Quick Update June 2012

The Snake River

It seems I only feel like blogging when we are in vacation mode.  Real life intruded rudely in early April when we found out how much we owed in taxes from the sale of our business. Thoughts of this fabulously laid back lifestyle evaporated quickly.  And just when we realized we were really enjoying it and that it could actually work! So this is my story and I'm sticking to it...
We were in Hot Springs, Arkansas when the news came. My stomach began giving me grief right around that same time.  Good thing we had decided to attend the Workcamping Rendezvous (to learn more about supporting our RV lifestyle) and the RV-Dreams.com rally (because someone suggested we shouldn't miss it and they were RIGHT).  So April was packed full of rally seminars, socializing and travel, all the time worrying (apparently, according to my digestive system) about our financial situation.

Next was our mad dash for Reno where we did all our annual medical appointments of which there were 2 dental (Hi Dr. Mary and Cindy), 2 primary doc visits (Hi Dr. Yco), 1 mammogram, 1 gynecologist visit, 2 lab visits, and 2 vet visits. And let's not forget more socializing! It was great to see Daniel, Josh and Jene, John and Denise, Raul, Fred and Bekki, Matt, Kenny, Grant, Phil, Keith, Bob and Janice, Bear and Denise, Doug, Chuck and June, Paul, Kristal and Ron, Rick, Steve, Tom and Sherri, Mike and Vicki and Bob's fishin' buddy, Bob! In just a little over two weeks!

Bob Hall at Frenchmans

Are you starting to believe my story of why I've not been blogging? No? Okay moving on...
After leaving Sparks we recuperated for a couple of days before picking up Camille and Jacob, two of our Grand kids for Memorial Day weekend. That was fun but required another couple of days to recover.

Hanging out at the River

After meeting with our financial guru, Phil, we were relieved and motivated at the same time to reduce our expenses for the next year. First up is choosing a state for our home domicile. We found we could save a substantial amount annually on insurance and registration fees by switching to South Dakota. So we did. Took quite a bit of time to deal with all of that. We also have to change our address again! More time. Then we decided this summer is not the best time to head to the eastern seaboard. The less we travel the less we spend on diesel. We don't see this as a problem because there are so many other cool places to visit. Next is starting a volunteer job hunt.  Well you need a resume for that don't ya? And you would be amazed at all the opportunities out there.  So much time spent on the internet that we went over our data limit! We are looking forward to finding a neat place to volunteer a minimal amount of hours a week in trade for a full hook-up site.

So much for a quick update.  So let's wrap it up.  Next stop is AM Solar company in Springfield OR to fine tune our solar/battery system, then off to Gillette WY for the Heartland Rally, then to Elkhart IN (again) for an upgrade to the fifth wheel's suspension system, brakes and new tires (what? new tires? seems our RV tires are nicknamed "China Bombs") and finally to Paducah KY for the Riley family reunion!

Whew! So that's my story. Sorry I haven't kept you up to date on our travels. Kit emailed "Nothing says commitment to a life on the road like a South Dakota mailing address!" I couldn't have said it better myself!


p.s. My tummy's much better now.  (must have been the stress) 
p.s.s. My sincerest apologies if I missed listing your name as one of the people we enjoyed seeing!