Food and Movies

Now that the rush is over; June, Earl, Roy, and I have been enjoying lots of great dinners out and an assortment of movies at home. Yesterday we took in the new 3D Movie, Avatar, at the the theater. That was quite the movie!

Super Holiday

Roy and I are having a superb start to our adventure! The festivities with June, Earl, the kids and their special others, as well as, grandkids and grand dogs has been wonderful. Food and treats abound! We've been comfy in our camper with temperatures in the 60's up to 72 degrees. Outside temperatures have been mostly mild. We've only been running the ceramic heater and our electric blanket. A cold room and toasty bed makes for great sleeping. The dogs and cat seem to have taken to their new home perfectly. The camper organization is better than I expected, but will get even better. Tuesday we carried things to the camper most of the day and onward to 3:30 Wednesday morning. The buyers were hauling things into the house until around 2:00 a.m.!!! I don't know how many miles we walked that day back and forth and up and down two camper steps. All I know is by the wee hours of the morning I was having to step backwards out of the camper to use a new group of muscles as the others were so sore. I have been sooooo sore down my back, legs, and arms. Today I'm finally feeling the pain leave. Wednesday Roy and Earl went back to the house to pack up the garage. They used their heads when they quick packed stuff into the truck and brought it into Earl's heated garage for further sorting. Roy has been able to sort and pack at his leisure. Between all the indoor fun June, Earl, Roy, myself, and the 4 dogs have stolen away for some fun in the snow letting the dogs run. Life is good!

Tentative Plans

Yesterday was the official closing on the sale of the house. We're happy for the young couple who are buying it. They have some great plans, and best of all their daughter will be within a 5 minutes walking distance of school. She previously spent an hour getting to school and another hour getting home! Today is the day everything goes to the camper! It's finally here!!! Roy has been running a ceramic heater in the camper and despite the temperature outside dropping to zero, the camper has remained warm. Our plan is to move in, and then remain in the area until after Christmas! We've heard the temperature is supposed to be 34 degrees Christmas Day. Hopefully that's outside and not inside the camper!!! If Winter temperatures in the camper get too cold, we'll move indoors with our good friends, June and Earl. The camper will be parked in their driveway. We are thinking we may stay in the area until the 28th. Once on the road, the tentative plan is to head to Florida and travel the coastline across to Texas. Roy and I both agree we are feeling a great sense of freedom even with all that we still have to do.

Packing

We got the official word today that the closing will be Monday at 10:00. Instead of being excited, I had a meltdown. Prior talks had been of the buyers taking immediate possession at the closing! I have a few days of paperwork to wrap-up the job, and of course, there are so many things left to do to get ready to go. Roy talked with the buyers, and they are okay waiting to move in until Wednesday. They want to be living in the house by Christmas Eve. Whew! I can breath again. We started packing our suitcases tonight, and gathering household items together. With freezing temperatures, it makes the transition of some goods a bit tricky. We've decided we're not going to try to organize the camper in the cold weather, but will wait until we get down into warmer temperatures. Tomorrow will be a busy day, but I think our excitement can now start to officially grow!

Getting Ready to Roll

Well, the inspector has been here, and liked what he saw. We're being told that the closing will be around the 23rd, but no definite date has been given yet. That works out great, as I'll have some paperwork to complete before bidding farewell to the workforce. This weekend we'll start packing what we can and doing some final cleaning. Roy had new tires put on the truck, and will be getting new tires on the camper. He purchased a bike rack that clamps onto the bumper of the camper. The design is cool in that the part that holds the bikes plugs into a Reese hitch. If we wanted to transfer the carrier to the truck, all we would have to do is plug it into the hitch that the ball for the trailer fits in. We found that for a girls bike to sit on the carrier straight, there is an adapter bar that can be clamped from the seat to under the handlebars. It makes a bar like a boys bike. We're starting to formulate some tentative travel plans. My brother, Bill, and his wife, Marsha, are planning on being in Florida to watch the space shuttle launch. At this point, we are thinking we will watch the launch with them and then travel the coast to Texas. I still can't believe our adventure is really going to happen. With cold snowy weather here, we're really looking forward to going to warmer places in our little camper home, with nothing to do, but love our dogs, cat, and each other.

The Countdown

The appraiser has been to the house and soon an inspector will visit. We think we'll be told the official closing date this week. We're hearing that the buyers would like to have it on the 18th with immediate possession! We are assessing our readiness for a quick transition and think we are in good shape. It's all very surreal, and a bit scary at times. Roy and I agree that not having a known departure date creates some anxiety. We can only tentatively plan what we'll do and when. Roy's long haul trucking experience will come in handy when we head down the road, as we want to make it as far south into warmer temperatures as quickly as possible. Once south of freezing weather, we'll be able to set the camper up for occupancy and our new life will begin!