Hello from northwest Alabama! My name is Kerri and I am a single, homeschooling mom of a 21 year old son and a 9 year old daughter. I am hoping to be FTing within the next year. I am looking for a used class C in good mechanical condition (that I can afford ), to refurbish. My daughter and I are dreaming about the day that we will be roadschooling our way around the country. My son will join us when he can. He is a junior at the University of North Alabama, so he is a little more tied down than we are right now.
I found this site a couple of months ago, and have been reading the journal from "day one", plus the daily postings, in order to get "on-board" with what is going on! I am up to August 08, so don't spoil any surprises for me, ok? I just finished reading about the 1st rally in Branson, and it sounded wonderful!
Howard and Linda, thank you for putting this site together. I cannot imagine the hours you have devoted to developing this community, and we are forever indebted to you (that is one debt I don't mind having!! ) I have been researching this lifestyle for several months now, and was getting frustrated because I couldn't find anyone who "told it like it is" -- until now. I am also very impressed with the level of friendliness, tact, and diplomacy that is utilized here... some forums allow people to be "downright" mean, and I just click out of those and go on my way... There is too much ugliness in the world as it is... why add to it? So again I must say "Thank you!!" You've done an amazing job, and your commitment to this community has brought together the Best of the Best! I am honored to be a small part of it!!
Speedhitch said
06:26 PM Nov 17, 2009
Kerri...well you have said it all. Howard and Linda are two wonderful people who have done their homework and put together a great site for us to share in. We hope that you will come here often...not only to ask questions but help us all answer them. We all have something to contribute here and it takes us as a family to make this all work. Welcome aboard and I hope that some day Sherri and I will meet you on the road
Kerri said
08:56 AM Nov 18, 2009
Hi Joe... Thank you so much for your warm welcome and kind words! It will be an honor to meet you and your wife somewhere down the road... until then I am listening and learning and laughing along!
And let me correct myself when I said I "couldn't find anyone else who told it like it was"... I should have said I found very few, because I am enjoying some other sites too! Don't want to hurt anyone's feelings...
-- Edited by Kerri on Wednesday 18th of November 2009 09:13:58 AM
Roz said
09:14 AM Nov 18, 2009
Welcome to the family, Kerri!
My bud Speedy hit the nail right square on the head! There is a wealth of information free for the asking. As to what Howard and Linda have woven together, it is a tribute to the people they are.
Jump in and learn along with the rest of us. You and your daughter are in for the dream of your life!
Charles and Ethel
Ken & Sarah said
10:15 AM Nov 18, 2009
Welcome to the best RV family in the country. Keep reading it only gets better.
Jim01 said
12:44 PM Nov 18, 2009
Welcome, Kerri,
You're right. Lots of friendly people here that are willing to help. This is one of the few forums where there are no "dumb" questions. So... be sure to ask all those questions that come to mind.
Good luck with your full-timing plans.
Jim
Kerri said
04:48 PM Nov 18, 2009
Thank you all SO much for the warm welcome! Wow! How very kind and considerate of you to take the time to welcome me into the RV Dreams family. Just reinforces what I have seen over the past few weeks while reading and learning from this website -- a wonderful group of people brought together by their desire to improve their own lives and everyone's around them. You should all be very proud of yourselves and each other!
I am supposed to go look at a used Class C next weekend, so I am sure that I will need advice and will probably have about a million questions to post! We may be able to get this dream moving down the road sooner than I thought. Wish me luck!! I am getting goosebumps just thinking about it!!!
Happytrails said
07:31 PM Nov 18, 2009
Welcome to the RV Dreams forum!!! This is a great group of people so willing to answer your questions and help you along. Feel free to jump right in and join the group.
eagleshea said
07:57 PM Nov 18, 2009
Hi Kerri,
Welcome to our family, as many has said, this is a very freindly group and can answer lots of questions. Good luck with your search for a Class C motorhome. I am sure you will find just the right one with that "it" factor.
tumwatergal said
11:27 PM Nov 18, 2009
Welcome to this forum "family". I admire any home-schooling parent...the job seems overwheming to me. Hope you enjoy browsing through the forums and find information that will be of benefit to you! Have fun with it.
dream reachers said
12:27 AM Nov 19, 2009
WELCOME It is good to have another person from Alabama planning on fulltiming. We lived in the Birmingham area and are here now to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with our 3 grown daughters. We have been fulltime RVing for over2 years. We have traveled and volunteered in many states. Howard and Linda were a big influence in helping us get started. We attended their Branson rally which was a good launching pad for the rest of our travels. We love our life on the road and feeling a part of the RV Dreams family. We hope you find that "right" RV for you and your daughter to travel in. Keep us informed as you proceed with your plans.
Kerri said
08:11 AM Nov 19, 2009
Again, I find myself saying "Thank You!" for the warm welcome. from you ALL I am actually shaking my head in wonder from the response I've received. What a group!
Wouldn't it be amazing if everyone we met were as welcoming and friendly as most RVers seem to be? As ready to help others and answer questions.... Would make this world a lot better place, that's for sure!!
Quick word to Allan & Jeanne... great to know there are other Alabamians on here! I have friends in the B'ham area (Vestavia Hills)...... I am SO hoping to be able to make it to the Rally in SC to learn from the best and meet the best of the best! Just have to see what the budget says about it!
I hope everyone has a great day... no rain here in northwest Alabama this morning... yea!!!!!!!
If anyone comes through the Shoals area, drop me a note. Would love to meet each and every one of you!!!
-- Edited by Kerri on Monday 23rd of November 2009 06:15:47 PM
bubbadan said
03:23 PM Nov 19, 2009
Hi Kerri
Glad to have you with us. I can't add to the hello soooooo welcome and just ask all the question you want, some one on here will have the answer.
Floridariz said
04:26 PM Nov 19, 2009
Hi Kerri,
I know I was frustrated when researching this lifestyle on "other" sites bc people wanted to tell me that what we were doing was wrong, just because it was DIFFERENT than the way they did things. It was very frustrating and I stopped going to those "other" sites.
We have been fulltiming since the summer and will shortly be back in a house for the winter. We may fulltime again...or not! our choice! We fulltimed out of necessity (which really made all the "advice" I got from other sites more frustrating....did they want to pay my mortgage for me?? my bills?? we had to leave in order to WORK).
My boys have had no trouble adjusting to this lifestyle. We have homeschooled all along so really, not much changes when the scenery changes out the window. They do miss friends but with email, skype and text, they are in almost constant contact and are meeting new friends. We are not moving often and were able to join a homeschool soccer league this Fall which has helped in the friendship factor.
I am an AVID RV SUPPORTER. We may not get to go fulltiming completley in these years but I am CERTAIN hubby and I will be sole RV'er's once the boys are up and gone. I love it and think it is the greatest! I love traveling and having everything with me all the time and the FREEDOM. I will live near my grandchildren and travel between them!!!
Paula
Kerri said
06:14 PM Nov 23, 2009
You know, BubbaDan, I'm not sure I even know what the questions are yet!! But I am sure I will come up with some...
Paula, it is good to hear from another homeschooler! It IS all about the choices, isn't it? I made choices a long time ago that people didn't support or believe in, but like you said, I was the one paying the bills and I wouldn't "go back" for anything!!!
Again, I want to say thanks to everyone... I know I sound like a broken record, but I am just so grateful for this forum. I've been reading like a mad woman, just trying to soak it all in!!!
janieD said
09:37 PM Nov 23, 2009
Kerri,
Welcome. I know how you feel and I too found this forum when we were first considering this new lifestyle. This community has made the researching so much easier. I haven't asked too many questions yet either but we are just getting our 5th Wheel tomorrow. Just reading all the posts I have learned so much and I know when the time comes and I do have questions there will be someone out there who can help. We are so lucky to have a resource like this. Good luck on your search for your home on wheels!
rwarner22 said
10:26 PM Nov 23, 2009
Hi Kerri,
I'll add my 'welcome' to the long list. Many others have echoed your words about this forum and all the helpful information that Howard has put together on this site. He has and continues to do an amazing job.
Best wishes on your f/t plans and homeschooling!
Kerri said
09:58 AM Nov 27, 2009
Congratulations on your new 5ver Janie!! I'm jealous... Knowing that we have such a great resource and such an amazing pool of experience to draw from is such a comfort to me. Best of luck as you start your adventure!!
Thanks for your welcome and encouragement, Randy! Howard has done an outstanding job here... what a great group of people!
Hello from northwest Alabama! My name is Kerri and I am a single, homeschooling mom of a 21 year old son and a 9 year old daughter. I am hoping to be FTing within the next year. I am looking for a used class C in good mechanical condition (that I can afford
), to refurbish. My daughter and I are dreaming about the day that we will be roadschooling our way around the country. My son will join us when he can. He is a junior at the University of North Alabama, so he is a little more tied down than we are right now.
) I have been researching this lifestyle for several months now, and was getting frustrated because I couldn't find anyone who "told it like it is" -- until now. I am also very impressed with the level of friendliness, tact, and diplomacy that is utilized here... some forums allow people to be "downright" mean, and I just click out of those and go on my way... There is too much ugliness in the world as it is... why add to it? So again I must say "Thank you!!" You've done an amazing job, and your commitment to this community has brought together the Best of the Best! I am honored to be a small part of it!!
I found this site a couple of months ago, and have been reading the journal from "day one", plus the daily postings, in order to get "on-board" with what is going on! I am up to August 08, so don't spoil any surprises for me, ok? I just finished reading about the 1st rally in Branson, and it sounded wonderful!
Howard and Linda, thank you for putting this site together. I cannot imagine the hours you have devoted to developing this community, and we are forever indebted to you (that is one debt I don't mind having!!
And let me correct myself when I said I "couldn't find anyone else who told it like it was"... I should have said I found very few, because I am enjoying some other sites too! Don't want to hurt anyone's feelings...
-- Edited by Kerri on Wednesday 18th of November 2009 09:13:58 AM
Welcome to the family, Kerri!
My bud Speedy hit the nail right square on the head! There is a wealth of information free for the asking. As to what Howard and Linda have woven together, it is a tribute to the people they are.
Jump in and learn along with the rest of us. You and your daughter are in for the dream of your life!
Charles and Ethel
You're right. Lots of friendly people here that are willing to help. This is one of the few forums where there are no "dumb" questions. So... be sure to ask all those questions that come to mind.
Good luck with your full-timing plans.
Jim
I am supposed to go look at a used Class C next weekend, so I am sure that I will need advice and will probably have about a million questions to post! We may be able to get this dream moving down the road sooner than I thought. Wish me luck!! I am getting goosebumps just thinking about it!!!
Welcome to our family, as many has said, this is a very freindly group and can answer lots of questions. Good luck with your search for a Class C motorhome. I am sure you will find just the right one with that "it" factor.
Wouldn't it be amazing if everyone we met were as welcoming and friendly as most RVers seem to be? As ready to help others and answer questions.... Would make this world a lot better place, that's for sure!!
Quick word to Allan & Jeanne... great to know there are other Alabamians on here! I have friends in the B'ham area (Vestavia Hills)...... I am SO hoping to be able to make it to the Rally in SC to learn from the best and meet the best of the best! Just have to see what the budget says about it!
I hope everyone has a great day... no rain here in northwest Alabama this morning... yea!!!!!!!
If anyone comes through the Shoals area, drop me a note. Would love to meet each and every one of you!!!
-- Edited by Kerri on Monday 23rd of November 2009 06:15:47 PM
Paula, it is good to hear from another homeschooler! It IS all about the choices, isn't it? I made choices a long time ago that people didn't support or believe in, but like you said, I was the one paying the bills and I wouldn't "go back" for anything!!!
Again, I want to say thanks to everyone... I know I sound like a broken record, but I am just so grateful for this forum. I've been reading like a mad woman, just trying to soak it all in!!!
Thanks for your welcome and encouragement, Randy! Howard has done an outstanding job here... what a great group of people!