Introduce yourself?? Are you sure you want me to do that?
With a firm belief that no one on his deathbed ever said, ?I should have worked more,? The Redhead and I have decided to pull the plug and retire as soon as possible, selling the house and moving into an RV.?
There?s a story behind this.? Until June we had no thought of retiring to an RV.? But then we went to End of Trail, the World Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting, in its new location in northern New Mexico near Albuquerque.? To avoid a 20+ mile drive every morning from a hotel we rented a travel trailer from Crooks and Thieves, Inc., to be delivered to the RV park at EOT.? They sent The Trailer From Hell.? Anything that could go wrong did go wrong.? (That could either be a post or a comedy movie in itself.)? ?Despite that fact The Redhead loved it.? We discovered several full timers among our neighbors.? One couple had been living in a 35 ft. class A with no slide outs for 9 years.? Another had a large 5th wheel toy hauler, and another had a 40 ft. 4 slide diesel pusher with the toad and reloading shop in an enclosed trailer.? These people follow the Cowboy Action Shooting circuit, hence the need for the reloading shop.? The Redhead suggested we retire and do likewise.? (Let?s see, work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week until I drop dead or travel and play cowboys.? That?s a tough one.? Let me think that one over.)
The drive home was 16 hours, and for 16 hours we talked about it.? The Redhead made a good case for it, and both of us are certainly tired of our jobs.? I?m approaching what would normally be considered retirement age in a few years.? The Redhead, however, is far, far below retirement age.? That?s not stopping her, though.? So we?ve been shopping, first at 5th wheelers, looking at toy haulers because of the need for room for a reloading shop.? But they seemed shoddy until you got to the very expensive ones, and even the best of them still put us in a pickup truck and the cats, Cokes, and ladies room in the trailer much of the time.? The dog could ride in the truck, but it didn?t match the convenience of a class A.? We decided our friend with the 40 ft. 4 slide diesel pusher was right, and we would follow his lead.? Fortunately he has adopted us and acts as a mentor.
We don?t like the idea of having to pull a trailer instead of flat towing, but we haven?t figured a way to put a 6-8 ft. workbench with 2 loading machines on it anywhere else.? If my friend hadn?t made it work I wouldn?t think it would, having told all my life that you have to flat tow or else.? The only full timer without a reloading shop visits his daughter twice a year where his reloading shop is.? We have no such relatives.
So we?re doing the things you other full-timers have done, shopping for motor homes, selling things, studying (?The Complete Idiot?s Guide to RVing? is the latest volume in a long list), reading blogs and forums, making budgets, searching for medical care, etc., etc.
Well, at least half of the medical care should be taken care of.? I had avoided the VA medical system for years simply because I could.? But I had spent a significant portion of my life as a target (whatever time you spend getting shot at is significant).? When I talked to the service officer at the Military Order of the Purple Heart, he stated I should be able to get medical care as a class 3 (Purple Heart).? When he saw my DD214 he started filling out disability papers without my asking.? Again, I?d avoided that simply because I could.? But that moves me to Class 2.? (Trust me, you don?t want to be Class 1 in the VA System.? For that matter, you don?t want to be Class 2 or 3.? The initiation is a bear.)
So now it?s less critical things: what internet stuff?? Broadband card or satellite internet?? We?ll need fairly fast, daily internet service.? We?ll be retired, but not THAT retired.
We?re slowly finding answers (65 ft. total combined length is maximum in Texas, where the motor home will be licensed).? I know about Montana LLCs and South Dakota address, but I was born a Texan and don?t intend to change state of residency just to save a huge sales tax bill.? (But it?s tempting).? I've seen what Texas does to people who live in Texas but license vehicles in another state to avoid Texas sales tax.? It isn't pretty.? I keep telling myself a couple of years without the usurious property tax bills on our dream house will make up for it.
Anyway, I?ll be haunting this and other forums in my search for answers, inspiration, kindred spirits, and advice.? Apologies for the long, rambling post.
With a firm belief that no one on his deathbed ever said, ?I should have worked more,? The Redhead and I have decided to pull the plug and retire as soon as possible, selling the house and moving into an RV.?
There?s a story behind this.? Until June we had no thought of retiring to an RV.? But then we went to End of Trail, the World Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting, in its new location in northern New Mexico near Albuquerque.? To avoid a 20+ mile drive every morning from a hotel we rented a travel trailer from Crooks and Thieves, Inc., to be delivered to the RV park at EOT.? They sent The Trailer From Hell.? Anything that could go wrong did go wrong.? (That could either be a post or a comedy movie in itself.)? ?Despite that fact The Redhead loved it.? We discovered several full timers among our neighbors.? One couple had been living in a 35 ft. class A with no slide outs for 9 years.? Another had a large 5th wheel toy hauler, and another had a 40 ft. 4 slide diesel pusher with the toad and reloading shop in an enclosed trailer.? These people follow the Cowboy Action Shooting circuit, hence the need for the reloading shop.? The Redhead suggested we retire and do likewise.? (Let?s see, work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week until I drop dead or travel and play cowboys.? That?s a tough one.? Let me think that one over.)
The drive home was 16 hours, and for 16 hours we talked about it.? The Redhead made a good case for it, and both of us are certainly tired of our jobs.? I?m approaching what would normally be considered retirement age in a few years.? The Redhead, however, is far, far below retirement age.? That?s not stopping her, though.? So we?ve been shopping, first at 5th wheelers, looking at toy haulers because of the need for room for a reloading shop.? But they seemed shoddy until you got to the very expensive ones, and even the best of them still put us in a pickup truck and the cats, Cokes, and ladies room in the trailer much of the time.? The dog could ride in the truck, but it didn?t match the convenience of a class A.? We decided our friend with the 40 ft. 4 slide diesel pusher was right, and we would follow his lead.? Fortunately he has adopted us and acts as a mentor.
We don?t like the idea of having to pull a trailer instead of flat towing, but we haven?t figured a way to put a 6-8 ft. workbench with 2 loading machines on it anywhere else.? If my friend hadn?t made it work I wouldn?t think it would, having told all my life that you have to flat tow or else.? The only full timer without a reloading shop visits his daughter twice a year where his reloading shop is.? We have no such relatives.
So we?re doing the things you other full-timers have done, shopping for motor homes, selling things, studying (?The Complete Idiot?s Guide to RVing? is the latest volume in a long list), reading blogs and forums, making budgets, searching for medical care, etc., etc.
Well, at least half of the medical care should be taken care of.? I had avoided the VA medical system for years simply because I could.? But I had spent a significant portion of my life as a target (whatever time you spend getting shot at is significant).? When I talked to the service officer at the Military Order of the Purple Heart, he stated I should be able to get medical care as a class 3 (Purple Heart).? When he saw my DD214 he started filling out disability papers without my asking.? Again, I?d avoided that simply because I could.? But that moves me to Class 2.? (Trust me, you don?t want to be Class 1 in the VA System.? For that matter, you don?t want to be Class 2 or 3.? The initiation is a bear.)
So now it?s less critical things: what internet stuff?? Broadband card or satellite internet?? We?ll need fairly fast, daily internet service.? We?ll be retired, but not THAT retired.
We?re slowly finding answers (65 ft. total combined length is maximum in Texas, where the motor home will be licensed).? I know about Montana LLCs and South Dakota address, but I was born a Texan and don?t intend to change state of residency just to save a huge sales tax bill.? (But it?s tempting).? I've seen what Texas does to people who live in Texas but license vehicles in another state to avoid Texas sales tax.? It isn't pretty.? I keep telling myself a couple of years without the usurious property tax bills on our dream house will make up for it.
Anyway, I?ll be haunting this and other forums in my search for answers, inspiration, kindred spirits, and advice.? Apologies for the long, rambling post.
