Puff's View

So, from the male side of things..!

3 months in.......would I do it again, in a heart beat.  This has been by far the best move we have made and trust me, we have made a lot of moves.

As you have read from previous posts this is not something we jumped at without thinking and planning it through.  The only glitch if you can call it that, is that our house has not sold however, it is being rented out and covering the payments just fine. 

Getting settled took a little longer than I thought it would.  I have been camping in some form of RV since I was in diapers so this is not new to me.  My parents also had a boat so I was familiar with that side of things as a lot overlaps from the RV world to the boating world.

We do not plan on moving our home for the next few years so I would recommend placing it on some concrete blocks or other solid base.  I have 6 jacks with an auto-levelling system ( this thing is so cool, when parking I turn the system on and raise the front jacks to enable me to unhook the 5th wheel pin.  When the truck is clear I push the "Auto Level" button and the coach does the rest.  4 more jacks drop from the rear 2 in front of the axle and 2 behind to first touch down and then reposition the front ones if needed for height and unit levels itself within 0.1 degree..!!! )  How slick is that, and when hooking back up to the truck it does the reverse and brings to front to the unhook position, right back where I started.  I can't imagine levelling a coach without it.

2 grey water tanks, one for the shower and other for the sinks. 1 black tank.  As we are not moving I left the vales for the grey tanks open all the time, just make sure to run lots of water after using the sink for sink related things. You wouldn't want things to get hard and plug the drain lines up.  The black tank is the opposite.  I leave the valve closed and only drain it when it is full, this allows all the $#!& to swim down the drain hose which is connected to the sewer.  An indicator panel tells when the tank is full.  If you were to leave this valve open all the time there would not be enough slant or water flow to push the material out of the tank and down the drain, it would then sit and settle.  This would not be a good thing.  It has been done and there are ways to fix it but I am not going there tonight.  Our coach also has a built in black tank sprayer, a separate water hose is hooked up and flushes the tank when you have emptied it helping to clear the tank of anything left behind.  Once again and excellent feature and almost a must have on a large coach.  The drain hose outside connects to the sewer via a normal RV sewer hose, I have taken the liberty of slipping it into a 4" piece of white PVC pipe.  It looks better than a hose just hanging there and it is also keeping the entire length of hose at a continuous angle to the sewer connection thus there is no flat spot for things to stop moving at.  The hose was a snug fit but it works.

We are hooked up the city water, a regular RV hose with a regulator is connected up.  From a bad experience last year with my daughter living in our other 5th wheel, this hose is insulated.  Once again it is a regular hose and I wrapped it in the grey hose insulating foam then a heavy duty duct tape and more insulation and more duct tape.  The last layer of tape is black to help absorb the suns energy in the winter to help prevent freezing.  Some people have added an electric hose warmer or line warmer, I am sure you have seen the orange tape wrapped around someones hose.  It has a sensor to tell it when it's cold and to turn on thus preventing freeze ups.  I am hopefully optimistic that it will not get that cold..!

We have electricity, water, sewer and a great view.  Electricity is included in our pad rent so we use the electric fireplace and a small space heater, it helps in the bedroom to take the chill off.  Yes, electric fireplace..!!  The windows are double pane and the coach is well insulated keeping us warm and cosy.

There are a few more neat features but I will cover those in a later post.  So from the guys side of things I am most impressed and happy with my choice. 

Keep the jacks down and awning out with the wine glass filled......happy on RV buddies..!!

Puff

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! 

It is the first Christmas in our new home...... and it turned out great!!! We had our kids over for gifts and breakfast. What started out as a few hours ended up as the whole day! We watched movies, chatted and had a fantastic dinner!!! We were even fortunate enough to watch the snow fall ... although it didn't stick.

From our family to yours..... Merry Christmas!

till next time
Crickit

LETS TALK WIND....

What a long night! The wind kicked up and started rocking the 5thWheel & rattling the slide toppers like no ones business! So finally around 2:30 am Puff & I were bringing in the slides! Talk about crazy!! then trying to go back to sleep after that..... not alot of fun!

All day the wind has been howling (up to 100kms/hr) and the slides have been in,  making for very cozy living quarters! LOL  it has finally stopped blowing (its now 3:48pm) and we have finally put the slides back. You don't realize what you can't access until you move the slides.  We couldn't get to the silverware to make toast or stir our coffee, and to reach the toaster ... well that was an interesting experience. Being that I am short, I could barely reach the microwave!

Hopefully mother nature will give us a bit of a break with the wind....

till next time
Crickit

AS THE HOLIDAYS APPROACH

I don't think I have EVER wrapped Christmas gifts so quickly in my life!! With such close quarters it is difficult to keep anything hidden! LOL  Once it arrives, it needs to be wrapped immediately! Then the question comes "where to put them now?"  It requires a little imagination and  "forgetting" when you accidentally find something  hahaha

The biggest challenge that I am finding is the lighting in this place. I LOVE light!! The more windows the better to let the sun in. I am finding it a little frustrating that the over head lighting in here is a LOT darker than I like....even though we have changed out the bulbs to LED.


We are getting used to shopping every second day.... it is strange buying so little at a time when you are used to feeding a family. It means a lot more trips to the store. We usually go do our shopping at night now, after work and we use that time for our evening "stroll" on the horribly windy & rainy days. A few laps around a shopping mall is better than nothing.

Since we are now living a few feet away from a beautiful scenic walk, Puff & I have been going for evening walks (when the wind isn't blowing 90kms/hr). Its a great 20 minute walk and a great way to relax and breathe. The sound of the waves lapping the beach, the ducks quacking lightly in the background... there is nothing like it!  We can't wait until the sun is out later so we can enjoy it even more.

The neighbors are friendly. Its a whole new thing for me. I am not used to knowing my neighbors (what ever happened to that??? my parents knew their neighbors). I'm just not used to being in a "fishbowl" I guess. Soon summer will be here and the tourists will be all around us, I better get used to it soon.  Puff, on the other hand, can chat up anyone, anywhere! People flock to him! He was out yesterday putting some non-skid tiles on our deck and stairs and out of nowhere comes our neighbor to check it out!

I definitely think this move has helped our relationship. We spend more time together talking than ever before. The TV is hardly ever on, it is mostly background music and chit chat.  Puff has become more helpful around the house indoors & I do whatever I can outdoors to help him... (though the really tall stuff is all his! LOL) We are working well as a team.

Till next time
Crickit

TWO MONTHS

Well its been two months today since we started our adventure. It's funny the way people perceive you..... their thoughts on how "crazy" you are etc.....

We didn't tell anyone we were moving into our Coach.... we let it be a complete surprise. It worked. :)  We invited Puffs parents here for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a bit of a fiasco getting them here, but... in the end it turned out great! They were impressed with the quality of our Coach. They were surprised by the amount of storage we had, and how much we were enjoying it! My mother in law even commented on how much happier we were!!! We invited Puffs sister & brother in law over for a quick visit, they said all the right things, but disapproved of our choice to live here.  Oh well... WE LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

Everything is still great and fun! Its been interesting on some of the windier nights... the rocking and rolling as the south-easters hit us, but we are warm, dry and comfortable! It hasn't been as hard as I thought to adjust to such a small space. I enjoy the fact that I can clean the whole place in 5 minutes!!

We are at the start of December, and getting ideas on how to decorate for the Christmas season.... obviously the HUGE tree will have to be a NOT, and hanging lights inside....well that won't do either. A few changes will have to be made to compensate, but in the end, I think it will work out just fine!


till next time
Crickit

OUR FIRST STORM

We survived our first storm!  :)

We have been doing great here. Adjusting to the new sounds from our unit and the peace and quiet that comes from about 7pm on. It is amazing! We both are so relaxed and we have been sleeping really well. Until the night of the storm, hahaha.

We had 80-100km/hr winds and the trailer was rocking! Its like being on a boat. Something to definitely get used to. We went to bed at our usual time and tried to sleep. What we forgot was that we are only about 2 feet below our slide toppers, which, if you have them you know, rock back and forth and make a clunking sound. Needless to say it was a very restless night. The sound of the rain has always been soothing to us both, so that bit hasn't been a problem at all.

We didn't realize how many other RVers are out there, living full time in their units until now. We thought we would be the only ones getting up at 5am and heading off to work... nope, there are 8 others around us doing the exact same thing! We are even the "late" risers! We haven't really met anyone around us yet, the weather needs to co-operate for us to be outdoors more often, but everyone always smiles, waves & says hello. This is a  nice change of pace from the usual way you meet your neighbors (dogs barking, who is on whos property line etc....). It is nice to meet such cheerful people who are living the dream, just like us!

till next time
Crickit

MOVED IN

Special thanks go out to my amazing husband and wonderful daughter who busted their butts and completed the move of our new home with out me because I was sick. You both are amazing!

THANKSGIVING

Our first Thanksgiving in our unit is done, it went extremely well in my opinion. Since our oven is so tiny, we were unable to cook a turkey like we usually do. Instead Puff had an idea..... use our roaster that does fit and layer turkey and stuffing (like you do with a lasagna).

Off to the store we go to get some fresh turkey breast and all the fixings for a traditional stuffing. IT TURNED OUT AMAZING!!!!!!!!  We were able to make enough turkey and stuffing for not only us and my in-laws, but to send some left overs to our kids as well. It cooked up in no time, yet still had that marvelous turkey smell  :)

After dinner our kids came over (they had to work late) so we were able to entertain 6 adults comfortably in our unit.

till next time
Crickit

FIRST WEEK DOWN

What a week it has been. Moving day found me sick with the flu :(  this meant Puff and our youngest daughter had to finish packing and moving everything without my help. They did a fantastic job! Hardly anything for me to do once I was better!

I think we have done ok so far. We have invested in some clear plastic containers with lids that are only about 8 inches deep to store stuff in. After sorting through things we put some of our summer clothing (its getting cold here) and some things we won't use until next spring in the containers and stored them in (what we lovingly call) the basement. The clear containers enable us to see what is in them without having to open them everytime. They stack together perfectly, and are easy for one person to carry.

Laundry...... now theres a topic. We are lucky enough to have a washer/dryer combo in our unit. This is a blessing as Puff works in construction and gets dirty FAST! LOL I was surprised at how little soap it takes to wash a load. On the flip side... loads are TINY! Recommendations: NEVER FILL YOUR MACHINE... it won't even wash and you would have wasted 3 hours.... yes 3 hours. I find that I am doing a load of laundry every morning before I leave for work, another one on my lunch hour (I work close by) and another one when I get home every day! Another word to the wise: don't do laundry if you are having company.. the whole place shakes. Now this might change once we get the tri-pod under the front of our 5th wheel....(I hope).  PLAN AHEAD!!!

One awesome addition Puff added is a landing and new stairs. Instead of climbing the little metal stairs, reaching up to unlock the door and then climb back down to open the door and then back up again to get inside, we now have 3 comfortable stairs and a small deck. It isn't big enough for chairs, well maybe one chair, but it is perfect for when you come home with groceries. I need to paint them tomorrow so that they are protected from the weather, but they look great!

The absolute best thing about our new life..... the quiet!! After 8pm it is dead silent here! It is so dark here we can see all the stars and we can watch the cruise ships go by  :)

Till next time
Crickit

LEARNING QUICKLY

Well moving day is upon us...... a few things that I have learnt in the past week while loading the trailer..... keep one thing in mind HOW BAD DO YOU REALLY NEED IT???  I am finding so many things that I have put away already that I have taken back out and gotten rid of them. It isn't due to space ( I have lots of that in our 40 footer) but rather, I don't NEED it.

I'm not going to lie, it has been tough to say goodbye to some things that meant something to me over the years.... I think the hardest is giving up the baby cups & saucers that were for our children when they were born. It is tough to part with them (even though I am only giving them to our children) Didn't realize how many memories a small article can retain......

It's going to be tough today.... saying goodbye to so many memories. The last day in our home, the last time we come back to this home as if we lived here. Our kids will still be here, but we won't.

till next time
Crickit

ANOTHER COUNTDOWN BEGINS......

Only 2 more days until the big move! So much left to do! Its strange moving like this. Most times, when you move, everything in your home gets put in boxes, taped shut & labelled. Instead, I am taking things that I want to keep from the house, in a laundry basket, and moving it to the 5th wheel. It seems that I am making hundreds of trips a day.  :)

I have found so many things that I no longer want, need or use..... lots of items going to goodwill. Clothes, furniture, small appliances, kitchen supplies.....etc. I know that they will go to families in need.

It is funny the reaction you get from people when you tell them you are downsizing from a 1600 sqft home to a 40ft 5th wheel. Some are so excited and happy for you, while others ask if your getting a divorce..... strange that people go to those extreme differences.

Those that know us well, know we have been researching this idea for almost 3 years. This isn't a random, not thought, move. We are excited to be beginning the leg of our lifes jouney.

till next time
Crickit

DAY 1 & 2

DAY 1

Well everything went smoothly for picking up the new 5th Wheel. The paperwork went smooth, the insurance was done quickly & the walk around was quick and painless.... We probably would have stayed even longer and asked more questions, but 3/4 through our youngest daughter called us to tell us she had been in a car accident. Being that we were about 45 mins away, we cut things short and headed for home.

Once home we quickly (well as quick as possible) got our new unit in the side yard and headed to the hospital. Our daughter was fine, we were home a few hours later.  We leveled the unit as best as we could considering the slope of our yard, and got the slides out. We spent the rest of the evening sitting in it with a pen and paper making a list of what we needed for each room. After a few hours of that, we locked everything up and went inside the house to bed.

DAY 2

7am.... up and hitting the shower. Grab a bite to eat and get ready to start the day.  Off to the stores to pick up a few things that we don't already have. We've been keeping our eyes out for things for a few weeks now, and we were amazed at how much stuff we were able to pick up at our local DOLLARAMA. Heres a few things that you can save a bunch of money on:
hangers - we got the ones that are wrapped in velvet so our clothes don't fall of the hangers while the unit is moving.
hangers for pants - also covered in velvet so our dress pants don't fall on the floor 
wooden spoons
tongs
rolls of anti slip to put in the bottom of the drawers
dishsoap - comes in small containers

then off to our local Wal-Mart for a few more RV items. Our selection is small but we found a few things that we needed. Ended up walking out of Wal-Mart with new dishes - Corelle so they don't break - a smaller coffee pot, cutting boards and a toilet brush and some bath towels. Our local Canadian Tire was our next destination. A few more RV parts - a dish drainer set that fits in the sink perfectly - and some cookie sheets and baking pans that actually fit my oven   :) we were ready to head back home.

Once back home the fun began. While my husband (Puff) was outside doing some looking around the outside of the unit, and inspecting everything in the "basement" I was inside washing dishes and packing things from the house to the unit. Numerous trips later (I honestly have no idea) I have my closet & dresser emptied and moved in.  Started on Puffs stuff, but we ran out of hangers again!! Since I bought every single one today.... I think I am going to have to try to find another location that has them. (ROAD TRIP!!!)

Back to work tomorrow.... and moving stuff out there for the rest of this week and by Sunday we will be ready for the big move!!! Lots to do this week!!!

Till next time
Crickit