What a month! Dick and Phyllis Davis were visiting until Friday the 3rd, at which time they departed from Camp Paxton and headed to PPL Motor Homes to have some work done on their Allegro Bus. We so enjoyed having them, our only regret was that we weren’t able to spend more time with them just having fun. Millie was up early that morning and took a day of vacation to get started doing some serious stuff sorting. After working all day on the remainder of the kitchen, she was ready for an evening of rest. We went out to eat, and after we got back home, Robert arrived from Dallas.
Saturday was really a busy day. Dick and Robert were up early and went to pick up the rental truck Robert had reserved. The other two kids showed up with their trucks and we were busy all day, going through things and loading trucks. After Debbie, Russell and Richard left that evening, Dick, Millie and Robert went to Sonic and ate, then home to bed. We were really tired.
Sunday we finished loading Robert’s truck. Richard and Diana came back down and we loaded their pickup with another load. Richard, Dick and Robert got all the really big stuff loaded on Robert’s truck and were finished by early afternoon. Robert decided to head back to Dallas, that way he would have an extra day to get his truck unloaded and rest before he had to go back to work on Wednesday. After everyone left, Dick and I moved some of our things out to the 5er. Since we no longer had a refrigerator, we decided it was time to move to our new home. The poor cats can’t figure out what is going on. We don’t really didn’t have time to get things organized in the 5er, so it was pretty messy. Boxes everywhere.
Monday we headed back to work, both of us very tired. Millie’s boss had been out of the office since Christmas Eve and it was a very hectic day at work with his being back after his vacation. Millie decided that it would be necessary for her to take several days of vacation and deal with getting things done at the house. It was too stressful to have to deal with work and the house at the same time. She spent the next three days sorting through all the things in the house, deciding what needed to be kept, what need to be tossed and what went for the Estate Sale scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
Friday we were both off to work and Sharon Schilling and her crew were set up and ready to sell by 9:00AM. We were happy to know that the things left in the house were going away! We checked in with Sharon after work, and then went out to eat. After dinner we came home (to the 5er) and did a little rearranging.
Saturday folks were there early to buy our stuff. We had errands to do, so we dressed and got out of there. When we got home later in the afternoon, it had begun to rain. Sharon had sold a lot of our stuff, however, there was still some unsold that she is taking with her to another sale the end of the month. She felt that our sale had gone very well, but there are still a lot of things to be disposed of.
Sunday Dick and Millie started repacking everything that we had put in our “keeping” room. We went through things, packed Rubbermaid tubs and listed the contents. There were actually a couple of empty rooms in the house! We began taking items to the storage unit we had rented.
Monday Millie called a charity and arranged for them to pick up the unsold stuff from the sale. We got home from work and again worked on getting our “keeping” stuff organized and repacked, plus moving things to the garage that the charity would be picking up on Wednesday. Sharon and her husband Glen arrived to pick up the items she is going to take to the other sale. We took a load to the storage unit and then home to shower and fall into bed.
Tuesday was more of the same. We got everything ready for the charity to pick up the next day. Now the house is really empty, just the “keeping room” with things left.
On Wednesday the charity came and removed all the items from the garage. Dick took the afternoon off and hitched up the 5er and moved us to All Star RV Resort, where we will be based until retirement. Millie went there after work, changed into work clothes and we headed back out to the house. We finished up sorting our things and moved some containers to the garage that we didn’t have time to get to the storage unit. We took another load to the unit. The storage unit is across the street from the Resort, which will make it convenient when we need something. Then over to the 5er, showers and off to bed. We were really getting tired!
Thursday the cleaning service came and did the move out cleaning. After work we headed out to Richmond and finished loading up the things in the garage. Then it was off to the storage unit, back home, showers and to bed. Our closing was originally scheduled for 10:30 Friday morning, however, JoAnn called and said it had been moved to 3:30 due to a snafu in getting the appraisal to the mortgage company and it was going to have to be overnighted to them. We are getting excited!
Friday we were arrived at the title company at the appointed hour. We met our purchasers, Mitchell and Sally Miller for the first time. They are a great couple, love the house and we think that they will be an asset to the neighborhood. We all signed many papers and then we only had to wait while the paperwork was faxed over to the mortgage company and we would have our check and be houseless. After waiting over 30 minutes, Judy, who was handling our closing, came back and said due to some paperwork not being there, they would not release the funds! After Mitchell, Judy and the Miller’s real estate agent making phone calls, only to find that the person at the mortgage company responsible for having all the paperwork had gone out of town, we were left with a delay.
It didn’t matter to us, however, the Millers had to be out of their present house by Sunday morning, as their buyers wanted to move in that day. After discussion with JoAnn, we decided to give the Millers a buyer’s lease until the next Friday so they could move in on Saturday. We then went out for dinner to celebrate Dick’s birthday, which had been on the 7th, but we were too busy to do anything on that date.
Saturday we did laundry at the Resort and also had a service come and wash the outside of the 5er. It now is clean and really looks good. Jimmy even does windows! He is going to be Millie’s new best friend. Sunday we went to church, and then home to give the inside a good cleaning read the paper and enjoy a quiet evening.
Monday morning the title company called and told us we could come pick up our check that evening. We did so after work and now are officially FULLTIMERS. It felt good to have this whole part over with. Now we can get down to adapting to our new life without a house.
The rest of the week was spent getting ourselves organized and cleaning up the 5er. On Saturday we did laundry, Sunday went to church, and spent the rest of the day relaxing. We had been invited to a Super Bowl party at the home of Millie’s boss, but declined, we had been doing so much running, we just wanted to stay home.
On Monday, we discovered water running out from under the 5er. Oh no, a leak!
Dick called PPL on Tuesday and they gave us an appointment for Thursday to come in for repairs. Wednesday evening we got everything stowed away and after Millie left for work on Thursday, Dick moved the rig over to PPL. We decided to shut the cats in the bedroom and bath area while they were at PPL. After work, we arrived at PPL to pick up our home. We had a leak in the waterline to the icemaker, which they repaired. They also had to take off part of the underbelly and replace some insulation that had gotten wet. (One of the disadvantages to owning a home on wheels.) The technician took Millie out to see where the repairs were made. Millie noticed that the bathroom door and the outside door were both open, but Ming was lying on the bed, so we figured all was OK. Missy doesn’t deal well with strangers and usually hides under the bed. We hitched up and drove back to the resort (a distance of 2 city blocks). After getting set back up and the two living area slides out, we started looking for Missy to get her out from under the bed so we could extend that slide. No Missy!! We were very worried and looked everywhere for her. At last, Dick extended the slide a few inches and got under the bed, taking out everything stored there and looked with the flashlight. Since Missy is solid black she is very hard to see in low light. He finally found her, wedged in a space between the slide and the floor. We coaxed her out and were very relieved that we hadn’t lost a fur baby!
We now have our Escapee’s Mail Address, our Fulltimers Insurance on our 5er and truck and getting addresses changed. We are on our way to life on the road. We have decided, after crunching the numbers, that we will retire early and begin the next phase of our lives. On Friday, the 31st, we both told our employers that we will be retiring the 30th of April 2003. Yes, this year, a full year sooner that originally planned. Be on the lookout for us down the road. We will be heading for Alaska the first of May. The adventure is about to begin.