Category: Retirement Life

Learn about retirement, early retirement, traveling in an RV fulltime with dogs, downsizing, tiny house living, adventures, campgrounds

Posted on

Campground Review: Torreya State Park, Florida

Did you know that Florida has mountains?

Well, not real mountains but go hiking in Torreya State Park and you’ll feel the inclines and the declines.  This area boasts high bluffs, ravines, and clear creeks.  The park even has a waterfall!

Beautiful creek

Are you looking for some peace and quiet?

We stayed here for one week in January.  We have to say that this is the most peaceful and quiet campground we have ever visited.  The ranger said that winter is the best time to visit.  This is a small campground with 30 sites and a yurt.  The sites are large enough for larger rigs and provide some space so you aren’t walking out your door and right into your neighbor’s yard.  Campsites do have sparse vegetation between them but were nicely wooded behind them.

What can you do at Torreya State Park?

Walk the trails!  You won’t believe you are in Florida. There are over 14 miles of winding,  hilly trails with some technical parts and clear,  running streams.   You can also visit the historic Gregory House overlooking the Apalachicola River.  They offer tours of the house for a small fee.

I came to hike but the river is there for kayaking although you would have to find a boat ramp since there isn’t one in the park.  Also, for those of you who love to watch birds, this would be a good place for that as well.

Torreya Trail

Come Stocked and Prepared…

You won’t find stores close by.  You will have to drive a bit to get to the nearest civilization.  This is one thing we loved about this park.  It is isolated and you get the feeling you are in the wilderness.

What about the important stuff?  Bathrooms,  showers,  laundry…

In one word – Amazing.  The bathhouse was clean and provided privacy when showering.   As a bonus,  it is heated.   This was so welcomed on those chilly nights.

What about dogs?

Torreya State Park is dog friendly.  Dogs are allowed on the trails and in the campground, on leash  and under control of course.  Our two pups loved the hiking with cool splashes in the creeks we passed.

Puppies in a creek

5 Points of Review-

Overall we give this park 4.6 out of 5!  Yes, we will be back.

  1. Peace and Quiet *****
  2. Things to Do  ****
  3. Bathroom, Showers, Laundry  *****
  4. Dog Friendly  *****
  5. Campsite  *****
Ahhh!
Ahhh!

Check out this Florida State Park at this link:  https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Torreya

Are you a hiker?  Check out the Florida Hikes link:  https://floridahikes.com/torreyatrail

Here is the video review of this campground from our You Tube Channel, Ruff Road RV Life:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YR2_JpFXkw

Subscribe to stay updated on our travels.

Posted on

RV Life – Month 6

We have enjoyed our life in Ruff Road for six months now!  Incredible.  This month is special because it was one year ago that we took possession of Ruff Road.  In that time, we’ve enjoyed several trips and finally moved in full time in July 2017.

So how has it been after six months of living in an RV and not in our sticks and bricks home?

In one word- GREAT!  We don’t mind the space at all.  Even though we haven’t officially hit the road yet, we enjoy short trips and even our weekly dump run.  There is plenty to do in our county.  Gary continues to be involved in our church music ministry and has been writing some great music.  I have reunited with the Florida Trail Association in our area to hike and volunteer.  Of course, having family close by is a bonus right now.

Do we miss our sticks and bricks home?

No, we do not miss our sticks and bricks home.  My daughter and her family have done a beautiful job of decorating it and making it their own.  We don’t even think of it as ours anymore, it’s theirs.  We don’t miss the upkeep and the constant cleaning that went with a larger home or all the stuff that went with it.  Truthfully, we only lived in our bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom anyway.  As the children left home, the rest of the rooms were just there and prone to collect clutter.

How are RVs and stick/brick homes similar?  Different?

I thought about what it was like before living in Ruff Road.  Much of what we do in Ruff Road is similar to what we did in our house.  Rearranging, decorating, purging, cleaning, and organizing took place in both homes, however in Ruff Road it is on a much smaller level which is nice!  Rearranging and organizing seems to be the two that we have worked on the most as we continue to “squeeze” into our new space.  Most recently, we removed the pedestal table from in front of the couch.  We had contemplated this for some time but where would we eat or work?  We finally had enough and bravely unbolted it from the floor.  We put our long rug over the area in front of the couch and now use the top of one of the dog crates for our table.  No problems!  We talked about adding a hinged wooden table top for more flexibility but for now, this works!

Before
After

 

The biggest difference between life in a house and life in an RV, is that everything in the RV is magnified due to the smaller space.  For example, dirt gathers more easily in the small space of an RV vs the larger space a house offers.  Things can accumulate more in a house but in an RV, the clutter becomes screamingly evident and you have to deal with it.  In the house, if I wasn’t sure about tossing or donating something, I’d put it away in a closet to decide later.  In the RV, space is limited so this is not an option.  Even as I write this and everything is put away, we are aware that we have too much on board with us and we have a little RV purging to do.  We have too many clothes.  The dogs have too many toys.  We have too many linens.  So we’ll whittle these things down.  Finally, we don’t have the anchor of a large yard to maintain.  Anywhere is our yard.  This was more freeing for me than I realized and there are no arguments from Gary about this.  Here’s another bonus:  We interact more in an RV.  We like that.  If we need our space, we have outside, one can go to the bedroom or to the coach area.

 

What has happened this month?

If you read our previous post, we sadly said good-bye to one of our ruffs, our 15 year old mini poodle Phoebe.  We miss her and she will always be in our hearts.

We attended the Florida RV Super Show in Tampa, Florida.  This event is huge featuring many vendors, seminars, RV types, models and manufacturers.  You can view the bare chassis frames that are on display and learn how to maintain your generator.  If you are exploring the RV lifestyle, attending an large RV show like this one provides the opportunity to see everything from pop-ups to large class A coaches and everything in between.  Of course, if you are already RVing, you can see what’s new and how space is used in the different units.  Also, I’m sure the dealers were looking to make a deal with new owners and with those willing to trade in their current RV.  We spent most of our time looking at the vendor stations and attending seminars.  We especially appreciated the seminar about maintaining your generator and diesel engine.  We also attended a couple of seminars for RV newbies and full-timers which was helpful.  If we were going to look at RVs as well, we would have needed a second day which was included in our ticket.  Visitors with RVs could stay on the site with no hook-ups for a fee.  Learn more about RVing in Florida by the group that sponsored this event, the Florida RV Trade Association at http://www.frvta.org.

What RV supplies did we purchase this month?

As trivial as it might sound, we were in the market for new pillows so we picked up two bamboo pillows at the Florida RV Supershow.  They are super soft but can be used to prop up so you can read or work.  Also, we found some stick on lights for a few of our dimly lit cabinets and bins.  These were our two Florida RV Supershow purchases.

Other purchases were:

DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid):  This is required for all diesel coaches to ensure that the exhaust from the engine is environmentally friendly.

Leveling Blocks:  These are long overdue but we’ve only had one major problem not having them.  Wood planks from a nearby dumpster provided the solution.  In all other cases, we were able to maneuver the coach so all four tires were firmly on the ground.

Tank Tech Microbials:  Gary says this is like RidX on steroids.  This is the second month we have used this to minimize tank odor and ensure the right bugs are living in our tank to work on decomposition.  All it takes is two ounces per dump.  After using this product, we don’t have the pungent odor when our black tank is almost full and improves our tank’s health.

What’s next?

Watch for a link to be posted soon for our newly launched Ruff Road RV Life You Tube Channel.

Also, coming soon-

  • What are our plans for 2018?
  • Torreya State Park Review

Share to help grow our community and subscribe to be notified of new content.  Comment to share your knowledge, ask questions, or recommend topics.

 

Posted on

RV Life – Month 5

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

This is our first holiday in Ruff Road.  It was almost one year ago that this dream began.  My Facebook timehop popped up with One Year Ago today…my friend and I were taking pictures of RVs at a local dealership.  This time last year, we had no idea we would be “looking at freedom” everyday.  So here are our tweaks, tips, and trials at Month 5, as well as some general observations.

General Observations:

  • It’s cold even in Florida, but Ruff Road has stayed warm and cozy.  Temps were chilly, but not freezing.  Stay tuned for Month 6 reflection to see how we’ll do in much chillier weather.  However, so far so good.
  • When you retire, you don’t have to be the one to cook and host.  We enjoyed going up to the big house and eating our Thanksgiving feast with my daughter and her family.
  • This leads me to another observation.  We love being with family.  What a difference it makes when the cloud of a stressful job is not hanging over your head and you can enjoy your family mornings, middays or afternoons.  This is something that was difficult for us to find time to do in our past life.  We know not everyone reading this is retired.  We were there.  My advice that I tried to follow while I was working was to work towards a work/ home balance.  It was an ongoing goal.  Sometimes I was really good at it and sometimes work just took over.  However, as long as you set it as a goal, your chance of success are higher than if you don’t.

    • Christmas with the family in St. Augustine, Florida
  • One more observation, a retirement bonus that I noticed.  Christmas shopping and events were so freeing because I didn’t have the work load I did in past years.  My budget was smaller-retirement budget-but we all still had a great Christmas and I loved looking at freedom this time of year.

Tips:

  • Make a plan to balance work and home.  Hang in there and know that the day will come when you can look at freedom everyday.
  • Need space?  Rethink it.  Even though we feel like we have ample room here, the use of space needed to be improved.  I was using the table for an office but that meant it was always cluttered with the computer and papers.  We were also busy digitizing home videos (part of our downsizing process) and the video and second computer were always on our limited counter space along with copied and to copy VHS tapes.  Clutter, everywhere!  We also observed that the passenger chair, when turned around toward the living room served mostly as a catch all as you came through the door- ugh, more clutter.  What was our solution?  We have a very roomy cab area.  There is a small table next to the passenger chair and the dashboard area is quite large.  I already had office supplies and photography equipment stored there, so…naturally this became our office.  We left the passenger chair turned forward and the space is quite roomy to work in.  We were also able to gain some room by moving one of the dog crates to right behind the passenger chair giving a more closed off look to the space.  We like it.  Expect that tweaking space and rearranging will be the norm when you begin RV living.
  • Protect your RV floors.  We made a huge mistake when we moved in.  We were leaving behind ceramic tile floors that seemed to be indestructible no matter what you pushed across them.  Ruff Road has laminate tiles.  We now know, they will scratch easily.  When we moved in we took baskets, boxes, and crates of belongings to Ruff Road and, like an assembly line, shoved them in the door and pushed them inside to add more.  All of this pushing of weighted items put fine scratches all over our floors.  You can’t really tell unless you are on the floor so that’s the good news.  Then I wondered, were they there all along?  No, I think we did it.  To further protect our floors, we stopped sliding things on them.  The dog crates rest on rugs.  In addition, we put felt on the bottom of our ottoman and free standing chair.  Lesson learned.

Tips relating to dogs:

  • Keep nails trimmed.  We should know this but we let it slip.  Our girls’ nails grow long and sharp if not trimmed.  We wish we were part of the group of folks who know how to do this, but we aren’t- yet.  Our dogs’ nail trimmings require a trip to the vet after a calming pill.  They are overdue and our dash paid the price.  We now have one little pinhole from an excited Terra who jumped up before she could be stopped.
  • Set boundaries for pets.  This should go without saying but…sometimes this doesn’t happen.  Our girls are allowed in the driver and passenger chairs, the ottoman, or the floor.  They are not allowed on the couch or the bed.  They also know to “stay” when we are coming and going through the door.  Consistency is the key.  Make sure both pet parents are on the same page.  If one allows a rule to be broken, pets become confused and, like children, will push their limits.
  • Use Velcro to keep covers on furniture.  When we purchased our RV, the coach seats were already starting to flake.  We keep them covered with blankets and that works well.  Our ottoman is looking a little worn as well so it is covered with a quilted piece of fabric.  I used Velcro to attach the fabric to the ottoman.  I plan to use Velcro to help keep blankets on the coach chairs.  I’ll let you know how that works out.  Until then, we will just rearrange them after the pups mess them up.

What are some trials we’ve had this month?

  • Our onboard water tank filled up twice this month.  The first time water was actually leaking out of the fill tank area.  We thought we had the switch flipped over to city water, but it still happened twice.  After draining the tank twice and rechecking, we haven’t had anymore issues.  Maybe it wasn’t all the way over.  It’s still a mystery.
  • This is tragic!  We purchased a Powilling Dehumidifier from Amazon to take care of excess moisture in the air.  It rode on the built in side table next to the couch.  We had no problem in all of our travels.  However, on one fateful day, as we turned into our driveway, it took a tumble and fell to the floor never to work again.  We recommend this unit.  It has worked great for us.

We are just days away from our first full time RV Christmas.  The tree is up.  The lights are hung.  We are warm and cozy and happy.  Peace to everyone.

 

Posted on

RV Life- Month 3

We took a trip!

Ok, well we spent the night at Silver Springs State Park with the grandgirls.  It wasn’t far to travel.  Can you believe their 50 amp service didn’t work and we had to use 30 amp?  Oh well.  We are used to it.  We stayed at Site #38.  It is a very large, private site.  We did this spur of the moment and got a site as a walk in.  This park usually stays booked up.  Sundays and Mondays are good days to find a site the ranger said.  All of the sites here are large and somewhat private.  You can see your fellow campers but the size of the sites adds to the privacy.  You are guaranteed to see deer here either on the winding drive to the campground or on one of the many trails here.  You can even walk to the Silver River which flows out of Silver Springs.  Silver Springs has been the site of many movies including Tarzan.  There are monkeys in the area around Silver Springs.  They are cute to watch but don’t engage them.  You can hike from the camping area to the main area of Silver Springs State Park.  The attraction is now run by the state so it only costs $2.00 to visit per person.  It is a beautiful, scenic park along the springs and river.  You can launch your kayak from the kayak launch which costs $4.00 per vessel.  Camping costs $24.00 per night, plus tax, plus $6.70 reservation fee.  The park also has cabins you can rent and a Florida museum you can visit for $2.00 per person.  Here is a link to learn more:  https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Silver-Springs

Tip:  Organization-

I mentioned this before but it’s so important.  Have a routine.  It’s ok to change it but if you have a plan, things won’t fall through the cracks.  For example, we officially made Monday our dump day instead of waiting until we are praying to get to dump in time.  Monday is also our laundry day.

We can’t get the RV out of the yard!

Our Monday dump day works great unless work is being done on your road.  A sewage line was being installed in our neighbor’s yard and our long driveway had piles of dirt and deep ditches.  It was an adventure trying to get out.  Some days, we couldn’t get out at all.  The longest we went between dumps was ten days.  We were wringing our hands that week.

Welcome to Ruff Road RV Life.

Ruff Road RV Life was truly born this month.  We had been planning and talking but downsizing consumed our time.  This month we began filming for our You Tube channel and began developing this site.

RV Upgrades this month- Recommendations

Remember my backpacking gear problem?  We installed heavy duty command hooks for my backpack, the pups’ backpack and my jackets.  I need a lot of them because I am always freezing.  We added command hooks by the door to hang our shoes.  Finally, we added his and her command hooks to the bathroom door because the one that was there just wasn’t enough.  We finally purchased a much needed new computer this month.  It is my first Asus and so far I love it.  We have an on board vacuum cleaner but I used the Rug Rat attachment this time and I recommend it to anyone who has dogs that shed.

Missed my October Hike

My goal was to knock off another section of the Appalachian Trail in October.  It didn’t happen, there were just too many obligations and we could not get away.  I was sad this didn’t happen.  The mountains are so beautiful in October.  I’ll see them again though.  In fact, I will be completing the AT in 2018 heading out mid April.  I am so excited to hike again.  I do love the mountains!

Phoebe Update

Our girl is still not well.  She is on antibiotics three times a day and has to take an appetite enhancer to eat.  She seems better but is still sick.  We are realizing that she most likely has a nose tumor.  According to our vet, she has all of the symptoms and there is nothing that can be done.  She is happy and comfortable.  We will love our Phoebe girl until she joins our Pixie.  Pixie left us quite suddenly last October.  Pixie was a little, white, long haired terrier and only seven when she passed.  I love dogs so much.  I hate their limited lifespans.

Reflection -We are still not bored!

Well it has been three months and we are never bored.  It is amazing how busy you stay when you are retired.  I am the type of person who always needs to be doing something but I am finding it hard to find time for my recreational activities!  Yes, we are still dealing with “stuff” which now means more EBAY and some Marketplace time.  It does take time to clean items up, take pictures, and post.  Still, it’s fun to see these things go to a new home and to be used again.

At this point, we have settled in to our new RV life.  My favorite time of the day is in the morning.  We sit in our cozy  Ruff Road or even outside and sip our morning coffee.  I didn’t even know this was in my future this time last year.  We hadn’t even made our final retirement plans.  Anything can happen.  Believe it.  Blessings.

Silver Springs State Park Site 38
Mak and Phoebe
Ruff Road Silver Springs State Park

 

Posted on

RV Life – Month 2

It’s been 2 months!  Here are some wonderings, lessons learned, and tips.

We wondered:  Water drips through our AC in a heavy rain.  Why?  We have since had the gaskets redone and roof resealed.  No more problems.

We wondered:  Why do we have to defrost our residential fridge every seven to ten days?  The refrigerator would get warmer and warmer until this was done.  Update:  It has been fixed finally.  It never worked right but we had to use our current warranty to get it fixed.

We wondered:  What’s wrong with our poodle, Phoebe?  She’s struggling to breath out of her nose and has a nasal discharge.  She was diagnosed with pneumonia and on meds.  She is 15 years old and such a good old girl.  I hate to see her uncomfortable.

Lesson learned:  Shop around to dump.  We found a cheaper and nicer place to dump open 24 hours a day.  It’s the Petro Truck Stop!

Lesson learned:  Be careful what’s stored in the basements.  Moisture can get to the contents if you life in a humid, moist climate and they are not stored in proper containers.  My backpacking equipment became moldy down below so I rearranged and made room for it in the bedroom.  It works!

Tip:  We tried the GEO method for our black tank.  It helped.  What is the GEO method?  Just google GEO method for RVs and you will find a plethora of articles and You Tube how to videos.  It’s really simple.  You dump 1 cup of Calgon Water Softener and 1 cup of Dawn Dishwashing detergent down the toilet into your black tank after you dump.  You don’t need to do it every dump. It did keep the tank fresher and our sensors worked better.

Tip:  If you have an onboard washer and dryer, do small loads everyday.  They are small and don’t hold much.

Tip:  Buy a grass mat.  Less dirt comes in on little paws and feet.

Tip:  Command strips RULE!  Ruff Road feels so homey with pictures on the walls.

Dog Tip:  If you have a dog that pulls, front hook harnesses work the best.  I’ve also used the Gentle Leader Head Collar.  We also successfully used the Easy Walk Harness.  Both of these tend to cause chafing.  I sewed felt on the Easy Walk and that has helped.  We retired the Gentle Leaders in favor of the harnesses.  We recently ordered Ruffwear harnesses but they are a little big so less effective.  I called the company and they said they should work ok even though a little large.  The girls were still growing so I was hopeful they would fill them out.  They haven’t  The harnesses should have been sent back but we didn’t do it.  That, I suppose, is a lesson learned.

We survived:  Hurricane Irma came right through our area and we sustained no damage.  We were able to provide a place for our youngest son to stay since his home had no electricity.  See how we prepped for this storm in my previous post.

http://ruffroadrvlife.com/2017/12/28/hurricane-prep-and-finding-a-schedule/

Month 2- done.  We are moving on to Month 3!

Phoebe
Easy Walk Harnesses are great with young husky mix dogs.
Posted on

RV Life – Month 1

Well it’s been one month and what have we learned?  We are newbies ourselves but we do have some newbie advice.

Have a well thought out plan to transition into your new home.

Take stock of your needs, not your wants.  For example, Gary wanted a full set of pots and pans, but we didn’t need a full set.  I may have wanted to take family photo albums, but I didn’t need to take family photo albums.

That being said, be ok with parting with your “stuff”.  Replace “stuff” with experiences.

Your wants and needs will change as you move from sticks and bricks to woods, water, and adventure.

Know your space.  Diagraming every storage area helped us to know our RV.

Ahas…

Use a camping towel to mop up a lot of water.  It will be dry the next day.  I picked up two more at the dollar store.  We had an issue with our residential refrigerator and had to manually defrost it every ten days.  This super absorbent, quick drying towel was a life saver making quick work of the puddles of water or any other messes we made.

The thing that is a big deal today will not be a big deal in seven days and it will be a lesser deal in 30 days, a year from now.

It’s ok to take a zero day.  A zero day in the hiking world is a day that no miles are hiked.  A zero day to do nothing.  It’s ok.  Just do it sparingly.

Amazed

Gary is amazed that I was able to get all of our “stuff” in here.

I am amazed at how comfortable I am living in an RV.  I love cooking on the gas stove, sleeping in our cozy bedroom, and even cleaning- it’s quick!

The Ruffs

We had to switch out our Pet Mate plastic dog crates we bought for the RV and use the house American Kennel Club wire crates.  Our girls were just getting too big for ones we bought for the RV even though they were large.  The wire crates have more room, more air circulation, and a lower profile.  We put them on rugs to protect the floor.  They have adapted well and it’s nice to have them right here with us.  Poodle Phoebe is ok as long as daddy is near.  She’s easy.

Problems to Solve

I have heard some say you need to get rid of your hobby items.  This may contradict my wants and needs advice but in my opinion we need hobbies.  I have waited years to retire so I can fully enjoy my hobbies.  Storage is an issue though.  In one month, I was struggling with this problem.  Gary is a musician so he has guitars and amplifiers.  We both love kayaking.  I love hiking, biking, art, photography, crafts, and want to start sewing again.  So you see my problem!  That’s a lot of equipment, supplies.  At one month, I’m still working on this one.

Downsizing was a nightmare, but worth it.

My advice-  Just get rid of it.  I ended up doing that with so many things anyway.  The yard sale helped me to see what both families had to get rid of but I would not do it again.  The work involved vs the return was not worth it.  Donate and get a tax deduction.  When it’s done though, it feels AMAZING!

What a difference one month makes!  We are loving looking at freedom, everyday .

Share your beginning experiences or any questions that you have about RV Life.  Comment and share below.

Phoebe
Command strips work great to make your RV a home.

 

 

Posted on

Lessons Learned After Two Months of RV Living

Can you teach older dogs new tricks?  Why yes, you can!  We are growing dendrites!

Well here are just some of the adventurous learning lessons we’ve had so far.  Laugh along with us.  We are sharing so that you will be more knowledgeable and learn from our mistakes.

  • Know where your fire extinguisher is.

This one happened in the “big house” but the lesson is the same.  The washer was acting up and I absentmindedly grabbed the dryer plug, attempted to unplug it but the housing fell apart causing a giant spark which somehow arched over to the back of the dryer which immediately began to flame up the wall!  This happened in an instant and I called to my son-in-law, James, who immediately grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher and put the fire out.  I flipped the breaker off.  We evacuated the children to Ruff Road and waited for the fire department.  They were most impressed with our fast action and knowing where the fire extinguisher was and how to use it.  The outcome of this little mishap was that there was no damage, the washer works and the dryer works and I will never touch a 220 plug again!

  • Know your amps!

Make sure that you learn about amps and what your RV needs.  Make sure you know how many amps your electrical appliances use.  Remember this:  Amps = Watts divided by Volts.  For example,  a sandwich maker uses 1200 watts.  We are running 120 volts in our system.  So we divide 120 volts into 1200 watts and we find that the sandwich maker draws 10 amps, which is one third of what we have access to with our 30 amp hook up here at Happy Acre.  So this device will go in to the use with generator or 50 amp only pile.  How did we learn this?  We discovered that our little electric pot that heats water for tea draws too many amps to use if the AC is running.  We learned that we can only run one AC at a time.  Also, we learned that we can’t run our on board vacuum cleaner while AC is on.  So, as long as we are connected to 30 amp service, we must be mindful of our amp usage.

  • Do you know how your electric AC and Heat work?

We learned this the hard way on a trip to North Georgia this year.  There was snow and wind and rain and freezing temps.  No problem.  We have two heaters and we are connected to 50 amp service.  So we thought… As the temps dropped, our units did not heat Ruff Road.  Furthermore, the system kept switching to propane.  We stayed toasty warm with our propane, until it ran out.  Nothing about the AC/ Heat was covered in our walk-through or in the massive, generic owner’s manual in our coach.  So we turned to the internet.  Here is what we learned.  Only one AC unit has heat strips and this doesn’t work if the temperature is below 40 degrees.  Then the propane heat kicks on and that will use your propane reserves in a matter of days.  We also learned that our propane gauge was faulty.  It continued to show that we had propane but sadly we ran out.  Now we are more knowledgeable about our heating and cooling systems.  The propane gauge is fixed.  Lesson learned.

  • Know how your awning works

So on that same freezing North Georgia trip, we were sitting in our cozy, propane heated Ruff Road and suddenly heard what sounded like a loud bang, thud noise from outside.  It was night, blowing wind and sleet.  We knew our awning would retract in high winds but we didn’t think the wind was blowing at that speed.  I went to the door, opened it up, and did not see our awning.  My first thought was it had blown away, ripped from its mounts.  On further investigation, we saw it had rolled up by itself.  Why?  We turned to the manual this time and learned that when the temperature drops below 32 degrees, it retracts.  Good to know!

  • Tire center cap disappeared

On one of our first outings we returned to find that our front right tire center cap was gone.  It really affected the look of our Ruff Road.  It made her look a little rough.  Did someone steal it?  We had overnighted at a truck stop.  We didn’t know.  Gary started looking for tire center caps online and stumbled across some discussion of missing center caps.  Apparently, this happens so don’t be alarmed if it happens to you.  We went to Freightliner and bought another one.  Problem solved.

  • Replacing Halogen lights with LED lights- the experts don’t always know

We were told by someone at our local RV dealership that we would have to replace each individual puck (fixture).  We even started shopping for puck light replacements.  Fortunately, this was false.  In our unit, all we needed was the bulbs.  Gary read several great reviews on LED lights sold on Amazon for a fraction of the cost that RV Stores charged.  For about $70 we were able to replace all of our ceiling lights with LED lights.  So far, so good.  LEDs are much cooler and use a fraction of the watts that the hot halogen lights use.  If you are thinking of making the switch, we recommend it.

(add amazon link)

  • Beware of what and how you store in basement compartments

There is nothing funny about this one.  I allocated one of the basement bins to backpacking and camping supplies.  Some items were stored in a tote but the backpacks and tents were stored in large garbage bags.  As we adjusted to RV living, we found the need to rearrange things.  It was during one of these rearranging sessions that I discovered that my backpack was covered in mildew, not the spare one but the one I use.  The same thing happened to my good Big Agnes tent.  I was devastated.  Yes we live in Florida.  Yes it is humid and wet here.  Lesson learned, I removed my good gear and it now lives in my bedroom.  All other gear is stored in storage containers but I know now to check things regularly.  If I hadn’t gone into this bin, there would have been more damage to my gear.

  • Have a schedule

This may be a no brainer to many of you but when you retire, it’s easy to flounder going from highly scheduled days to being left to your own devices.  We set a schedule to keep ourselves sane and to keep us on track with the tasks of downsizing.  We also have set routines to provide structure to our day.  Of course, we are retired so we are flexible.  But knowing that Monday is always dump day and laundry day helps keep us on track.

  • Tips

You will bang your head.  Keep cabinets closed to avoid injury.  Be aware of low hanging cabinets.  I think I had knots and even broken skin the first month in Ruff Road.  I’m better now!

Put wheel covers on before dropping the airbags to save your knuckles.

Small humidifiers work.  Ours did.  Don’t assume it won’t go flying.  Ours did after weeks of no problems and now we have to buy another one.

Sweep everyday.  Ev-er-y day.

You will constantly be rearranging to make things fit the best and to make the best use of space.  Embrace it.  Also, you will take things out.  You’ll be ready to do it after you’ve moved something 50 times.  It will suddenly lose its preciousness.

Weekly dump day is thorough cleaning day.

What are some of your lessons learned?  Do you have any funny stories?  I’m sure we’ll “learn” more as we move into this nomadic lifestyle.  I can’t wait!

Posted on

Hurricane Prep- Our First Hurricane in Ruff Road

Our first hurricane threat in Ruff Road!

We’ve lived in Florida all of our lives.  Well, Gary came here as a baby.  So we know hurricanes.  Since we are in the middle of the state, we usually end up with a lot of rain and tropical force winds.  Our biggest threat here are downed trees, loss of power, flooding, sinkhole and tornado threat.  Hurricanes lose a lot of their speed before they get here but this storm was massive and projections covered all of Florida.

What steps did we take?

We were divided on this one with Gary wanting to weather the storm in Ruff Road and me not wanting to do the same!  We have lots of large trees on our property and winds were projected to be 75 – 100 mph.  This helped speed up our final purge clean up because we didn’t need left over yard sale stuff flying around.  We put all yard furniture away.  We tied down the kayaks and utility trailer.  There were several trips to the store to ensure that we had lots of water and food that will not perish.  We liked the idea that the RV was here and we could use the generator if needed after the storm.  We filled Ruff Road’s water tanks and made sure our black and grey tanks were emptied.  In addition, we made sure we had a full propane tank.  We rolled in the awning and bungeed the front and back hoods.  We had diesel fuel so running the generator would not be a problem.  The best place to be in a storm like this is in a brick and mortar building.   We moved the dogs’ crates up to the “big house”.  I took the needed bedding and personal items.  After lots of pleading, Gary joined me.  I really didn’t want him changing his mind in the middle of the night.  The storm rolled into our area well into the night.  You could hear the wind howling, the explosion of transformers in the distance, and things hitting the house with loud thuds.  I was thankful to not be in Ruff Road on this night.  After all of those sounds in the dark of night, we weren’t sure what to expect when day broke.  We were lucky!  There were sticks and leaves everywhere.  Ruff Road was dry and intact.  We didn’t even lose power all though many in our community did.  Of course, Gary was quick to say I told you so.  Better safe than sorry.

This got me thinking…

What if we were traveling and didn’t have a brick and mortar house available?  I know many RVers simply headed out of harm’s way on their own wheels.  In the case of Hurricane Irma, there was plenty of warning so we could plan.  I know that there are times we may get caught in bad weather.  I think about the golf ball size hail I’ve encountered in Colorado.  I know from my experience as a backpacker, that sometimes you just have to suck it up, say your prayers, and trudge onward.  At least in Ruff Road, we can monitor the weather and if we see a threat, take action by leaving or finding suitable shelter.  Still, at the end of the day, there is no where else I’d rather be than in our cozy little Ruff Road with Gary and our three dogs.  We’ve weathered some good winds, torrential rains, snow, and temps in the low teens already and I am amazed at the solid, sound feel that our little home provides.

What are your experiences in crazy weather?  Would you stay or would you go?  Comment and share.

Hurricane debris- We were thankful!
It was still windy and she is such a big baby.
Spending the night in the big house.
Posted on

The MOVE! Downsizing and Moving in THREE WEEKS!

We knew it was coming, we didn’t know this fast!  We had to downsize and move in THREE WEEKS!

Here was the plan:  My daughter, Michelle, and her family were moving back to Florida and planned to buy our house.  We knew about when they were coming.  My last day to work was June 30th.  Then we get word that they would be here July 22nd.  Yikes!  That gave us about three weeks to downsize plan, box up and move into Ruff Road!  Now I’ve watched many downsizing videos, but none of them started with the amount of stuff that we’ve accumulated after six children, several grandchildren, parents passing, and 34 years!   We are not hoarders by no means but we did have…stuff!  Lots of it!

3 Step Purge System for Over Thinkers

Here is my system for purging which I affectionately call the 3 Step Purge System for Over Thinkers.  It is a multi-step process which probably goes against what the experts would say, but it worked for me.  Let’s start with clothes.  I worked in the professional world and had a walk in closet full of professional clothes, which will no longer be required in my retirement life.

Step 1:  I ask myself:  Do I love it?  Yes or no?  If NO-Box up to donate.  If YES- Then it was hung up to keep.  Of course, there is not much room in an RV so I knew that there would be a second purging.

Step 2:  After a day or two, I returned to my YES clothes and I repeated the process.  Do I love it?  I found that I was able to let go of a little more this second round.  It became easier.

Step 3:  This was the final round.  Do I love it?  Yes or no?  To my surprise I was able to let go of a few more.  I did add favorites to a box for my family.  Even though I counted this my final round, as I packed to take my clothes out to Ruff Road, I purged even more.

Bottom line:  My clothes fit into the space I planned for them.  I still have variety in my wardrobe.  My purging system worked for me.  Some may be able to do this in one round or even two.  This worked for me.  For the overthinkers of the world, the three step purge system is recommended.

Sorting to Start

Our home had four bedrooms, three bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, dining room, living room, and two porches.  Our brother in law was staying with us when this grand purge began so that was one room that he took care of, thankfully.  How do you take all of the items, the books, the paintings, the décor, the STUFF and make a plan?

My plan started with sorting.  I began to gather all like items in the living room. All of the children’s books go here.  All of the photography equipment goes there.  All of the fishing décor goes over there.  Everything in the house was sorted, which began emptying out rooms.  Of course, during this sorting process I was also following my PURGING process.  We began posting items that we could sell on Facebook Marketplace.  One half of our living room became our selling warehouse.  That worked out well and one by one many items were sold.  The rest was boxed for a giant yard sale.  Anything we wanted to keep with us was considered carefully, space is a premium in an RV.  Keepers were boxed up to be taken to Ruff Road.

Oh and the photos!  Scanning for four days straight!

So one of the bedrooms had become a scanning station for photos.  We took down all picture frames and removed the pictures as part of our sorting process.  All boxes of photos and photo albums were sent to this room and there is ALOT!   I fancy myself an amateur photographer so just add that to the many family pics.  I stood in that room for four days, morning to late at night, scanning and there are still boxes and tubs left to do.  I finally had to just stop so I could get the sorting and purging done.

When downsizing, scanning your photos and digitizing your home movies are the two most time consuming things you will do.  There is no fast way to do this unless you pay to have it done.  That wasn’t an option for me.  Later on, after the move, I ordered an Elgato to digitize the home movies we had on hand.  I am sentimental and I love seeing my parents and brother again in the movies.  It’s always fun to see the kids when they were little.  If any of you have suggestions on how to get all of this done quicker, please comment and share!

How I stayed sane during this time?  I kept a running TO DO LIST.

Each day I had a TO DO list to keep us on track.  We’d follow the list, adjusting as needed.  I used a regular spiral notebook to keep my list in.  I’d designate if it was Gary or me, cross off completed items and carry over what didn’t get done.  We had a general timeline of what we wanted done by when so that’s how we prioritized the list.  This was essential to us being ready to leave our house July 22nd.  Anyone downsizing or planning a move, it is amazing what you can get done when you plan it out on paper and look at it every day.

How did we do?  Did we meet our deadline of July 22nd?

Why yes, we did- well the majority!  We spent our first full time night in Ruff Road, with pups, the night of July 22nd.  We handed our house over to our daughter that night and haven’t looked back.  We had sorted, boxed, donated and purged.  We only had a few items left in the office, and closet shelves that I weeded out the following weeks.  We had moved all of the things we were keeping into Ruff Road.  This took several hauls and I organized and put it away each trip to make room for the next haul.  Honestly, I am amazed at what we put in here and I was able to put it away neatly.

Ah, so now we could sit back, sip our coffee and relax in the comfort of our new home.  We still had some selling to do and sheds to work on, but the biggest job was done.

Downsizing Reflections…

Downsizing is what it’s cracked up to be.  It is freeing to rid yourself of “stuff”.  This realization began as I had to go in and clean out my mom’s house after she passed.  She, like many who grew up during the depression years, kept everything.  She lived with me her last few years but didn’t want us to do anything with her “stuff”.  I discovered that all of that “stuff” had deteriorated, molded, it was of no value to anyone.  And then, I felt the overwhelming burden of all of this stuff.  It opened my eyes that at the end of the day, our stuff will not stay new, will get eaten and chewed on by bugs, will fade, will deteriorate.  It weighs us down.  You feel lighter inside with each letting go.   Have any of you gone through a downsizing process?  What system worked for you?  Comment and share.  🙂

 

 

Posted on

We Bought an RV – Now What?

When we ended up purchasing an RV sooner rather than later, how did we set it up?

Our original plan, of course, was to move from our house to our RV.  However, we fell in love with Ruff Road and ended up with a house and an RV.  So now, we need to set up our RV as our second home since we will be taking some trips in it.  There are many RV lists on the internet to help you in this process and that’s exactly where we went to research what we would need to set up Ruff Road.  Here is the process we followed to outfit Ruff Road and some of the items that we purchased.

Our Moving in Process:  Before Retirement

  1.  We measured every bin and cupboard to find just the right storage containers and baskets.  These measurements were added to rough diagrams I’d drawn of Ruff Road, inside and out.  This helped us to decide what would be stored in each area.  Be flexible- We made changes as we went along.
  2. We watched other RV You Tubers and poured over Pinterest to learn about the best, lightest, most efficient items for our new home.
  3. We made our own list of what we needed.
  4. We took inventory of what we already had on hand.  For example, I had 20 year old plastic baskets from my early days of teaching and they fit perfectly in our cupboards.  No purchase necessary there.  Many items, such as our bedding, pillows, pots and pans, we already had so we used them to stock Ruff Road.  Bonus!
  5. Then we got to shop!  Amazon Prime was our primary source.  Below is a list of the items we purchased.  Coming Soon-Check back to our Resources page for links to these items.
  • Correlle Dinnerwear Dish Set for 4- It’s lightweight and is resistant to chipping and cracking
  • Silverwear and cooking utensils
  • Cotton Bandanas- great for hiking, cleaning, dries quickly
  • Turkish Towels- lightweight, quick drying
  • PetMate Dog Crates- They have since outgrown!
  • Fabric Storage Cubes for storing clothes, they work like drawers in our closets- Walmart, inexpensive
  • Plastic containers for the basement
  • Spill-proof Water Bowl – from Lazy Days Store
  • Pet Food Storage and Feeding Station
  • Pet Playpen Fencing
  • Large RV Mat for the under awning area
  • French Press – fail, we couldn’t get it right
  • Sharp Steamer Mop – we had on hand but ordered extra pads
  • Go Pro Hero 5- Got to take pics!
  • Replaced our cheap toilet seat with a better quality one
  • Water Bandit- excellent little gadget to use when connecting to water at a campground, works on stripped faucets
  • Dehumidifier- listing details here, it worked so good!
    Powilling 1500ML Portable Quiet Dehumidifier for Home, Basement, Bedroom, Bathroom, RV, Garage – For Single Room Approx 300 sq.ft – This worked great for us but just recently took a flying leap from its home and sadly is toast.  Now we have to purchase another one.  We recommend it!
  • Command Hooks, Command Shelves – this is how we personalized our new home and hung pictures.  Be careful of wallpaper but so far we have not had any issues.
  • Rugs- memory foam rugs feel great!
  • Water filter
  • Toilet Sealant
  • Water Hoses- a grey one and a white one at first but then we found easy collapse hoses that saved space
  • Sewer Hoses- a necessity
  • Electric Plug- 30 Amp and 20 Amp adapters, not cheap!
  • Grass Mat for dirty paws!

6  Finally, we organized it all.

This organization was for Ruff Road as our recreational vehicle for trips.  We were pleased with our organization.  On our March trip to north Georgia, in freezing cold weather, we were able to welcome my daughter and her family into Ruff Road for a couple days.  We had four adults, three children/ teenagers, and FIVE dogs!  It worked.

At this time, we were still living in our home.  However, in just a few short months, we would be making the transition from 2,000+ square feet to full time living in our Ruff Road with our dogs!   Follow along and see what our process was to downsize.

Comment to share positive suggestions, experiences, or even lessons learned to help others outfitting their RVs.