The New Rig

TA DA………………. (click on any image to make it larger)

There it is  -- our new rig consisting of a 2016 Ford Expedition (of course it is a Ford) and a 2015 Forest River Rockwood Mini Lite 2504S Travel Trailer.  We bought our new home base in mid November and by mid February we had the new rig already.

We had notions of what we were going to buy and how we were going to do it, but some things changed quite a bit.  Our intention had been to order a Ford Transit Cargo Van as the tow vehicle. But it wasn’t going to fit on the property real well, and with the compromises necessary to make it fit, we suddenly switched gears from ordering a Tansit to buying an Expediton off the lot and had that accomplished in about a week in January instead of a six to eight week order.  The Expedition has 9,400 pounds of towing capacity and is far nicer on the inside than a cargo van.

We then planned to order a new 2016 trailer of the same make, model, and floorplan as this one and to pit a couple dealers against each other to negtotiate a better price.  While Gary was putting together the order and in reality procrastinating just a little, he happend to look on Craigslist.  About 30 miles away was a listing for the same trailer one year old and little used. The owner found that his kids were just too busy with other activities to go camping so he didn’t want to make payments anymore.  We were happy to let him absorb that first year of depreciation and we scored our new to us trailer in a week in February instead of a six to eight week order for it.

So on with the show.  Shown below is how it fits on our home base.  There is just enough space to make it all fit.  It will fit even a bit better once we move a post.  But this is why we waited on the rig until we purchased the house.  We can have our “guest quarters” right outside our front door.

Here is the floorplan.  Note that it has a couch and a Murphy bed upfront.  The couch jack knifes flat and the Murphy bed folds down over the top of it – no added length for a dedicated bedroom – 26 feet total length.

Now for some interior shots.

 

We targeted a model with bunk beds as we will be spending a lot of time in the Summer near our grandson and hopefully one day we will want to come sleep on one of those bunks.  Also, we see that as a good place to store some tubs of stuff as we plan to be traveling for 3 to 6 months a year.

So if you just have to know yet more about the trailer, here is a link that will provide features specs and more.

http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=204

And if you want to see more, here are a couple links for click and drag 360 degree tours from a companion Forest River model

http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=203&Image=5387&ModelID=899&TourID=2953#Main

http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=203&Image=5387&ModelID=899&TourID=2954#Main

The New Home Base–Interior

Took some pictures taken of the interior, so it's time to up load them (just click on any picture to make it larger).

Shown below is the floor plan. The port area is at the lower right which is where the main entrance is into the great room.

Shown below are a couple views of the great room. You can see the very high ceilings -- they are almost to the roof of the RV port. Now that we are out of the motor home, Gary wanted a much bigger TV. He found a 58" diagonal plasma on Craigslist for a great price with the only problem being that it didn't begin to fit in the corner cabinet. He says he knew that ....... Somehow with the help of a neighbor down the street he got it mounted outside the front of the cabinet. It kind of dominates the room.  There is a half bath off the great room as well.

Behind the great room is a laundry room with a washer and a dryer, not the tiny washer/dryer all-in-one of the motor home.

 

The kitchen is probably the best feature of the house as it is very large for the size of the house and features a lot of cabinets and counter tops. There is an area off the kitchen for a smaller dining table in addition to the counter seating. And there is a small desk near the entrance from the porch/screen area that constitutes my "office".

Next is the office Gary claimed. You can see who got the better part of that deal.

A quick shot into the bathroom (hard to take picture of that one).

And the bedroom with a king size bed with just enough room to get around it and which we already have dressed it up with some Florida motif.

Finally,  a shot of the smallish patio area which is probably just fine as it will be a hot area with the afternoon sun on it.

It should work as our winter time home base for our summertime travels.  It is probably not the place we would have it we didn’t have an
RV.  We already have something in mind for when the day comes that we stop RVing, but that will likely be in another five years or more.

Next blog -- the rig. Yes, we do have a new RV rig to report on as well.

At Long Last–Something to Report

When last we were seen blogging, we had become MotorHomeLess. We sold our motor home and moved into a park model while we figured out just what we would be doing next. Well, it has taken a while but the plan came together -- in due course -- and now has been implemented.

We debated if we should continue blogging. But we are just too close to 500 blog posts to quit. We'll update on our changes and try to report on some of our activities going forward, at least for awhile.

We moved into the park model last April and stayed there until December. We slowed way down from our traveling routine of the past few years.  We experienced a Florida Summer. Yes, it was hot and humid. The ocean frequently called our name.  We watched a fisherman catch and release a shark.  (Gary WAS swimming there.)

My Dad was discovered with terminal cancer. He died in August. I spent around 3 months in Michigan.

I had shoulder surgery in November to repair a torn and detached tendon. Gary handled a lot of all this on his own.

We decided to make Florida our Winter base, purchase some property, cease full-time RVing, but "re-invest" in a part time RVing rig for the next several years.

We wanted to live in an RV community and we chose just to remain at Willow Lakes RV Park in Titusville, Florida, where we had wintered twice and rented the park model. We looked for a part-time home to complement our future part-time RVing. And we wanted the new RVing rig to fit on the home property, so we really had to find the home first.

So without further adieu, here is the home we have purchased.

It is what is known as an RV port home. The overall structure is one of an RV port (car port on steroids) but part of the port is built out as a home (a big part on this one).

And as you can see there still is space in the port and driveway for some form of RVing rig to be reported on soon.  There is around 900 square feet of living space.  After over 4 years living in under 400 square feet, it seems huge.

We are on the Par 3 golf course. This is a view from the back of the house. We are between the second green and the third tee. And yes, we are hit by golf balls from time to time.

That’s more than enough for one blog post.  Next post we'll show the interior of the house.

Gary's Visit With Little Victor

So what are we doing in our little rented park model here in Florida?.  Are we busy arranging our future?  Well that will have to wait for a future post.  But for now I'll report on Gary's trip to Columbus, Ohio to see our now 10-month-old grandson, Victor (and son Andy and daughter in law Natasha too -- but you know who now is the star of that show).  They were talking about coming down here for a visit but somehow we didn't think with a 10-month old that was quite ready to happen and didn't.  So Gary said he was just going to jump a plane and go to Ohio.

He flew on Allegiant Airlines.  This was a first for either of us on this discount carrier.  It was about $225 for a round trip with one bag and it flew out of Sanford, Florida rather than Orlando and used the cargo airport in Columbus.  It was a direct flight on a plane that seemed well refurbished and was on time.  It appears we have a new good flying alternative when we need it.

Gary spent a week in Columbus and enjoyed his several visits with Big Vic.  Of course we have a few pictures to share. Don't you just want to pinch those little cheeks?

Temporary BooneDocks

For the past 3 1/2 years, every location for the BooneDocks has been a temporary one, but now we are in a longer-term temporary state until we figure out just what it is that we are going to do next.  When we sold the motor home, we decided that the most expedient thing to do would be to rent within the RV park where we already were located.  We have rented a “park model”.  Technically, a park model is an RV so we guess you could say that we still are full-time RVers.  In order to qualify as an RV rather than a mobile home, a park model has to have less than 400 sq ft of living space space and has to travel as a trailer to its home destination.  Once there, they simply detach the tires, wheels, suspension, and A frame/hitch and the “RV” is pretty much going to stay at that location ongoing.  Apparently there are tax and other advantages to a park model being classified an RV.

With that background, let’s get on with the show.  Here is what our park model looks like including its attached car port.  Note that I already have put out some flower pots.

In front of the car is a nice sized screen room with access to the back entrance of the house.

Inside, there really isn’t much more space than in the motor home and a lot less storage so we also rented a small storage locker.  Note that the living room is resplendent with kitty.  Alley cat is adjusting well and has laid claim to the screen room as her own house.

And as we are still in an “RV” and you know the saying, “home is where we park it”, we had to post our sign at the front entrance to our temporary home.

 

We can rent this place through the end of the year, so we have about that much time to figure out what is next for us and make it happen.

MotorHomeLess

After the scam dance with the first person who we thought was going to buy our motorhome, we relisted it and again received a number of interested inquiries from just a Craigslist ad.  One couple from here in Florida contacted us the day after it was listed and two days after that were here to view and inspect it.  On their way back home they called to declare they wanted it.  This past Tuesday, the funds were wired to our account and they came to drive it away.  There she goes off into the sunset – our last glimpse of the motor home that has been ours for the past five years and our one and only home for the last three and a half years.

Cleaning it out was far more work than we had envisioned.  We thought we might be able to get it all done in a day.  In reality, it took us the better part of three days.

Below is a shot of the couple who purchased “Number One” and the last picture of her on our rented RV site in Titusville.

So, what are we doing?  Are we on that beach in Hawaii?  Has Gary joined the World Poker Tour?  Are we buying another RV?  Good questions.

Were We Being Scammed?

Our ads for the sale of our motor home generated a lot of interest.  We had people from all over the country wanting to come see it.  One person from a distant State quickly had his Credit Union indicate to us that he was approved for a loan that along with his funds would allow him to buy it right away – that they would wire us the funds as soon as he inspected it and give them the go ahead for the wire.  That seemed sufficient for us to declare the unit sold to the others, pull our ads, and to proceed to the sale with this prospective buyer.

Only then were we informed that the buyer could not get off of work to come inspect it and drive it home.  He put his son who was located somewhat closer to us in the process to come inspect it and drive it away.  But the son also had a lot of scheduling issues.  It then was suggested that we empty the unit, drive it to the location of the son, and after an inspection receive a certified check for the purchase.  Somehow, that was labeled by the prospective buyer as a “win win” solution.  Huh?  We did agree we would deliver if it could be inspected, paid for, and us put on the buyer’s insurance for the trip.  He would not accept that plan.

At that point we lost a lot of trust in this potential buyer.  We put our foot down that the sale would be at our RV lot in Florida and that the payment terms would have to be exactly as we had always specified – a wire transfer received in our account.  But the prospective buyer keep pleading his case that his son would only have a limited amount of time with us and that we would have to empty it before his arrival (we live in this motor home, emptying it only potentially to have to reload it would be a monumental task), allow an inspection, and drive it away on the strength of a phone call from the Credit Union that the wire had been sent.  At this point the negotiations became irreparably damaged.

The demands of the potential buyer had the aura of some classic scams.  The only part we could not figure out was that the Credit Union verified by email his loan for the purchase and we separately had verified the status of the Credit Union and the loan officer we communicated with.  Just the same, it just didn’t pass the smell test and we never did get confirmed timing for when it all could have occurred, so it was best that we move on.  We will contact the other interested parties to see if they still have interest and may have to relist it for sale again.  Meanwhile we are glad the silliness of this prospect if not the scamming is over.  We will have to find a buyer who is prepared and willing to follow a robust and orderly sale process.