Thing's Are Moving Fast

The house was listed and we have a buyer. We signed the papers a few days ago, now for the appraisal, home inspection (which was done today), well and septic system inspection(scheduled for December 29) and if all goes well, we close on January 29th.
    So here we go, the new owners want some of the furniture, and the BIG ONE, they want to keep the girls(dogs). They have 2 children and we have know them for along time, so we are thrilled that they will give the dogs a new home. Come to think of it, the girls get to keep the house and they get new people.
    This weekend was busy, we sorted and planned, made ready for the home inspection and started moving something's into the 5ver. We drove around and checked on RV parks to move to, one we liked and will probably move into Trailer Village RV Park. We located a storage facility that will work for temporary storage, we need to get with the new owners to find out exactly what they want to keep and what we will sell or store. I picked up the new tool box for the truck and swapped out the old one, the new one is big enough to store the generators in.

Busy time of the year to be moving, but the kids brought the grand kids over from Texas for the Christmas Holiday, nice having them in the house again. We missed em.

So away we go, the adventure continues.
Stay safe and travel safe.

House is Listed and Up For Sale

Well, its official, the house is on the market. The agent is Starla Nunez of Century 21. We built this house in 2004 for our retirement. And we have decided that its not going to fit into the future plans. House is 2240 sq ft, 3 bedroom (one currently being used as an office), 2 bath with 4.5 acres of land. 20'x21'metal shop and 12'x20' Storage building. This property has the best of both worlds, rural living, but inside the city limits, zoned RA(residential and agricultural)

And the Man Cave Shop

Plenty of parking for coach or fiver, and zoned for it. Also zone for animals, horses, chickens, anything but swine.
   So any of you northern travelers looking for a southern destination for a winter base, this will do it for ya, 70 miles from skiing, and trout fishing. Golf year round and at good rates.

House and land is $232,500
Until next time, travel with care and be safe.

Plans Are Moving Forward

   Well since the last post, been awhile. We have had another garage sell that went well, nothing came back in the house, so that's a good thing. We have been sprucing up the house and tomorrow the realtor come by to comp the house and we can get it listed. Still can not believe how much "stuff" we have, but it is getting thinner. Our oldest, our daughter and her husband have moved to Texas and taken the grandsons with them. Well one less thing keeping us here. We really miss the grandkids............... and yes we miss our kids and their spouses too.
    We have one really hard task left. We are animal people with three furry kids, two dogs and a cat. The cat will go down the road with us. The dogs, Penny and Mia, two red heelers, are outdoor dogs. So we are looking for a good home for them, ages 8yrs and 4yrs. Hopefully it will workout.

I continue to work on the 5ver, getting it ready for the road. Janice's work place is just about done. Mine, is coming together well. Viper Tool Chest and Compressor has been installed.

Entire assembly is bolted down, with storage underneath and compressor mounted to the right (not pictured) Nice chest, well built. I think it will serve the purpose. A few more small additions and she's ready to roll.

I added FireStone 5000lb air bags to the Chevy 3500HD, mainly for leveling, the trailer itself doesn't even settle the rear end enough to engage the overload springs, but does drop it some.

We also added the Rand McNally 7720RV  7" GPS system. So we can find our way out of  here.

Well, that's were we are at right now, winter is here in SE New Mexico 75 one day and 25 the next. We are looking forward to going a little further south.

We will try to keep in touch a little more often.

John and Janice's RV Adventures: Changes to the Blog

John and Janice's RV Adventures: Changes to the Blog: Well, as all of you know, I am pretty new to this blogging thing. As such I am working on trying to learn a few new tricks. In the last coup...

Changes to the Blog

Well, as all of you know, I am pretty new to this blogging thing. As such I am working on trying to learn a few new tricks. In the last couple of days I have added a couple of new tabs under the Home page picture, labeled HOME, MODIFICATIONS AND CHANGES, LIFE ON THE ROAD AND HOW IT CAME TO BE, THE STORY.
 
HOME: Is normal blog activity

MODIFICATIONS AND CHANGES: are well, modification and changes that we have made to the truck and trailer, This will update periodically.

LIFE ON THE ROAD AND HOW IT CAME TO BE, THE STORY: This is a running narrative of how we decide to go fulltime,  and the continuing saga of our progress and drive toward that goal. This will continue to be updated

Hope these additions have some information that some of you will find useful.

SHAKE DOWN OF THE MOUNTAINEER

Well the first tour is done...............

     We hauled the new Montana Mountaineer up to Ruidoso for the weekend. This trip was for relaxation and shake down. It rained a little off and on so it was great weather for relaxing. Worked with every system and played with all the new stuff. Only issue was a knock in the ceiling fan, which I will address soon. We did find a few things to modify, such as adding vanity lights in Janice bathroom. Those have now been added (they arrived as we were departing). LED lighting in the switch cabinet, no lights and THAT'S WHERE THE LIGHT SWITCHES ARE AT, that was corrected this afternoon. We played with the new convection oven, it works, imagine that.

     We tested Janice's sewing room, figured out where things need to be placed, and of course she did a little sewing.

This works out much better then the dining room table.

     I did some tile work during the rainy days, adhesive, tile, grout, hard work for relaxation, so...................... the heck with that, used Smart Tile and knock it out in an hour, hell, I'm in.
Before Stove Picture

And after hours of labor, OK, not so much labor

And the Master Bath (ran out of tile for the back bath, will have to order more)

Well everything worked great, furnace was quiet, A/C was cold, new Level Up System for auto leveling the rig, worked great, I love it.  I really enjoyed pulling this new one, it tracks very true to the truck, much truer then the High Country. It also had no chunking, none.

     So for the first trip, it was great. We will continue to modify and tweak, and keep you informed.  I will say that the shake down trip, goes to show that working out a good PDI and working with a good dealer, makes for a good start. Main Trailer Sales Inc, in Roswell has been great as usual.

     And I made a little money at the casino, very little, but I walked out with a win.

      We will see you down the road.

Time for Modifications

    Well, the time has come to add all the things we removed from the High Country and reinstall on the New Mountaineer. We reinstalled power vent covers, screen door handles(bars), relined all the shelves and cabinets in the coach, replace sleep number bed and compressor, towel racks, reloaded pot and plates, fire extinguishers, etc, etc. We then tackled the under storage, install inverter, eyebolts for tie downs, fishing pole holder. We had a few busy days and evenings.

    Now the entire reason for going to the Montana Mountaineer 356TBF floor plan, was to have a space for Janice to set up her sewing/embroidery/quilt/craft area. So after looking at numerous options, from building a desk area, to buying a sewing table type system, we started to looking at DESK. Gee, they are right height, and could have a lot of storage if drawer configurations was right. And if you could find one with a large enough top. AND the big one (ok, so its a matter of being a small one), it had to fit through a 28" inside door. We did a search and reviewed a few, and this is what we came up with. Length 6 feet, Depth of surface 31",  Drawers for storage, and enough room at the end to store a 6 foot table for travel and set up when we arrive.

Saturday morning we started building and moving finished section through that 28" inside door. And Saturday afternoon we had this:

Now we all know that sewing/embroidery/etc, takes a lot of storage. Above the desk, you can see the full bunk bed in its up positions (rated at 300lbs capacity) so the bunk can be used for storage and lots of drawers on the desk for storage. And....................... across the room is the closet, entertainment center, with another bunk. I added removable shelving to the shallow closets.

So I hope we have made a good start on getting this room set up. We are awaiting the arrival of the Theater Seating, and the Microwave/Convection Oven(which has arrived and is awaiting install) Hopefully, the next major project with be installing the tool chest in the front storage bay. As mentioned earlier we did get all the vent covers installed, it gives the rig a look of a bunch of AC units, but there are only 2 AC's, the rest are Fantastic Power Vents.

    I just realized that I have not show MY favorite part (other then the hydraulic auto leveling system. So here it is, "The Outdoor Kitchen". Of course there is an indoor kitchen, but this one is MINE.

So there ya go, the adventure continues.

Well We Pulled The Trigger On A New Rig

We did our annual trip to Fun Valley in Colorado, fishing was good, weather was great for the first 5 days and then the wind came, 6 days of 40mph+. But other then that, it was a great vacation. Old friend showed up, just like clockwork, Wyman, Carroll and Janis, Sleepy and Ron, George and Jo. It was nice catching up. While we were up there and bushed up from the wind, we had a chance to evaluate what we would like in a new rig, and came up with a list. And.......................

We took delivery of a 2015 Montana Mountaineer 356TBF on July 3, after several days of PDI, we pulled it home. We have been looking at floor plans that give us alittle more area for Janice's sewing, embroidery and quilting. So we decided on the 356TBF, which is a 40 foot bunkhouse. The bunkhouse is being remodeled into a sewing room. This will give her ample space to spread out and sew. With a 6 foot desk and a 7 foot table, she will have a lot more space then we had planned in the 343RL. The new 356 has a rear 1/2 bath and back door off the sewing room. It also has a full outdoor kitchen(for ME), it also has the Level UP system, that levels the rig automatically, yea, no more leveling the rig with blocks under the tires. Five slides add to the interior space. We had the dealer remove the tires and install our's on the 356, it came with China crap tires that we just won't pull with. Had them remove the rear couch out of BH. We are awaiting our new Theater Seating for the living room, and then they can remove the second couch and install the new seating assembly. We also had them pull the quad steps off ours and replace the triple on the front door with our quads. The unit came with a 30" MicroWave, we ordered a 30" MicroWave/Convection Oven, should be here this up coming week, dealer will do the swap.

We have spent the past week, empting the old rig and removing many of the modifications that we have done. And over the holiday weekend we spent the day light hours, reloading the new one and installing modification on the new unit. I still have a lot of work to do, install sewing desk, add shelving. Most of the modifications I had done on the 343 have been moved to the 356. So those pictures will still be pretty accurate in the past blog. I did have to add 2 more Fantastic Vent Covers, this thing has 4 power ventilation fans. And 2 AC units, should be able to move some air.

Now for some fun stuff, we had a great 4th of July dinner with our daughter and husband Jack and his side of the family, crab legs, clams, shrimp, crawdads, corn on the cob, potatoes, well you get the idea, more food then we could eat.

After dinner, we convince daughter, Bridget and Jack, that the baby, Jase would be better off with us at the house then listening to those LOUD fireworks. You remember this little guy right.

 So we got to baby sit for a couple of hours. Hey this is big, because as parents, they are such baby hogs. :-) And we love having the boys over. But, Brayden has gotten old enough to really enjoy the fireworks so he went with them.

We will get pictures of the new rig posted soon. Inside and out, just been going 90 mph and haven't had a chance to get pictures yet. Until then enjoy life, and we will see ya down the road.

Busy Week......

Well, the week started out exciting around here, with an early morning call on Monday, daughter heading to the hospital to have the baby, grandson number four. We were there, and we were so lucky to be included in the great day. This is my daughter Bridget and husband Jack, and the newest addition to the Taylor family, baby Jase.

 

This is the oldest grandson with baby, Jase. First time for big brother Brayden to hold his little brother.

 

Friday night and Saturday morning we got about 4.5" of rain in 3 hours, along with hail and high winds. Now for those of you that aren't aware of the drought in south east New Mexico, this is the most rain ever recorded in a single day and more rain then we have had in the past six months. The town and surrounding areas were flooded pretty bad, water still draining 14 hours later. This mornings survey showed no hail damage to truck or Montana, so far so good, looks like more coming tonight. We are prepping our rig for our first summer trip to Colorado. Let the fun begin.

 

Until later, be safe



All Conditions Normal

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Well today has been busy. This morning started with a trip to the local RV Dealer, to pick up some things. After walking through some of the new rigs, I decided to go home and get Janice for a quick look at a Home Theater seating arrangement for our HC. She liked it and it will help finish off our interior for installing her sewing/embroidery center.

 

We have had trouble finding at table that fit our needs in 5ver for use with the chairs and couch, I decided to make one that could be used as an end table or a Lap top table. So I bought some red oak (did anyone know that red oak trees must be worth millions of dollars each, one piece of 12"x8', $70, very expensive trees) and a few hours later, bingo....a table.

 

 







After ordering the new recliner set up, it was on to pick up 5 dozen cup cakes for our daughter, Bridget's baby shower. Then home and I headed for the ball park for the grandsons, picture day and little league game. Janice headed out for the shower and last minute preparations. Did I mention that the wind was blowing 40 to 50 mph today. After the ball game, came home and washed about 5 pounds of dirt out of my ears. Janice and the girls finished up late in the afternoon, they had a lot of fun and Bridget was thrilled.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Well the day started out playing golf in a really brisk wind, fun, like playing goofy golf over 7,000 yards. Then back to the house.
    Today was trailer prep day, finally got out and dewinterized the 5ver. First order of business was to clean out the hot water heater, using the magic wand, this was short work. Next comes the clearing of antifreeze from the street water system, then the 12 volt pump system. All cleared and running good, and no leaks from winter storage, whoo, whooo.
Next step, sanitizing the system, this will be done in a couple of weeks before we leave for Colorado. Wind is blowing 50+ this afternoon, time for  watching golf and staying out of the wind.
      Here's a picture of new grandson, Cooper Allen, John and Katie's new one

Be Safe and Live Life

  

All Conditions Normal, Except............

Well things are pretty much same on the home front. Except, WE HAVE A NEW GRANDSON, John and Katie became parents again when Cooper Allen joined older brother Colton on St Patrick's Day. So that makes 3 grandsons and our daughter due in May with number 4. More and more reasons to travel :-)
   We have been doing a little work on the trailer, just some little things getting it ready for some summer travel. We did get a new sign for the front, so if ya see it hanging in a Park somewhere, stop, knock and talk.

We have been listening to John and Kathy Huggins of www.livingthervdream.com  pod cast, if you enjoy RVing you will enjoy their pod cast and books, great stuff. Also have join www.rvillage.com I think this web site, that is still in Beta Mode is going to catch on. Check em out.

Just A Normal Weekend

Well, the weekend was just your typical weekend, did alittle work on the Montana, built a shelf next to the bed. One of my gripes with this model is the lack of shelves next to the bed and no room for a night stand. So I made up a light little unit to hold the clock and my glasses and of course the TV remote. Did alittle cleaning inside and called it done.
   This is the time of year for all the big RV Shows across the nation, new models are rolling out. So I did the next best thing and went down to our local dealer and looked at the new Montana's that have arrived. Pretty nice floor plan with the middle kitchen and 2 doors. All in all nice, but we still like our floor plan. And I would hate to do all the modes on a new one.
    Our daughter, Bridget (who is expecting in May, this is Jack and Bridget's first, Jack has a 5yr old son, Brayden) and Janice worked on baby shower invitations, while I roamed the RV Dealership. There is going to be a party in the next month or so to find out what the new grand baby is going to be, boy or girl, unknown at this time.
    Played a little golf Sunday with George Libby and Drake Mancuso, weather and company was great, score, not so much. Came home and rooted for the Broncos to win the AFC Championship game (My son's team), which they did. On to the SuperBowl. Janice and I took a short bike ride after the game, have to get in shape for retirement.
    Did I mention that our daughter in-law, Katie is expecting in April. This will be John and Katie's second and its another boy, so Colton (their first) is going to be a big brother. Cooper Allen is going to join the Steel ranks.
    Now ya might be thinking, what does grand kids have to do with RVing, well.......... if ya don't have grand kids, nothing, but if you have grand kids, ya know you have travel destinations that you really need to be travelling to. Anybody know where there is good fishing near Norfolk, Virginia, where a guy can catch snapper. Colton has a mission planned and it involves catching snapper. Now I fish, trout mainly, tie my own flies, but I don't have a clue on snapper............... Guess Grand Dad had better study up.
Until next time, be safe and enjoy life.

Modified Front Bike Carrier.................

Well as mentioned in the last post, I mounted the bike rack. It mounted up and carried the bikes just fine............However, I thought it could be made a little better. The more you read this blog, the more you will notice, that I modify everything. Manufactures build it to sell and make a profit, I build it to work and last, so I did a little of cutting and welding. I didn't think the 1" thick wall tubing was up to stress we plan to put on it (lots of miles). I built a 2" receiver insert, out of the same steel, you would use for a trailer. Much stronger and it took all the play and movement out of the rack.

This picture shows the actual mount that was include with the rack. Note receiver insert with white paper label.

These pictures are of the modified rack with the small original on the ground.

One More

 

 

As you can see much, much stronger and as I said no wiggle or shake, I think it will work very well.



Happy New Year, Everyone.....................

    Well, 2014 has arrived and we are closer to retirement. This year is the year to start mucking out the place and get it on the market. We are looking forward to moving forward on this endeavor. 
     Today, dawned and the temps quickly rose into the 60's, first time in weeks. So it was out and do some catch up on the truck. Washed and waxed (now the trailer and the truck have a fresh coat of wax). And now that the truck is clean, I figured it would be a good time to test new bike carrier on the front receiver hitch, with both bikes on it. So here ya go.

It works pretty good, but I think alittle modification will be in order to stiffen it up alittle.

But all in all, works as advertised.

Hope everyone has a great 2014, and stay in touch. We shall return.