Still a long way to go but are making progress. Hopefully less than a year to go.

[Metamorphosis Road]

Hi all,

 

Hubby and I are in the process of purging belongings and researching (endlessly!) 5th wheels and trucks. We plan on doing a bit of fix up to the house after the new year, then put it on the market some time in the spring. Once it's sold, we'll move to Oregon briefly to establish residency, then buy our rig and hit the road. If the plan plays out as described we'll be part of the class of 2011! (My daughter lives in OR and has agreed to be our mail service...plus it's a less expensive state than CA...as most states are!)

 

In the meantime...love reading the forums, looking at RV's and dreaming of the life ahead. We'll be retiring early, at 48 and 50 and look forward to as many years on the road as we are happy doing it.

 

Fingers are crossed that the house will sell in record time!

 

Lisa (and Hans and Rosie the Cat)

Currently in San Diego, CA

[heyduke]

Hi all,

 

Hubby and I are in the process of purging belongings and researching (endlessly!) 5th wheels and trucks. We plan on doing a bit of fix up to the house after the new year, then put it on the market some time in the spring. Once it's sold, we'll move to Oregon briefly to establish residency, then buy our rig and hit the road. If the plan plays out as described we'll be part of the class of 2011! (My daughter lives in OR and has agreed to be our mail service...plus it's a less expensive state than CA...as most states are!)

 

In the meantime...love reading the forums, looking at RV's and dreaming of the life ahead. We'll be retiring early, at 48 and 50 and look forward to as many years on the road as we are happy doing it.

 

Fingers are crossed that the house will sell in record time!

 

Lisa (and Hans and Rosie the Cat)

Currently in San Diego, CA

 

 

welcome to the class... our house is still for sale and we still don't have a motorhome... but we will still be on the road March 2nd 2011 or someone is going to catch a rash of (*&^...

[Penguelephants]

My wife, son and I have been planning our escape to fulltiming for about 6 months now and we're getting closer. We've been selling our things and are about ready to order our truck and trailer in two weeks. Our date fdor escape is the first couple weeks in March of 2011. =) So excited!!

[wygolfnutz]

Welcome Penquelephants, we also plan on joining the class of 2011, but will have to see. Plan is to go FT this time next year, but we all know how plans can go. Good Luck and safe travels.

[jnifrhere]

Excited to see this topic, as we too are going to be part of the 2011 class. My husband and I have 4 kids, ages 7 -13. We will be buying our trailer around February and then moving into it. Then buying our truck a few months later. We are excited to be able to explore this beautiful country, up close and personal, with our kids. We'll be workamping summer and winter, and traveling the rest of the year. We live in Texas, so this will be our homebase. We have just started purging stuff. So much to go through and get rid of! And its so hard to decide what to keep and what will fit in the trailer, which I know isn't going to be much! We're all so excited to start this new adventure!! Can't wait to get on the road.

 

Blessings,

Jennifer

[sandsys]

Welcome, Jennifer. What an exciting challenge you have ahead of you! Have you picked out a trailer yet? If not, you might want to see if you can get one that allows each child one drawer or cupboard for them to put personal things into. Otherwise, you might get each one a duffle bag, milk crate or some such container to help them understand the limits of what they can bring. My Mom bought us each a suitcase plus we were allowed one stuffed animal each; that helped us sort our stuff. But, do that part as soon as you can so they kids have lots of time to change their minds about which things will go and which ones won't. It's hard enough for us adults to do this but a seven year old usually doesn't have enough experience to get it right quickly.

 

Linda Sand

[R Sanity]

Greetings from Paul and Marti,

 

We're joining the Class of 2011, too. House goes on the market March 2011, retirement date set for July 2011.

 

Best Regards!

[wygolfnutz]

Welcome Paul and Marti, we hope to join you on the road by late summer next year, good luck with selling your house.

[Loviosa]

Well everyone the time is getting closer. We have purchased our new to us 5er and pick it up this week. I am so excited. We are planning to winter in Florida then home in the spring to sell the house. As soon as it sells we are heading out.

 

I can't wait to meet some of you out there. Hugs to all and stay safe.

 

Ira and Vicky

[EagleEye]

Ira and Vicky, Congratulations on your new to you 5er. What did you get?

[wygolfnutz]

Congrats Ira and Vicky, what did you get and what are you pulling it with? One step at a time, good luck with your home sale. Lucky you on wintering in FL, after this winter we hope to see winter no more! seen plenty in our lifetime lol.........Safe Travels.

[christartist]

Thanks for the invite Russ!

We won't be retiring in 2011 - just moving into our RV so that we can put more money into retirement.

 

We will be taking trips, because we will be more able!

 

I just turned 50 - but I'm disabled, and have not brought much money into the home through the years.

Jim will turn 51 in December - and we pray for the Lord's blessing to continue his employment while we work out a few other things towards retirement

I'll be joining the folks here! And very soon, I'll get Jim on here!

[christartist]

Jennifer,

having done fulltime with two children...and very small homes with five...I second Sandy's comments.

Color coordinate each child...check out military storage ideas...each has a bunk, each has a 'locker', each has a crate.

 

When we moved from a 4000 sf farm house with four children to a 1000 sf rental in Gladewater Texas, each child was allowed one trunk (available at walmart...plastic, stackable, wonderful! we use them now in the back of the Pick up and under the belly of our 5er).

They were allowed to put some stuff in storage...but when we moved on into the 400sf TT they did more purging. And that was going down from 4 kids to 2!

 

Also, they need their private space...consider some sort of curtains on their bunks, with lights just for them. We also had some sort of veggie crate that we used for active books - plastic, with a lip that held the books on them.

 

They had their own bath bags - in their colors so that it was easy to see whose was left out!

 

Oh, washable sleeping bags were the best bedding ever!

 

Anyway - I wish we could have stayed out much longer...and I cherish the trips we took with all five. my hugs and blessings for a great life!

[christartist]

Jennifer,

having done fulltime with two children...and very small homes with five...I second Sandy's comments.

Color coordinate each child...check out military storage ideas...each has a bunk, each has a 'locker', each has a crate.

 

When we moved from a 4000 sf farm house with four children to a 1000 sf rental in Gladewater Texas, each child was allowed one trunk (available at walmart...plastic, stackable, wonderful! we use them now in the back of the Pick up and under the belly of our 5er).

They were allowed to put some stuff in storage...but when we moved on into the 400sf TT they did more purging. And that was going down from 4 kids to 2!

 

Also, they need their private space...consider some sort of curtains on their bunks, with lights just for them. We also had some sort of veggie crate that we used for active books - plastic, with a lip that held the books on them.

 

They had their own bath bags - in their colors so that it was easy to see whose was left out!

 

Oh, washable sleeping bags were the best bedding ever!

 

Anyway - I wish we could have stayed out much longer...and I cherish the trips we took with all five. my hugs and blessings for a great life!

[christartist]

Clarification - we have five children - we took Class C mh trips together. Then the oldest went into the Navy, and then there were 4.

Then the next oldest went into the Navy, and then there were 3.

Then the middle child decided to stay in Texas when we went full time, and ended up back in Ohio, and then there were two.

One got married, to an Army grunt - and she is now in Germany. Can't take an RV over there to meet my grandson.

The other gets married June 2011 - so then there were none.

[motorcycle jack]

Just wanted to put our names in for the Graduation Ceremony for 2011. Will be going F.T. in late summer or early fall. We are SOOoooo looking forward to getting on the road, visiting friends, family and new friends we haven't met yet (you guys). So if you have a graduation dance, party or meet & greet, let us know.

[Mooney12]

Welcome to 2011 Motorcycle Jack. We hope to hit the road next summer.

[catrobin]

With 2011 just around the corner, I feel like the full time lifestyle will be here before we know it. Next I need to start the purging process like some of you have already started. I have leased out my house to a friend, will be going to a big RV show next week, and have signed up for RV boot camp. I plan to hit the road by summer 2011 with my 2 Poodles. Hopefully, the RV show and boot camp will help me decide what type of RV I will be getting. I am leaning toward a class C. Happy planning everyone. Cathy

[jnifrhere]

Christi and Sandy,

 

Thank you for the welcome! We are so excited to get out on the road. I love all the ideas you have given me already and am writing them down in our "Gotta know/get before we go" notebook. Its getting quite full.

The kids are excited to be able to customize their own space. We are already looking into making curtains for each bunk, that can match their bedding. I wonder if the decorative wall clings would stick to the walls of a trailer? Then they could customize even more. Hmm might have to check into that. We do have a couple soft sided milk crate size containers. I let the kids know that they could each bring only enough stuff that would fit inside this. Its definately gotten them thinking about what to bring, what to sell and what to give away. Glad they are thinking about this already!

 

Blessings,

Jennifer

[Aeagles]

Hi All,

I'm in the class of 2011! I'll be retiring in December of this year and then clearing the house I rent. I've already started on that. Finalized the RV, which I will take out of storage in TX. I live in New England right now. I'm beginning to get excited as the time gets closer. I'll be traveling solo with my two boy cats. Boy am I ready! I hope to be headed for TX end of Dec or early in Jan 2011.

[Mooney12]

Welcome to the class of 2011 Andrea2010. We hope to be on the road next fall.

[KD Roberts]

I'm going to go ahead & jump in here with the Class of 2011

 

My husband is planning his escape/retirement in September 2011 & we have high hopes to hit the road very shortly thereafter.

 

We have already upgraded our home's curb appeal & will be placing it on the market after Thanksgiving this year. We were fortunate to have just sold our 1st of three vehicles & are about to purchase our toad. And ridding ourselves of unecessary items we hope to complete in an estate sale before or during the time our home is up for sale.

 

We will be attending the Escapee's Bootcamp in Livingston this November & hope between now & the first of the year to finalize our decision on which model of Foretravel or Newmar we intend to purchase in the Spring of 2011.

 

Looking forward to getting to know my graduating class - even if only cyber-know for now & hopefully in person on the road soon.

[LFDR3116]

Well we had the open house Sept 19 - 4 couples thru but no offers. Not a single call since then. We have just reduced the price hoping for some activity. If anyone has their houses ready or near ready, you may want to list it asap if your leaving depends on the sale of the house. Not much is happening and it may take some time to sell it. 3 months now for us and not even a hint of an offer. Realtor's listing is thru winter here and that is an even worse time to try to sell. I have a feeling when the realtors listing is done we will be advertising to sell land contract, rent to own, or just rent it out.

We will be in the class of 2011 one way or another. We already have plans to stay at a park near Baldwin for the summer, possibly as camp hosts, so as someone else said, that will give us time to decide if we kept the right stuff or what we don't need before we actually travel.

[Mooney12]

We have had ours on the market for almost six months. Next week we are changing realtors. Four couples in six months and we are going to take a 100K loss. I've never seen it this bad.