Month: January 2019

On January 22nd we turned our wheels north, heading towards the town of Crestview, Florida. Yeah, not really much of a tourist attraction, probably not on your bucket list! But for us, this was a major destination as this is where we would officially set up domicile status in the state of Florida.

A lot of folks ask us about this. Where we will get our mail, where do we pay taxes, where is home? Most people have a “sticks and bricks” home that has an address and that’s where all your mail comes as well as all those Amazon deliveries! For full time RVers, that really doesn’t work as we are constantly moving. The reality is that 90% of the stuff we all get in our mail is probably junk – catalogs from companies you’ve never heard of, brochures for medical devices you don’t need, coupons, flyers, etc. Most bills can be handled online and are paperless. For the few other things, we can use a mail forwarding company that provides us an actual physical address (sort of like an apartment number). This is not considered a PO Box so all mail and shipments can come to this address. We can go online and see what has come into our “mailbox”, have them scan things we want to see, and even forward items to our current location if needed.

We established service with MyRVMail which is based in Crestview. Because of this service location, most related government offices are very familiar with full time RVers and working with them to set up domicile and all the related activities. Thus, in one day we were able to get our auto and RV insurance, then go over to the DMV where a very helpful and friendly person gave us new Florida drivers licenses and tags and titles for our vehicles. For the first time in Jill’s life, she was no longer a Georgian.

The rest of the time in Crestview was pretty quiet. We did some maintenance work on vehicles, cleaned them up a bit, and caught up on some TV shows (still working on getting the DVD player working!!!).

One other item that is becoming an ongoing theme. For those who are UGA fans, we apologize for the following however realize that this was started by a die-hard UGA fan and this is all done in good humor.

During our Open House (see previous blog post) and unknown to us, someone hid a UGA stuffed bulldog in one of our inside storage areas. We did not discover this until we moved in full time. Being a Georgia Tech alumni, this didn’t sit too well with us. But, you know what they say – when you get lemons, make lemonade. Thus, we have decided to have some fun with our little UGA during our journey. So, far he’s had fun doing the following:

• While on the road, he sits on the dash, laying upside down on his back the whole way.
• He did try riding outside once but decided that really wasn’t great

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• And it’s not just the humans that are getting in on the fun! At one point when we were not paying attention, Adele decided that Lola had one two many DAWGs onboard and took things into her own “paws”.

Stay tuned for more in the adventures of our UGA.

Next up, 6 days on the Santa Rosa Sound in Navarre, Florida.

As our first destination after starting as full time RVers, we were excited to get to Florida and be on/near the beach. We’d done a lot of research on options and there are several good RV parks in the area but we were very happy with the park we selected.

Location – This park is close to Carrabelle and about a 30 minute drive to Apalachicola. The BEST aspect of this park is that is literally across the street from a wonderful beach. The beach extends several miles to the east and is very wide. Local laws not only allow dogs on the beach but they can even be off leash (although our dogs are not ready for that adventure yet!). Anything you need can be found in Carrabelle including groceries at the IGA, various liquor stores and of course, the country’s smallest police station, a phone booth (never got a pic of that though!).

Layout of park – The park has pull throughs, back ins, pull ins and also some cabins. It is very well maintained with wood chips, shrubs and trees to help separate sites. All sites and roads are paved. Sites at the front and near the back are the most level whereas the ones in the middle were very angled to one side (bring blocks or something to help level out one side!)

Amenities – The park has a fenced dog run, nice laundry room and showers, activities room and lots of planned things going on. Cable was very good whereas WiFi was about what you’d expect. There is a beautiful pool and deck including covered area although it was too cool for us to use on this visit.

Other – Most folks were staying for the winter, having arrived around or just after the holidays and staying until spring. Everyone was SUPER friendly and welcoming, more than we had probably experienced anywhere else over the past year.

Personally we prefer this park over the others in the area. Coastline looked nice and is much closer to St. George Island and Apalachicola but there is not beach across the street and many of the sites are dirt/gravel. Ho Hum has it’s positives if you want no-nonsense park but again, it’s all dirt/gravel with little in the way of amenities.

It was still dark when we began our full time journey on January 16th at 6:30 AM. We had made most of our disconnections the evening before so it was mainly getting the dogs shifted to the Volvo, ensuring we were ready for the road, and then heading out. Dan realized he’d never driven the RV in the dark before so that was something new to tick off the list. We headed into/around Atlanta hoping that we’d still left in time to miss the last of what hopefully would be our last rush hour for awhile. We had our trusty walkie talkies to connect as we progressed, ensuring we stayed together (Dan drove Lola while Jill followed in the Volvo with the dogs – the Volvo is a great SUV, fully paid for, but not towable so we’ve decided to have Jill as the chase car for the near term versus buying and towing a new car). Once we reached I-285 we were on our way at highway speeds.

Dawn broke as we were heading down I-85 and it was time for a stop to fuel up Lola. Our first stop at a big truck stop on the road. $147 later and we were loaded up and ready to go. That was in Newnan and the sun was finally coming up, burning off a little of the frost and chill in the air. From there, we moved to I-185 towards Columbus and points south to Florida. Dan discovered that Lola has some sort of air leak in the dash that ensures he gets a nice flow of fresh outdoor air on his right leg and foot. Can’t figure out where the air is coming in but needless to say, even with the heat on full, he needed to wear his heaviest coat over his leg to keep that area of his body from freezing!

Finally, around 2 PM we pulled into our first stop – Carrabelle Beach RV Resort (see separate post where we review this campground). We were in site 52 which was on the 2nd row and ensured a view of the bay across the street.

We had a pretty laid back visit in Carabelle which included several walks on the beach, bike rides, a visit to two lighthouses and a trip to Apalachicola. Weather was good most of the time although a front did come thru and bring heavy wind and rain for a few hours. A few of the highlights:

• Discovering a very wide clean beach across the road at Carabelle Beach. Adele loved the beach and romped and cavorted about like a crazy puppy.

• Lighthouses

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• Beautiful skies

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We also saw a small part of the devastation that this area of the panhandled experienced from hurricane Michael last October. Although not anything like what was experienced to the west, we did see washed out roads, trees on homes, tarps over roofs, and many places where complete homes had been washed away. During a morning walk on the beach a reminder of the tragedy that had come to so many along this beautiful coast.

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This was a nice place to transition into full time. Next stop is Crestview, FL which is more of a business trip as we will set up domicile, insurance, licenses, tags, etc. and officially become Floridians.

Our first campground after selling our home and potentially our base when we are in Atlanta for appointments and to see friends. We’ll attempt to provide feedback on each place we stay for those who are interested in more details around the campground, facilities, etc.

Sites – Only so many are full hook up since this is really a Corp of Engineer controlled location. Most have 50 amp power and water but many will not have sewer (closer to the lake). All sites are paved as are the roads. Most are shaded by pine trees. Beware that most sites are not level. Even the one we were offered as being one of their most level was pretty far angled down to the right (back in site).

Facilities – A good bath house and laundry facility are available. A large fenced in playground doubles as a dog park when no children are around. There is a store, the campground is gated with security at night and it’s our understanding that there is an activity center and pool but haven’t checked either out at this point.

Cable and WiFi is included. Cable was good, most channels you’d want were offered. WiFi was relatively weak, glad we had our hot spots to use instead.

Other considerations – Note that this campground is next to a very active freight train line so you WILL hear trains all times of the day and night. Having lived near a train yard for over 12 years, it didn’t bother us at all but could see this as a major issue with some people. The location is not far from both Acworth and Cartersville so shops, grocery, and restaurants are very close by.

We aren’t into ratings but would probably give this place an “OK” for now. We have reservations in Feb/March when we are back in town and will give it a more complete assessment then.

A whirlwind of activity starting on January 6th and lasting 10 days were not the most pleasant for us. But sometimes you have to fight thru the tough times to get to the good times. On the 6th we packed up our stuff and shifted to a hotel as our home was prepped for an estate sale where most of our things would be sold off. We spent time moving more things to Lola (cooking, clothes, etc.) and making final arrangements to shut off utilities.

On January 9th, we picked up Lola from storage and moved to Allatoona Landing. We still consider this a transition period, not full timing since we were still in Atlanta, still “connected” in some ways. The dogs were at the kennel for a few days while we loaded up, we had local doctor and hair appointments to make, etc. Weather was cold and rainy much of the time which helped dampen our spirits as we saw all our things sold off, our home of 12+ years empty for the first time since it was built for us, and we realized there was no turning back. What wasn’t sold was donated to a local church and some friends such that by Tuesday, January 15th, the house was empty and clean and ready for its new owners. On top of everything else, Jill had a brand new crown fall out on the Saturday before we were scheduled to leave Atlanta. Our dentist was less than helpful (“go to the store and get some glue and come see us on Monday) but we found a great dentist who had Saturday hours and got her in and all fixed up. Ironically, this dentist was just around the corner from our house! In the end, this was a good drill for us to think about how to find and get medical and dental help when on the road.

It was finally time to turn towards the next chapter of our lives, to head south to discover our new lives and to see where the wheels would take us. Wednesday, January 16th would come early, cold and still dark, when we would make our escape from the city of Atlanta and strike out on our adventure. Here we go!

A big step in the move to full time was taken today. Today we sold our wonderful home of over 12 years that we built from the ground up (well, not with our own hands). After much work and negotiations, our stick and brick home now belongs to someone else (but we still get to stay in it a bit longer).

This is a HUGE milestone for us and now the timeline speeds up considerably. We’ve already been organizing, sorting, throwing out and recycling but had reached a point where we could not move further until we knew if we were going to close or have to list with an agent (we have been lucky so far to be “for sale by owner”). Now that the closing has happened, it’s time to shift into high gear. We’ve got to move things to storage (which will actually be an extra closet at Dan’s mom’s), complete load in of all we will be needing in the RV (including swapping out some kitchen items in the RV for better stuff from home), get ready for an estate sale (more on that below), and get ready to hit the road in less than two weeks!!!

The next few days will be spent at the RV loading her up completely with all we will need, at least for the first trip we’ll be taking (52 days on the gulf coast). We’ll need to rearrange and store things more efficiently (who really cared who things were packed in when it was just for a long weekend?), label items and be sure we know where everything is so we won’t have to pull everything out when we need on thing.

We have hired an estate sale company to come in and sell just about everything, including Dan’s beloved Miata.

They will come in and start staging (placing things out on tables, counter tops, etc. for maximum exposure) over the weekend. That means we’ll need to be out of their way – dogs to the kennel and us to a hotel (last nights alone for awhile…). Then the estate sale actually occurs (over three days), then we have two days to get the rest donated and/or hauled away.

If you are in the Atlanta area and are interested in checking things out at our sale, see the listing here:

https://www.estatesales.net/GA/Atlanta/30318/2097765

The sale will be on Thursday, January 10th, Friday January 11th, and Saturday Janary 12th from 10 AM to 3 PM. We aren’t allowed to be present during the sale so you can pick thru all our stuff and say whatever you want about our taste in decorating and we’ll never know.