Day 7 of the Journey - Clermont / Orlando, FL

I started the day with a conference call from a client.  Good feeling to know that I can indeed still work on the road, even if my hours are not 9-5 -- sometimes I may work until midnight.  But this is a very good thing!

Roof guy (Benjamin, who is a full fledged RV mechanic) arrived around 11:00.  He showed us how to unhitch.  The problem was that Mitch didn't pull the level out hard enough.  It was as easy as that!  Unfortunately, we forgot to raise the RV high enough to clear the spare tire and tailgate, so that bent and came off.  Thank goodness Benjamin knew what to do.  He was able to hammer it back in shape and showed Mitch the part he needs to reattach it.  He also discovered the ladder to the roof was missing a part.  No clue how Mitch and Kevin went up there a few times without falling off!  Another part we needed to replace.  We were able to find a few extra pins for the handle of the hitch, so that was fixed as well. 

So Benjamin finished the first phase of the roof at noon.  It was sunny with a few patchy clouds.  He left to get some food, saying that it needed to dry for about an hour.  Yep - you guessed it!  About half hour after he left, the sky turned black and the thunderstorms began.  Interestingly, I had a conversation with the clerk at the office here at the campground when I made the reservation.  They are only about 30 miles north of St. Cloud, where we had rain every single day.  She commented that except for the previous day, every day was sunny up here!!!  So of course, it's our luck that it's raining on the day we need sunshine!

Actually, it didn't turn out too bad.  The sun never came out but the rain did finally stop.  Benjamin dried the roof manually.  We found a few more problems while up there - one plastic a/c cover had a crack and Mitch leaned on the other one and broke it.  So now we need to replace 2 vent covers.  Fortunately there are plenty of RV supply places down here.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention that a hornet's nest was found under one of the vents (the one that broke).  Fortunately it was discovered before they removed it, so we bought some spray and killed the nest at sundown (pretty sunset again).

So by the end of the day, Benjamin was able to finish applying the primer.  Tomorrow he will need to apply 4 coats of the sealing stuff.  Let's all keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't rain again!

Day 6 of the Journey - First day out! - Clermont / Orlando, FL

This day was certainly full of challenges!!!  Let's see, where do I begin?

We were hoping to hit the road no later than 11 am.  We finally pulled out of the driveway at 5 pm....

First, we discovered the reason the bull wouldn't start was not only were the 2 batteries bad, but so was the alternator.  Pretty normal for sitting unused for 2 years in the Florida heat.  The bull took enough of a charge to drive to the nearest auto center, where they installed the new batteries.  Mitch and Kevin purchased an alternator which Kevin was going to install (he knows a little bit about trucks).  Turns out that he either really didn't know what he was doing or he didn't have the right tools, but they couldn't get the belt on.  I think it was hilarious that here are these 2 men standing over a huge truck with a laptop on the back, watching Youtube videos on how to replace an alternator!!!  Finally, Kevin called in the troops - a friend who is a retired mechanic, who came over and fixed it within 10 minutes.  So problem # 1 resolved and it is now 2:00 pm.

Next, Kevin went over all the instructions again with Mitch on closing up (I already had everything ready inside the CoW.  I'm leaving the stuff like the sewer hookups to the men).  Finally, finally, it's 4:30 and we're ready to leave.  And then the sky opened and the winds were roaring.  Rather than drive in that, we were invited into the house, given hot tea and a change of clothes and some snacks (we hadn't eaten much breakfast and no lunch) and waited out the storm.  Have I mentioned before what incredibly wonderful people they are?

Finally, 5:00 and we left the driveway, taking our home on wheels out for the very first time alone.

The ride itself wasn't too bad, although I would have felt better if Mitch wasn't reading all the signs (passing thru Disney territory).  Then we came to the campground, which was not what we were hoping for at all.  There are over 900 sites, most of which are  permanent trailer homes.  There are lots of streets which are very narrow and winding.  There's NO WAY we would have gotten into any other site.  We were given a spot which is perpendicular to another street so we should have been able to back straight in.  Unfortunately that perpendicular street was curved so it was difficult to get really straight.  Not having experience backing up this beast, knowing that turns don't respond until 5-10 seconds later, made it extremely difficult.

We started out with Mitch driving and me giving directions, but I was having a lot of trouble communicating.  Usually I'm much better at following directions, so we traded places.

About that time, a friendly neighbor, Dick, an elderly gentleman, came over to offer his assistance.  He commented "I haven't done this in a long time" (clearly he lives in one of the trailer homes).  So he's giving me one set of directions, which mostly were wrong (almost identical to the ones I was giving Mitch -- go this way, no go that way, no stop, go the other way again, wait, straighten up.....).  Meanwhile Mitch is giving me another set of directions over the walkie-talkie.  This kept up for about 1/2 hr until my legs started cramping and I had to give Mitch the wheel, and let Dick guide him.  It took maybe another 15 minutes but we finally did it!!!

Let's just say we landed at the campground around 6:00 and finally got it just right at 8:00.   Phew.

Next came having to unhitch the beast (we're calling the trailer the CoW, castle on wheels; the truck- the bull which pulls it, and combined they are the beast.  If you see them up close and personal, you'll understand).  There is a master lock in place and Mitch couldn't find the keys.  We had to call Kevin to find out if he gave them to us.  He recalled that he told Mitch to leave them in the underbelly (Mitch forgot).  We opened the lock and then started to proceed with dumping the air in the truck in order to lower it so we could unhitch the pin.  After attempting for about 20 mins, a pin broke off the hitch.  Mitch was able to find something to replace it, but we still couldn't get it quite right.  Meanwhile, it's now about 8:45, and although we witnessed a pretty sunset (picture below -- view from our back window), we knew we only had about 15 more minutes of light.  We decided to ditch the unhitch and try again in the morning.  In fact, the guy doing the roofing is an RV mechanic so perhaps he can give us a hand.

So Mitch proceeded to set up the sewer, water and electric.  He did an excellent job of that.  After about 1/2 hr, the a/c went on and the first thing I did was jump into a cold shower.  That felt awesome!  It was now 9:30 and I made some veggie burgers on a toasted  bagel with melted cheese.

Here's the sunset.  There's a little canal that runs behind the house.

At least the silver lining is that we didn't have to park or set up in the rain!

Day 5 of the Journey - Shabbat: St. Cloud, FL

It's too bad that Shabbat started, so we weren't able to take a photo of the most incredible rainbow we had ever seen.  Recall every single day had thunderstorms and yesterday was no exception. However, we stepped outside after candles were lit because the sky thru the shades seemed a nice color so we wanted to explore further.  We were met with a rainbow that filled the entire sky - from one end to the other!  I have only seen partial rainbows before - never one that filled the whole sky.  It was awesome!  Even the ROYGBIV was clear.

The rest of the day was spent pretty much doing what we usually do when there's no shul around -- prayers, reading and napping.

The plans were to leave tomorrow morning and head up to Clermont/Orlando to a campground there.  Monday we have an appt. with the roofing guy.  However, we wanted to go out shopping tonight for a few last minute things, only to discover the battery on the bull was dead (again).  I think it needs a replacement.  Kevin let us use his van (which was ours until yesterday).  When we returned 1 1/2 hrs later, the charger was still attached but still no charge.  Could it be the alternator?  Not sure how this is going to affect plans tomorrow.  But I guess I have to learn that flexibility is the key to this lifestyle.

Day 4 of the journey - St. Cloud, FL

Not too much going on today.  We were granted permission to stay until Sunday (we would leave tomorrow, but we don't travel on the Sabbath).  Since it takes over about 1/2 hr to pack everything up to hitch, it didn't make sense to take it out again for another practice run.  Guess we'll start learning as we go when we go, just like 99% of the RV'ers before us.

After checking emails, we went out shopping.  Seems we've been going out every day!  It does take some getting used to buying small items rather than large cans or boxes or anything in bulk.  It's more expensive this way, but there isn't a lot of pantry space.  I have room for 5 cans of tuna, not 20!  Besides food, we also needed to buy a blanket and pillows, as the ones our hosts gave us were actually on loan (forgot to buy pillow cases - oops!  Another run to the store later).  We also bought some bug spray and another camping chair as Mitch left ours at Jess's house and if we want to sit outside under the awning, there's only 1 chair (I should let him sit on the floor, just as an "I told you so" (not to take it out of the van)).  I also decided to replace my wardrobe.  I haven't worn summer clothes since I lost weight and the 2 pairs of shorts I own are too big and baggy and the 5 tshirts are all black or brown.  So I bought 4 pairs of shorts and 3 tops.  I'm calling this my "winter wardrobe" as I hope to be in warm locales in the winter.  Mitch and Kevin also loaded up the 2 40# propane cylinders and brought them to a filling station.  When on electric hookup, we still need the gas for the hot water heater and stove.  The frig will run on it while we're driving.

So our "lessons" for today is learning how to set up and use the generator for when we dry camp (what do we need to turn on?  what needs to be off?), and opening/closing the large awning which is not electric (there are so many dials and latches to locate!  When we're near the factory in Sept. we may explore the possibility of replacing it with an automatic one like the smaller one in front).  We will practice hitching and unhitching again on Sunday before we take off.  We're actually not allowed to check into the campsite until 3:00 so maybe if the parking lot we found is en route to Orlando and not in the opposite direction, we can go back there and practice some more.

As for next week's plans, we have a guy who can reseal the roof at our location, and since he's out of Orlando, we will stay at a campground there (actually in Clermont) until he's done - probably leave on Wednesday.  We have chosen not to visit Naples or Ft. Myers this time around as we want to do as limited driving as possible until we take lessons.  We'll visit Fred and Twila in Panama City Beach (which is still a little off route) and then head up to Myrtle Beach.  Hopefully by the time we leave SC, we won't be so green around the gills.  Although after driving for about an hour yesterday, Mitch was driving almost like a pro.  As long as we stay away from narrow winding roads and hills and small towns where there are a lot of tight turns -- staying on the interstate as much as possible - we should be ok. 

Day 3 of the journey: St. Cloud, FL

Our host was busy with his own stuff until almost 3:00 pm today so we got a really late start with our lessons.  I wasn't ready at all to take the wheel yet.  Mitch did a really GREAT job driving and making turns.  In fact, we got stuck in a torrential, flash flood type of storm (it was sunny when we left the driveway 10 minutes earlier).  He needs to get used to the brakes, but overall he was very comfortable with it. 

Packing up and then setting up again is a real pain, but in time I'm sure we'll develop a good routine.  Still, so much work that needs to be done to make sure everything is safe before taking it on the road.

We found an almost empty parking lot to practice in.  While driving and turns were good, backing up was a disaster!  We just could not get it to go in the direction we wanted and we couldn't figure out how to communicate with each other about it either.  It will take A LOT of practice getting it right.

We still need to get the roof resealed.  The earliest Kevin's guy can do it is the end of next week, and he's about 2 hours south, on the east coast.  Mindy and Sharon are on the west coast.  Fortunately, we've been given permission to stay until Sunday so I have a little more time to figure out revised plans for next week. 

Day 2 of the Journey: St. Cloud, FL

I think today we can really, truly say that this is our new home.  The funds from the sale of the house cleared the bank, so we went there to arrange a wire transfer to the seller's account.  Purchase complete.  We purchased the insurance policy, so later in the afternoon we went to DMV and had the vehicles registered and put the plates on.

We took our first rides in the Bull.  Let me tell you, it was nothing like riding a bull.  This machine may be strong like a bull, but it rides really smooth.  My only problem is that the step is very high for me:

 I don't mind the climb up so much, but I'm really afraid of getting down.  It's the same fear as going to the beach -- I'm afraid in my jump down I may turn my leg the wrong way and dislocate my hip again.  I think for the short term I will use a small step stool (just have to remember to take it with me after I climb in!) and later explore options for lowering the step.

On another note, I think Mitch and I developed a cooking routine - he enjoys making breakfast and I make dinner (lunch is usually leftovers).  Yesterday he made (vegetarian) bacon and eggs and garlic toast.  Today was a scrumptious fruit salad (melon, plums & peaches) with yogurt.


While eating breakfast, the cranes were right under our window:

So now Mitch is helping our next door neighbor fix his computer while I not only catch up on emails (I have 2 potential job leads), but I also signed up with a number of RV clubs, and a roadside assistance plan.  I put an itinerary together for next week, assuming we're leaving on Friday morning, but there may be a glitch which moves things a little -- we'll have to think on this.  We need to have the roof resealed.  Kevin knows a guy who will give us a 20 year guarantee (a person I found is only 10) and is a little less expensive.  Unfortunately, he's not available until next week.  We were hoping he'd be free tomorrow.  So do we stay in this area?  Do we visit everyone on the west coast and then return here instead of going to Freddy?  We really need to figure this out!

Day 1 of journey: St. Cloud FL

Nothing to report today, as the funds won't be available in the bank until tomorrow morning.  Mostly spending the day doing a lot of paperwork, especially closing up the utility accounts, changing over addresses, etc. 



At least I am.  Here's what Mitch is doing:






 Here's a picture of the cranes we were watching out the window.  They have more rights than humans do here in FL!

Oh, did I mention a day hasn't gone by since we arrived here that it hasn't rained heavily or had thunderstorms?  Pouring again now.

TODAY IS THE DAY: the real beginning of the next chapter

June 23, 2014 - the first day of the rest of our lives!

The real estate ordeal is finally over, and God has answered our prayers.  Of course, even the closing had a few problems, such as being delayed because the buyer missed her train from NY, and the title company lost the wire instructions so had to write and deliver the check (which didn't arrive until nearly 6pm).

But the DREAM has begun!!!

What a wild, wild ride!

All I can say is believe in the power of prayer!!!  After much fervent prayers, got a call from the lawyer saying that, nothing short of a miracle, we will be closing on Monday!  I have a good feeling this time around.  Will keep you posted!

Bad news

I'm too distressed to post the details right now, but looks like things are heading south.  Long story short, buyer lost her job 2 days before the last closing date.  Wonder why no one said anything all this time -- 10 days ago!!  She owns a business that has cash and assets and is asking for a 10 day extension to get another commitment; otherwise she will definitely be denied if we close on Monday (June 23).

Meanwhile, after 10 days in FL, living in someone's driveway we are considered squatters.  We were given an extension based on a closing date of Monday, but since that's not happening, we need to pack up and move out asap.

So the current plan is to stay with Mitch's brother who lives about 7 hours from here (also in FL) and wait out the next 10 days.  If we give them the extension, the caveat is that they automatically lose their deposit without our having to litigate for it.  Plus pay any expenses we've incurred by having moved out of the house for the first closing date.

Oh well, guess I gave the details anyway!  I guess we were very premature in (1) moving out of the S&B (although I don't see we had much of a choice at the time); (2) becoming FL residents and declaring our domicile; (3) moving into the RV without having paid for it - based on the assumption it would only be a few days, not 10 days plus another 10 now.  And also premature by starting this blog.  Should have kept posting in Part I, since Part II really hasn't started.

Next set of prayers is that we don't need to put the house back on the market.

I think I will now go and cry myself to sleep and hope that the sun comes out in the morning.

UPDATE:  RV sellers said not to do anything rash yet.  We will all sit down and talk tomorrow and see what we can work out.

Still no news

We're still in a state of limbo.  Happily (and guiltily) living in the RV in our seller's driveway and starting to get a bit anxious about what the holdup is.  Why did the bank say they'd be clear to close last Wednesday and now, not only have they not given the green light, but they won't give anyone any answers as to why!

Mitch in 7th Heaven

How much happier can the boy be?  He can cook AND work on his laptop at the same time!!! 

First (RV) home cooked meal!

First meal cooked in our kitchen - vegetarian sausage and peppers with microwave corn.  Check out this video on how to cook it: really cool!!!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ75-64Gm5w

Met the Cow & Bull

All I can say is that we were totally speechless.  First impression standing in front of it was that it reminded me of a T-Rex - so BIG!!!  Then, when we went inside, it screamed at us that "this is home".  Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe it.  So much storage space, too!  I didn't need to get rid of half the things I did!

As soon as it totally belongs to us (see previous post) we will take a bunch of photos, although pictures don't do it justice.

Very grateful

The sellers of our RV - Kevin and his darling wife - are extremely wonderful, trusting and patient people and I need to give a shout out of recognition to them.

We still have not closed on the house.  If you read the post in Part I, we were supposed to close a week ago.  We vacated our home in NJ and headed down to FL to buy the rig, each day being told there was another delay.

Kevin and Royce insisted that we come down anyway and MOVE IN.  Mind you, they never asked for a deposit, they don't know us from a hole in the ground, yet they trusted that we would show up and they are still taking our word that we really did sell our house and are just waiting to close.  They have an RV pad on their property with full hookups.  Their attitude is that we WILL close, it's just a matter of time, and we're welcome to stay as long as necessary.  Meantime, they won't even take a dime for rent.

Officially Floridians!

We did it -- we filed the paperwork to domicile in FL and got our driver's licenses!

We had beautiful and very hot weather driving from Savannah, GA to Daytona Beach, FL.  The hotel is right ON the beach.  But naturally, as soon as we put on our bathing suits and went outside, it got very overcast.

I'm still extremely scared to walk on the sand and even more afraid to go into the water.  I used to love going out where the waves broke and jump them, but since my hip dislocation 2 years ago on the beach, the memory is still very traumatic.  And since I dislocated it again a few months ago while bending, I'm very vulnerable to it happening again.  Makes me feel extremely sad that I'm too afraid to do something I love.

Anyway, tomorrow we're heading down to St. Cloud.  The seller invited us to stay in the RV and unpack and get to know it, even if we didn't close tomorrow.  And he won't even accept rent!