Here we go 'round in circles...

"Cruise control isn’t practical for cars or for life. If you switch on autopilot, you lose sight of the journey. Obstacles aren’t necessarily things to overcome and forget; they’re essential to our lives because they allow us to understand joy." -- Jessica Taylor  http://www.misadventuresblog.com

I love this!  My niece Jessica, who by the way is a tremendously talented writer, wrote the above in her most recent blog entry.  For me, it applies to all of the prep for our new 'Odyssey'.  Honestly, it all overwhelms me and sometimes I just want to shut down.  I want to close my eyes, and then open them, and all will be organized.  If it isn't gearing up (or down, as we have gone through every bit of what we own and have tossed, donated, or sold a load of stuff), it is looking into the myriad of details that go with this lifestyle change.

First and foremost...where to establish residency.  Florida?  Texas?  South Dakota?  Florida?  Texas?  South Dakota?  You get the reference now to going around in circles.  This is the BIG question.  These states are the "top 3" for full-time RV'ers.  For reasons like auto and trailer insurance costs to renewing drivers licenses and registration, to mail forwarding, to health insurance, to, well, you get it.  It's a huge decision, or at least it feels that way to us.  And because it is, I'd like to close my eyes.  Then open them.  And the decisions will have been made and all of the details handled.

This is what I take from Jessica 's post.  The journey is half the fun and if we cruise through it, we miss a big part of the experience.  I don't want to lose out on a minute of the prep for this journey.  Once all of our ducks are in a row, I will be able to sit back with Michael and smile at the work we've done.  The craziness and stress will "allow us to understand joy".

Oh, and once we've figured out which state -- Florida Texas, or South Dakota -- we'll let you know.

UPS Delivery!

We made a great choice with our purchase of Cabela's Camp Shower Shelter (privacy tent) which is now conveniently set up in our living room!  It was only $59.99 from an original price of around $150. -- money well spent!  It is large and roomy with drainage mesh on the floor, 2 windows which can be closed for privacy or open with screens, and a hanging shelf for shampoo.  Pockets are also included for eyeglasses, etc. It comes with a 5 gallon solar shower too, for when we are boondocking!  At a campground it is a changing room and bathroom in the middle of the night!  Love these modern conveniences!

You've Got to Have Friends...

So the Camp-Inn Forum has definitely become a daily necessity.  We are thrilled with the information we are garnering from this site.  And even better, we are making friends!  Bruce and Jackie, for example, contacted as one day out of the blue, to suggest that we travel together as we are all New Englanders!  Their goal is to depart Maine April 1 and we hope we are in Necedah, WI picking up K.T. (or Katy), our teardrop, at that time.  They have since invited us to join them along the way at a teardrop gathering called the "Dam Gathering"!  It is in northern CA at the beginning of May, so that's what we are planning to do! 

(Yikes...it is hard to sit here without jumping from excitement!  To be talking about plans such as these, well, it is unbelievable we are headed towards this amazing future!)

Adrianne, another Forum member, got in touch recently with wonderful trailer insights.  Jenn has written to us a number of times, sharing her fulltimer experiences.  Jamie wrote to give us her take on the In-Camp 100 tent from REI that we ordered.  Joan, Pat, and others have been so generous with their ideas and advice. 

Where there are friends, there is wealth.
                                                 - Titus Maccius Plautus

Shopaholic.

Talk about a challenge...saving money for the future and spending money for the future.  Doing both at one time is taking some skill.  And I haven't eaten this much ramen noodles ever!

Shopping.  Yes, the loo and privacy tent are on the way.  After setting up the In-Camp 100 tent as a galley tent, and after seeing Jamie's photos that she kindly emailed to us, we have decided it won't really work well with the galley hatch open.  But, since we love this tent, we are keeping it as our "living room" and we'll order the REI Alcove (below) to be our "kitchen" tent.  One more decision made.

Camp-Inn teardrop trailer with Alcove tent over galley

 And instead of a big unwieldy 5 gallon jerry can for water, on the Forum we learned about these 3.5 gallon stackable bottles for water (or food or whatnot).  They stack like bricks!

 We found a cover for our down comforter to keep it clean.  We are looking for a small set of Corelle dishes.  And Michael bought a tie!  Yes, a tie!  He hasn't worn one in close to 20 years, but gotta have one for the Odyssey!

(Oh yeah, we call this Odyssey III, following #2 in 2000 and #1 in 1995!)

Perhaps our next two (and hopefully last) big purchases...solar panels and a controller (for the electric brakes) to go in the car.  Chaaa-ching!

This is fun!