Move'n On

A lot has happened since my last update. All medical stuff but everyone should be familiar with that so I'm going to skip it here. Last Thursday it was time for the Lights Out marine survey to be done for the buyer. Due to the rain we, did not go out on the water for the sea trial tests which check all of the engine and mechanical components as well as stress testing the motor mounts, etc. Friday we did the sea trial tests and the surveyor took some photos of LO away from the dock.

It was really hard to run the boat with just one hand and due to the strong wind, it was very difficult to put back in the slip with just one hand. It took me 6 attempts but I finally got her in. I was very exhausted as I wasn't back to normal due to medical issues. Here are a few photos.

It was very cold also. During the sea trial, I donated another hat (the one in above photo) to Lake Guntersville as the wind blew it off my head and it now resides in 44 feet of water. It was my Thunderbirds hat and one of my special hats as I got it at an air show at Doug's air base many years ago.

I finally emptied the dishwasher Sunday. The dishes were from when Brynne and Pamella visited more than a week ago!

I took both dog's out for a short walk today holding them both with one hand. They behaved well and really enjoyed the walk.

That's it for now.

Camping 2010

After reviewing my retirement travel plans, I decided to upgrade my camper and change to an RV (Motor Home) which is self-contained, additional inside space and drivable. The camper was always a struggle to hook up, tow and set up as well as being very cramped, especially with the Buddy and Max.

I traded the camper for a 2009 model Fleetwood Tioga Ranger. It is 31 feet long and has two slide-outs for expanded living space. What I really liked about it is it has two bunks where the grand children can sleep as well as the dogs! It will sleep 8 adults and two children.

It has a Ford E450 truck chassis with a V10 engine at 305 HP. It will have about the same gas mileage as when I was towing the camper with the Durango. The engine has very good torque and going up hills and mountains is easy. It will cruise at 70 mph without a struggle and with the overdrive, the engine RPMs are the same as a car so very fuel efficient.

View inside looking toward the cab.

Close up of Cab

Galley area with sofa

Bunks

A Monitor in each bunk for video games and movies (for Grandchildren)

Last weekend I took an overnight trip to a nearby State Park (Buck's Pocket) to test everything. All went well and I created a video of the trip (click link below). It will show more detail inside the RV as well as some of the things I did while there.

I had some trouble creating the video in HD so for now it is in a standard format.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Alf7_0oXXc

I have found several Alabama State Parks here in the Northeast which offer stream fishing for Trout, Walleye and of course Bluegill and Bass. I will be exploring these parks this year. Who knows, in 2011 I may head for Alaska!

Kaitlin has been wanting to go camping for over a year now so I expect that will be coming up soon.

Let's go camping!