Nothin' could be finer...

than to move to Carolina.  Around Christmas time, Bob and decided we were ready to sell our house and move.  Both of us agreed we didn't want to buy another home, but would rather go full time in an RV.  We already had a seasonal lease at the Lake Hartwell Campground and Cabins in Townville, SC.  We put our house up for sale on January 5th, and, to our surprise,  it sold a week later.  Closing was to take place February 25th.  I said my final farewell to Florida Family after 19 years of being there.  Folks kidded me that I had to leave the state in order to finally retire.

We knew we made the right decision because despite several hurdles, everything fell into place.  We decided to buy a new and bigger RV which we would use as a permanent residence and keep our old one for traveling.  Bob got a great price from a dealer in Ohio which the folks in Florida were not willing to match.  So, he first towed our pontoon to Townville to store it at the campground.  On the way there, the  boat trailer fell off the back of the truck.  Thankfully he was off the interstate on a road in Ocala on his way to get fuel at 5:30 in the morning.  A passerby saw what happened, pulled up behind the boat so no one would ram into it in the dark, and helped Bob reattach the trailer and directed him to a place where he could get a part to fix it.  He also had a blow out on the truck later on and had to buy a new tire.  But, he made it to Hartwell, stored the boat, then moved our old trailer to storage before heading to Ohio.  He made it back to FL with our new home in tow four days after leaving.  Marathon trip.

Meanwhile we were in the process of downsizing 25+ years of accumulated "stuff" in a 1500 square foot dwelling to fit into a 40 foot trailer.  We tried "estate" sales, but they weren't very successful.  Folks wanted garage sale items and prices.  We tried consignment shops, but they wouldn't take items more than 7 years old.  Even the non-profit thrift stores were very selective.  The only one who welcomed items (other than tvs or mattresses) was Goodwill. 

Bob was afraid the hitch we had for our old trailer was too old and wouldn't be strong enough for the new unit, so we had to get a new one.  He also noticed a screw in another truck tire, so he had to get the leak fixed.  The fan on our refrigerator went out 10 days before closing date, so we had to have that repaired.  Three days before our ETD, one of the slides on the new trailer wouldn't close all the way.  Bob got approval from the manufacturer to get mobile repair, but we had to pay the $700 bill and wait for reimbursement.   We realized despite our weeding out and whittling down, we still had too much "stuff" and too much weight for the trailer, so we had to dump items at the last minute.  Somehow, we managed to get it all done, and Sunday, February 22nd, we said goodbye to Bonita Springs.

For sale sign and our new home on wheels

Last pool shot in Bob's "man cave"

Removing the pool table.  One of Bob's pool buddies bought it

 



 

Look, there's actually a car in the garage.  Probably the first time since we moved in back on March 5, 1990!

RV Doc to the rescue for our broken slide

 

A surprise, actually 2 surprise visits from dear old friends who used to work at Florida Family... Marion on the left, and Audrey in the middle.  Neither knew the other planned on wishing us farewell that day. Marion brought over a very touching good bye gift and card: "bread so you will never know hunger; salt so your life will always have flavor, and wine so that joy and prosperity may reign forever."  Audrey gave Bob a bottle of honey bourbon which he certainly welcomed by day's end.