Life's Journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, totally worn out, shouting "Wow...What a Ride!"

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Second showing

Yesterday I headed back to the campground, time to make sense of the drop and run we did Sunday. Of course there was more stuff to bring up, one thing I brought up was our load of leftover firewood. As I was unloading the full bed of firewood all I kept hearing in my head was a saying Dave has a fondness of repeating. "A good VT woman can carry her weight in wood". I shared this with Dave that evening, he got a big kick out of it, he had been going around work telling everyone about his woman carrying firewood.

While working around our site I received a message from the father of one of the folks looking at the house on Sunday. He was a surveyor and real estate agent and the "kids" had a few questions he was looking into for them. Since we live on a river there is always the question of flooding and insurance, our house is out of the flood plain and during Irene never had water up to it, so of course there is going to be those kind of inquiries. Dave called him back, answered his questions and came away with a good feeling.

I talked with Robin about the upcoming week and when we could move up. If I'm up there then I can help on the grounds whenever needed without having the hour drive each way. Dave is off Wednesday and Thursday this week so we are closing the house up on Wednesday and moving to camp. After nearly 20 years we have disconnected the land line, the cable, internet and garbage will end on Wednesday, if we have to come back :( we can always start some of the services up but won't have a land line again, seems a little redundant.

Since we are heading to camp on Wednesday I headed back to the house to wrap up a few things there, since it's nice I wanted to get the windows done but then it started sprinkling so I packed up the remaining clothes, food and little things around the house.

Late afternoon Dave talked with Joe (husband of the couple who looked at the house) and has set up a second showing for Tuesday evening. When here on Sunday this was one of four houses they looked at, they want to look at it with fresh eyes and I believe they are bringing the father who we spoke with earlier in the day. We plan to be here to let them in, answer what ever questions they might have then we're going to leave them with the house and head to dinner.

So...... we shall see, could this be, might this be our last night in this house. I woke up early this morning with a lot of emotions going on. While we are still a long way from a closing we are going in the right direction. We have found that the market seems to have picked up as this was the sixth showing in a month, we are keeping a positive attitude that this will be our year.

So today I will wash the windows and vacuum the screens since this was the plan anyway, finish the packing so all we have in the morning is the fridge and just a few odds and ends then head to camp.

Until next time...

Monday, April 29, 2013

Birthday, Skyping and moving weekend

Thursday

Thursday was my birthday, Dave always enjoys reminding me that for 6 weeks his married to an older woman. Since today was a work day for Dave I was on my own. Heard from a lot of friends and family on Facebook and through emails. Both boys called, was great to be able to talk to both of them for a bit. My day consisted of a Wal-mart stop, where I ran into a friend from high school, and a grocery run it was back home to work on packing everything into the RV. It was a beautiful day so the trips from the house to the RV could be done in short sleeves, great for April in VT. On his work days Dave leaves the house at 6:00am and doesn't get home till 7pm, and on this work day he had a retirement dinner that started at 5pm, so he was going out to dinner on my birthday with out me, great guy that he is he did get the restaurant to give him a big piece of chocolate mousse cake to bring home.

Friday

This is the start of Dave's weekend off so after a morning run to Wal-mart Dave and I got going on more packing of the RV. During the day our son David called wanting to know if we ever signed up for Skype, he wanted to give us a tour of his new home. He just closed on his first home in Surprise AZ, seems like he got a lot of home for a really good price, it did take him 4+ months to close since it was a short sale. Friday was going to be his first night there, seems the internet was off in his old apartment where what little furniture he has was, but the internet was on in the house but the furniture wasn't coming until Saturday. Oh well he has his priorities :-). By the end of the day we had finished filling the inside of our 300 sq ft home and toured David's 1800 sq ft home via Skype, a little mind boggling. Too bad he doesn't live closer, we could fill his house with all of the stuff we have to get rid of one of these days.

Saturday

Of course the morning started off with another run to Wal-mart, trying to be as organized as possible while packing things into the RV. The day was spent taking the stuff out of the basement (underbelly storage) from last years trips and gathering everything we plan to take with us. With out much trouble we got it all packed, seems I did pretty good with purging though I do know there is stuff in there I could get rid of if needed but hey for now it's coming with us. Our evening ended with dinner and cards with some friends. Sent out an email telling everyone of the imminent demise of our land line, after nearly 20 years we are giving it up.

Sunday

Nope didn't have to run anywhere this morning :), time to get moving to camp. After an uneventful hour or so ride up to Maplewoods Campground in Johnson VT we arrived around 11, we took our time getting level in our site, we'll be here for 5+ months so want it as close to level as possible. After a few tries we got the RV just where we wanted. A little after noon we got a call from a prospective buyer, he saw our ad in the local for sale by owner magazine, Picket Fences. Since I knew I had another hour ride ahead of me I tried to make the appointment for 4pm but they wanted 3pm so after a quick hi to Robin and a see you in a day or so I hightailed it home and left Dave to finish emptying the big truck. By the time Dave got home the appointment had been changed to 4pm so I had a bit of breathing room, since we've spent the last few days packing the RV the house was looking a little messy but by 3pm she was as good as she was going to get. Dave and I talked about how we were going to present the house and our game plan. The showing went well, the family was here about 45 minutes, we were the 4th house they had seen that day and wanted to go home and digest everything. Some of the questions they asked though led us to believe they might really be interested. I'm sure the next door neighbor letting the kids play with her new puppy helped, not to say our neighbors and customers come from CA and both ride motorcycles. Is Karma playing a hand, wonder if they'll call back.

Until next time...

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

RV is out of storage

Yesterday Carol and I took a quick look through the local stores for dresses, I had no luck once again in finding a dress, found some but not the right sizes so I'll check the stores again in another month or so and see what's out then.

Got home from shopping and realized Dave had already been home and must be up at my folks getting the RV, so a quick dash up to there house and I found him just about ready to head to our house, all of a quarter mile away. Got the RV settled into the drive with a minimal of fuss, opened her up and took a look around. No visitors over the winter, yeah!! Got the slides out and went inside, felt like coming home, now to get things moved into her, which will be my job for the next few days.

Until next time...

Monday, April 22, 2013

Summer work schedule

I spoke with Robin today, there is lots of work being done at the campground and much more to get accomplished, we will probably take a ride out this weekend and see what's going on, maybe give them a hand if they need it. The water test is being taken this week, I imagine once the results are in we can get a date to move out there, opening day is May 10th so not too much longer. I called her sister Tina also and talked about scheduling and work hour needs and expectations, told her I only want to work enough to cover our site. For now she has scheduled me for the weekends in the office\store that Dave is working at his job, I also told her since I'll be living there if someone needs me to cover their shift it usually wouldn't be a problem for me to come in. As the season progresses we'll see what other needs they have, since this is new for them and me we'll all learn together.

By the weekend the RV should be home, that will give us time to get things done on it and moved into, then a quick final clean on the house and we're out of here.

I'm going a bit stir crazy and anxious to get started with things, I haven't looked forward to a summer quite as much as this on in a long time. With a little luck this will be the start of our full timing lifestyle.

Until next time...

Girls Weekend

Saturday started early for me, I was on the road by 7:15 to head to Lake George. What a beautiful day for a ride, I decided to drive a different route from our normal travels. Because of the early hour not many cars were on the road, for the early part of the trip I followed the Otter River and saw evidence of the river over running it's bank recently, the road still had debris so imagine this happened in the last few days with all the rain we've. This route also took me past the state park were we had our last tent camping trip which made me once again reflect on the major change we are making to our lives in the upcoming years. Sometimes seems a bit overwhelming at how far we've come and all that we do still have yet to do to reach the light at the end of the tunnel.

I arrived at Sutton's Cafe in Queensbury NY right on time to meet with Kathi, a former coworker from my banking days. Kathi came to the bank with out any experience but with a great work ethic and personality to boot, it was a pleasure to work with her. She soon become my back up head teller and in 2008 she applied for a head teller job in Bolton Landing NY to be near her family, she deservedly received the transfer, over the years we kept in touch, helping each other when needed, with all the changes we underwent there were always questions. Over the years we have stopped in to see her when we can. We spent a few hours talking and catching up, she is a few years older than my boys so it is fun to watch her grow up and what life changes she is going through, it will be interesting to see where she is next time we meet. She is pondering the same questions I did many years ago, seems like her answers to them are in the right place. She says when I publish this she will follow, so Kathi if you're ever readying this I had a great time catching up and look forward to the next time.

Rene showed up a little after 11:00 and soon after we headed to the outlets. By the time we got through the stores we wanted to go into I had found 1 Corelle plate and some Lindt chocolate, seconds so I got a really good deal. After the outlets we headed to the hotel spent a bit of time unwinding and catching up then headed to the mall for dinner at a 99Resteraunt. We had a bit of wait so we popped into JCPenny's and came out empty, we had just walked into Target when the dinner buzzer went off, so we left the mall empty handed but with full bellies. A soak in the hot tub and a late night talking capped off the evening, it is always fun to catch up with each others life, she has her son heading off to college this fall and we have all of our life changes going on. Wonder where we both will be next time we do a girls weekend.

After a late Sunday morning start we headed back to the mall to pick up where we left off. Target finds were a few things organizing and storing in the RV then at TJ Maxx I picked up some exercise bands for Carol and I. It was then off to the Olive Garden for a long lunch. It was a great time, we reminisced, we caught up on what was going on these days and we talked about what our futures had in store for us. After hugs, goodbyes and wet eyes we both headed for our vehicles, called our husbands and got our gps out.

I had absolutely no luck in finding a dress for a wedding much less two for two weddings. Since I lost a bunch of weight a few years back I don't have many dress clothes, I have one really nice dress but wore it to Dave's sisters wedding already, both weddings we are going to this summer are for Dave's family, now I know guys don't get it but I just can't wear the same dress to all of these weddings. Now I am a cheap shopper and won't pay full price for any of my clothing, when I'm in a store, which isn't often, I shop the clearance racks and check for really good sales. In all the stores I never found a dress that I even wanted to try on or if I did I wouldn't pay the $$ they wanted. And what about some of the styles and patterns, paisley still keeps coming back and I keep wondering why. While we both came away without any clothes we did have a good time wandering the racks, all most like being in high school again out shopping.

My ride home was just as great as my ride the day before. I took our usual route and while there were lots of cars out nobody was being crazy so it was a enjoyable ride. As I headed into Bristol VT I was following a new red Chevy Camaro convertible, now Rene's most favorite car is a Camaro, she turned her last one in for kid friendly vehicle. How fitting to be behind this car this day.

What a wonderful weekend with a best friend who has known me since I was 14.


5-2013 Rene & Faye


Until next time...


Friday, April 19, 2013

Vegging

The last 10 days we really haven't done much. Of course the continual tweaking of things at the house continues. We've had 5 different showing in just under a month, still no one to make an offer.

Got the colonoscopy done, looks like they want to see me in 3 years, good thing the last bout of over the counter meds worked. Don't like the diet you have to do before hand but if it gets the job done guess I can deal for a few days. Dave had his done a few years and doesn't have to go back for 10 years, lucky him.

Last weekend was Dave's weekend off so we had the usual culprits (Les, Deb, Mike & Carol) over for dinner and hanging out. A dinner of lasagna, salad, bread and strawberries with pound cake was enjoyed by everyone, as usual much laughter and good times while playing a heated game of Uno were had by all. One more weekend to get together before we head to Maplewoods, hope they all make the trip out over the summer. Mike & Carol tent camp so I'm sure they'll be out for at least one overnighter, I'm sure we can get Les and Deb up for a swim and cookout at least once. 

The weather has turned nicer so we took advantage of it. I spent the day raking up the rocks the plow throws in our yard when they're snowplowing. Usually the plow goes by about 40-45mph so the rocks get thrown quite far, sure don't want to run over one of them while mowing, could be ugly if it made contact with a window. 

Tomorrow I head to Lake George NY to meet up with one of my best friends, Rene and I have known each other since 1974, lots of years of intertwined lives and this weekend we get to get caught up. So the Seagram's Strawberry Daiquiri's and homemade cookies are packed, the overnight bag is almost ready. At 6am tomorrow I'll go pick up the Ridgeline and go back home, I'll head out about 7:15 so I can make Sutton's in Queensbury by 9:30 to meet one of my former co workers for breakfast, them meeting Rene at 11:30 for our girls weekend. Sometime Sunday I'll head home, Lake George is just over 2 hours from home so makes a great half way point and they have outlets and a real mall, at least compared to VT.

Monday I'll plan to call Robin and see how things are coming at the campground and see if we can get a date for heading out to camp. When we know that then we can figure out when to get the RV home, I'm so ready to be living in the RV, with the nicer weather just makes me antsy to get out to camp, have to remember it's VT and still April. Unlike my friends Mark and Nancy who are out in their new camper, only them and one other camper in the campground, I'm so jealous, soon though.

Need to get the house picked up in case a call comes for a showing while I'm in NY so time to get back to it. The blog is caught up, I've got my blog reading caught up so no excuse to stay on the computer.

Until next time...

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

VT Seasons

In VT we have many different seasons, in between winter and spring we have maple syrup season and between spring and summer we have mud season.

As the days get warmer but the nights still get down in the 20's in our valley the sugar makers start collecting the syrup from the maple trees, once this was done with horse and buckets, now it's very sophisticated with lines running through the woods and machines used to suck the sap out of the trees. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup, as the sugar makers boil the sap down their sugar shacks produce such mass quantities of steam. There is usually just a few weeks in which the sap can be collected. VT maple syrup the liquid gold of the state. Good thing our local sugar maker ships all over the country.

Then there is mud season, when the frost comes out of the ground. The cause of the frost heaves, the car eating pot holes and the cause of many a misaligned vehicle. Our RV sits in my parents yard, they are on a dirt road, during mud season as the frost comes out of the ground the roads become quagmires and we get a bit of entertainment watching them go through. Over the years we have been very glad we purchased a home on a blacktopped road, now though we have to wait for the dirt roads to dry out so we can get the RV home and packed.

Until next time...

A few weeks later

It's been a bit since I've written but since the blog isn't public yet no one will really know except me. So I guess I'll catch myself up then with what has been going on over the last few weeks.

On the house front, tomorrow is going to be the third time the house will have been shown in just 2 1/2 weeks. Hope this bodes well for our success this summer. Of course the house continues to need our attention, which is why we want to sell it, just so tired of the upkeep. One of these days it'll be our turn.

If Dave gets to take some leave of absence time I think we will stay VT residents, just going to have to change insurance companies. I've been with State Farm ever since I started driving, sure will miss working with our local agency. Since they don't insure fulltimers we'll have no choice in changing.

I flew down to FL last weekend to drive my parents home. In all the years I've traveled up down I-95 I have never seen it as crazy as it was last weekend. Hotels were hard to come by, both nights we had to go onto a second hotel to find some rooms. Continually surrounded by vehicles so use of cruise control was limited. So glad to have that trip done, hope never have to travel like that again.

A few weeks ago I tried to stomach the prep drink for a colonoscopy, well I couldn't keep it down and had to reschedule. Tomorrow I try the stuff they give babies and kids, hope it works this time I want to get this done and over with.

My girlfriend Rene and I have our weekend in Lake George planned. I'm going to scour the clearance racks for something to wear to the weddings we are going to attend at the end of the summer. It'll be great to catch up, every once in awhile we put everything else aside and have a girls weekend, can't wait.

The last weekend of April we plan to have a garage sale, everything left over will head to Goodwill. Will be good to get the stuff out of the house. I find it so ironic that I am getting rid of all my stuff and at the same time going through bridal registries for the future weddings we are attending this summer. Some of the stuff we have gotten rid of or are getting rid of is stuff we got at our wedding, makes you wonder where these young people will be when they've been married 28 years like us. Are those things going to head into someones garage sale one day.

I'm jealous of our friends in IL, they are out camping already, our RV is still in my folks yard and we're still getting freezing nights here.  Just a few more weeks and we should be heading out to camp.

Talked to my brother yesterday, it was his birthday so a call was in order. Can't wait till we are on the road so we can meet them in TX at their sail boat. They stay near Mustang Island which has a state park at it, looks like a place we might enjoy for awhile.

Time to get ready for tomorrows showing.

Until next time...