He’s here

I find prearranged marriage a fascinating concept, one I have zero experience with personally.  But in a way, choosing the right mate for Ava has felt a teensy bit like that.  I mean, we can’t expect Ava to know how to chose a good counterpart.  Only we understand her needs and her limitations enough to make the right choice.  So it falls on us to to find just the right one for Ava and our family.  We found him in the hamlet of Sublette Kansas and just today, the day before Thanksgiving, I was able to meet Gimmy  for the first time.

IMG_20151125_124607520

He is now here in Colorado.  A young but experienced gent, strong and sturdy yet clean and welcoming.  Some of his senses are lacking though….it seems he needs a new NOx sensor.   My dealer buddy wants to change out the fluids and do a detail job so it will be a week or so before we finalize the sale.  And I need to get the B&W Companion before I introduce Gimmy to Ava and the two get hitched.

Note:  I have not yet ok’ed it with the family that we call him Gimmy so his name might change.

Trucking trucks

I hate to get too excited that we have a tow vehicle yet…but it is theoretically being trucked from Sublette KS.  It should get here the day before Thanksgiving.  With the holiday weekend followed by a  business trip for me it will be a couple weeks before we take possession of the beast.  But hopefully I can snag some pictures on Wednesday….not because it is particularly sexy (it a plain white work truck) but as a sort of “proof” that we have something to pull our 5th wheel with.  I think we are cutting things pretty close timing wise.  Raise your hand if you think we’re doing it all wrong!

The south is calling

We had our first real snow of the season last night.  Its been a beautiful fall in Colorado so I suppose its time for some snow.  And its Saturday morning so there is no need to rush off anywhere, we can just enjoy the beauty of winter while sippin’ on a cup of joe.  But, as beautiful as the snow can be I can hear the warmer temps of the south calling my name.

IMG_20151121_071926657_HDR

 

Adding to the craziness

As if preparing for our adventure isn’t keeping us crazy busy enough we decided to remodel our bathroom in the house to just spice things up a bit.  The bathroom underwent some major renovations when we first bought the house but we did not mess with the floor or the door.  Since we want our house to be nice for our renters (anyone looking for a fully furnished, family friendly house in old town Longmont during the first half of 2016?) we decided that the bathroom had to get new floor and door.  So our local handyman Tim Pearl showed up yesterday and started tearing things up.

IMG_20151117_121901767

 

 

Should I be stressed?

I can come up with good support for both answers to that question.  The fact is, I am stressed.  And I really should be trying to enjoy this time of gearing up for our launch.  I mean, everyone else is excited for us.  They say, “I bet you’re getting excited”, “I am so jealous”, “Are you all ready to go?”, “Did you get a truck yet?”. Its awesome that we have so many encouraging friends and family who are interested in our adventure.  But every one of their questions and comments sort of blasts the DEFCON 1 horn in my head.  There is still so much to do but we are taking it one step at a time and like Lady Macbeth once said, “what’s done is done” to which I have added “and what isn’t done still needs to be done”.

The truck?  Oh I’m glad you asked (DEFCON 1 horn blaring in my head)!  So the great deal I thought I found was a dud.  My broker friend has a very keen eye and noticed some damage.  After getting some more pictures we realized it was not a good deal at all.  So we have been pursuing one in Sublette Kansas…you never heard of it?  Me neither!  The check engine light was on so we had a 3rd party diesel mechanic do an inspection today.  The check engine light was just a broken wire on the fuel water sensor…trivial repair.  I’m waiting to get the rest of the report on the truck.  Maybe by week’s end we’ll have something to pull Ava with.

Entitled

Sort of a trivial step in the process but finally got around to getting Ava (our fifth wheel) officially titled in Colorado in our names!  I strolled the few block downtown to the DMV and was pleasantly surprised that there were exactly zero persons in front of me in line!  Armed with the bill of sale, the title from the seller and a completed VIN verification form I walked out with a license plate, registration, title (actually this will get mailed to my house later), and my bank account further diminished.  I should mention that my first attempt to do this was thwarted by the lack of the VIN verification form.  When a vehicle (or at least a trailer) was previously titled out of state you have to have a qualified person do a VIN verification….that is, they verify that the VIN on the vehicle matches that on the title.  In Colorado this can be done at emissions testing stations or by a dealership.  I used the latter and was able to get them to go to the trailer instead of taking the trailer to them.

Community

I’ve read about several folks who took up the “fulltiming” life because they were fed up with their situation, their job, their neighborhood, the rat race or whatever.  And I commend folks for having the wisdom to see they are unhappy and the courage to try something different.  But our story is a bit different.  For one, we are not really “fulltiming” because we are only going for 6 months.  But also, we are not trying to escape from anything (well, perhaps a break from some of the hustle and bustle will be refreshing).

When we moved to Old Town Longmont in 1999 I was sure it was just going to be one step in our real estate future that would eventually put us on a several acre plot outside of town with plenty of storage for stuff and lots of privacy….perfect for my introverted life!  We were renovating our 1890’s house and were starting to think about a place in the country (well, I was…..I think Steph was just humoring me).  We’d go out house shopping and when we would come back to the ‘hood I’d get this feeling.  A really good feeling.  Like I was home.  But this just could not be possible.  Our house was too small, the yard too cramped, no garage, a shed that is shared with our neighbor whos house is only 9 feet from ours.  But there was no denying the feeling…this was home.

Read more