Wednesday, June 1, 2016

One Year As Full-timers!

We generally think of June 9 as our beginning, because that's the day we launched from our old home town. But this morning marks one year since we first woke up living in our motorhome!

Of course we can't believe it, no one ever can :-)

When we're asked if we still love it the answer is always yes. Any regrets - none. Glad we did it - absolutely. Do anything different - not really.

We've been so many places that we loved - a LOT! Top of the list are Valley of Fire SP, NV; Trinidad, CA; Oregon Coast; Eastern Sierras, and the Olympic Peninsula, WA.

Places we don't need to see again are Ukiah, CA; Spokane, WA; and Southeast NM. We saw good friends or family so have lovely memories, but the places didn't grab us.

The short list of places we could call home are Tillamook, OR; North Bend, WA; Tombstone, AZ: and Williams, AZ. Every place has seasonal considerations, but these locations check so many boxes for us that we'd want to spend more time in each before making that decision.

Our only disappointment has been finding quality service places for the motorhome. Fortunately our issues have been few, but unfortunately each one has required multiple attempts to resolve.

The tug of family is strong, especially the grandbabies (second one due in August), and we miss them all. So many ways to stay in touch - in real time - makes this much easier.

Most surprising has been the new friends and growing community in what is really a very solitary life style. I touched on this in the blogging anniversary post, but it bears repeating because we feel so blessed to have these new friends in our lives after just a year of traveling. 

A couple other "so glad that worked for us" items are having good friends "handle" our mail, and medical maintenance. 

Not receiving mail anymore is nearly as wonderful as never watching the news - it is very liberating! Lori has forwarded a couple items (new credit and membership cards, and voting ballots), and the rest she just sends us photos and we take care of it online. 

Our prescriptions are mailed to us or we paid out-of-pocket at Walgreens if we waited too long (me). Local labs are in every medium to large town, easy to use and reasonably priced. Emailing the results to our physicians for any modifications in prescriptions (not so far) is effortless. 

Eye doctor and dentist appointments coming up in Colorado this month so we'll see how those are. Expecting them to be easy as well, as the insurance providers are nationwide. Wish our healthcare was!!

The very best thing we did in preparation for the full-time life was finding Tessa. We could not ask for a better traveling companion. Smart and loving and well-behaved, having her along makes every day even better. The no-shedding is a big plus too :-)

This life style isn't for everyone - good thing, as it's getting crowded out here! But for us we couldn't imagine a better, or more satisfying, retirement. 

We laugh when people ask us "how long are you going to do this?". Hell, we just got started! There is so much to see, so much to do, and best of all - no deadline for seeing and doing all of it. 

Thursday we pull up stakes from Roswell, NM, after nearly a month of getting Bill's mom moved to her new home. Physically and emotionally exhausting, and so very satisfying being able to get it all done for her. Getting the house sold the first week (I know Dave, you are not amused), was a big load off our minds. Mom handled the huge changes in her life like a champ, and we feel good about her settling in.

Our second year is still in the planning stages with our wheels turning east towards the end of summer. Routing includes Christmas in New Orleans, and back to SoCal in the spring. 

We're off to see what we can see - looking forward to dusting off the camera!!






28 comments:

  1. Congratulations! I know at the end of our first year it seemed like yesterday that we'd left and like we'd been doing this forever. It IS getting crowded out here for sure. Beware the east and the need for reservations. If you are going to be near or in Virginia at any point, let me know when and where. Not sure we'll be there, but who knows. Have to meet Tessa you know!

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    1. Will definitely get reservations made ASAP. And it's the East so how far could you ever be away from where we are? You can bet we will meet :-) Or Tessa would be so disappointed!

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  2. congrats on reaching the one year milestone!!! heres to many more safe travelled miles and great views out the windshield!!

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    1. Thanks Sue :-) We're looking forward to all of them.

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  3. Congrats on your first full time year guys. Here's hoping you have many many more. Groovy:))

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    1. Thanks Al. Been a ball sharing it with you and Kelly :-)

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  4. It is a wonderful life! Yes, we, too, are glad this isn't for everyone:) We are finishing up our sixth year and there is still soooo much to see! Congratulations on completing year one!!

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    1. Thanks guys! We can't imagine all we'll see by year six - but are looking forward to all the surprises.

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  5. Time flies by doesn't it? Congratulations and happy trails!

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  6. My first year went so fast and now I barely remember living any other way. Though I sorely miss the longer road trips but working half the year does get in the way of that. Yet can't complain being at Grand Canyon. It's been delightful following your journey and I look forward to more. Plus I feel our paths will cross along the ways. Congrats!

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    1. Thanks Gaelyn. Love having you along and look forward to that crossing :-)

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  7. Congratulations on your first year on the road! We're coming up on year three soon. Glad all went well with getting Bill's mom settled into her new home and that you're getting back to your travels. Isn't it wonderful to be living your dream? :-))) Glad we got to meet up with you back in October in the Sierras. Cheers to many more adventures, and we look forward to seeing you down the road!

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  8. Congrats on your first year, we just crossed the 3 year mark and can't imagine living any other way for a long time. Glad things went well in Roswell. Here's to many more grand adventures.

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    1. Thank you so much! There's just so much to see out here :-)

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  9. Glad you are enjoying your adventure. We have tried to live in one place a couple of times. It didn't take long to rethink that.

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    1. Good to know :-) It's wonderful that we can try different places and then keep going if we want.

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  10. Happy anniversary on the road to both of you. I wonder what adventures this next year will hold for both of you!!!

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    1. Isn't that just the best.....not knowing what awaits down the road :-)

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  11. Congrats on Year One! I remember when you were just starting out. So nice to have met you all and Happy Travels on number 2! We'll be in Colorado until the snow flies. Let us know where in the state you'll be. We're heading north to Frisco in a few days.

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    1. Thanks Debbie! We loved meeting you guys as well :-) We'll be in Colorado Springs on the 9th for about a week and plan to stay in state for the whole month. Safe travels to Frisco!!

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  12. Congratulations on your first year of full timing. Well, true this lifestyle is never for everyone and we're glad too or we wont have a place for our homes anywhere.
    Cheers for more years on the road. As they say its the journey not the destination and the friends that makes everything worthwhile.

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  13. Congratulations, Jodee! Can't wait to meet you, Bill and Fluffy Dog. :)

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    1. Thanks Jim. Looking forward to meeting you and Diana as well. We head east the end of August!

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  14. Congratulations on putting Year One in the books!!
    And a new grandbaby!! Ezra will be a big brother :-)

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    1. Can't wait for you to start your first year!! Ezra is actually getting a nephew - Bill's oldest expecting their first :-)

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