A busy couple of weeks in Charleston, then time to move north

Between searching for a vehicle for Nicolas to use to move to Norfolk, getting his apartment packed up, emptied and cleaned, we managed to also get a few things done.  Tom and I picked strawberries one morning and I made another pie for Nicolas.

I even did a little bit of sewing on the weekend, too.  I’m doing a camper block of the month (BOM) with my “RV Quilters” facebook group, and we began with Block 1 in April.

I also made a little wool project for Nicolas’ neighbor to thank her for “adopting” Nicolas while he’s been in Charleston.

I made it into a small runner, and also gave her a framed picture of Nicolas from his Prototype Graduation.

On the Saturday before we left, Nicolas took the 4 of us – his parents and his “Charleston parents” – out to dinner.  He’s such a good boy!

We had given up on finding a truck down there, but then one day while we were walking around the campground loop, a truck drove in with a “For Sale” sign in the window.  We couldn’t believe it – it was just what Nicolas was looking for, although a little newer and with a few more options than he really needed.

He mulled it over for a few days, and then decided to go for it, and agreed to pay what they were asking.  In the course of negotiating the deal, though – we needed to take action pretty quickly – the guy decided that he didn’t want to sell the truck!  We were stunned . . . and found ourselves back to searching for a temporary vehicle that would get all of his stuff to Norfolk, and that he could later trade in on a truck!

We finally found something on Friday, and although it’s not pretty, and definitely not cool (he would NOT let me take a picture of it!), it holds everything he needs to move, and it should get him where he’s going.

We loaded up all his worldly belongings, moved what he needed to his new temporary house, and cleaned out the apartment.  By Monday afternoon, we were done . . . and rewarded ourselves by going to the new Fast & Furious movie.  We were surprised to find that the theatre had been renovated with new reclining seats . . . nice way to watch a movie!

On Tuesday morning we got up with Nicolas and said our good-byes as he left for work.  We hated leaving him – we had hoped to be able to help him with his move to Norfolk – but he still needed to finish up in Charleston, and we had a rally to get to.  We’ll see him in a few weeks!

We loaded up our new co-pilot,

and started our journey north.

It was a beautiful day to travel,

and we all did fine . . . including Casey!

Meanwhile back in Michigan, Bryce is finishing up his freshman year at Michigan State and was inducted into the Kinesiology Fraternity over the weekend.

I’m glad to see he’s enjoying school . . . and getting good grades, too!

Making lots of new friends, too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll be seeing him again soon . . . and need to find him a car, too!  I think May is going to be a pretty busy month, too!

Leaving Georgia–continuing north

After our busy weekend exploring the Savannah area, we were ready for a couple of laid-back days around the campground before our move to South Carolina.

We spent lots of time visiting with our neighbors, I did a little bit of sewing with the fabric I picked up in Savannah, and we went for a couple walks around the lake in the back of the campground.

There’s a family of Mallards that lives on the little lake,

as well as this one white duck that the seasonal campers call Aflac.

The campground rents canoes, and allows catch & release fishing on the lake.  Our neighbors went out a few times, and they said they saw quite a few fish.

There’s a short hiking path around the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It doesn’t go all the way around though, since the far end of the lake is in somebody else’s backyard.

From the opposite side, we could see the backs of the RVs parked along the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s quite a pretty little lake.

 

Back at the dock, one of the campers had brought some bread for Aflac.  When she wasn’t looking and talking to us, the duck reached up and grabbed the rest of the bread right out of her hand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later, she was being chased by the family of mallards.

We wrapped up our stay at Whispering Pines on Monday. FYI – This little RV Park is a great location for exploring Savannah and Tybee; probably Hilton Head, too – exit 109 off I-95.  Nearby Rincon, GA has just about everything you need for shopping -- including Walmart, Publix and Kroger.  In our case, it was the only campground in the area that had sites available for the week!

On Tuesday, we made our way north to Charleston, and met Nicolas at the Foster Creek campground on the Navy Base.  We got set up on our site for the next 2 weeks,

and went with Nicolas to meet the person who was buying his car.

It’s been a great car for him, and would have been a good one for Bryce, too, but Nicolas got his asking price, and he really couldn’t turn that down.  So, we said good-bye to Nick’s car and he’ll use our Jeep to go to work the next couple weeks while we search for something he can use to move his stuff to Virginia, and then up to Michigan for leave.

That kept Tom pretty busy this week while I worked, and we also managed to get Casey a haircut,

and celebrate Easter with Nicolas (although with him on the midnights shift this week, he slept most of the day!)

HAPPY EASTER to all of our family and friends around the country!  Happy Spring!

Looking back at 2016

2016 was our fourth full year of fulltiming, and marked our last year as a “fulltiming family”.  Like the years before, it was filled with making new friends, meeting up with old friends, and plenty of new adventures. 

Casey stopped travelling with us in January, when she moved into the apartment with Nick.   I wasn’t sure how she’d feel about the change, but she has adapted well to his schedule, and seems to really enjoy living with him (he spoils her!) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryce was with us for most of the year, but then in August, he moved into the dorms at Michigan State University, and we were officially empty-nesters.

We did, however, pick up a travelling guest for several weeks when we introduced Tom’s Dad to the fulltime lifestyle. 

I think he gained a new appreciation for our lifestyle, and he also got to see some new sights (6 states) and spend some time with Nicolas.

Nicolas was still in Charleston this year for his nuclear power training, and we were really pleased that our flexible lifestyle allowed us stay near enough to him that he was able to spend several of his 4-day weekends with us,

 

and also stay with us during the evacuation for Hurricane Matthew.

Travel Recap

After travelling to Michigan (without the motorhome) with Nicolas for Christmas, and then getting him settled into his new apartment, we headed south into Florida, criss-crossing the state,

and hitting every coast – the Atlantic, the Gulf, and the Panhandle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Spring arrived (or, when we thought it should have arrived – WRONG!), we travelled north to have some issues addressed on the motorhome at ARG (a.k.a. Monaco) in Decatur, IN.  On the down side, we had freezing temperatures and 3” of snow; on the upside, we found our new tow vehicle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent the late spring and summer in Michigan, and in the fall we travelled east and south to add a couple new states  (Pennsylvania and Virginia) to our map on the way to South Carolina.

We stayed in 30 campgrounds over the course of the year, including 4-1/2 months at our workamping location in Michigan, Silver Creek RV Resort,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

where we had plenty of opportunities to take the Jeep out on the sand dunes,

and 2-1/2 months at our volunteer site at the Santee National Wildlife Refuge.

We visited (5) new National Park properties, most of them in the fall with Tom’s Dad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Financial Recap

We travelled a total of 5689 miles in the motorhome, and consumed 764 gallons of diesel (averaging 7.45 mpg) at a total cost of $1753 for a cost per mile of 31 cents.  Not too bad!  We were stationary for 7 months of the year (workamping and volunteering) and the motorhome does not move at all when we’re stationary, unlike the truck which would still occasionally get driven, even though we had the car.  We did have several days (both in the spring and the fall) when we needed to use the aquahot system for heat, which used diesel, but didn’t seem to have an appreciable effect on our diesel usage.

We spent a total of $4931 on campground fees during the year, which when averaged over 12 months, comes to $411/month.  When we remove the 7 months that we were workamping or volunteering, the monthly average cost becomes $986.  This is considerably higher, but that’s one of the benefits of workamping and volunteering – keeping your overall campground fees down so that you can stay wherever you want the rest of the year.

Our total expenses for the year, with major expenses disregarded (Jeep purchase, Roth IRA contributions, and Bryce’s college expenses) came to just under $36,000, or $3000/month.  We have no debt on the motorhome or Jeep, since I’m still working our health insurance is provided by my employer, and we have money set aside for college so that does not factor into our standard expenses.

We’re pretty happy with this amount – it’s right in line with our budget, and it is reduced from the previous years’ expenses when there were 4 of us, and we were covering more miles.  The upcoming year will be the real test, now that it just Tom and I (although we’ll have Bryce back for a few months in the summer).  I’ve already noticed a decline in our grocery expenses!

Emotional Recap

We’re still loving this life!  We’re having fun, meeting lots of like-minded people, catching up with friends we’ve met over the years, and we’re able to be where we need to be when we need to be there to support our sons as they begin to build their own adult lives.  Some might say we’ve deserted them, but I don’t agree at all.  We’ve raised them to stand on their own two feet, given them the skills they need to be successful in the paths they’ve chosen, and they know we will be there  to support them when needed and to celebrate their successes with them.