IT HAS ARRIVED…THE TRUCK IS HERE!

Tuesday, October 30 – Paul received the phone call he's been waiting for ....”Your truck is ready and can be picked-up today!” So on this cold and rainy October day, we drove to the dealer and received the keys to our beautiful “new to us” 2010 Ford F350 DRW pick-up truck.

Paul's first look at his F350

Eddie of Freeway Motors in Canton, Ohio, did a great job of finding our truck online. It was on a Ford dealer's lot in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A one-owner vehicle, owned by a fellow who buys a new truck every two years – weather he needs it or not – and in this case it sure looks like he didn't need it. It only has 18,800 miles on the odometer and looks absolutely NEW! It was completely inspected by Eddie's inspection service before shipping to Ohio and re-inspected here in Canton by Eddie's service staff before we took delivery.

It took a little time to get the vehicle here from Minnesota, but it sure is a beautiful truck and just what we are looking for in a tow vehicle. You can't believe how happy we are with the truck and the service we received from Freeway Motors in Canton, Ohio.

Joe, Marsha, Paul and Eddie.

WOW! What a beauty. If she tows as nice as she looks, we should be very happy. It is a Lariat model and nicely equipped - “Nicer than anything I've ever owned.” Paul states, with a smile on his face. It's all set-up for towing except the hitch, which we will have installed Thursday.

Here he comes.

A little peak at the truck.

So if all goes well, we plan on pulling out of the driveway early Saturday morning in route to Houston, Texas. We are so anxious to get back on the road after a long stay in Canton. Much longer than we planned but time well used and “life changing” to say the least.

So be sure to check back and see how we do in our new lifestyle and our new experience TOWING our house instead of DRIVING it (like we did in the motor home). This is going to be fun :-)

Tuesday, October 30 – BLOW BABY BLOW!!! With wind gusts in the 70 mph range, Hurricane Sandy nearly blew NE Ohio into Lake Erie. WOW! What a storm! I sure wouldn't want to be driving an RV around in these winds.

Luckily our power stayed on, even though many lost power overnight. Schools were closed and many business shut down for the day.

Forgot to take some snippets of the weather report on Monday. This one is from Tuesday.

Notice the winds were still gusting up to 40 mph.

Rain fall totals exceeded three inches but the real story was those winds! There sure aren't any leaves left on the trees now!

How this one tree in our yard has leaves is waaaaay beyond us.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who took the direct hit of Sandy. We pray that help arrives quickly, electric is restored and food reaches all those in need.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

CAMEO IMPROVEMENTS PART 2

Saturday, October 27 - In over 30-years of marriage, we never shared a bathroom, and we certainly don't want to change now. So since our new Cameo only has one bathroom sink, Paul figured a way to add a sink in the bedroom – much like we had in our Tiffin motor home.

The plumbing was rather easy because the supply lines and gray tank waste line ran under the cabinets to the washer and dryer area. So Paul only need to remove the bottom of the cabinet and splice into the water supply lines and waste lines. No problem.

He then found he had to move an electrical outlet that was in the way of the medicine cabinet. Jeesh.....it's always something....LOL.

Then came the time to cut the hole in the counter top for the sink. He sure don't want to make a mistake now! Paul carefully traced the sink, allowed for the gluing flange and sawed away. The hole turned out as planned, and was about ready for the sink.

Marsha cleans up all the pencil marks and get the area ready to caulk.

The countertop isn't as deep as one that includes a sink. We purchased a bar-size sink. We turned it sideways so the faucet will not interfere with Marsha opening up the medicine cabinet door.

Hooking up the plumbing was fairly easy. Pex tubing has push on fittings (called Shark Fittings) making a plumber out of just about everyone. He simply cut the tubing to size and push on the valves, nineties, forty-fives, or flex pipe. Pretty simple!

The ABS waste lines are a little more troublesome because after fitting everything you must glue the pipes and fitting together. You have to be ready because the cement dries rapidly.

Marsha washes her hair in the sink, hence the bar faucet.

After getting the sink in place, Paul replaced the cabinet floor and shelf, cleaned up the mess and moved on to hanging the medicine cabinet.

This is a little tricky in a trailer because you have to be sure to secure it well to prevent it from falling or coming loose as the trailer bangs down the road. Paul screwed it to the metal studs in the walls and screwed it to the cabinets already on the wall. He offset it a little (it doesn't lineup directly over the sink) so the cabinet door will open without hitting the faucet.

Now Marsha can load all her “women stuff” in her own bathroom. She can cover the counter top with all her “thingies” and leave Paul's bathroom alone... :-)

After seeing what wonderful job Paul did to his closet, Marsha decided she wanted some shelves in the closet that would hold a washer/dryer. The motor home had a built in hamper, not so with the 5th wheel. Another problem solved.

Before.

After.

She has two shelves, two portable baskets for dirty close, and a place to hand some clothes to cover up the plumbing.

We had one another dilemma…where do we put our office stuff and computer? In the MH, Paul had a nice desk with lots of drawers. Marsha used the kitchen table and had a drawer. The Cameo doesn't have the same set up. We shopped and shopped until we found the perfect fit for us.

The shelves will hold our computer stuff, camera stuff and just general office stuff. The board under the table will hold our printer. TAA DAA…

Almost entirely hidden from view.

In the next blog, we will give you a tour of our "new-to-us" Carriage Cameo.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

CAMEO IMPROVEMENTS PART 1

Thursday, October 25 - On Saturday, Paul did some “remodeling” projects on the Cameo. First up was installation of adjustable shelves in the closet he'll use for his clothes. Paul needs very little “hanger” space. Most of his clothes are easily stored on shelves.

Paul's closet.

Finished product.

He also switched clothes rods in Marsha's closet. The 5^th wheel came with a “slotted” rod. Marsha prefers a more traditional rod (smooth). She can get lots more clothes on this type of rod.... :-)

Old rod.

New and improved rod.

One skimpy towel rod in the bathroom just isn't going to serve us very well. Paul installed two additional rods on the door, a hand-towel ring next to the sink, and an additional hook for hanging a towel while showering.

Empty bathroom wall.

This door needs some attention.

Solution to our towel hanging problem.

Paul finished up his work day by trimming a silverware tray so that it fits nicely in the drawer.

We have several more “remodeling” projects planned for the 5^th wheel, so stop back and see what Paul gets himself into.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

WE TAKE DELIVER OF OUR NEW CARRIAGE CAMEO

Sunday, October 20 – We are the new owners of a 2008 Carriage Cameo 35SB3; 5^th Wheel Trailer. We handed the RV Dealer a check this morning and did the walk through on the trailer.

We looked at this trailer at General RV in Akron, Ohio, a month or so ago and felt it was what we were looking for but a little out of our price range. Paul was searching the internet and saw that the price had been reduce over $10K as a year-end clearance sale – gotta' get rid of everything before the snow flies here in Ohio!

We took delivery of our new-to-us Cameo 5^th wheel last Thursday. With those scraggly old trees removed, we would have a nice spot at the end of our driveway to park the trailer. We had the trailer winterized by the dealer before delivery just in case our “truck search” continues in vane.

The fellow delivering the 5^th wheel had a little trouble on our skinny neighborhood road getting into our driveway.

Not going to make it this way.

Paul had to pull out the roadside mailbox to give him a little more room to make the turn. He later dug a new post hole about 10 feet from the driveway to make it easier to get in and out in the future.

With the mailbox gone, it makes it much easier to back up.

With the 5^th wheel backed neatly off the end of our driveway, the driver gave Paul some tips on how to level the Cameo.

Now that it is all ours, we quickly began our inspection and dreaming of getting back on the road.

Of course we have some remodeling projects planned for the trailer to make it “our home away from home.” But first we have to learn all the ins and outs of our new (actually it's a 2008) Cameo and all the differences of owning a 5^th wheel instead of a motor home. This is going to be exciting!

Paul's first time plugging in.

So now our only holdup is finding a pick-up truck! We NEVER thought we would sell the motor home, buy a 5th wheel and not be able to find the truck for our needs. Hopefully, we will locate it this week.

Even though we have been having some very cool mornings, the sunrises never fail to amaze us.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

MAKE ROOM FOR THE 5TH WHEEL

Saturday, October 20 - We had difficulty parking the motor home in our driveway, so we decided we had to remove a dirty Old oak tree, a scraggly maple tree (looked more like a giant bush – LOL), and a rotten pear tree to clear the way for a possible 5^th wheel. Paul requested several quotes for cutting them down and found a good price with Yoder's Tree Service.

Dirty old Oak tree.

Two guys arrived early this morning in a pickup truck pulling a small utility trailer. Not exactly a high tech, big equipment, tree removal company. With thoughts of, “hope this guy knows what he's doing, Paul gave them the go ahead and got out of the way.

The first thing the tree cutter noticed was a huge hornets nest on one of the limbs.....uh, oh. Luckily it was a little chilly this morning and the hornets weren’t active. Let's get that nest down before the sun warms things up!

These guys were going to drop the tree in one piece. No bucket truck to take it down limb by limb. The boss climbed the tree. Tied a rope around the upper trunk. His assistant pulled on the rope as he cutt'er down, No mess, no fuss!

Once the tree was down, they quickly bagged the hornet's next in a plastic garbage bag for later disposal, and cut the tree up for hauling away in their utility trailer.

The other trees were small and removed with a similar “basic” technique. Paul helped get everything cleaned-up and the lawn raked. The guys will be back later to grind out the stumps.

The back yard sure looks “wide open” now. Nice to get rid of those dirty overgrown trees.

So much cleaner.

Pear tree gone.

Even Bella had to check out the job these guys did.

We owe a HUGE apology to our friends, Margery and Paul. When we did our Third-Year Recap, we showed photos of our many full/part-timing friends we met during the year. We inadvertently forgot to include Margery and Paul. They were staying at Scenic Hills RV Park in Amish Country just about 40 minutes from us. We met for a delicious lunch at Der Dutchman and had a wonderful visit. Hope you forgive us…It is lousy getting old!

Paul, Margery, Marsha, Paul

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.