class of 2014..follow along!

[gdk491]

We just returned from a quick trip to Disney, Oklahoma. Home of Grand Lake of the Cherrokees and the off road park below the dam. Great weather. Great Jeeping. Way too short. Back home and to the grind. Class of 14, keep up the travel letters. Lets keep er going.

[EBendana]

we are closing on our double wide on Tuesday, and dreaming of all the trips we will be taking. for now, we are getting used to local trips, its a bit tricky loading the motor cycle in the toyhauler (it is a side/front loader) but well work we need to get all the small bills paid by end of year then start living on half of what we make for the next three years to build up some extra cash reserves, then we figure if everything is paid for we can live on pension and savings and let the 401K money grow another few years will 59 and half. I'm very grateful that we have a company pension and health benefits too

[gdk491]

EBendana Thats the way we role. Keep it up, 14's.

[dosbeagles]

Hi, been away for a while. Had a wild thing this last Saturday. I was downstairs reading and I looked out the window and it was snowing!!!!!!!! Now I know for some of you this is not a new thing but remember I live in the Santa Clarita Valley just north of Los Angeles at about 1500 feet. That is not supposed to happen. It melted quickly but is was still quite a site.

 

Spring is supposedly just around the corner and day light savings time comes back again soon so time to start planning the weekend trips and summer trips!!! Where are you going?

[smack2020]

Hi, been away for a while. Had a wild thing this last Saturday. I was downstairs reading and I looked out the window and it was snowing!!!!!!!! Now I know for some of you this is not a new thing but remember I live in the Santa Clarita Valley just north of Los Angeles at about 1500 feet. That is not supposed to happen. It melted quickly but is was still quite a site.

 

Spring is supposedly just around the corner and day light savings time comes back again soon so time to start planning the weekend trips and summer trips!!! Where are you going?

 

Snow at 1500 feet, cool. We are at about 800 feet, no snow, but we could see it all around us.

 

We are saving mula, so we wont go on any trips until the end of April. We are going to Lake Havasu and leaving our boat and motorhome over at Havasu Springs Resort for two months. We will go over on a couple weekend and a week in May and a week in June. Bring everything back to Bakersfield after July 4th. Gas is a killer now. Good thing we have my wifes Honda CIVIC to drive back and forth.

 

Cant wait to go on my permanant vacation(retirement)

 

Scott

[smack2020]

Wake up 14ners,,,,,,,,,,

[jjriker]

Well, things are moving along here. Our kitchen remodel is finished, which leaves just a few more areas in our house that we want to update before we try to sell in the spring of '14. Also my condo is under contract, and we are waiting for a closing date. The buyer had a lease so we agreed to wait until May to close, so that will probably be the first or second week of May. And, in one month, we will be heading to Tennessee for our first rv rally!!! SO exciting!! We are staying in a cabin since we don't actually have our fiver yet. Soon though - we plan on buying this time next year.

[dosbeagles]

good luck on the condo closing.

[smack2020]

Me and wifes plans are going good. We are on track with paying off our bills. We are even saving a little money. Still undecided on domicile state. Since we are graduating in December, we may need to domicile in Texas due to the cold winter in South Dakota. We plan on going to domicile state right after we retire to set up residency.

 

Off to work, see you later.

 

Scott

[vipers_princess]

Joining in since 14 is the earliest feasible date and our current goal. Our situation is a bit different, in that we still have 3 kids at home, aged 12, 10 & 5 at the moment. The 5 year old is the reason 2014 makes sense for us. She'll turn 8 in 2014 and be legally capable of riding in a backless booster or no car seat in almost every state at that point.

 

I'm a massage therapist by trade & passion, weighing the cost/benefit of becoming licensed in every state that we plan to visit or reside in if national licensing doesn't happen before 14. Looks like I'll be going back to school to turn my certificate into an AAS to make that possible in the fall. Thankfully there aren't that many credits required since the community college is accepting my transcripts and the fact I'm certified and practicing into account. The husband is an OIF Vet, and thanks to the GI Bill, a full time criminal justice major and will be an EMT student over this summer and next. Going after his B cert this year and his I cert next year while he wraps up his AS and then the AS to BS completion program.

 

I haven't seen any full timer to bes with kids on this thread yet but I'll ask anyways- With 5 people on board, will be aged 38, 36, 15, 13 and 8, and plans to do at least a 3 month stint in many places as seasonal workers with the parks service and whatever else life throws at us, which makes more sense financially- a Class C or A bunkhouse model or a full sized truck with a 5er? I've been puzzling over that question for almost 2 years now and can't seem to convince myself one way or the other.

[sandsys]

which makes more sense financially- a Class C or A bunkhouse model or a full sized truck with a 5er? I've been puzzling over that question for almost 2 years now and can't seem to convince myself one way or the other.

I don't know about financially but for sanity's sake I'd go for a bunkhouse in whatever style RV you pick. The ability for each kid to own some space is good. Having a bunk which can be decorated to the child's taste and on which curtains can be closed for alone time can meet that need. But, that's just me; some kids are like puppies and like sharing everything and sleeping piled on each other. Most teens, though, are fighting to figure out where they are separate from their families so having an independent space can lessen the struggles.

 

Linda Sand

[vipers_princess]

I don't know about financially but for sanity's sake I'd go for a bunkhouse in whatever style RV you pick. The ability for each kid to own some space is good. Having a bunk which can be decorated to the child's taste and on which curtains can be closed for alone time can meet that need. But, that's just me; some kids are like puppies and like sharing everything and sleeping piled on each other. Most teens, though, are fighting to figure out where they are separate from their families so having an independent space can lessen the struggles.

 

Linda Sand

 

Thank you. We are specifically looking at a Hurricane/Windsport 34B for this reason- they have the longest bunks in a class A and pretty much the longest bunks we've found in any model. 80" 'useable space' That would put the 2 teens in the bunks and the will-be-8 year old on the sofa, knowing her with the dog and cat for bed warmers. The currently 12 year old tried to vote for a super-C and rights to the cab-over but she's already 5 ft 2.5 in and almost everyone on both sides of the family is 5 ft 6 and over, and three of my sisters have kids over 6ft of both genders so I didn't see that working out for any length of time.

 

I guess by economical I mean which would be lower cost/easier on the MPGs- a class C we can use to both live in and drive in a pinch when we're long-term camped, {we're hoping to add a lift-pod style trailer for a scooter/cycle to whatever we end up with for local useage} or a Class A towing a Jeep or Cavalier convertible. My project for tomorrow while I'm at the dentist with DD2 is to investigate past posts on the board for opinions/experiences with towing 4 down v 2 down, actually Any opinions on that are more than welcome as well.

[sandsys]

With five people you will want to tow a car so not everyone has to pack up and make every trip to the grocery store or laundromat. And 4-down is definitely the way to go! You don't want to be dealing with a tow dolly along with everything else.

 

Linda Sand

[vipers_princess]

With five people you will want to tow a car so not everyone has to pack up and make every trip to the grocery store or laundromat. And 4-down is definitely the way to go! You don't want to be dealing with a tow dolly along with everything else.

 

Linda Sand

 

Thanks. *adds vehicles that seat 5 comfortably and can be towed 4 down to her research list*

[smack2020]

Is it 2014 yet????????

[vipers_princess]

Is it 2014 yet????????

 

 

Amen, especially now that I've seen this: http://www.fleetwoodrvsource.com/rvinvento...m.asp?id=727781 It would be perfect for our family. A bit out of our price range right now but a girl can dream, right?

[smack2020]

We all dream Vipers Princess. Nothing wrong with that and that is a nice Fleetwood.

 

Good news for me today. My wife is finally getting totally on board with the whole fulltime RV thing. In fact she is taking a bunch of our crap, I mean stuff to her sisters for a garage sell next weekend. Whatever does not sell will go to goodwill on her way home. It's a start.

[sandsys]

Amen, especially now that I've seen this: http://www.fleetwoodrvsource.com/rvinvento...m.asp?id=727781 It would be perfect for our family. A bit out of our price range right now but a girl can dream, right?

If you manage to buy one of these here's a tip for you. Buy one of those over the door shoe pocket things and cut it down to fit on the back of the dinette just inside the door. You take the dinette back cushion off, hang the thing over the wood, and put the back cushion on again. At least that's what we did on our former View and it worked wonders for us.

 

Linda Sand

[sandsys]

We all dream Vipers Princess. Nothing wrong with that and that is a nice Fleetwood.

 

Good news for me today. My wife is finally getting totally on board with the whole fulltime RV thing. In fact she is taking a bunch of our crap, I mean stuff to her sisters for a garage sell next weekend. Whatever does not sell will go to goodwill on her way home. It's a start.

It's an excellent start. Now if you can get her to put the profits from the sale in the travel fund...

 

Linda Sand

[smack2020]

Linda,

 

I kinda tricked her. She has been wanting a new camera. I told her that the money from the STUFF she sells can go towards her new camera. Just getting her into the mode of getting rid of stuff is a big plus.

 

We are still bouncing back and forth on selling the house before we go fulltiming or keep it and rent it for a year to make sure we will like fulltiming.

[gdk491]

This sounds like bad news but after I spin it, you will see it is good news. DW came down with shingles in her face. She has been down and out for four weeks. We have learned shingles is the result of once having had chicken pox and then loosing your immunity due to things like STRESSSSS. She has nearly recovered now and the good side to this story is she come away with a new attitude toward life. She says, NO MORE WORRING< STRESS< BAD ATTITUDE. I have been telling her for years the S word was going to get her. It nearly did. Third week of her recovery, she said, lets take the camper out. We went on a stress free four day trip to no where in the camper and she started her recovery. She decided the camper was a stress free living environment and she is now more ready than ever. One and a half years more work for her, two and half for me, then watch out North America, no little corner or out of the way place is going to be safe from US, and by that I mean DW and I and all us FOURTEENERS. Lets get it on!!!!!!!!!

 

 

[smack2020]

Lisa and Greg ,

 

Sorry to hear about DW's health problem. Stress is a killer. My wife had cancer at 37, went into remission and came back about 4 years ago. Very tough times in our lives. She is tough and beat it again and now we both have a different outlook on life. We are very excited about retiring and going FT. We are not waiting for retirment to do things and have fun. I have know several people that died just before retirement or soon after. Got to get out and have fun now.

 

On a brighter note, We sold all the furniture in our guest room. We hardly used the room. My wife is going to set it up as a small photo studio(she already has the photo equipment) and try to make some extra $$$$. DW's garage sell was a success, got rid of a bunch of stuff we did not use and made some mula. I have been shredding old documents and staring at all my stuff in my garage and wondering what I am going to do with it.

 

Off to work and one day closer to Dec, 2014.

[dosbeagles]

Hey 2014'ers anything happening out there. Seems this forum has been quiet for a while. Any trips planned? Houses selling? Let's not let this thread go dormat.

[gdk491]

Headed to the north west panhandle of Texas next week for some sight seeing. Looking forward to this weekend. DW, dogs and I are going someplace close by to boondock for the weekend. Bad weather next couple of days, so waiting to decided where to go until weather passes. Lets hear it 14...

[smack2020]

2 more weeks and we are off to Lake Havasu.

 

I did some work on my moho last weekend. I have always hated the way the toilet was put in the toilet room. I looked at the original brochure and it shows the toilet at an agle, because the door is at an angle. Mine was square off the back wall. When sitting down and closing the door, we had to sit sideways on the toilet. So I removed the toilet and repositioned it like the brochure and what a huge different. Cant wait to really try it out.

 

Other than that, just paying off bills and saving money for retirement in Dec 2014.

 

2014 sounds like a long time away, but time sure has a way of flying by.