Trigger pulled

Well, wow! That happened.  We went out and just bought the first RV we actually saw face-to-face today.  We didn't really plan it that way...maybe that's obvious. But we drove about an hour and half to get to St. Cloud, MN, saw the only RV that Pleasureland had in our price range and just, well, bought it!  Who does that?  In the moment, I was thinking, "Yep, this is about right" and of course now I'm a little freaked out.  It's a 1998 Coachmen 33 footer. See? I'm already talkin' the talk.  We took it for a rather hilarious test drive in which my dear husband had his passengers bracing for turns against anything we could get our hands on.  He'll learn. RVs are apparently NOT cars. Who knew? They corner badly, in other words.

I think my hubby expected to be wowed by the one we would eventually purchase. But I was approaching it differently.  Is it decently kept?   Does it smell bad?  How's the engine?  Those were my priorities, possibly even in that order.  Could we live in it?  The thing about this one is that I could actually picture us in it. It has some of the things we want, not all. But the price and mileage were right.

We don't actually have it in our possession yet.  That comes later. The "techs" (I think this is fancy speak for mechanics) are going to give it a once over and fix a few cosmetic things first.  There's also a whistling noise that needs to be identified and fixed before the purchase is finalized. But then - yeah, we're RV owners!

For those who have not really kept up, we're trying the rarely attempted Turf to Surf method of retirement.  We will use our portable home for a year (or so) before switching to the sea.  If we hate it, and each other, after 3 months, we may have to reassess.  But for now, I'm delighted that we can start moving into our new home as the new one fades away.  The estate sale is a mere 3 weeks away. And I'd be lying if I said that the idea of coming back to an empty house after the sale is appealing in any way.  Somehow, sleeping in beds in the RV is far superior an idea than sleeping on mattresses in an otherwise empty house.

I'm not entirely sure how much influence recent events have had in the haste in this purchase. Probably very little, but I think it's worth mentioning.  Prince. Prince Rogers Nelson died this week. He was 57.  Our time here is short, my friends. If Prince can not live forever, then none of us can.  Take your goodies whilst you can.  So cliche, and yet...our hearts are newly broken by this loss and keeping the idea of shooting stars fresh in our heads. So, it is with the Purple One's love of life and of love itself in my head that I say - 

We are really doing this - holy cats!

Another level of "things are getting real"

My husband, Henry, is a computer programmer, a math head.  He likes things to be predictable, at least to a certain degree. And abrupt change does not sit well in his khaki and loafer world.  So when his current client told him they would be ending the contract (after he informed them of his early retirement) on April 15th, he might have been a tiny bit panicked.  As of this afternoon, that is four more days of going in to work after a 30 plus year career.  I think the shock has mostly worn off for him, so now the recovery can begin.  I'm not sure how long that stage will last.

I, of course, am absolutely delighted!  This means he can help more in getting the house ready to sell, which will ease my stress level somewhat.  I've been on "11" for awhile now.  But last night, I actually slept until my alarm went off at 6:30am.  I don't remember the last time I wasn't up before that.

We are closing in on what we're bringing and what we're selling.  Now, if we could just figure out what to do with the kitty cat.  We can not bring her with us, though we seriously considered it.  It may have been possible but for the weeks away from the RV that we already have scheduled.  From July 22-29, we'll be on an Alaskan cruise.  And then from the 29th-August 5th we'll be chartering a monohull in Puget Sound.  We can not leave her alone in an RV for two straight weeks.  Then there's the issue of her personality. She's always been an outdoor/indoor cat, heavy emphasis on the outdoors. She loves to hunt and regularly brings us what I can only describe as decapitated gifts.  More than once, I have been startled by one of these presents. I'm sure she's confused by my lack of gratitude.  We'll think of something, I'm sure.  Things seem to work out just exactly the way they're supposed to.

In the next post, I'll share our summer plans and route across America (and parts of Canada) in our extreme RV adventure.

But back to the countdown.  Henry has four more days of work. The kids have about six more weeks of school.  We have about three and a half weeks until the estate sale.  It's starting to feel like this might actually happen!