Roadrunner Reflections: Fulltiming 2 Years

It has gone by very quickly but at the same time it feels like we have been doing this for 20 years.  We still look forward to seeing more and meeting more people and trying new things.  We get to go places that are fantastic and sleep in our own beds every night.  So far full-timing has been one of the best choices we have ever made.

Our second year began the end of May 2010 and ended the first part of June 2011.
In May 2010 we were at Haas Lake RV Park in Novi, Michigan.

Later, we spent time in Ontario, Canada

And in July were near the Niagara Falls

In late summer we were on the white beaches of Florida

And Virginia Beach,

And in the snow of Virginia Beach (in December!)

And then we saw canyons of Big Bend in March

And the streets of Old Tombstone in April

And here we are in Spokane, WA.

We are still loving the life style and are learning lots.

• Recently we have learned how much we like the beauty and countryside of Utah and Montana.  Both are completely diffent but we love it.   
• Another thing I have learned recently is how to drive through mountains with using the foot brakes.  By downshifting and using the the 'jake brake', I am able to save the brakes going through 6% down grades.

Over the last year, we recognize that the RV spot where we stay is not as important as we thought it was going to be.  For example, we stayed in Tucson at the Davis-Monthan AFB where the campsites are pretty close together.  But we spend most of our time inside.  The only thing that ruins it for me are noisy neighbors or yapping dogs.  So far, we have had very little of either.

We like the way the inside of our motorhome is set up and it is not a big deal if we are in a crowded campsite or in a 'basic' campground.  I would rate the Santa Fe Rodeo grounds and the Kirtland AFB FamCamp as 'basic' yet we had a great time in both places.

When we dreamed about our future days of full-timing, we thought we would overnight more at WalMart and truckstops ~ but we usually pull into a decent RV camp instead.  Something about 50 amp hookup for heat and air conditioning.  We also thought we would do more dry camping (boondocking) with no hookups, but we haven't.  We didn't do any of that in Year 2.  We don't mind being without for a few days, but it is not something we are driven to do.

We have found our niche in volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and NOMADS.
- Habitat for Humanity at each city (affiliate) varies.  Each is run by there own board of directors and volunteer help.  Our favorites so far

• South Hampton Roads (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Virginia Area)
• Tucson, Arizona
• Santa Fe, NM
• Our next gig is a Habitat (Care-A-Vanner) stay in Brookings, SD (Aug 2011)

- NOMADS has regular projects and 'Disaster Relief' projects.  Over the last year we enjoyed the work in Mississippi at a Disaster Relief project.  We had a month of mostly putting up sheet rock and painting a house with some odd jobs thrown in like repairing laminate flooring, putting up plywood on a porch ceiling and some painting.

The financials are working out.  I keep all our receipts and log it all onto a spreadsheet.  My goal is to post a monthly status of where we are.  I am way behind on that, but I have high hopes I can finish it up in the next few weeks? for Year 2. 

It is basically costing us about $4,000/month to do this RV thing.  That is a little more than what we take in from retirement.  But I have recently gotten more hours to work online and that is making up the shortfall.  

Our approach is to keep our savings at a certain level and not let it dip below that.  We have been successful so far.  And we have kept our 401Ks at a distance and never touch it.  When I turn 59 1/2 I'll have to withdraw some, but we have time to figure that out.  If we continue to be frugal, we can do this for quite a while.

The Roadrunner (motorhome) costs more than we figured it would.   Medical bills are expensive too. 

- The major RV expenses so far have been upgrades and remodeling.  The biggest repair has been a new toilet last year and a solenoid replacement for the air bags recently.  (both over $1,000)
- Other regular maintenance costs include things like diesel fuel filter replacements ($164); repairing windshield chips (free or <$30); replacing a clear tank water pump ($110).  

- The next biggest repair will be installing a new residential refrigerator.  About the time we decided to do that, I got more hours of online work.  We now have been able to save up enough money for the estimated $6850 it will take to replace our refrigerator.

- After that, our next biggest expense probably will be new tires (at ~$600 each), but we have about a year to save for that.
- Diesel fuel is way up again, but before we started full-timing we planned on the worst -- like $5.00/gal. As one full-timer said, "I worked for 40 years, I can find a way to pay for the fuel…".

- We have not had any major medical bills this year but we need to do something about dental.  Last month I heard that Progresso, Mexico is still a good alternative (e.g. safe) but we will not be there any time soon.

- After being in the hospital last year and getting some tests and physicals done, I took out a medical supplement insurance plan for hundreds ($764/yr) to save thousands $ if we need it.  

So here we are in the NorthWest.  We still love seeing the country.  We spent New Years Eve listening to a blue grass family group in Georgia, spent a great and warm winter/spring in Arizona and are loving the scenic Rockies, stark canyonlands of Utah and the beautiful mountains and mountain ranges of Montana.  Now we are going to explore Eastern Washington State where my mom grew up and where my folks got married in 1942.  Then on to the ocean cliffs of Oregon before we head east back through South Dakota.

I have learned I love the history of our country in the 1800's.  I have learned the impact the Catholic Church and the Railroad have had on the development and growth of our country.  You throw in a gold rush or two and a lot of folks moved west and settled this wonderful country.  And I find it interesting how they 'made do' back in those days.

I have learned to appreciate Pam more.  She is more than a great companion and friend and wife.  She likes this stuff as much as I do. She understands more of the mechanical/technical aspects of the motorhome than I do so that is a big plus.  She is also a great cook and likes to do that.  And she drives the motorhome.  

And we have gotten to see Adam and Kelly.  We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with them so that was good.  We miss them, but they are doing good and each have come through a tough times grieving the loss of Meghan last year. 

And in the last year, we continue to meet wonderful people who are doing the same thing we are ~ living in an RV.  We get to see so much and meet many great folks.  And we get to catch up with old friends and see them again after many many years.  (Like yesterday we met up with Dick and Julie whom we first met in 1983 when we all lived in Hawaii.) We could not do that if we weren't full timing.

So in year two ~ I'd say it is a little different than year one, and we are still loving it.  We feel blessed to be able to do this.  It is different than year one because we feel a lot more comfortable and the learning curve is not so steep.  We can always learn more but we are not as leery of 'what might go wrong' and how we would deal with it.

So there is my recap of Year 2 on the Road.  We are looking forward to Year 3.  Hope you are having a wonderful summer and Happy Father's Day.

Thanks for your interest and comments on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  We enjoy and appreciate them.
Until next time...