Hi everyone we just wanted to introduce ourselves. I'm the Rod part of our screenname the real part is my wife of 32 years, Connie. I'm sure she'll be posting more than I (she seems to have more to say ) but we'll make it clear in each post.
I've registered for the 09 Rally in Kerrville and am looking forward to meeting y'all and learning more about full timing. We are planning to retire and full time in June of 2011. We currently have a 29' Keystone Cougar TT that we bought last August. The plan is to upgrade to a 5ver sometime prior to our lifestyle change.
We live in Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island, Texas. We are originally from the Mohawk Valley in upstate NY and moved to the Houston area in 1980. We moved to Jamaica Beach in 1991 to escape the hectic lifestyle of the big city. We had planned on staying here for the rest of our lives but 3 weeks after we bought the TT Hurricane Ike hit our island. We lost our garage/storage area on the ground floor, the roof had to be reshingled and we lost 17 years worth of landscaping and lawn but we were luckier than most. The insurance covered about 1/3 of our losses but the real problem was the cleanup. Everything below 12' was covered in about 1" of the smelliest sludge you ever saw. It took a couple of weeks to get everything cleaned so we could start rebuilding. That's when I realized that I do not want to do this again when I'm older than I am now (60). Living on the Gulf coast it's not if you get hit by a hurricane it's when.
Anyhow, we'll see y'all in Kerrville.
RodnReal said
10:10 AM Aug 6, 2009
Hi ya'll, I'm Connie the "real" part of "RodnReal" ;)
We have been reading the board for quite some time and learning more than I ever thought we needed to.
All of you have been a great help to us as far as making our decision on going fulltime, what to buy and why, what to look for in a fiver and where to go for the best deals, etc.
Currently, we are both working and want to retire early. The only way to do this and travel the country is to downsize. It's really an easy decision for us because we live day to day now knowing that the next storm could take everything we have. For the past 17 years or so of living on the coast, I try not to keep anything that I am emotionally attached to. I give it to our daughter or our grandkids. I know its safe this way.
It's hard for us right now because we have the fever to be a fulltime RV'r but let me tell you, some days at work as of late, planning and dreaming about our future has become my "happy place."
I look forward to the getogether in Kerrville so we can meet experienced fulltimers and those who dream to be.
Linda said
11:40 AM Aug 6, 2009
Hi Connie & Rod,
Welcome to this wonderful family of Dreamers! If you haven't already noticed how great all these people are, you will soon find out in Kerrville!
We are so glad you will be attending the rally!
Can't wait to meet you!
jimdee said
01:14 PM Aug 7, 2009
Welcome to RV-Dreams! We have been following Linda & Howard since the beginning and have learned so much. We were going to go fulltime in 2012, but with their help and the going to the rally last year in Branson, we've moved it up to now. We're waiting for the condo to sell to order the 5er. We can't make this years rally, but we'll meet upwith you someday.
Speedhitch said
02:58 PM Aug 7, 2009
Well hello to you from Sherri and I. We have been fulltiming for 3 years. We both are so glad to have you join us here on the forum. We are family and we help each other out as best we can when questions have us puzzeled. We are trying to get to the rally so we can meet some of the newer members. We have the best group of folks here at RV-Dreams and Linda and Howard are the greatest people you would ever want to meet. We want to hear from you often.
contra said
09:55 PM Aug 7, 2009
We look forward to meeting you at the Rally! Not only do we share a name, but I am also originally from upstate NY (Schenectady/Albany area). And our avatar picture is from the Adirondacks, which still holds a special place in my heart. See you soon! -Connie
DreamerBob said
10:35 AM Aug 9, 2009
Welcome Rod & Connie! We live in the Florida Keys & can empathize with your thinking on hurricanes. Sometimes I feel like an ant on a bowling alley.
You've found the best place for sound advice! I've learned ssssoooo much from these kind folks and I'm sure you will too.
Good Luck!
WheelDweller said
02:38 PM Aug 17, 2009
Well, I'll tellya what: a motorhome is a good way to keep out of bad weather/times as long as you're paying attention.
One of the subsystems I'm working on is a way to get weather updates by computer/cell phone network. I have a 'control panel' at eye-level where I plan to put in small screen, and the onboard computer will grab the weather data for me, wherever I am.
This is not magic; it's really not that hard to do. Taking whatever the forecasters pack into the data and throwing them on the screen, that's a little difficult, but I'm working on that, too. And when I'm done, it'll all be put into the public domain with howtos so everyone here can do it, too.
It's PAINLESS to tell festival to say "Warming: bad weather is on the way!" and repeat it a couple of times. That'll wake you up; it'll be rare. Speaking the error messages is simple, too. And the whole package is either free-or-close to it. I started with a machine someone was throwing away. The software was all free. I don't have a scrap of anything made by Microsoft. No one's gonna chase me for stolen software.
Ya know, now that I've started to get online, hoping I'll be on the road one day soon, I think I should start formalizing this "avionics" package on my website: http://CounterMoon.org.
Thanks for giving me the reason to remember it!
FD5 said
09:51 AM Aug 18, 2009
Welcome to the dream Rod and Connie. My wife and I plan on full timing after the house sells, we have had it on the market a week. Looking forward to meeting y'all at the rally. BTW, I am coordinating the chili cook-off, if you are interested in participating or being a judge, let me know.
Thanks and Welcome aboard,
-- Edited by FD5 on Tuesday 18th of August 2009 09:53:00 AM
WheelDweller said
10:29 AM Aug 18, 2009
People were asking about photos; I put them online this morning!
When you have nothing better to do, come see my custom-built trailer at http://countermoon.org/index.php/frequently-asked-questions-faqs
Hi everyone we just wanted to introduce ourselves. I'm the Rod part of our screenname the real part is my wife of 32 years, Connie. I'm sure she'll be posting more than I (she seems to have more to say
) but we'll make it clear in each post.
I've registered for the 09 Rally in Kerrville and am looking forward to meeting y'all and learning more about full timing. We are planning to retire and full time in June of 2011.
We currently have a 29' Keystone Cougar TT that we bought last August. The plan is to
upgrade to a 5ver sometime prior to our lifestyle change.
We live in Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island, Texas. We are originally from the Mohawk Valley in upstate NY and moved to the Houston area in 1980. We moved to Jamaica Beach in 1991 to escape the hectic lifestyle of the big city. We had planned on staying here for the rest of our lives but 3 weeks after we bought the TT Hurricane Ike hit our island. We lost our garage/storage area on the ground floor, the roof had to be reshingled and we lost 17 years worth of landscaping and lawn but we were luckier than most. The insurance covered about 1/3 of our losses but the real problem was the cleanup. Everything below 12' was covered in about 1" of the smelliest sludge you ever saw. It took a couple of weeks to get everything cleaned so we could start rebuilding. That's when I realized that I do not want to do this again when I'm older than I am now (60). Living on the Gulf coast it's not if you get hit by a hurricane it's when.
Anyhow, we'll see y'all in Kerrville.
Welcome to this wonderful family of Dreamers! If you haven't already noticed how great all these people are, you will soon find out in Kerrville!
We are so glad you will be attending the rally!
Can't wait to meet you!
We look forward to meeting you at the Rally! Not only do we share a name, but I am also originally from upstate NY (Schenectady/Albany area). And our avatar picture is from the Adirondacks, which still holds a special place in my heart. See you soon!
-Connie
Welcome Rod & Connie! We live in the Florida Keys & can empathize with your thinking on hurricanes. Sometimes I feel like an ant on a bowling alley.
You've found the best place for sound advice! I've learned ssssoooo much from these kind folks and I'm sure you will too.
Good Luck!
One of the subsystems I'm working on is a way to get weather updates by computer/cell phone network. I have a 'control panel' at eye-level where I plan to put in small screen, and the onboard computer will grab the weather data for me, wherever I am.
This is not magic; it's really not that hard to do. Taking whatever the forecasters pack into the data and throwing them on the screen, that's a little difficult, but I'm working on that, too. And when I'm done, it'll all be put into the public domain with howtos so everyone here can do it, too.
It's PAINLESS to tell festival to say "Warming: bad weather is on the way!" and repeat it a couple of times. That'll wake you up; it'll be rare. Speaking the error messages is simple, too. And the whole package is either free-or-close to it. I started with a machine someone was throwing away. The software was all free. I don't have a scrap of anything made by Microsoft. No one's gonna chase me for stolen software.
Ya know, now that I've started to get online, hoping I'll be on the road one day soon, I think I should start formalizing this "avionics" package on my website: http://CounterMoon.org.
Thanks for giving me the reason to remember it!
Thanks and Welcome aboard,
-- Edited by FD5 on Tuesday 18th of August 2009 09:53:00 AM
When you have nothing better to do, come see my custom-built trailer at http://countermoon.org/index.php/frequently-asked-questions-faqs
Enjoy!