Preparing for full-timing

At this point I've caught up with today on these blogs.  We returned home with a long list of items to fix or add to our RV. Some were small (where do you put the wet sponge from the sink?) and some were larger (several pieces of wood trim fell off due to vibrations, the generator didn't work, etc.).  I even found out that I can't quite reach the accelerator in the RV.  Plus, we just found a buyer for our house and needed to finish up some repairs, pack, store our 'stuff', and prepare for full-timing.

We have certain things we still want to keep.  These include most of John's tools, the furniture that John made by hand, many of my books, plus family pictures and such.  One thing I really love is the Kindle.  This thing is great since it means I can still enjoy reading while in a small RV.  I've been able to download over 1000 books for free plus it also reads pdf files.   I've made several files with critical information like medical histories that I can pull up anywhere. 

Over the last 4 years I've had 4 garage sales while trying to simplify our life.  I am shocked at the amount of 'stuff' we've accumulated over the years.  Even then, I've been selling things on ebay and craigslist.  It's a unique point-of-view in trying to reduce your 'stuff' to a minimum. 

Even storage is a new thing for us.  Neither of us have stored anything before.  Our experience is strictly through "Storage Wars" (and no, we don't want to have our units sold at auction!).  We need to pack a lot of things in a small space.

We also have found a place to do mail forwarding for us.  Full-timers have several options.  Even though you are on the road, you need to have an address for legal/tax purposes and a method to forward mail to campgrounds or post offices on the way.  Relatives can be used, but this tends to be a major hassle for them.  South Dakota, Florida, and Texas are good states with forwarding services plus low taxes.  After a look at the fees to get new drivers license and plates, we found it simpler to just remain with an Arkansas address.  More taxes but fewer fees given our plans to only be on the road a year or two.

In the midst of all of this, John strained and tore a leg muscle!  Now he is wearing a temporary cast-like shoe that restricts his movement to allow the muscle to heal.  At the same time we need to move our furniture.  Plus, I'm hoping he heals in time to drive the RV!  Did I mention that I can't reach the accelerator?  I guess it's time to add some pillows to my seat.

Cute story...after the emergency room, John was pretty bummed out about hurting his leg.  But we had to go sign the papers to sell our house.  So he clumsily gets out of the car for his first time in the cast to walk into the title office.  A little girl sees him and runs across the parking lot and gives him a hug!  Thank you, little girl, for lifting his spirits.