GETTING READY TO GO

We are filled with excitement to be returning to full time RV living. But the doing of it is quite daunting. Mary and our daughter Melissa moved out of our 5th wheel just about one year ago. I was busy trying to die in the hospital. It is surprising how much stuff you can accumulate in twelve months. We are going through the process of what goes with us in the motorhome and what goes into storage and what goes away. Having stuff in storage is a change from what we did our first run of fulltiming. We learned then that we didn’t need nearly as many things as we had thought we did. This is essential because space is so limited. We have decided to rent a storage unit for our furniture and the things we would need in a house or an apartment when we leave the road. The first week of March we will begin putting items into storage. Our goal is to be out of the apartment and into Chance the motorhome by the last day of March.

As we travel, our favorite way to camp is boondocking. Boondocking requires some serious preparation. A big part of the preparation are modifications to the RV. Chance, like me, is an old boy. And  like me there are a few things about him that are not quite right. The plumbing in the shower was leaking. The shower is very small and has a pretty good step up into it. So, we decided to use it for storage.The fresh water tank and plumbing needs some work. While we are working on the plumbing I’m going to put in a faucet for an outside shower. I’ll install a cellular booster so that we can get decent cell service in most areas because we use a hotspot for our internet. 

I’ll be installing a solar system on Chance so we can have power off the grid while boondocking. The system will have six 100 watt solar panels on the roof, two 200amp hour lithium batteries, a 3,000 watt inverter/charger with built-in relay switch, and a 40 amp MPPT solar charge controller. This along with our 4,000 watt generator will allow us to be off the grid for days with no problem.

Instead of using a mail service we are having our mail sent to our daughter’s address. She will be able to forward the mail that we have to have or scan the mail and send it to us that way. If there are things we do need her to send she can forward them to most RV parks. If they don’t accept mail for RVers she can send items to the nearest post office as general delivery. Most post offices accept general delivery and will hold the mail for a month. For packages we can have them sent to an Amazon pickup location, a UPS Store, or Fedex pickup.

I have medical considerations since I am only one year into my double transplant. (You can read about that here.) I will continue to have regular doctors appointments. First, we’ll try and plan these so that they are all within the same day or two. And when possible schedule them as virtual visits. Visits with my liver doctor will be every three months, but we already know some of them can be virtual. We will receive our medications by mail. A little more challenging issue will be the lab work necessary to monitor the health of my liver and kidney. It is doable, we’ll just have to be mindful of how timely the labs can get the results to our doctors.

We absolutely loved full time RVing. It takes some adjustment learning to live in such a small place. Adjusting to boondocking is even more challenging. But we have done it successfully and miss that lifestyle. Now we are eager to get back to it.

We are so thankful for all God has done for us these past several months. I walked through the valley of the shadow of death. But God was with me and brought me through it in a miraculous way. (You can watch me tell this story here.) Now I am healthy and ready to go. 

So many friends have helped us along this journey. You are a large part of the reason we can do this again. I thank God for you and I thank you for all the kindness you have shown us. Most of all I thank all of you who have prayed for us. We have seen what the power of your prayers has done and we are grateful! We would appreciate your continued prayers as we begin this new adventure. We hope to see many of you as we travel across the country.