Garage Sale 2014 part 2

We were very tired last night but very much relieved at our success from the first day of our garage sale. The piles were much smaller today when we opened for business. Yesterday was sunny, hot and humid but today we started with clouds, a nice breeze and a little less humidity. We even had a few folks come back today to see if we had anything new that they couldn't live without. Fortunately, we did. Some lamps, TV, more clothing, clocks, pictures and miscellaneous housewares. I think it helped that people knew we were in a mood to sell today. We were at the point of "make me an offer". And they did and more stuff flew out the door. Traffic was a little slower today and it did start to get more sunny and humid as the day went on but we persevered and fruits of our labor paid off. Once we closed we got the leftovers boxed up for Goodwill or the local mission. We may take some to both places. Now we are pretty much down to the large furniture I spoke about in the last post.

Compare yesterday

 

To today...and this was in the morning before we opened.

 

I forgot to get a photo of the end of the sale today but we only have about 6-8 bags of "stuff" to send to the local charities. The garage looks so much better. We can even get the car in the garage today.

 

Tomorrow is the "BIG" day. We move in to the Bighorn. Very excited. We filled some totes with things we will be taking onboard and cleaning out some of the cabinets in the kitchen. The tired I feel today is a very good tired. We have been up at 5:45 am the last two days so tomorrow we will be sleeping in and preparing for the move. People have been so generous to buy our things, we are so grateful. Thank you for the comments and encouragement. As I always say, it won't be long. 

Garage Sale has begun and Full timing soon

Time is moving on...We sold the house and now it's time to purge. Garage Sale today and tomorrow. This is most of the things we plan to sell other than the furniture which will be sold individually at a slightly later date. We decided not to put the larger furniture in the sale since you typically don't get the kind of prices we think our "good" furniture deserved. So once the sale is over I will take photos of the "good" stuff and post on the company website and Craigslist.

I can't believe even after taking some things to our daughter's a few weeks ago we still have this much stuff. The photos shows what it looked like at 8 am as we opened for business. We had a good day and actually had some fun. It was interesting as folks asked where we were going once we closed on the house that we were going to be fulltime RV'ers. Most folks thought it was great. Other's said they couldn't do that and others told us stories of their parents or grandparents that were full timers at one point in their lives. It's amazing the great responses and the great help we got in selling our "stuff.

Tomorrow we have some additional items that hopefully will bring some people back. The house is looking less cluttered and hopefully after tomorrow there won't be too much to take to Goodwill or The ReStore.

Since we will have sold most everything in the house that would make it still live able we decided to move the rig over to the RV park a coupled days earlier than we planned to go on July 1. So Sunday June 29, 2014  marks a big milestone, we will be full timers but stationary. We will be half way to our RV Dream. I got my MiFi modem from Millenicom yesterday so we will have internet connection once we move but we're not sure if we will sign up for satellite TV right away.

We found out the woman buying our house did get her loan approved so as far as we know it is still a go for closing on July 25. Will keep you posted on the progress of the sale tomorrow and as I continue to work to retirement and it won't be long.

$9.50 equals $119.50

Glenda and I knew we were going to be busy in the coming few weeks with a garage sale and moving the Bighorn out to Kamp Komfort campground July 1. So on the spur of the moment last Friday we thought a local trip to Comlara Park campground at Lake Evergreen near Hudson, IL would be fun and relaxing. We decided on site #3. It has a couple of trees on the awning side to help with the afternoon sun and it was a pretty level site too.

The sites are nicely spaces

 



We paid for 4 nights and planned on leaving on Tuesday. We rode our bikes and walked the campground several time over the weekend. However on Saturday we had some rain start in the afternoon and didn't end for about 7 hours. It wasn't a hard rain just a steady rain. It was enough to curb our outdoor activities for a while. So we watched TV(local channels - we don't have satellite yet) but were entertained enough. We found out that you have to turn the volume up on the TV when the rain is coming down a little harder. This was a good trial run for full timing since I know there will be those days where indoor activity is mandatory. Sunday was a very nice sunny day and felt great after the long rain period on Saturday. We decided to go to the boat launch and see if we could check out a kayak and get some exercise. They happened to have a 2 person sit on kayak so we rented it for 1 hour. We had a great paddle along the lake shore and could see where our rig was parked.

There were many fisherman in their boats and we even saw a nice sailboat toward the middle of the lake.

 

 

We could really feel our back and arm muscles which were not exactly in shape for this activity. However it was great to be on the water. I know we will be purchasing an inflatable kayak once we get going on the road. That night we had a nice fire and it was hard for me to think about going back to work the next day and knowing Glenda would be enjoying the campground without out me.

 

After I got off work on Monday, Glenda and I started talking and decided we would pay for the rest of the week and go dump the tanks since they were getting pretty full and we would need the capacity for the next few days. We were able to extend our stay until today. With Father's Day weekend this weekend our site had already been reserved for the weekend.

 

We started to close and secure enough of the rig to go to the dump station and come back and set up again for the rest of the week. I get out the remote to close the awning and it won't work so I go to the panel and close the awning there. Then I try the slide out.. I hear a short moan and then NOTHING. Uh Oh....Houston we have a problem. I then go check the auto leveling system and it says low voltage. WHAT??? The panel monitor says it is full. With my inexperience I get out the owners manual and begin reading about the electrical system. I check the breakers in the coach. I check the fuses and I see nothing. I am freaking out now. How incredibly fortunate we were that we could secure our site for 4 more days. We had no idea we had this problem when we extended our stay. How would be have gotten off the site for someone else?

 

So Tuesday I call my dealership but they don't get back to me. I call the Heartland EV company Customer Service number and I get Scott on the line. Scott is a tech and I explained the problem to him and he right away assures me that he will be able to find a mobile RV tech near our town. About an hour later he calls me back with a name and number to call Green Acres RV parts and RV repair in Clinton, IL about 30 miles south of our location. I called the number and Danny answers and tells me he can come out on Wednesday to look at the problem. I am beginning to breath easier again.

 

Danny called me on Wednesday about 11:30 am and says he is on his way to the campground so I alert Glenda and I leave work and drive the 25 minutes to the campground for my work location.  When I arrive Danny is already there and under the front overhang and in the front compartment. I get out and he says go in and try your slide out. I go to the panel and push the button to bring the slide in and IT WORKS. I am dumbfounded. I go out and ask Danny what the problem was and he said you have a bad 50 amp relay(circuit breaker).

 

The row of breakers is just to the left of the black hose from the battery box

 

This is an area I had no idea where a circuit breaker was. I thought they were on the inside by the door where all the fuses and individual breakers were. He goes right to work and replaces the bad breaker and reconnects the wires. We check the leveling system it's working too. Danny explains that if the battery power goes below a certain level the hydraulics and motors won't have enough power to run. The breaker affected the converter and it wouldn't charge the battery while connected to shore power. So the 12v lights and other systems were draining the battery but not re charging it.

 

I thanked Danny for the explanation and for helping us out so quickly. Danny got started on writing up the bill. Service charge - $80, Labor - $30 and the Breaker???? Well it was only $9.50 however the total bill came to $119.50. So you see $9.50 does equal $119.50. We paid Danny and I faxed the bill to Heartland for repayment. Heartland Customer Service is the best. Not too expensive of a lesson but a good one. My next purchase will be a good quality Voltmeter. Probably something I should have had a long time ago and learned how to use it. I took some of Danny's business cards and gave a couple to the campground hosts in case other campers have a problem that needs mobile assistance. Anyway, we had a great rest of the week. Glenda enjoyed continued organizing, riding her bike and walking the campground loops. Then when I got home from work we did it all again. We had some pizza one night and left over turkeyburgers another. We rented a couple of movies and enjoyed those too. All in all it was a great weekend and week . The Bighorn is back at the storage lot for a couple more weeks and then on to Kamp Komfort. It feels so good to start calling our rig our home. The countdown continues and it won't be long.

 



Short update on progress

We signed the official contract a 2-3 weeks ago. Had our home inspection and passed with flying colors. We however did not pass the Radon test so we have to pay for mitigation about $750. We got our appraisal and have not heard the official results yet. I guess if it were not good, our realtor would be calling us. So we are in the final process of purging. The garage sale is at the end of June and we move the Bighorn to the campground on July 1. I guess that would make us full timers but stationary for now. Getting some camping in at our local county park this last week. Had an issue with the slides and leveling system due to a failed circuit breaker(relay) but got in touch with Heartland Company Customer Service and they got us in touch with a Moblie RV tech. Problem solved. More details when I have some time in the next few days. The countdown continues and it won't be long.

Memorial Day Weekend...Visiting grandkids

We hadn't made any reservations to go camping on Memorial Day weekend since knew it would be crazy busy so it was a great opportunity to visit the grandkids. The older grandkids were with their Dad(daughter is divorced) however the younger granddaughter, Ryleigh(different father) was still at home. Our younger daughter lives in Osceola, IN near South Bend. So when I got off work on Friday we headed out with just about every other person on the planet. We took I-55 to Dwight, IL and then took the detour on Route 47 to avoid a road construction up to Morris, IL and onto I-80 East. Once we got past Gary, IN and took the IN toll road the traffic was much more tolerable. Sommer and Todd had ordered pizza for dinner in anticipation of our arrival. Todd and Sommer had to work on Saturday so we didn't stay up too late. On Saturday we had our breakfast, set out some patio furniture for them and after lunch we took Ryleigh to the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend.

The zoo has a pretty good assortment of animals and we had a great time.

 

The lion looked like he was sizing everyone up for a meal.

 

 

After the zoo we headed back our daughters for some dinner. We grilled out some steaks, chicken and brats. We like to make potato packets to grill out when we are camping so we made some to go with our meal. The food was delicious but we saved some room for dessert. Last summer we brought our 22 foot Jayco over and stayed at Potato Creek State Park south of Mishawaka, IN. While we were there our daughter had seen a show on the Food Network about an ice cream place in Nappanee, IN where they make the ice cream individually by using liquid nitrogen. Here is my post about our time there, Potato Creek Park Camping.  So after the dishes were put in the dishwasher and everything was cleaned up we headed to Nappanee. We made it just in time before they closed. We all enjoyed our favorite flavors.

Ryleigh

 

 

We had a nice drive through the country and saw a lot of farmers in the fields. Once we got home we relaxed with full bellies and watched some TV. We got to sleep in a little on Sunday morning but once we got around we packed up to travel over to Streamwood, IL to see our youngest grandson, Aiden. We got on the road about noon EDT for a 2 and a half hour drive to Streamwood, IL.

 

It was a typical Chicago type drive with cars buzzing by and really having to watch out for the other guy. We stopped and had some lunch on the way over to Paul and Heathers home and Aiden was just getting up from a nap. We took a walk around the townhouse complex with their two dogs, Zeus and Izzy and had Aiden in the stroller. It was day to be outside. After the walk Heather and Glenda went to the local Target store and got some food to grill out. We had a great evening watching Aiden play and catching up on what is going on. Heather and Paul are also trying to sell their townhouse and buy a home where Aiden and the dogs will have some room to play. We are hoping they are able to sell soon. Aiden got pretty tired around 8pm so off to bed he went and we enjoyed more catching up.

 

 Aiden having some breakfast

 

 Aiden and Grandma

 

Aiden and Grandma on the swing



 

Monday morning Paul and Heather went to the gym to work out and we stayed with Aiden. I had forgotten how much energy it takes to keep up with a 1 year old. After a couple of hours they were back with some Starbucks Coffee and we got our reinforcements to help occupy Aiden. We took one more walk around the complex and stopped at the park in the middle of the complex so Aiden could swing with Grandma and then we had to head home. Of course we stopped at Portillo's Italian Eatery for some lunch and then onto the Interstate.  On the way home we decided to detour and headed west on I-80 toward Utica, IL. We haven't been to Hickory Hollow Campground the last two years and we wanted to ride our bikes on the I&M Canal Towpath so we stopped at the campground and made a reservation for this weekend. Looks like the weather will be good and we got a nice pull through site with some shade in the afternoon. It was a great weekend even though we didn't get to see all the grandkids. It was fun to spend some time with the youngest ones.

 

P.S.....We had our home inspection today and passed with flying colors. Now if the Radon test goes well and the appraisal comes back good we should be home free. We also made a reservation at a local campground in Carlock, IL called Kamp Komfort for July and August. The plan is to have everything out of the house around July 1 and move into the Bighorn. The house closing isn't until mid-July but this may save us some money by moving into the 5'er and get organized. Three more months and it's retirement and the full time life. Really looking forward to it and it won't be long.

We have a contract

I posted last week or so that we listed the house and it started off pretty slow. 1 whole week and no one came to look. We had a realtor call earlier in the week about an appointment but the person decided they didn't want to pay any HOA fees per month so they cancelled. Glenda and I decided to go camping over the weekend to get our minds off the house and not having any showings. We decided to go to our favorite campground here in IL. Forrest "BO" Wood COE at Lake Shelbyville. I took some time off on Friday and we left Thursday evening and were able to snag site #103. We had been there before and it is an end site with no one on the awning side and a big yard area, so to speak.

We were having a good time even with the rain that followed us there. It was a little cool for this time of year too. High on Friday was only 53 degrees. It made for some nice sleeping though since we had our fleece sheets and a warm comforter. Saturday was supposed to be better and it was but still not as much sun and warmth as we had hoped for. As we were getting ready to take a walk around the campground Saturday afternoon we got a call from a realtor that wanted to show the house. Finally some action. We didn't hear any more until we were parking the Bighorn at the storage lot this afternoon. It was our realtor and he said we had an offer. It, of course, was a low bid so we countered with a decent counter. They came back with something more reasonable but not in our range so we countered again. They came closer but not enough so we said here is our finally offer. Finally we got a call and they accepted our price but wanted us to pay the premium for a home warranty. It takes about $500 more out of our pocket but it's close enough.

We discussed it with our realtor and admittedly the home is 15 years old. We accepted the offer and will pay for the home warranty. Now we just have to wait for the person to get their financing and pass a home inspection and appraisal. The tentative closing is mid July. If all goes as we hope we should be moving into the Bighorn around the first of July and have a couple of months to get the rig ready for traveling and our full time life. Another chapter in the story of our transition. It feels good but still some unfinished business. I don't expect to be able to relax until after the closing. Now it's time to plan the garage sales and continue purging and moving into the Bighorn. We appreciate the encouragement and well wishes from those that follow our quest. So as always, I continue to work to retirement and it won't be long.

House is Listed

Well it's taken us a while but we finally contacted a realtor and listed the house last Friday. Of course with it being Mother's Day weekend there wasn't any activity. So now the waiting game begins. We feel we have it priced about right and hope we don't have to do much negotiating if someone decides to make an offer. Tomorrow the realtors from the local ReMax agency will come through on their realtor tour and get a better look at what we have to offer. Of course our family and friends think it will sell fast but it's still a nerve wracking feeling. We spend Mother's Day weekend at our local county park and enjoyed very nice weather. Getting more and more used to being In the rig and feeling like we live there. We continue to purge and add things from home to the new home. If you're interested in seeing some photos of what we are trading in the MLS number is 2141624. Please send some good vibes our way. We're ready to get on the road. So I'll continue to work toward retirement and the clock says it won't be long. P.S. - I'll update when we have some news.