Changing Our Blog Name

Well, it's been more than 7 months since my last update. We had a great summer. We have found several blogs with almost identical titles to our, This RV Life, and decided we didn't want to get confused with any of them. So we are essentially killing offf this blog... Please join us on our newly named blog, The Motor Gnomes, beginning December 1, 2013. We appreciate all our readers and will continue to post on a regular basis from now on at our new blog, The Motor Gnomes.  See ya there!

Playing Catch Up

Hello Everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posts, but we haven't been doing too much in the way of RVing... Up to now. Spring is finally here and we've been prepping GlorE B.for our first full weekend out. I took care of indoor stuff, while Mr. Man took care of mechanical and out door things. Feeling comfortable we had everything, we left last Friday early evening to the Cape. Traffic was great... Very light. In less than an hour we were at the Bourne Scenic Campground. It took us about 15 minutes to hookup. We released the harnesses from the dogs and had a bite to eat. I had picked up subs earlier in the day, since we weren't sure of our arrival time. After dinner, the pups wanted to go out and explore. I took the girls out and let them sniff around. Belle took to hunting ASAP, While Pippi was just enjoying the fresh air. We didn't pull out the ramp right away for the old man Dakota, Al just lifted him in and out of the RV for the first few times, until his back yelled at him. Then we hooked up the ramp onto the stairs. It's still a little steep for the old guy, but with a little help from a towel being used as a sling around his midriff we managed to get him in and out of the RV without too much trouble. The old guy loved being outside and being side by side with his human dad. The weather began to change shortly after our arrival... All hell broke loose. The winds were nasty. The back end of the GlorE B.seemed to be swinging with the wind. Rain dropped pine cones on the roof which sounded scary to the pups. The night dragged on with the storm.. And yes, old man Dakota still barked to go out and do his business. Actually he barked off and on a lot. So not to disturb our neighbors, we responded to is barking immediately. I slept on the couch for awhile at one point to keep Dakota company. 

Morning was much better. The winds had died down and the sun started to break through about 11AM. The warm weather was gone, but we were prepared and had sweatshirts and winter coats. Quite a few boats went in and out of the canal. After coffee, and clean up from breakfast, Al and I walked down to the canal and enjoyed the sights. We saw people checking their traps since it was low tide in the canal, for any catch. Ducks, and birds were plentiful. After my walk I enjoyed the afternoon reading. Al and Drew had taken a long walk earlier in the morning. I miscalculated the amount of coffee pods needed for the weekend for the kerig... So their adventure was to walk to DD and get some. Al came back with the coffee pods, donuts( of course) and firewood.

I took the pups out a few more times that day in hopes they would do a poop. Belle managed to please me, but Pippi was not having any of it..Belle is quite aggressive on the leash while she's sniffing new smells, Pippi is the follower. Earlier in the day, I put dinner in the crock pot to cook. Chicken tenders and curry sauce. I cooked some basmati rice to go a long with the curry. I must it was a complete success! I did forget to bring vegetables to add to the mix... Next time. 

By the time dusk was rolling in, Al had his fire all set and sat out with a beer with Dakota by his side. The cool weather was a bit much for me to stay out, so I stayed inside and organized some genealogy papers I had  been working on. Truth be told, I'm not much on enjoying campfires. :( I just don't see the point. Sleep was much easier to come by Saturday night, since it was much quieter weather wise. Dakota got up only twice. 

In the course of the 2 days, we realized we'd forgotten a bunch of stuff. For me, potholders for one, and Motrin. I had a sinus headache I could have used a few to treat. COFFEE.. You can never have too much.. What was I thinking... I didn't bring near enough. Al had a few things he forgot too. Well this was good practice... We need lists. Next time it should be better. We didn't really have any big problems, a plus.

Morning was cold, so heat was turned on in GlorE B.. We had coffee, walked the pets, and started packing up about 8.

Next stop was the dump station. We pulled up and tried to recall what we were suppose to do. Thank goodness... There was a big sign explaining each step. First the black then the grey then rinse. Hookup was pretty easy too. What a relief!

Within an hours time we were back home. Wow, that was fun! We're already planning our next weekend. 

Weekend Doings

Saturday

Well yesterday we decided to check out a couple of local RV/camping shops. The first one was Camping USA. in E.Bridgewater. They have a nice place. They sell all kinds of do dads for an RV. Very nice folk. They service RV's, and store them during winter months.. Man, that was worth the trip. We are seriously considering on placing the RV in a storage lot for the winter of 2013-2014. It would make life a little easier, keeping her off the lawn during the winter months. We chatted with them for a bit, picked their brains on solar and other questions we had on boon docking... They called it dry camping.. Lol

The second shop we stopped off at was Campers Inn on route 44 in Raynham. They have lots of 5th wheels for sale... And a parts counter.. Not much to look at but very friendly. The place was busy with prospective buyers.

All in all it was a good day.

Sunday

After breakfast, we got a few things together to take the RV out for a drive. Made some sandwiches, and got the harnesses on the four legged family members. Well since the harnesses were something new to both the dogs and us..I will admit it wasn't smooth sailing..Isabelle slipped completely out of hers, Pippi looked like she was wearing someone elses's clothes and the ole man..well let's just say... He's way past caring.

We arrived at our destination and let the dogs off of their seat belts. It took all of 3 seconds for Isabelle to jump on the dashboard to look out the huge windows.. Pippi wasn't real comfortable with the entire idea of being in a moving house. She paced with tail in between her legs. Dakota was a bit nervous but we think it was due to his steep climb up his ramp to get into the RV versus traveling in it.

We walked the dogs and they enjoyed seeing sea gulls, and sniffing new smells. We read the paper inside, and tried out the TV. Al went under the hood and decided the rig definitely needs an oil change. So we will be scheduling that in the next few weeks before we take her out again.

At one point. Pippi got loose and ran out the RV door... Ugh.. I just got through reassuring Isabelle's mom that we wouldn't lose any of the dogs. One of the reasons why Pippi got loose and not Belle.. I  wouldn't let go of Belle but did Pippi. Thank goodness she came right back. Phew.. We need to work  on this so that no one ever gets loose. Losing a pet is not on my agenda while RVing.

Oh and by the way.. Instead of calling the RV, the rig or the RV.. I'm naming her... GlorE B. 
I dub thy GlorE B.  And it shall be. 

Our First Overnight Adventure

Well although we are currently watching snow fall from our living room window, we've made reservations for our first overnight stay. We'll be taking the rig out and enjoying a few nights at Bourne Scenic Park. With winter being so stubborn on making its exit for spring, we may have to use the heat.

We won't be completely set up by that time, but the basics will be taken cared of. It's more of a practice run and hopefully some relaxation.. since this is all new to the both of us, that may be far fetched, but we will give it a good try.

We're just going to keep our fingers crossed that the snow will be gone by then. :)

Comtemplating

It's been awhile since our last post. Busy with life in general. Work, family, and pets. Looks like Spring wasn't far behind for a few days but then she ran away.. To make way for more winter.

Al has been researching a wide variety of subjects lately. Solar systems, travel, workamping, and travel sights. He is so ready to be on the road...

I've been researching some weekend trips for this upcoming summer. I am also still looking into health insurance once we lose Al's work coverage. I think I may have something I can work with. I still need to do some research but I'm feeling somewhat more comfortable with what this current company has to offer. Prices seem reasonable, so much so, I want to be sure it's not a scam...

Our plans for hitting the road in June 2014 are still tentative, however it looks like our first stop will be in Illinois. Our oldest daughter is getting married in Naperville, Illinois on July 5, 2014.

This  morning we discussed plans to renovate the RV. We're thinking that we could pull out the bench seats and table and put in a round table and chairs set we have stored in the basement. The extra chair behind the passenger set could be removed and then we could put in a wood filing cabinet that we have. It would be bolted in and used for locked storage and as a table top.

We had other ideas but I think the ones mentioned are definitely doable in the near future.

Wintry Musings

To para phrase the Beach Boys, "My Winnie's outside, covered with snow, no place to go now. Brockton's a lonely town, when you're the only one snow bound." Our Winnebago is surrounded by snow drifts. They are slowly melting but were originally  three feet tall! Our dear friends with motorcycles however, got out of town just in time to miss the white stuff and they are enjoying themselves in Sunny Florida. It is bike week in Daytona, FL.

 

I am planning to take a shake down trip in April, weather permitting to Cape Cod. I am looking at Bourne Scenic Park. My dad used to pull a "Scotty" with his Datsun pickup and told me he liked spending weekends in it under the Bourne Bridge. He enjoyed being able to make a cup of tea in his beloved Scotty and sit outside drinking tea in the evening.

 

Being more of a morning person, I look forward to fresh brewed coffee in the early morning, watching the world wake up. I love to hear birds chirping, and see the excitement in our dogs as they greet a new day. Right now it is all imagination, what it will be like waking up in a new place in our motor home but  I have learned that after 60, the days, weeks & months pass very quickly. ( A characteristic not shared by the last hour of the work day). I continue to read the exploits of some prominent RV Bloggers who post something new and different everyday. Some are very frugal, some are very diligent, and some just seem to have it all. One thing they all seem to share is their love of Freedom, the freedom they found in life on the road.

 

Donna & I have always had the wanderlust. Traveling by planes, trains, buses, automobiles and ships just to see what there is to see. We have owned six houses, three in Massachusetts and three in Virginia. Had we considered RV's earlier in life is a coulda shoulda woulda. We have one now and our plans are coming together. We'll see you on the road.

A little mud on the tires? No Problem!

So, we got "A little mud on the tires" as Brad Paisley would say. I told our helpful neighbor I wasn't going to move the Winnebago until May. Wait, I have to get this thing inspected for a state sticker. Back off the lawn I go across my roadway made up of scrap sheets of OSB. Oh yeah that will last awhile right? Drew and I traveled the back roads of Abington & Whitman to an inspection station on Essex Street called "Delcorp". A cheery fellow who enjoys RVing completed our inspection. He said everything was good and that we had four new brake calipers, nice to hear "new".  We returned home by an alternate route and stopped at Walmart to pickup some RV anti-freeze. When we arrived home I parked on the street and set about getting level and extending the bedroom slide.

Drew and I had some small repairs we wanted to make, things we discovered on our little trip to Plymouth. The switch for the light over the table was broken, the strap holding the bedroom sliding doors was broken and the dinette table leg wouldn't go into its clip on the floor. The door strap is a thin piece of clear vinyl with a snap on one end and a screw holding the other end. The screw had pulled through the strap and ripped it. A new one would be nice but I was determined to repair what I had. Drew suggested Duck Tape. He said you can fix anything with Duck Tape.  You know what? He was right! I neatly wrapped the end of the strap three times with Duck Tape and re secured it with a truss head screw and a fender washer where a single flat head screw had been. Next was the table leg. The screws used to hold the foot clip were too big, #10's. I replaced them with some # 8's and the leg snapped right into place. Finally, moving on to the light switch, I didn't have anything in my shed that came close to what we needed and the plastic housing for the switch was broken beyond repair. I was hoping for Super Glue. Drew and I headed off to Home Depot to see if they might have anything we could make work. They had the exact same switch assembly. We bought the switch and a pack of crimp on wire nuts to complete the job, they are what Winnebago used. I did the switch installation and Drew took care of re securing the light to the slide out overhead with the two original screws. Overhead screws are tough on my shoulders. Teamwork success.

After a bit of lunch we got ready to park the Winnebago back on the front lawn. I didn't want to repeat the mud boggin' and decided that backing in would be a better choice. We laid out a road way on the lawn made from more scrap sheets of OSB ( Oriented Strand Board ) which will be yellow mulch by Summer Time. I drove around the block to get oriented for backing on to the lawn. I forgot what I was doing, Happy just to be driving my RV, and ended up backing up on Ames Street to get in the right position. The challenge was to back onto the lawn between a stump and the fire hydrant, don't get stuck, get all the way off the street and DON'T HIT THE HOUSE! Well, after several attempts and a few STOP! STOP! STOP!s I managed to do it. The RV is on the front lawn in my yard, not stuck in the mud, and as I write this it is slowly getting covered in snow : (

Chillin in our RIg and Mudboggin

Well the ride home from picking up our rig went with out a hitch. :)) We listened to all the instructions and directions before hitting the road for home. Hmm, I think I remember about 20% of what was said. I guess I'll be reading the manuals shortly..

Sunday morning after getting up, we all looked out the windows to see our rig outside. Wow! That thing is huge! After some breakfast, we all pile in and take a Sunday drive to enjoy some family time.:))

We drove down to Plymouth. We drove into the nelson beach parking lot. Enjoyed the view for abit from inside.. Then we decided to go further down and pull into an RV lot. Nice view of the water and we were the only RV there. Hah. We got out and walked around, decided on some lunch after shopping. Stopped off at Carmen's Nicole. Good Mexican food.

Anyway, after lunch we walked back and had our first drop-ins. Old friends of ours that live further down in the Plmouth area came by. Actually we knew they were coming, since we had given them a call. We had a nice visit in the rig with our friends, Les and Eileen. Plenty of room for everyone. Al was happy to show of the rig. Unfortunely she isn't set up yet, so we couldn't offer drinks or snacks. Next time we should be host and hostess ready. We did have a great view of the ocean.

I think I'm gonna like fulltime RVing! 

Notice I said that, before parking the rig in the yard. Well, we didn't try to park in the driveway since wires looked too low and we didn't want to keep her in  the street. So next option, drive onto the lawn. Yeah, right... Al got out the snowblower and made a path for her to come up onto the lawn....skip to the chase.. I shoveled several times to open the area. Al shoveled, too. After getting stuck in the snow several more times, we soon became stuck in the ruts of mud. Yep. We were moving mud at a good clip and the rig wasn't going anywhere.... We tried placing boards by the back wheels, and then a rug. She just wasn't moving enough to catch either of them, however the ruts in the lawn were getting deeper and deeper. Yikes. One of the neighbors must have seen us scratching our heads.. He came out asked if we were stuck. Ah yeah. He had an armful of burlap bags in his hand, and said, "Try these... I use them when I get stuck in snow." 
Hmm. Ok. Well I'll be darned after the second attempt we were up and off the street. Hooray! Mud and ruts everywhere, but she's on the lawn.


Oh no.. We have to take her out for safety inspection on Tuesday! :(

Stay tuned for part 2

We finally have our Winnebago motorhome.

Saturday was a good day. We made it to Route 125 RV & Marine to take delivery of our 2008 Winnebago Sightseer 35J. Our license plates were attached and the walk through began. We started inside by first leveling up and then running out the slides. We then moved on to systems inside. Our guide showed us how to light the stove, how to light the oven, how to play a DVD, how to start the furnace, how the refrigerator works on electric and propane, but was unable to demonstrate how to run the generator. The fuel tank had gone below 1/4 and would not allow the generator to start. A good feature if you plan to boondock. A very good thing because we plan on boondocking in some wilderness areas where we would not want to be stranded. A quick trip to Irving gas had the fuel level up enough to start the generator. Outside we learned how to deploy and store the awning. We also learned where and how to make connections for water, electric, phone, cable and waste.  We completed the tour by examining storage compartments, looking under the hood at the chasis fluid reservoirs. We signed off on all systems listed on the inspection sheet and our rig was re-winterized for us.

 

I drove over to the Irving gas station (all by myself!) and filled up for the ride home. $100.00  later we had a full tank and were on our way home. The further we went the more comfortable I  got. Donna had given specific instructions to ignore all of the buttons bells and whistles including the radio and to focus on driving. It was good advice. A 35 foot long 8 foot wide motorhome ( I don't know the height) is lot different going down the road than my F150 is.  105 miles later I was a confident driver pulling up in front of home. Yay, we made it.

Today is the day!

Well faithful followers, today is the day. We are anxiously waiting for a friend from Foley Fish, Steve Livingston, who has graciously volunteered to drive Donna & I to 125RV & Marine to pickup our Winnebago! We are scheduled for a 12:30PM walk through. The folks at 125 have promised to demonstrate all systems to us today. I hope there are no issues. We have never owned or operated a motorhome before so we must pay attention! I packed a bag this morning with the plates and registration, a GPS, a camera, my Zune, and a DVD to check out the sound system. The systems will be re-winterized when we are all done, but spring is just around the corner so I will be un-winterizing it soon. We will have some more pictures to share soon.

To Tow or Not To Tow

That is the question. So now we have some thinking to do... Which vehicle do we tow behind the RV? Do we take the Ford Escape or the Ford Focus? They are both 2005 and both have near about the same mileage.. So that doesn't help with any. Decision making.

Personally I'd like to take my favorite little car. The Escape. She's been  good to me since the day we bought her. I have no complaints about her at all. However, she can't be flat towed, so we'll be looking at spending about $5grand for a trailer to keep her. Not cool.

The Ford Focus on the other hand can be dolly towed and the approximate costs will be $500- $1500.

Well, just using common sense, you can see which way our decision is going to go.

For those of you thinking about full timing, this is something you need to research regarding your specific vehicle if bringing your vehicle along and hitched onto the back of your RV.

Automobiles with 4 WD and automatics aren't great candidates to tow. Check your manual and if you still have questions, check with your manufacturer.

Counting down to Winnebago Day!

Well we have had a solid day of rain here in Massachusetts, and that is a good thing. We need all of the snow gone in our driveway by Saturday. I must remember to remove the basketball hoop from the driveway shed. Saturday is when Donna, Drew and I will go to Route 125 RV and Marine in Rochester, NH (http://theroadiscalling.com) to take delivery of our 2008 Winnebago 35J. We have been promised a thorough demonstration of all systems in the coach. I must take notes. I can see it now, our first camping trip, I'll be the guy flipping a steno pad saying "Now how did say to level this rig? The trip home from Rochester is about 100 miles so I should have the hang of driving  it by the time we get home. I have been following blogs by experienced full time RV'ers such as "RVDreams, Wheelin'it, and RV Sue and her Canine Crew".  Each blog relates a different perspective in "This RV Life" . They are not always happy and things don't always go their way but they are doing it. I hope one day a couple like Donna and I will be reading our blog and say, "Hey we can do that, Let's do it!

Twice is The Charm

I was off to register the rig last week... But a big fail. Unfortunately I didn't have the correct paperwork from the insurance company. Boy did I get an earful from the chap behind the DMV desk. He grumbled while making notes on the papers I did have... So after waiting 20 minutes in the check-in line and a 45 minute wait to see Mr. Grumbles, I left pissed off and empty handed.

Fast forward to today. Hooray, we are street legal. Al did all the leg work today and managed  to keep his calm while waiting 2 hours at the Braintree DMV. This was not without incident though. DMV will only accept cash or checks... Al forgot the checkbook.. So once checked in, with number in  hand, he rushes to the Lobby's ATM for cash. No go. ATM  wouldn't read his card.. He tries a CVS, and then the bank..Finally, he gets cash and rushes back to the DMV... And finds he's still has quite a few numbers before he is called.. The poor guy. Hah, he's got the patience of a saint..

Winter Blues

Well, the past week we've been hit with quite a lot of snow. Yuck. Enough already.

We signed the papers on our rig last Saturday!! Woo hoo! It's becoming more real.. Soon we will be on the road.

For now, we continue with all the prep work that's involved. I have to go to the registry this week. We need to register the rig and buying out of state requires a new title. Oh well. I'm not exactly sure Of the fees.. But I believe it will be about  $150.00. I'll be sure to post the exact fees when the process has been completed.

During the winter days, Al and I have researching all kinds of information that has to do with RVing.
Al is looking for info on our rig, and I have been looking at maps, and checking out camp sites.

We haven't really started the purging process. I think the winter cold and snow may have something to do with it. As soon as spring sprouts, it will be somewhat easier to start disposing of stuff. We're thinking yard sales, flea markets, and an auction or 2 will help with the purging process. Of course, the adult children can have what they want beforehand...

Introductions

Hi there!  We are Donna and Allen Flanagan. We are from Massachusetts. We have 2 grown daughters, one teenage son and 3 dogs. We've been married 36plus years and have moved about 15 times in the those 36 years. We've  owned our share of homes;  6 to be exact. Some big, some not, some brand new, some really old. No matter where we made our home, we did it together.

Allen will be 62 this year and was considering on working until 67 unil I mentioned I'd like to travel via RV. Man, I didn't need to twist his arm.  "Hey you know, I'd like to do that one day.... Travel in a RV and see the world." Before I knew it, Al had researched all kinds of stuff about full time RVing. Wow, this is doable! Work camping, boondocking and all kinds of cool info.

It didn't take long before we started checking out 5th wheels and motor homes. We continued to change our minds, 5th wheels or motor home. Just when we thought we were sure we were going to commit to a 5th wheel, we would just as quickly change our minds and commit to a motor home.

It's a personal preference really. So it's entirely up to whatever meets your needs. And for us, the motor home was our choice.  

We attended our local RV show and truly liked the 5th wheels, very impressed with the set ups. Yet, we would always return to motor homes. Oh well. We weren't planning on buying at the show anyway. Although, we were very tempted. Gosh, the prices were awesome. Phew. 

We visited a few local dealers before the show and one particular dealer advertised an open house 2 weeks after show.  Lots of 5th wheels. Only a couple of motor homes. All in all, a fun day. 

A week later, hubby found a another dealer who advertised 3 motor homes. Wow. He brought is checkbook. Uh oh. Well after looking, and re-looking, and yet another look... We agreed, this is the 
one. 

Oh my... We pick her up at the of the month. 

Welcome!

Hello to everyone and welcome to my blog.  "This RV Life" will be all about our new beginnings  of full time RVing and its adventures, good and bad.
After having a conversation regarding how much fun RVing might be...we continued to seriously  persue the idea. Could we really do this? Well, after 6 months of researching and reading all kinds of information, we jumped in with both feet and bought a 35 foot motor home.
Wow, how did that happen so quickly? Lol. We've chosen a tentative date of June 2014. We have all kinds of things we need to do before then. In the next few posts, I will introduce you to the hubby and myself and give you a back drop of our lives..