Dealing with hot temperatures

Living in an RV full time is not quite the same as living in a house / apartment, or mobile home. These motorhomes are not insulated as much or as well.

We've noticed that since it's been around 30 - 34C (89 - 93F) lately, it's difficult to keep the RV cool inside. The A/C is running non-stop all day (set at 77F in the day; and 72F at night for easy sleeping). We decided to hang sheets around the front windshield (inside) in order to keep the sun's rays out. There are curtains that came with the RV, but they can only keep so much out.

We've looked at getting professional custom made windshield covers (http://www.rvtoystore.com/sunguardorder.html), but that's not in the budget for now.

I'm guessing it will be the same when October & November rolls around - we'll have to keep the heat on most of the day before we head out to Florida.

Updates at Braemar Valley Park

Well, we've been at Braemar Valley Park for over 2 months now, and time to update 'life in the RV'.

Just goes to show, if you wait long enough, you'll get things for dirt cheap, or even 'free'.

Someone in the park gave us this clothes dryer as they no longer wanted / needed it.

Same goes for a BBQ - we hummed and hawed about getting one (charcoal vs gas). It happens that I won one last Saturday night in a draw where you buy tickets and put them in a basket for a chance to win that prize. It's charcoal, and we don't mind one darned bit.

Observations

Driving back from Fort Lauderdale to Ontario has given me the opportunity to make a couple of observations about RV'ing:

In a car, you'd almost never pay attention to the height of these underpasses, but with an RV, makes you wonder. There has never been a close call that I can tell.

The height of the RV is just over 12' (air conditioning unit - black box seen here).

Cross winds make a big difference in how you control an RV - when you have trees on both sides of the highway, the winds are calmer (unless you're getting a head wind, of course).

When you have open an open field like this, expect stronger cross winds to affect how you steer the RV. Because you're so tall, it can cause a bit of rocking, or at least compensation on the steering.

Our RV has an 80 gallon (302 Litre) gas tank; we can travel non-stop for almost 600 miles (960 kms). When you have a toilet aboard, non-stop means non-stop.

In order to conserve fuel, we try to use the cruise control as much as possible; however, when going downhill (as long as it isn't too steep), cancel the cruise control because the engine will try to slow you down and downshifts, making a loud screaming noise. Save the energy and coast downhill.

It never ends......

There are a few motorhomes parked here that have so many accessories added on, and we found a great website that sells all these products - even "rooms" that you can ad. Check this out. Wish we could win the lottery right now and just buy all these things (toys). Our 'wish list' is getting longer each day.

http://www.shadepro.net/product/RV_Screen_Rooms/villa.html

System Overload

Along with the appliances that came with the RV (fridge, freezer, gas stove, micro / convection oven, we also brought our other kitchen appliances that we couldn't do without (rice maker, convection / toaster oven). We debated on selling the convection oven, but are currently using it for toasting as well as a convection oven for dinners. We bring it outside so it won't create extra heat inside the RV. We have rice on an almost daily basis, so it goes outside as well. It wasn't long before it tripped a breaker. Finding the fuse box was quite a challenge The directions from the manual are vague at best as to where to find the fuse boxes.

Ok - so we can't plug 2 kitchen appliances outside, so one goes out and one stays in. That works for a short while until it trips another circuit breaker. This time it was the power bar that we used outside.

Just when you think you've got it all figured out, it happens again. There are 2 outlets outside the RV in one of the storage areas; one is attached to the Xantrax power supply, and the other is on its own. The power bar had been plugged into the power supply outlet and it had tripped. So now the power bar is plugged into the other outlet. No more circuit breaker trip outs.

This is one of those things that they don't teach you - you learn as you go.

Items to buy in the near future

We've made a list of things that we (eventually) need / want to buy for the RV:

BBQ (so that we don't heat up the inside of the RV on those warm days)
Hot Spot (sort of like a router for the computer so that we can have our own internet wherever we go, can be shared amongst our 3 devices, even while on the road; this works through a cellphone carrier's signal)
Clothes dryer - you remember these, right?

Awning screen & straps - the morning sun can be quite strong and heats up the RV quickly. With this installed, it would help deflect some of that sunlight.

Beach chairs that you can carry as a pack sack

Scooter - an alternative to bicycles

Since we're on a tight budget, these items will not be bought for some time as they can be expensive.

You know you're retired when........

You know you're retired when you sit and wait through the wash and dry cycle  of laundry.

Friday March 8th 2013 - we finally made it after all!!!!

Friday March 8th - On the road by 7am; we cut across I-10 to Jacksonville, then I-95 southbound to Fort Lauderdale. We finally feel warmth from the sun while we drive. As we pull onto the exit ramp to Oakland Park Blvd, I roll the window down and hear a rattling noise from the back wheel.

There is a missing nut from the rim that fell off at some point in our travels. This is not the same rim that was on the tire with the impaled bolt.
We arrive at the camp resort by 1pm and start putting our stuff on the cement pad so that we can decide if things are going inside or outside the RV.

This was taken after the boxes were emptied out.

Thursday March 7th 2013

Thursday March 7th - On the road all day, trying to make arrangements to have the heater fixed, but no luck as we don't want to delay our arrival at our Florida site.
The route we had chosen is I69; I65 to Montgomery AL, then diagonally to I75 (Tifton, GA). This last stretch of road was a mistake as the roads are narrow and single lanes for most of the way to GA.
We try to make it half way into Florida, but it's late at night, getting very tired and have to pull over at an unknown exit. There's an empty lot where there are already 3 rigs parked for the night.

Wednesday March 6th 2013

Wednesday March 6th - we leave very early in the morning as the cold keeps us from sleeping in. The highways are still snow-packed and/or icy. We witness several accidents - more delays we hadn't anticipated.
We decide to camp out at a KOA in Bowling Green KY in order to get (electric) hookup and proper heat instead of relying on the propane and generator. A KOA employee notices that one of our tires is low. We dispatch a tire repair guy who removes the tire and produces a large bolt that had pierced the tire.

This tire is not repairable and will need to be replaced at a cost of $500.00 USD - and it's only 2 days into our travels.

Tuesday March 5th 2013 - Fort Lauderdale or bust

Tuesday March 5th - we get dropped off at the dealership by our friend, Tim. We re-arrange the boxes we dropped off last night. Next comes the one-hour training, which seemed like it was sufficient, as we don't really know what to ask. This is our first RV, after all.
I had anticipated a lengthy inspection at the border, but we were only asked the following questions:

Where are you from? (Toronto)

Where are you going? (Fort Lauderdale)

Is there a campsite there? (Yes)

Do you have any money over $10,000.00? (No)

Do you have any meats? pork / lamb (No)

Do you have any fruits and vegetables? (No)

How long are you planning to be away? (Until April 30th)

What do you do for a living? (retired)

What did you do at your last job? 

We stop at a Rest Area in Angola IN for the night as it started snowing.

We experienced problems with the propane powered heater, then the generator powered heater, so we nearly froze.

Moving Day - a very long day.

Monday March 4th was a day of being behind schedule all day long; from renting the U-Haul truck, to running overtime with the elevator, delivering the mirror in Kitchener, loading the RV (at the dealership) after hours, delivering the rest of our stuff that didn't sell at our friend's place, and crashing at our other friend's place for the night. We left the car behind at the Woodstock campsite so that we could leave from the RV dealership on Tuesday, after the training.

The apartment looks quite empty now as stuff has been sold, boxed up, or put in storage. This is the living room with the wall unit (still not sold at $300.00), but the dresser just sold for $260.00 to a neighbour on the 5th floor, and the tv has also been sold and will be delivered in London on Monday.

A lonely chair is all we have to use as a dining area. The mirror has been sold and will be delivered n Kitchener on Monday as well.

The spare bedroom is now a storage area for boxes (and my bike) that will go in the RV.

The walk-in storage closet is practically empty. There used to be a shelving unit packed with stuff. No more. The racking is now at our friend's storage locker in the lower level of his condo.

The Toronto International RV Show http://www.torontointernationalrvshow.ca/ - today we went there (near the airport) to check it out. There was a fairly good selection of campers, trailers, fifth wheel, but not very many motorhomes. The ones that were there were too big, but it was nice to compare. Rick was somewhat disappointed with the number of motorhomes, but I thought it was a good time, regardless. The entry fee for yesterday and today was $6.00 (half price). We made the right choice with the RV that we bought - size, make, model, price. We're happy and can't wait to load it up on Monday and leave for Florida on Tuesday.

Up until this morning, we still had 4 pieces of (large) furniture that we hadn't sold yet and would have dropped off in London at Rick's friend (Harry's) place for him to sell for us. This would have meant the 10' U-Haul would have been pretty tight with our stuff. As of this afternoon, someone bought Rick's old dresser for $50.00.

A neighbour in our building had seen my dresser a few weeks back and was interested in buying it, but the price was too high for her. I texted her this afternoon and asked her how much she was able to afford, and we settled on a price. She also expressed interest in looking at the sofa and wall unit. Boy, talk about last minute sales!!

Ok - so I've got a route all mapped out for the big trip on Tuesday. We'll leave the RV campsite in Woodstock, once we drop off the car for storage while we're in Fort Lauderdale until April 30th. We'll cross at the Sarnia / Port Huron border crossing and head Westward, then South towards Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Burmingham and Montgomery before we head into Florida. This route will assure that we'll miss most of the mountains and hills of the Appalachians. When you have a vehicle that only gets 8 miles to the gallon, every hill counts. I also planned where we would park the rv at rest areas so that we can get a few hours of sleep. This is not written in stone, and can change, but at least we have some sort of backup plan. For all we know, we may end up staying in a WalMart parking lot on one of those nights.

These past 2 or so weeks, we have been bored as we packed so much stuff without leaving us sans the day-to-day necessities. Now that we're getting down to the wire, we have a few things to do from our list that's keeping us busier. I have been volunteering at Hassle Free Clinic for the past 4 months or so, and tomorrow is my last shift (10am - 3pm). I'm going to miss the people there and also helping out people as best as I can.
We have some poly filler to plug the holes in the walls - they will paint once we're gone.
We've already made a couple of trips to our storage locker (our friend's' condo locker), and will need to make at least one more trip with Rick's Summer tires. He will change them once we get back in May. There's a bunch of small items that haven't sold that we think might sell at a yard sale this Summer.
On Sunday, we plan to cook the turkey we have in the big freezer - that way, we'll be able to make quick meals while we're on the road to Florida Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday.
On Monday, we have 4 drop-offs to make: Kitchener - we sold the large mirror and promised to deliver it; next is the camp site to drop off the gym equipment; then the RV dealer to put all of our belongings inside to get ready for Tuesday's trip, and finally at Harry's place (Rick's friend) to drop off Rick's tv, bed frame, the big freezer, a plant he once gave us and a few smaller items. We'll drop off the U-Haul at a location in London, stay at friends' place (Tim & Ejaz) on Monday night, then first thing Tuesday, we get our training on the RV, then on the road we go - hopefully by noon.

Well here we are, getting closer to the date - we've had a couple of 'open house' sales, but we still have 4 large items to sell: 2 dressers, a wall unit and the couch. We've reduced the prices on everything as low as we can go; I guess it's a bad time of year to try to sell stuff. We'll bring what doesn't sell to our friend, Harry's place in London, and he'll try to sell this from there. There is a bit of small items that we'll put in storage until we get back - I'm sure we can sell these items at a yard sale this Summer.
We have been to the banks a few times working out our finances for the RV. Thankfully, we started this early enough and gave the RV dealer lots of time to get our motorhome ready when we pick it up.
We found ourselves being bored lately as most of our belongings have been packed for a while now. It has been too cold to venture out for long walks up until a couple of days ago. Another large storm is upon us tonight, tomorrow and Thursday morning: rain, heavy snow and wind, so we'll likely be housebound again until it's' over. Hopefully there won't be any storms the day we leave.
We have mapped out our trip to try to avoid the Apalachians this time, going through: Indianapolis, Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery, then through some local roads to cut through to I75 in GA, then in FL across I10 to Jacksonville, and finally to I95 all the way South to Fort Lauderdale.

The kitchen was our target today: sort through (and clean) the cupboards - what do we keep, what do we sell, what do we give away, what goes in the RV? Decisions, decisions! We found some glassware and bakeware that we can try to sell tomorrow. 5 boxes got packed and the cupboards are half empty.

Looking forward to our open house content sale tomorrow. Hopefully it will be more fruitful than last Saturday.

Now that we have secured a place to stay in Fort Lauderdale (Sunshine Holiday MHCC Resort) for 7 weeks (March 11th - April 30th); I am still comparing other places in the area. Our friends from Toronto and Kentucky who are currently still visiting in Fort Lauderdale have dropped by 3 places that are nearby their place, and have told me that Sunshine Holiday is the best choice of the 3. Last night, I found another one, which is further South, near the airport. When I called them to inquire about the 'seasonal rate' (mid November to end of April) I was told $7000.00. I nearly fell off the couch! That's more than double what they charge at Sunshine Holiday for the same dates. The RV pads there must be made of marble or something!!

On Tuesday this past week, we drove out to Woodstock to: check out the Post Office and fill out a 'mail redirection' form (our apartment to the campsite North of Woodstock) to start delivery on March 4th; then they directed us to the mail sorting plant there to see about obtaining a physical PO box at the campground. We had seen the old green style mailboxes at the campsite when we went to check out the place a few weeks ago. We also went to Canadian Tire, No Frills, Food Basics and brought some empty boxes back home so that we can do some more packing. All packed boxes are labelled with the contents, and indicated whether they are for 'storage' or 'RV'.
We have already packed several boxes as there are lots of things that we don't use because they are 'seasonal', or because we bought large quantities when it was on sale (cereal, salad dressing, etc).

Having an 'Open House' this Sunday between 1pm - 4pm for our second content sale. Last weekend was on Saturday and was only advertised in the mail room and laundry room (in our building) on Friday, so it didn't give people a lot of advanced warning. I advertised each item on Craigslist as well as advertised a Content Sale. I expect this one will go better than last Saturday's. We still have a couple of large items to sell, like: dressers, shelf unit, sofa, computer table and other smaller items. We don't really care if it all goes and only have a mattress to sleep on, we'll put everything in boxes to go either in the RV or in storage.

We thought we would advertise a 'content sale' in our building for the next few Saturdays to see if we can sell our wares locally as well as through Craigslist. Here's what will be posted on the list. (These prices will drop as we get closer to March if they are still around).

CONTENT SALE - UNIT # 804 

OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY 1PM - 4PM

We are moving, and we are selling all our furniture and contents including:

Dimensions are: Length x width x height

• Teak couch - 3 years old $1000.00 (paid almost $3000.00) fabric is Belisario sable
• Double size mattress (no frame)
• Shelf unit with 4 drawers, dimensions: 64” x 14” x 64” $800.00
• Apple Mac desktop computer 21.5” - 2 years old $1200.00
• Delonghi portable Heater $25.00 (like new)
• Ironing board $5.00 (as is)
• 1 Large mirror with wood border size: 43” x 81” x 2.25” $300.00
• 2 Pantry cabinets size: 30” x 16” x 72” $ 75.00 for the pair
• Twin size ‘Bring your own bed’ for camping or extra guests at home $40.00
• Apex 20” TV with remote - not used a lot. In great shape $50.00
• Sharp DVD player $30.00
• Deacon’s Bench 45” x 19” x 27” with storage. $175.00
• Kenmore humidifier (like new in box, but used) $30.00
• 4 Drawer dresser $75.00
• Bedroom Dresser (8 drawer) like new 61” x 17” x 35” with mirror 39” high $450.00
• Queen size bed frame to match - like new (no mattress) $175.00
• Long curved entry or side table $150.00
• iPod/iPhone stereo system $75.00
• binoculars, jigsaw puzzles, bicycle seats, boot & shoe racks, battery chargers, cameras, 2 wooden stools, wine rack, window fan, air purifier, wall timers, 

I have decided to go through my clothes this morning; since I am no longer working, I don't need all these shirts and pants.

Luckily, there is a men's shelter right next door, so I don't  have to go far to donate them. I will wait until March, just before we leave, to give the (26) short sleeve shirts away. There are 20 long-sleeve shirts and one coat that has my former employer's logo on it. I want no memories of them, thank you!

I am keeping a half dozen of each short sleeve and long sleeve shirts. More purging as we go along.

Today we drove out to Braemar Valley Park (Woodstock ON) to check out the sites for RV's. We met Tina and Adrian who were very accomodating to us. We put a down payment on lot # 71 which had a cement pad and a picnic table. They already have a 'fitness' room, but they agreed to let us bring our gym equipment to their site. I'm just ecstatic about not having to sell it and save money by not going at the gym in Woodstock.

Then we went to the RV dealer in Thorndale to take measurements of all cabinets, drawers and storage  compartments. Now we are armed with the information we need to see what will and what won't fit in the RV.

Nothing sold today, but a couple came over to check out our shelving unit. It was out of their budget, so if it doesn't sell between now and March 7th, we would keep them in mind and sell at a reduced price just to get rid of it.

We're finding more stuff to post on Craigslist. I'm getting lots of inquiries and people are inquiring as to when they can come over to see or buy things. I'm finding a bit difficult to keep track of who is emailing about what and when they are coming over, so I am putting their name and time of visit on our Excel spreadsheet that we created for our stuff.
Tomorrow we go visit the 'Adult only' campsite outside of Woodstock - I'm looking forward to that. Since we're that close to London (Thorndale), we might as well go see our rv and take measurements of storage spaces, cabinets and cupboards, so that we can better plan what will fit and what won't fit in the motorhome. I'm gathering a bunch of clothes that I will be donating to the men's shelter next door. I won't need all these clothes now that I'm 'retired' and not spending winters in Canada anymore. (I will probably put my parka in storage for a bit though, along with my sewing machine and other small things.)

Getting started

I listed 30 items individually on Craigslist in the past 3 days; we sold 5 items so far. Very time consuming, but I think it will draw more people this way. We gave our notice to move out by mid March, but we will likely leave the week before, to head down to Fort Lauderdale until April 30th.
We are going to a campsite North of Woodstock on Saturday to check out an 'adults only' campground. If we like it enough, we will give them a deposit to 'live' there from May to end of October. The rv would stay put while we cycle into town to go to the gym and get groceries. We figure it'll take about 40 minutes to cycle there. So, who cares if it takes 40 minutes, what else will we have to do to pass time? Well, maybe have a nap or two. Here's the campground website: Braemar Valley Park. This is the rv we bought:  .Winnebago Sunstar Itasca 27N (its the 27N model). Very nice, I may add.