Cardinal RV Club

I've read lots about Full Timing, but for us, keeping the "sticks 'n bricks", and using the 'Bird as a second, mobile "vacation cabin" for extended stays is what we're planning on. Such as a week or two here and there, perhaps a month, and then back. We've lived small lots in our life, and just can't see giving all the room of the "stick 'n bricks" up. Becides, we have set anchor, so to speak, after a life of moving every 3 or 4 years.

And our new, replacement house (for one that was burnt down) is ALMOST completed, and since the insurance company paid for house has reached the end of it's lease, we're "Full Timing" next to our, as yet, uncompleted house now. Having a "Plan B" is part of survival training, buying the 'Bird for "just in case it all goes to sh$$" was ours after the fire. Our old trailer was just too small to live in, "Full Time".

Is there anyone else that shares this dream? About having a mobile vacation cabin, and keeping the "sticks" that is.

Well that is our plan home is almost paid for and not a lot of up keep in the winter would like to get out of Oregon in the winter time and spend the summer around here.

Out of Washington in the winter was my plan growing up! Then I discovered I have this affinity for heat. So I went from being a Frog to a Lizard. After many duty stations on both coasts, we settled here. The San Franscisco Bay or San Diego areas have the best climiate, however too many other people have the same idea!

We are working on a similar plan. We have a waterfront home now that we may get priced out of. So we purchased a lot in a RV Park in the NW that allows year round storage of your RV and 1/2 year of living in the RV. So we are off to Arizona this winter to see if we want to make the Gold Canyon area east of Phoenix our main home (winter home) and travel back the NW in the summer, staying in the RV at the park and time on board the boat in July and Aug. Then it would be back to the park in Sept before returning to Gold Canyon for 6 or 7 months in stick built home. Wife thinks she needs a piece of dirty somewhere. House for house we should be able to put 200-300K back in our pocket moving to Arizona.

If this does not all come together, then we will most likely moved to another stick house in the NW and travel to the SW in the RV for the winters. Or if my wife achilles tendon gets better, so that she could ski again, we might to off to Canada skiing in the winters again. Who knows!!!!

So many things to do with so little time! How did we have time to work!

Chris

We’ve done some of what you are planning. We retired 10 years ago, and bought our first RV. We were living at the time in Wisconsin and we planned to use the RV in the winter to explore and find a warmer place to live. We traveled 4-5 months a year finding we like the Gulf side of Florida if we could afford living by the water,(we can’t) and we also like the Southwest. Our first RV didn’t work out real well, so we bought a new one. The house we had built for retirement in Wisconsin in reality was just to big for the two of us and traveling in the RV half of the year we had to much tied up in something we were not using. We decided to sell the house, buy another new RV and full time it. We were full timers for 2 years, but found we missed family and friends and the place we have lived so long. We were going to buy a condo, but found a small 2 bedroom home on a lake in Minnesota just 40 miles form where we had lived. Like the house I felt we now had to much money in the RV that we were using 4-5 months out of the year, and three years ago sold it. We rented condos down south for a couple of years, and found we liked RVing the best. So last year we bought our Bird and a truck and are back to exploring.

We’ve made a lot of changes in the last 10 years, and probably wasted a lot of money, but we now know for us that we want to be by our family part of the year and want to get away from Minnesota winters. That being in one place, even a nice warm places is not our thing, and that having the flexibility to explore with our RV, see new things, meet new people are what we like as long as we are up to it.

I’m glad we’ve done what we’ve done.

Great post Jim found myself caught in the moment and it got me thinking and dreaming.

Thanks Mike---It's been a great journey.

Mike Clay wrote:would like to get out of Oregon in the winter time and spend the summer around here.

Any thoughts on where you would like to spend the winter months?

Rob

Not really sure yet Rob going to scope things out in a few years and see. Have to make sure all works out as planned then go from there, its still a few years off. Took a slight beating in the stock market but it could have been worse so we shall see.

Traveler II wrote:That being in one place, even a nice warm places is not our thing, and that having the flexibility to explore with our RV, see new things, meet new people are what we like as long as we are up to it.

I’m glad we’ve done what we’ve done.

Ditto's...
I've been fulltiming for a couple of years. Ain't retired yet, but coming up in April. Hoping to see a lot of this country I haven't seen before.
I just hope I can see some of the folks I have posted with, and see the others again, that I have met.
I've seen a couple of signature lines like:
"Don't put your dreams on hold"
or "Never met a stranger I didn't like."
I plan to enjoy retirement that way too!

Hey Charles, Chattanooga will be my Kick-off Retirement party.
Can't think of better folks to celebrate with!
A good time of year to start my travels too...

So Ernie are you going to head out west so we can share a jug of Jack?

Now, Mike, you CANNOT do that without Bruce!!!!!!! LOL!

Double D's wrote:Now, Mike, you CANNOT do that without Bruce!!!!!!! LOL!

LOL, I'll take that bet!

Rob

Dang! I KNEW going into that comment that I was gonna get beat....... as usual! LOL!