Sidetracks & Support

The last 2 days have been a mesh of things I hadn't planned on doing right now.  For instance, I have a *much* older brother in an assisted living facility about 6 hours from here who isn't mentally capable of handling his affairs (dementia and delusional).  He has no other family except our older sister and myself (I was the surprise after-thought) so I have his Power of Attorney for everything and have to deal with keeping tabs on how he's being treated - both by the staff at the home and medically.  Plus I have to take care of all his financial issues.  It isn't a full-time job but when things come up it can take a lot of phone calls and faxes for a day or 2 to get them settled.

For the moment, things have settled down again but I will have to take some time in the next week or so to update his status with the state he's in so he can keep getting aid.  Fortunately, I can do most of that online.  I try to visit him, physically, once a quarter - which will probably remain the case once we're on the road in an RV.  In between visits I've tried to talk to him a few times each month but that's becoming harder and harder because of his dementia.

In between all of that, we had to do the normal mundane things like grocery shopping, errands, etc.

We are searching the Internet far and wide for a suitable 5th wheel and truck to buy.  You know that old question "Which came first - the chicken or the egg"?  That's where we've been on what to buy first - a used 5th wheel or used truck.

We'd like to have the 5th wheel parked in our driveway so we can just move stuff into it as we're packing and be more precise on what we're not keeping.

But....

We need to sell our car in order to buy a used truck.  If we sell the car (going to try and sell it privately) BEFORE we find a truck, we're literally up a creek without a paddle.  So, unless something truly remarkable comes along in the form of a 5th wheel, I believe we're going to focus on finding the truck first.

We're looking for an older Ford F350, diesel, 4x4, crew cab.  Our son in the mountains of British Columbia is hoping we'll come up there for visits in the Winter as well as Summer and says we must have a 1-ton, 4x4, if we're going to be coming up there in the snowy months towing a 5th wheel.  The search is on.  Located one northwest of St. Louis that fits the bill as far as mileage, mechanical condition and price but it needs some body work because it collided with a deer.  Will have to think on that one

We're also continuing to research the best ways to live frugally and freely on the road.  Will share some of our findings when we've confirmed that something is viable.  For instance, we just stumbled on a very inexpensive way to produce electricity WITHOUT solar or wind power.  If this truly works, it would be fantastic - not just for RVers but for everyone!  Will keep you posted.  Don't want to recommend things we haven't tried ourselves.

One of the things we've learned about becoming full-time RVers is that the process of getting ready to do it can be full of up and down emotions.  Just like every other big decision in life.  We're trying to dwell on the ups and keep a positive attitude but, occasionally, the downs get to us - especially when deciding which things with sentimental value to get rid of or put in storage.  And, like other people who have made the decision to become full-time RVers, we're dealing with some family and friends who think we're nuts.  (We've always sort of been the rebels in the family - trying new things that they wouldn't even consider.)

Yesterday, good friends from Louisiana called.  We hadn't talked to them for a while so told them our problems and what our plans were.  They got so excited for us!  It was so refreshing to have such enthusiastic support!  As strange as this is going to sound, it really helps the attitude about being ruthless when getting rid of 'stuff' when others are excited and supportive.

Til next time,

Gloria - The Internet GADabout

0 comments:

Post a Comment