Last minute to do list before we get on the road has also delay the day we are to take off. With everyone working almost up to the time we are supposed to leave a lot of things like making sure our cats had all their shots for the trip was put off. We also in the last month decided that our 5th wheel was to large and heavy to take on this trip to Alaska especially with the gas prices going up. So we have been looking for a travel trailer which we did find. It is a 30 foot Coachmen it has no slide but is very roomy. The pulling weight has been cut in half which also helps with the gas consumption. Sometimes on trips like this bigger is not better and we also didn’t want to shake our 5th wheel apart on the roads in Canada and Alaska. So even though I will miss my Grand Junction at least I know it will not get destroy on this long trip, so everyone keep that in mind when traveling to Canada and Alaska. We bought our Travel trailer at Tippy Toe Repo in SC . They had more to choose from than the area we are living in. The people were very helpful and most of there RV’s and travel trailer, and 5th wheels are on consignment or trade ins. So note: the title could take 5 to 10 days but you can get a bill of sale and temporary tag at their DMV right around the corner from their place of business.

The next part of the to do list was to get the our cats seen by a vet and get their rabies shot and make sure they were up for the long ride. The day started out fine. I purchased a new cat carrier the one I had before my cats had out grown it. I bought it home and place a little catnip in the carrier to coach my cats in the carrier. Maybe with some cats this would work but with mine they were not interested in it at all in fact it spook them. The next day I place my black cat Gizmo in the carrier for the trip to the vet. He was so scared he wet himself and meow all the way to the vet office for 20 minutes. By the time I got there I was ready to pull my hair out. I felt like that lady in the commercial were the pig yells out the window wee-wee-wee all the way home. I think the same look was on my face at that point in time when I reached the vets office. So I clean Gizmo up and dried him off and into the vet’s office we went. He finally stop his loud meowing in the office. I was at that point still frazzled by the whole thing I was dreading taking my other cat in another few hours.
Gizmo check out find and got his shots and on the way home he was quiet as a mouse. I get home and start the whole process over again with Kitty. To my surprise he was quite. I had no problem getting him and out of the carrier cause he usually claws me . He was great at the vets office. He also got his shots and got a clean bill of health. All I can say, if you have to take your cats in and you must do it separate don’t make the appointment in on the same day. One it can really fray your nerves when one of them acts up and you have done everything to clam them down and nothing works. Also it is good idea to get your cats use to a cat carrier and let them make it their home or hide away when they are young. It is really hard on them to be put in a carrier when they are older and they fear it or have only been in one a few times.

Our to do list is finally getting smaller and soon we will be on the road we are still waiting for the title for the new trailer so we can get tags. We also have been waiting for our passport America card and birth certificate. Check the mail and all of them have come in and we are loading up the trailer and now have to stay put due to all the bad storms that have cause a lot of damage through many states. It seem like every-time we thought we were close to leaving, something else keep us in one place till the storms past. I will keep you all up dated and hope you will follow us on our adventure. Please say a pray for all who have lost their homes and love ones in these terrible storms
Pat Admin of This House .org

We will soon be on the road. Our plan was to sell our home pay off our bills and live debt free and travel the US. It has taken 7 1/2 months till we finally sold our home and we have been lucky with the economy the way it has been. The banks just do not want to give you what your house is worth. They are still afraid to lend money and try to lower the value of the homes to make sure they will get their money back. Our home as the seller lost almost 20,000 cause the banks would not give us the additional value for the land. Here a lot is a lot is lot and has the value of one lot which was value at 60,000 . When we bought our property we merged two lots into one, and built a house on the two lots. Now if we had not of merged the land parcel together, we would have been able to sell the house for the same price we got and also the lot next to it for another 60,000. So lesson learned if you bought two lots don’t merge them into one lot. Leave them as 2 separate lots and you will apprise for more money when you sell you home and lot together. Also If you are selling your home don’t go over board on redoing anything in your home except for painting and fixing damage. The banks will do comps which are comparable homes that have sold in your area. So if you put high-end appliances in your home they do not care. It is the square footage of the house how many rooms and bathrooms and bedrooms you have and location of where your home is and really not too much more. So If you are selling your home don’t go out of your way and spend more money that you will not be able to recover. Fix anything that needs to be fixed and paint your home with a fresh coat of paint and make sure everything is detailed cleaned

After the sale of our home we will be on the road in one month we need to wait to make sure all of our final bills are paid dealing with our home like water, electric, and etc. Then when everything is done we will be on the road for our trip to Alaska. So soon join us and let the adventure begin. Happy Camping everyone and hope you will come back often for weekly up dates.
Pat

 

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The economy is so bad right now that selling our home fast is out of the question. We started living in our 5th wheel as soon as our home went on the market in August and have had only 5 people come to see our home. People have a lot of choices with all the homes on the market now. Like they say it is a buyers market. So we sit and wait hoping someone will want our home over all the homes out there.

We have now been living in our 5th wheel full-time for 6 months and I really have no complaints on how easy it is to keep clean. Our camper is very roomy and for some reason the food cook in the camper taste better than when we cooked in our house. We did not think we were going to stay in NC this far into the winter months, but here we sit. NC winters are generally mild. But for the last 2 years for at least two months out of winter months we have had snow. The camper has done well even when the temperature have dipped down to 21 degrees for several days without freezing any lines or the water pump. Our camper made in 2006 was consider a 4 season trailer, but with all the improvements they have done on the newer campers like better insulation and also insulating the slides more our four season trailer is now considered a 3 season camper.

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