Yesterday I made my third trip to the fiver in NH.  Jett made her second.  The dogs made their first.  Yes, we introduced the pups to the fiver.  Grace took to it like she owned it and even decided that the floor of the closet was a good place to curl up while we cleaned the place.  Cha-Cha was more hesitant and seems to have not yet decided whether he likes it.  But the good news is that both made it up and down the metal stairs without assistance, which will reduce the pressure on me to build a staircase or ramp.  Even Jett seems to be relatively comfortable with getting in an out. She likes the big handle at the edge of the door that she can hang onto as she navigates the steps.

She is less enamored with the screen door.  It has a little sliding plexiglass door at the handle that has to be slid back to open from the inside, but is difficult to close again once outside.  I suspect that we will learn to close it before exiting.

What did we accomplish yesterday?  Besides cleaning the place and introducing the dogs to our new home, we also:

• Set up (and tore down) the screen room.  It is larger than I expected – 10 x 10 – and in good shape.  It is somewhat tricky to assemble, but, like most things, I will get better at it with practice.
• Set up the cable box. We now have DirecTV in all three rooms.  I discovered (and this really shouldn’t have been a surprise), but we can tune just one channel at a time.  So we can watch the same program in any room.  And to change the channel in the living room I need to go into the bedroom.  Not ideal, but tolerable.  We expect that the kids will mostly watch DVDs and we expect to have DVD capability in all 3 rooms.
• Weighed the contents of the basement.  We are trying to keep a running tally of all the cargo that will be carried and the first step was to compute the weight of the “extras” that came with the unit – screen house, levelers, etc.  Not much cargo yet – maybe 100lbs total so far.

Things we haven’t done yet: sleep in the bed, cook any meals, try the freezer, take a shower, empty the holding tanks for the second bath.  And we haven’t heard back yet from Ron about the platform.  Those will all be things on the agenda for next weekend.

We haven’t had much fun yet, either.  But we will.

Yup, we have our fiver on our campsite.  It wasn’t easy, but what do I care?  I didn’t do the hard work.

Saturday turned out to be pretty crappy, weather-wise, which meant that both of the other major activities of the day – Jett’s huge yard sale and my softball games – were cancelled.  So, with those impediments out of the way, I was able to arrange for an earlier meeting with Bill the Tow Guy.  I got to the campground at 10:30am (instead of the previously-arranged 1pm).  He didn’t arrive until 11am but that was ok – it gave me a chance to meet the hosts and a few of my new neighbors.

The campground is owned and operated by Les and Nancy.  Nancy handles the business side and Les does maintenance, just as Jett and I would split our duties if we take on camp host jobs next year.  They assured me that the campsite was ready and waiting. They had recently upgraded the electrical to 50 amps, which turned out to be a good thing as I discovered that our coach had only 50 amp and 20 amp connectors (note to self: get a 30 amp adapter).

Les had just finished his other job (or, as Nancy put it, his “fun job”) the day before.  Both would work the campground full-time for the season.

Les, along with site #3 neighbor Ron, admired my truck.  I think Les’ exact words were “Now THAT’S a truck!”  There were many kudos for the tires, which surprised me.  Apparently both the rims and the tires were, in their eyes, special: the rims being a high-quality aluminum and steel pair and the tires being extra wide.  I took a look at Les’s dually and, sure enough, my tires were wider than his.  Better traction and higher replacement cost, I suppose.

When Bill arrived I immediately grabbed my little bag of goodies (containing, most importantly, the license plate for the fiver and some tools to attach it) and off we went.  The trip to Tyngsboro was uneventful, but I learned a lot about Bill, his business and his health.  For example: Bill had had 9 heart attacks and a stroke since 1996.  My response: “but none today, right?”  Always the sympathetic one.  I just flashed on a vision of Bill slumped over the wheel and me, in the co-pilot seat, trying desperately to prevent my new pride and joy from being transformed into a ruin. And crushing me in the process.

But Bill had no heart attack on this trip.

His business consisted of leasing travel trailers and hauling them to/from campsites.  He and his wife owned 20 trailers which, in his view, was the right number.  He said they had had as many as 25 but found that with more than 20 they had to hire help.  And no motorhomes.  “Too much trouble and too expensive.”

The Open Range was still in Daryl’s driveway when we arrived.  Bill immediately backed the truck into position and, on his first try, snagged the fiver’s pin with the hitch with a loud clang.  Daryl was impressed.  “He’s a pro!”

I immediately attached the plate and then did a quick walk-around to make sure everything was ready to go.  Turns out I should have locked the cargo doors as one swung open as we pulled onto the Route 3 expressway.  But no big deal.  Bill finished hooking up the electrical tow connection and with a handshake to Daryl, off we went.

The return trip, excepting the cargo door, was also uneventful.  Bill took the shortest route, up NH 43, which I intended to avoid in September because it is narrow, hilly and has one hairpin turn.  But Bill handled it with aplomb.  He had to swing wide on the hairpin, but his view is “take the space you need; others will get out of your way.”

I got some good advice on hauling the fiver.  On adjusting the electrical brakes, he said that just using the fiver’s brakes should slow the truck, but not stop it.  On using the “tow” setting on the gear shift stalk: “I don’t like it and never use it.”  On whether I should keep below 65mph: (with a glance at his speedometer) “I am going 67 now.”

The struggle to get the fiver backed into site #7 attracted a cadre of helpers, gawkers and well-wishers.  Getting the unit threaded between the trees on the narrow approach was difficult, but the only real problem arose at the top of the hill when the fiver leveled out and the truck was still on the incline.  At that point the tail of the truck made contact with the nose stabilizer bars and the truck lost.  There was a loud clang as the left top rear edge of the truck slid off the bar, breaking a small piece of plastic off the truck edge in the process.  Bill cautiously moved the truck forward, Ron removed the bar, giving the truck a couple of critical inches of room, and Bill tried again.  This time the edge of the truck made contact with the underside of the fiver’s nose, but the covering was vinyl and had some give.  The journey was completed with no further damage to either vehicle.

Here is a photo of the back-in adventure, with Ron providing direction.

I spent a couple of hours getting everything hooked up, taking measurements (Jett wants to build a 12×16′ deck, which is entirely feasible – at least until we find out how much it will cost), and figuring out how to hook up the utilities.  The electrical connection was a breeze, but the sewer connection was not: Ron had to dig out an extra plastic adapter to make it work.  Even then, it wasn’t totally secure.  Les says it needs a “donut” – whatever that is.  He said he would take care of it for me this week.

I like people who take care of stuff for me.

I gave Ron and his wife Sheena a tour of the unit once I got the slides out.  Ron continued to be helpful, showing me where the circuit breakers were located and helping me figure out how to operate the roof vents.  Sheena loved the unit (watch out, Ron – you may have an expensive upgrade in your future).  I also showed it off to the three tent campers from the site above ours (two women and a man… hmmmm).  They also loved it.

Everyone loves it.  Including me.

I tried the bed out (which, you would think, I would have done before buying it, but you would be wrong).  It was bouncier than I expected.  Not air mattress bouncy, but definitely more rubbery than our current mattress.  Hopefully we will get use to it, but I am pretty sure that Jett will add an extra layer of foam before we move in.

I also tested the water heater – another thing I should have done before buying – and fortunately it worked.

I was smart enough to shut off the water and the water heater, pull in the awning and lock the doors before I left.  I chatted with Nancy for a few moments (the cable will be ready next weekend), then off I went.

A very successful day.

Oh – and I called Jett to tell her that the Eagle has landed.

We take possession of the fifth wheel tomorrow and we are very excited. Tomorrow is just a moving day – I will ride with the driver to get the fiver up to NH while Jett is running a yard sale. Then on Sunday we will probably cart a load of stuff up there and begin making it our own. The first overnight probably won’t happen for a week or two.

Speaking of yard sales… do you have any idea how much CRAP can be accumulated when you have a house big enough to store it?  I truly think that our driveway will not be able to hold it all.  I hope we can get rid of a ton or two tomorrow.

I’m getting a bit frantic. So much to do, so little time! The home repairs are taking longer than expected, the To Do list keeps growing and weekend time is going to be in short supply once we take possession of the fiver in NH – just a few days from now.

Can I clone myself?

Today I learned the value of reconnoitering.  I am in Tillamook, Oregon, visiting my darling 88-year-old mother and my almost-as-darling something-something-year-old sister. Tillamook is an important intermediate destination of our 100-day westward wandering: we have to be in Tillmook for Thanksgiving 2012 and will be staying a week.  I had tentatively planned on staying at what I thought was the closest RV park: the Tillamook Bay City RV Park. I wasn’t expecting much in the way of scenery or amenities, but since we were visiting family all we really needed was a place to sleep and a chance to escape from the non-stop Euchre games.  But since I was here – and, truth be told, there isn’t much to do in Tillamook to amuse one’s self unless you like to nibble on cheese – when my sister offered to escort me on a tour of the local RV parks I quickly jumped at the opportunity.

My short list of RV parks for the Tillamook week also included the Harborview RV Park in Garibaldi and the Pleasant Valley RV Park just south of Tillamook. I liked the Garibaldi park based on its location on the bay in downtown Garibaldi. I had visions of Jett and me, at the end of a long day with family, walking across the street to a fine restaurant. But it was about 20 minutes from my sister’s house.

The Pleasant Valley park was a smidge closer, but had very little to offer otherwise.  Its only real advantage was that it would cut off a few miles when we headed south to California.

Ok, I wasn’t real serious about the Pleasant Valley option. But it was an option and I might as well take a look.

But my sister and her husband scoffed at all three parks. They said I needed to check out the Wilson River RV Park (which was actually the park closest to Tillamook and their home) and the Netarts Bay RV Park which, they said, had the most spectacular bay view.

So we went to see both.

It was a beautiful day in Tillamook.  Apparently that is about as rare as a liberal Republican, so it was a great day to do a regional tour. Because it was closest we hit the Wilson River site first. It is small – maybe 100 sites arranged along the banks of the Wilson River. Salmon come up the Wilson during spawning season, so this campground is very popular with fisher people during the salmon runs. We encountered the park manager along the entry road, shirtless and toiling in the sun. He was very pleasant and assured us that they could accommodate us at Thanksgiving time and that dogs were very welcome. That satisfied me, so we toured the grounds a bit. It struck me as a friendly and comfortable place.

Wilson River RV Park

We then traversed Tillamook (a 4-minute exercise) and drove to the coast – Netarts Bay, to be specific.  We found the Netarts Bay RV Park tucked away along the shore of the bay.  It did, indeed, have a spectacular view of the Pacific.  We were again assured that our big rig could be accommodated and that dogs were very welcome.

Netarts Bay RV Park

So we now have two good choices for the week in November. And neither of them were on the short list I had when I arrived. This is the value of reconnoitering.

Getting the RV registered proved to be a bit of a hassle. My first trip to the Registry of Motor Vehicles was aborted because Jett had to be there, too.  The second trip was aborted because the insurance agent hadn’t signed and stamped the application.  A phone call to the agent taught me something (which doesn’t happen often now that I have reached the Age of Wisdom): the liability insurance for the RV/trailer is carried by the insurer of the tow vehicle (aka Big Red Truck), not the insurer of the RV itself.  A trip to the agent who insures the truck got the application signed and stamped. He also, thankfully, caught and corrected some other errors on the application that would have aborted my third trip.  But with his revised, stamped and signed application in hand, our third trip to the RMV proved to be the charm.  We now have a fully insured and registered rig.

And we have made arrangements to get the RV onto the Saddleback camp site.  It will happen the afternoon of Saturday, May 5.  We probably won’t stay in it that night, but shortly thereafter we will have our first night in our new home on wheels.

I sure hope the bed is comfortable.

Today I spent 90 minutes in a meeting in which the company strategists laid out their plans for the company’s product line for the coming year.  I tried to pay attention.  Really, I did.  But I found my mind wandering to thoughts of driving a big rig across the country.  After all, I have absolutely no intention of participating in the development of those products.  I’m just puttin’ in my time.  Like a convict nearing the end of a long sentence, I am counting the days until my release.  Or, more accurately, I am counting weeks.  The current count is 20.6.  I now mentally click off another tenth of a week each day at lunch, and again when I get on the elevator to leave the office.  At the end of this week the counter will have clicked down to 20 weeks.  100 days.

Maybe next week I will be counting the days.

While the count is getting low enough to get exciting, it is also increasing the pressure to get things done.  That master bedroom still isn’t completely painted and I haven’t even started on the first floor.  There is still a myriad of other tasks to complete.  Weekends will largely be spent in New Hampshire once we get the coach moved onto the campsite – just four weeks from now!  That is both exciting and scary.  Where will I find the time to get all the work done if weekends are spent away from the house?

I had better get cracking… my time here is nearly up.

One of the most time-consuming preparatory tasks is getting the laptops set up for full-timing.  Jett has had a laptop for over a year and hers will be easily prepped for travel.  In her case it is largely a matter of switching her one comcast.net email account over to the ourwanderyears.com domain.  And maybe some work getting the backup procedure tweaked.  But nothing major.

I, on the other hand, have purchased a new laptop and intend to move everything over from my desktop machine to the laptop.  This is a HUGE amount of work.  Besides email addresses (at least 5 of ’em) and backup, I also have numerous applications (e.g. photo editor, Skype, tax software, Quicken, etc.) that need to be reinstalled and files brought over.  The file issue I will address by moving them to a portable hard disk, then moving the disk to the laptop.  But reinstalling applications will take a lot of time.

I have been fairly smart, I think, in dealing with email addresses.  A couple of months ago I changed my Outlook rules so that emails would be sorted into different bins depending on which email account they were addressed to.  Today I set up an email client on the laptop and configured all of the ourwanderyears.com accounts to be received there, then removed those accounts from Outlook on the desktop.  So I now have the desktop only receiving emails for accounts that will be closed by September.  Any email that appears there is a de facto notice of a need to correct somebody’s address book. Except, of course, for those people and companies that I don’t want to follow me when I leave.

You know who you are.

As a member of the Escapees “Class of 2012” I have been reading with great interest (and envy) the detailed reports of those who are preceding us in throwing it all away and hitting the open road.  Their experience seems to match ours pretty closely so far – great anticipation, lots of planning and huge gobs of work in cleaning out the house.  Some have clearly sacrificed a lot to get away sooner rather than later.  One couple recently announced, with undisguised glee, that “our realtor will buy our house.” I find it hard to believe that a realtor would pay top dollar for any property – they are more interested in turning a quick profit.  How many thousands (tens of thousands?) did they sacrifice so that they could depart sooner rather than later?

Which reminds me… I had better repost that rental ad.

Maybe I will knock off another $100 per month so that I can leave sooner rather than later.