The days have sorta run together this past week.
We just continued our transition from the fifth wheel to the motorhome, and mixed in some social time along the way. Each day, we had a break away from all the walking back and forth and runs to the storage unit. That helped split up the constant moving of stuff and decision-making.
Monday
On Monday, I hung Linda's Swiffer and a couple other items from the ceiling in the trunk.
The trunk has gotten pretty full, but it's mostly lighter weight items that may be a little bulky.
Linda displayed her handyman ingenuity in a couple of modifications.
She removed a shelf in one of the lower kitchen cabinets (far left) ....
so that she could get her wine bottles in and turn it into her tiny liquor cabinet.
And she removed a wood piece between the upper and lower pantry cabinets to create space to place her taller bottles in one of the pull-out drawers.
Now that top drawer in the lower pantry cabinet will hold her cooking oil and other taller bottles.
Those little modifications made a big difference and made her quite happy.
The rest of the day, we continued to transfer some stuff and eliminate other stuff.
There's no place for our 17-foot ladder, and this rig doesn't have an attached ladder, so Linda ordered one of those telescoping ladders. This type of ladder wouldn't be my first choice, but it is light and compact and will suffice for our occasional needs.
I re-organized the trunk about four times, and then Linda handed me a couple small bins of cleaning supplies that wouldn't fit inside the coach. I found a place for them so they would be easy to get to.
We made good progress, and then got cleaned up for dinner.
We met Gary & Leesa and David & Dana (Rally alumni from several years back) at The Grill Room at the Mountain Falls Golf Club. It's a place you can get pretty good food consistently, and there is a great view of the mountains.
After dinner, we went bowling.
We were having a great time, but they closed at 9:00. So we went home and crashed.
Tuesday
This morning, we continued our transfer chore.
Then, in the afternoon, Deb and her daughter, Katie, came by for lunch. We ordered from the grill here at Nevada Treasure and ate out by the pool.
We met Deb at the Columbus RV Show in 2017, and she was out here with Katie on a photo shoot. Katie is a professional photographer (Kathryn Hyslop Photography) back in Pittsburg. They were visiting Death Valley, Red Rock Canyon, and Valley of Fire State Park, so Deb contacted us about getting together.
They graciously came to us after their morning visit to Death Valley. We had a nice lunch and chat and we answered a few questions about full-timing. Deb and here husband are anxious to get started.
That was a nice break this afternoon.
While Linda was showing Deb and Katie our two RVs, I took some photos of hummingbirds.
They are everywhere in this park.
After saying goodbye to Deb and Katie, we continued our transition.
Eventually, we messed with the bed. The prior owners had a two-inch foam topper that we took off. We wanted to try the Ideal Rest air-adjustable bed without it for a couple of nights.
The instructions are fairly straight-forward, but the bed didn't seem to cooperate.
Later, Bill & Kelly came by. Bill (RV Solar Solutions) is going to install our new solar system after the Rally, so we went over what we wanted and what would fit. Our space is certainly limited, but we can get three solar panels on the roof, and we have space for four batteries. We're getting four Lifeline 6-volt AGM batteries with total capacity of 440 amp hours, and the three panels should give us between 510 and 540 watts depending on which panels are available. So, we'll have less battery capacity but more solar than we had before.
We're also going with a 2000-watt Xantrex inverter/charger, a step down from out 3000-watt inverter, but a big step up from the limited 1,000-watt inverter that came with the Aspect. Of course, our power requirements will be less in this rig.
In the evening, we officially moved into the motorhome. I took my first shower in the Class C, and that wasn't a pleasant experience. It's a good thing I'm not any bigger than I am. It wasn't horrible, and I'll get used to it, but it's a far cry from what now seems like a luxury shower in the fifth wheel.
We called it an early night.
After waking up in a trench, we determined that the air controls on the bed were switched, and Linda's efforts to soften her side, put me in a hole. We're going to try the bed another night to see if we want to put the topper back on, but I've already decided that it won't be around long.
Wednesday
This morning, Linda and Leesa went into Vegas to get their nails done and have lunch while Gary and I played golf. It was a beautiful day.
The gals had fun and Gary and I enjoyed playing with a couple from Alaska. I had a pretty good round, but Gary showed off with a one-over 73. He's good .... and humble, and I really like playing with him.
Unfortunately, the pace of play was extremely slow and it took us nearly five and a half hours.
When I got back, many of the space savers that Linda ordered arrived, so she felt like she could make some progress on items she had been waiting to stow. Most of the day was gone, but we scrambled to do a little bit before walking over to have dinner with some of the couples already here for the Rally.
Linda, of Steve & Linda, made chili and cornbread and I devoured a couple bowls as we chatted with our hosts, and Jim & Glenda and Bill & Kelly.
We relaxed for a while, but then departed to get a little more work in before bedtime.
Before calling it a night, we re-adjusted the bed to see if that would help tonight. It helped a little.
Thursday
We had most everything transferred by now, but Linda's knees were killing her from going up and down two sets of steps for the last few days. She stayed in the motorhome, while I boxed up the last remaining items in the fifth wheel for her to go through.
I emptied the HUGE cabinet over the fifth wheel sink, and delivered an almost full storage bin to Linda. She found paring that down to be one of the overwhelming tasks for the day. She put a lot in the trash and some in a Goodwill bag, and the rest she was going to try to find a spot.
She also went through the box of stuff that I removed from the dining table chairs. Yep, even the chairs in the fifth wheel had storage and that's where we kept things like batteries, fuses, extension cords, and other "just in case" items.
I made sure every cabinet and drawer in the fifth wheel were emptied, and I made another run to Goodwill and the storage unit. With everything out of the Cambridge, we breathed a sigh of relief and it finally seemed the monumental task was almost complete.
Linda had purchased a replacement faucet for the kitchen sink, and Steve agreed to install it for her. So, he got that done and it made a huge difference.
With that going on, we got a call from Vernon Lambright of Lambright Comfort Chairs. We contacted him about replacing the dinette in the Aspect, and we've been working on a plan. But he really, really wants us to go back to Indiana so they can install it. Finally, he made us an offer we couldn't refuse, so it looks like we're going to make a long, fast roadtrip at the end of May before we make the trek back to begin our travels in the northwest this summer.
It really messes with our travel plans, but we're excited for the new theater seating with lots of bells and whistles, and it's really hard to say no to Vernon. He's one of the nicest people we've ever met, and he's taken really good care of us.
Plus, he honors a little coupon we offer to our readers when they buy direct from him (you have to print it out). Click on the one below to get a larger version.
We're looking forward to getting the new furniture and sharing the details down the road.
I took the truck to the storage unit and removed our Sea Eagle Foldcat and all its accessories. We think we're going to give it to Linda's sister so they can use it on their small lake.
Yikes, the storage unit is full. I should have taken a picture of that.
I also donated our bikes and bike rack to the local bike shop so he could clean them up a little and give them to someone that needs them more than we do. We certainly liked having our bikes when we were in the right places to use them, but for the little use we were getting out of them, they were becoming more of a pain than they were worth. There will be times we will miss them, but at this moment, I'm pretty relieved to not have to deal with them.
I went to the office to let them know we were ready to put the fifth wheel in storage and move the motorhome into the fifth wheel's spot. But the person that handles the storage area was out sick, and we'd have to wait until the next day.
In the evening, we walked over to Kelly & Bill's site where Bill made us cocktails and Kelly fed us a delicious pot roast she made in her Instant Pot. We had a very nice time getting to know them better as the skies darkened and it got cold outside.
With an early morning road-trip planned, we headed back to the motorhome before it got too late.
Friday
Okay, so, in the midst of all the chaos, I've been searching for a 4WD Jeep Liberty to tow behind the Winnebago. The Liberty model years 2002 - 2007 made towing four wheels down very easy, and we really like the body style and the short wheelbase. And they are capable off-road vehicles as well.
We considered other options as well, but I kept coming back to the Liberty. We had a 2003 (tree fell on it), a 2005 (230,000 miles), and our current 2WD model.
I found a 2003 Jeep Liberty Limited in southern California that looked great, has 4WD, AND is already set up for towing. It includes a Blue Ox baseplate, and a Roadmaster InvisiBrake Supplemental Braking System, both of which are installed and ready to go.
After texting and talking to the seller a couple of times, I was convinced it was a great deal and worth the four-hour drive to check it out. So, we got up at 5:00 a.m. and were on the road by 5:45 and headed to Norco, CA off of I-15 east of Los Angeles.
While Linda drove, I researched insurance options and made phone calls about getting it registered in Florida under our new mail forwarding address.
Here's what the county clerk told me. As a full-time RVer, we have to register the RV in Florida before we can get a Florida driver's license. We can register the motorhome by mail, but it will take us a month and a half to get the title, so we can't do it until all the paperwork from our recent purchase is complete.
So, my thought was we would register the Jeep instead 'cause I could get the title right away, and then we could get our Florida driver's licenses (we have to do that in person, so it would require a flight). But, no. They said we can't register another vehicle other than the RV before we get driver's licenses. Sheesh.
If we bought the Jeep today, we'd have to register it in Kentucky. That actually makes it easier, but it would require us to have to change it to Florida later. But it takes 6 - 8 weeks to get the Kentucky title. Anyway, I called Kentucky and they told me what I needed to register it by mail.
I also researched what was required on the California side to make sure we did that part correctly. That side was surprisingly easy.
As we got closer to Los Angeles the psycho southern Cal drivers showed up weaving in and out of traffic and missing our bumper by inches a few times. Linda was in too much shock to lean on the horn, not that it would have done any good, but it would have made me feel better.
Finally, we arrived. Craig is a mechanic that builds Jeeps as a hobby. He purchased the used Liberty a few years ago and replaced the shocks, struts, and several other parts. He had it set up to tow behind his Seneca Super C motorhome. But he prefers to have his Wrangler with him when he goes out, so the Jeep has been used very little and he has had it covered.
It's exactly the same color as the 2005.
We drove it around, and it drove better than the one we have. It's in fantastic shape for a 2003, and the price was definitely right. He had three other calls on it while we were there.
So, we bought it. We completed the paperwork, found a notary which was needed for the Kentucky forms, and we drove dueling Jeeps back to Pahrump. We got back just before 5:00.
But we couldn't rest, as we had to move the fifth wheel into storage. So, I disconnected utilities while Linda brought in the slides, and we put the truck and trailer in storage. The resort employee, Eddy, was with us to inspect the condition of our rig, and make sure we didn't damage any others. I removed the tire pressure monitoring sensors to put on the motorhome and toad. And we left our baby to wait for its new owners.
It took just a few minutes to move the Aspect into our site. Linda hit the automatic leveling, and it did its thing.
It had been hooked up to electric across the road, but now I was hooking up the water and sewer for the first time. That went well.
Set up was extremely easy.
Our gray tank sensor was showing full, so I took the opportunity to dump the gray tank using the funky pump system. It took a little while, but that worked just fine.
The rest of the evening, I moved items from the 2005 2WD Jeep to the 2003 4WD Jeep.
We walked up to the grill to introduce ourselves to some new arrivals, but we didn't stay long.
We were going to bed early tonight, but first I listed our other Jeep on Craigslist for the Las Vegas area. I'll list it on other sites shortly. I'm pretty sure I can sell it in a month.
Whew, that was a long, long day.
And it's been a long week. In the next post, I'll have photos of how the interior of the motorhome looks now. Linda has already made it look "homey". :)
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