Our first week....

Our first week has been very uneventful. Being in the warm weather has been wonderful. Nikki (our daughter) may be getting tired of us by now but hey, a free dinner at your parents is always good.  Over the weekend I washed part of the 5th wheel. We have started to make minor additions inside, like a magazine rack in the bathroom and hanging a few pictures. We still find it challenging finding things. We know we have them.....its just where did they go?

Saturday we went to Nikki's boyfriends house for dinner. Unfortunately, Mike's mom is a Wisconsin fan......too bad they lost :)  Having two Michigan State fans in the house was probably not putting the best foot forward.

I made my first Camping World order to the the site....It was very convenient in Michigan to just drive to it (only 25 minutes away). Here in Wilmington the closest Camping World is in Myrtle Beach, SC about an hour away. On the list, solar powered awning lights, awning deflappers and awning tie downs. From the last three items you can tell I don't like putting the awning up often whenever a storm is forecasted (which hasn't been often yet!

Last weekend we went to Wrightsboro United Methodist Church in Wilmington. It was a very nice church and we enjoyed the pastor's sermon. It reminded us of our church in Saline, MI (FUMC) when it was smaller and more personal.  ALOT of music at the contemporary service. Service started at 10:50 and we sang and listened to the choir till 11:50 when the pastor started. Typical service is 1 1/2 hours but it went by amazingly fast. I'm sure we'll go back. Kathy on Wednesday worked at the food pantry the church runs, and next Tuesday we will be helping to unload a freight truck of food. I must admit, I miss all of our friends of 25 years and seeing familiar faces at church but I'm confident we'll make new friends and find new programs to get involved in.

This week, I've been in Vancouver, British Columbia all week. Left on Monday, returning late Friday night. How nice it was to fly out of Detroit! Wilmington airport is small and easy but way too many connections to get anywhere.

We have trick-or-treat at the campground this weekend...living in the country in Michigan we did not have kids on Halloween very often unless someone drove them out to our house.

Soon we will make the trek to Pensacola, Florida to officially change our residency and get our new licenses and plates. Unfortunately, Pensacola is about a 15 hour drive from Wilmington.

And we're off!
After a crazy week of getting everything out of the house, we learned we still have too much stuff! Fulltimers are true minimalist! Only take what you must have and nothing more.

Saturday we started south on what was a long but uneventful trip to the KOA in Wytheville, Va. Pulling in around 9 p.m. we were both tired and just went to bed.  We got up around 7 on Sunday and ended up leaving the campground around 9 ish.  It is a beautiful day and uneventful until about an hour out of Wilmington, NC when a "pop" drew my attention to the side view mirror to see the fender skirt flying off the trailer and a blown out tire coming apart on the interstate.  I had all the tools and a spare, but it was challenging pulling the tire when you are practically in the right lane of the interstate. It's amazing how oblivious drivers are to what is happening on the road. 35 minutes later, tire changed and on our way. Yea!  I was commenting to Kathy that it is amazing how few people ever stop to help. No more than 5 minutes after that, there was a 5th wheel with a blown tire on the interstate side. We pulled up behind them to help protect them from the traffic and helped Richard and his wife get their tire changed. Actually I helped Richard while his wife chatted with Kathy at our truck. They are farmers from North Carolina who were on their way to Surf City for the week. Both in their late 60's it was nice to help, especially since we had just done the same thing not even 40 minutes earlier.

We got to the campground around 4. Checked in, parked in our nice site and set up. Our daughter came over for dinner which was very nice. We were never able to do that before because of where we lived. After dinner we had a quiet evening sitting outside just relaxing.........

We'll be at the KOA in Wilmington, NC for the next 3 1/2 months.

Less than a week to go. The house is getting empty. Tomorrow the remaining furniture goes to various people all over town. We started transferring the final household items to the 5th wheel last night. Organizing, protecting and getting it all ready. There have been so many farewell lunches, dinners, parties.....it's wonderful but tiring both physically and mentally. We leave Saturday and will be staying in Wytheville, VA Saturday night and arriving in Wilmington, NC Sunday afternoon. Can hardly wait!

2 more weeks

We've decided to leave Michigan October 15th. Heading to Wilmington, NC to start. Will be there through February 2012.

It's certainly been a challenge. We had a 3 day garage/barn sale and I was amazed at my collection in the barn.  Hmmm....what do I need seven caulk guns for?!  Sold everything but the essential RV tools, air compressor, impact gun and other small goodies.

Delivered our furniture to the kids. Our nephew in England (he's in the Airforce) had his shipped. Drove to GA last weekend and the remainder is going into storage for our son in Colorado. What a lot of work. We are both ready to go.

We decided to use GoodSam, American Homebase service for mail and will be going to Florida for registration and licenses. After following recommendations made by rv-dreams.com website I called Millers Insurance and what a good move that was! I'm impressed with the price, people and service! A great recommendation from RV-Dreams.

Now to figure out where everything goes in the 5th wheel.........