Happy, Sad and tired ! CAMP #1 BDS

What a great time today at the "going away party". We had motorhomes all lined up and started moving at 8AM. Had the smoker fired up by 9AM. Everyone worked all day preparing a lot of food. My friends are sure great. Dora coordinated everything. McCarn Entertainment provided the music. We had most of our friends attend and it was a great day. My daughter, Shannon, & Will came all the way here from Lansing. I know everyone probably put on 5 pounds! Our friend, Kelly, watched over the smoker and about 40lbs of meats turned out perfectly! There was a lot of food and not very much was leftover. Our crowd likes to eat good food!
   It's not quite 10PM and we're done in so until next time REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY...Charlie & Heather.

12 NOON- The adventure begins..Camp #1

Locked up the house and headed to Camp #1.. Where is it ? The Back Door Saloon..Our favorite socializing place..We planned on a 12 noon takeoff and we DID IT !!
    We've always wonder how many camps we stop at so this time we're gonna number them in the blog..oughta be interesting..follow us for awhile to see if we can keep it upbeat and interesting enough to coax you back from time to time.
    We're towing a trailer this time. Don't know if it'll be trouble or not but this year is different as we plan on establishing residency in Florida. Did a lot of research on this move and Florida won. Seems that they take better care of senior citizens. Sure packed a lot of stuff (How can any be left over after the summer purge????) and gonna get the trailer weighed before we leave our beautiful Houghton Lake, Mich..
   Our dear friend Dora is putting on a going away party on Sat 9/29 1 til 5 PM..some other friends are going to bring their entertainment gig and provide music/karaoke.. the food plan is great too!
    CAMP #1 is a great way to start a 3 year fulltimeing gig. We pray that we remain safe and thank God for all our wonderful memories and friends up here in Houghton Lake. It'll probably be a year and a half before we get around Michigan again. Planning on visiting the MidWest next summer. We've got friends and family and many outstanding places to vagabound to.
     Travel with us via the blog and REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY..Charlie & Heather...luv ya'll.

Only our toothbrushes left !! Houghton Lake,Mi

Made it to 5 o'clock somewhere with only minutes to spare! At 4:50 PM the last of the packing was completed. Had several interruptions today and I was getting frustrated watching the time fly by. Thought we'd be done by noon but....Oh well, at least the packing is "DONE". Showers in the house in the AM and pack the toothbrushes and hand over the keys. WHEWWW!! What a summer...
     If the "maybe" overloaded trailer turns out okay and we get a few tweaks to the motorhome done in the next week, we're all set for fulltiming !
     If anyone is curious enough to have questions about fulltiming just leave a comment. In the meantime..REMEMBER..LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY..Charlie & Heather

Trailer needs a diet ??

Well, we have most of the stuff packed, I noticed the new 12' trailer wheels were getting pretty close to the fender. I checked the clearance with my hand and discovered the 2" long screws holding the clearance lights was almost touching the tires ! OH-OH ! After taking  measurements it was determined that the lights only need a 3/4" screw. HMMM..so I jacked the trailer up by the frame and changed out the screws. Much better,says I..now I'm having worries the we need more clearance and a weigh in..I really don't think we're overweight but will have it weighed anyways. Two ways of fixing the clearance come to mind. 1- move the fenders up, 2-lengthen the spring shackles ( I wonder if that would affect the towing/handling?)..the springs aren't anywhere near flat. The GVW is rated 3500#s..Time will tell. I'll get back to you on this!
     We plan on pulling out of here Friday morning and will be staying in the area for the Saturday party and then for a few days at our friend's place. Got a few maintenance items to do there. If all goes well I'm guessing the "jello" plan will let us be Southbound around Oct 4th. That's been the average takeoff date for 3 years now ! Just in time too..36F at night and the acorn are falling and the trees are changeing daily. GOODBYE winter, we don't love ya no more !!  LOL. 
     REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY!! Love ya'll..Charlie & Heather 

Last week in da house !

Getting real close to fulltimeing. The house is sounding echo-eeeee! Hasn't been this empty since the 1st day of getting the keys several years ago.. I hope we never accumulate that much "stuff" again ! I noticed that my notes that have littered the table for months are getting quite thin. Definately NOT missing that! We're going thru the same emotions that we've been reading about in other's blogs prior to their fulltimeing jump.  Next Saturday (29th) from 1 til 5 PM our friend Dora is throwing a going away party for us at The Back Door Saloon, Houghton Lake, Mich. Gonna smoke a bunch of meat and have music provided by our friends, McCarn Entertainment. Hope our followers will be there. REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY. Charlie & Heather

Only a few weeks left in Houghton Lake, Mi

I was suprised when I went to check my reminder lists that I didn't have any lists left !. That's the first time all summer !.Of course now I'm concerned that something might be missing. I remember reading blogs a couple years ago thinking that all those fellow bloggers were making too much out of going fulltime ! Oh, how wrong I was..Ever since we got home last May, and decided to go fulltime RV'g, it's been busy, busy, busy!! Yard sales, moving sales, Craigslist ads, ebay, swap shop on our local radio station WUPS, donateing, giving away, etc,etc,etc..WHEEWWWWW! I hope we never accumulate that much stuff again, EVER! We have succumbed to buying a 12x 6 enclosed trailer to put our tools into,and it's quite full.  We'll use those to accomplish our workamper plans. Temps here at home are approaching 45F at night and serve as a reminder that the warm nights are over. Staying in the rig every night now and only have a smatttering of things to pack up now. Will move the coffee pot and TV in the next few days and will winterize the house in case it isn't occupied this winter. Hope all of you realize your dreams like we are doing..REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY..Charlie & Heather

Going away party at Dora's " Back Door Saloon" Sept 29th

Our dear friend, Dora, is throwing a going away party at the Back Door Saloon in Houghtgon Lake, Mi on Sept 29th 2012 from 1 to 5PM..Music by McCarn Entertainment. We'll be firing up our smoker at 8AM, so if you have anything special you'd like smoked be sure to get it to us early..Be sure to follow the fulltime adventure here for the next 3 years. REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY...Love ya'll.Charlie & Heather.