First Blog!

Well, here goes, our first-ever blog! I've been reading fulltimers' blogs, rv-net message boards and Escapees message boards for almost two years now. I can't believe it's just over a month before OUR new adventure begins. Here's a little of what we've done so far in preparation:

Two years ago - We purchased our new-to-us 2003 Mountain Aire motorhome. We still love it, and can't wait to call it "home." We also began selling off our "stuff" on Ebay two years ago.

One year ago - Round two of Ebay happened last winter, after we had made our final decision to "go for it" and have Roger retire. We made retirement plans in earnest.

2008 has been a whirlwind of activity! We spent early spring getting our house ready to list with a realtor, which we did on May 1. Also in May, we attended the Life On Wheels RV'ers classes in Bowling Green, KY. We have had two huge garage sales to rid ourselves of yet more "stuff." We have also sold large items, such as our extra freezer, on Craig's List during the summer.

We have shredded 30 years' worth of unnecessary documents. Why on earth did we save all that stuff?

We have gone through and dismantled about 10 photo albums, sorted through and distributed photos to cousins, children, and stored our "keepers" in a photo chest, destined for our storage unit, if and when the house finally sells.

The most enjoyable chore was to scan favorite photos onto the computer, then send them to our new digital photo frame. This digital photo frame will have a prominent spot in the motorhome during our travels, to keep our family slide show on constant display. Isn't technology great? Interspersed with family photos are photos from our favorite vacations over the years, including Tuscany, Maho Bay in St. John's Virgin Islands, and trips to Idaho and Utah. The undisputed star of our digital slide show is, of course, our 10-year-old granddaughter, Kaia.

Roger and I each have a new Kindle, from Amazon.com. If you don't know what a Kindle is, it is Oprah's latest favorite gadget.

It will be great for our new life, because we both love to read and there is no room to store a lot of books. This way, we can download books directly from Amazon.com no matter where we are, without having to find a bookstore. Also, the Kindle is small and lightweight. Again, technology is great, isn't it?

This blog is a work in progress, and is part of our final preparations for our trip. It is intended for friends and family to track our adventures, and anyone else who wants to come along for the ride!