Not going to be able to leave on January 13th...

Well I was hoping to be on my way south on January 13th but I didn't make it. And I sure ain't waitin' until February 13th (remember that 13 is my lucky number and I left Orlando on Friday November 13th). I still have 1 important issue to clear up that has to be completed before I leave. Hopefully I'll get it done early next week and I can be on my way.

I'm repacking the trailer to distribute the weight correctly and that's going swimmingly. But I've had to discard a bunch of stuff that can't support more than 1 function to maximize space. I remember a couple that I was friends with years ago who sold everything to retire and move onto their sail boat. They did what I'm doing now. I didn't realize how difficult that would be. But I'm almost done now. One more thing to scratch off my list...

As a side note I've been looking at house sitter websites and have submitted on a few that were at least 6 months long. I figure that maybe I can do some sitting around Mexico and Central America to see if maybe there is somewhere else I might like more than Belize. So far I've not gotten 2 of them because they wanted a couple but I'm still looking.

Christmas in Orlando

Well I was then I wasn't coming home to spend Christmas with my kids. They convinced me otherwise in no uncertain terms. Boy were they mad when I said I wasn't. I'm so glad that I did though. I've enjoyed spending every minute possible with Rich (whom I'm staying with), Matt, Nicole and and my grand baby Kayla (she's 2), and Carrie. We've dined on all kinds of wonderful foods in all kinds of great restaurants. And Christmas Eve with all of them, and especially Kayla, as this is her 1st cognizant (of Santa and the meaning of) Christmas. It was such a trip watching her open the family gifts Christmas Eve!

I spent my birthday in Disney Studios with my Carrie. In 2009 Disney had an offer of free admission to any 1 park on your birthday. So we went to ride the Tower of Terror, the Aerosmith (the band) roller coaster, which is indoors and semi-dark, with a start that goes from 0-60 in 3 seconds and right into a loop. Plus they have the Osborne Christmas Lights at night. Over 5 million lights that are synced to music. Pretty cool! They did change the location of the lights from the last time I was there so I didn't think it was as impressive as previous years but it was still pretty. Last time I was there the lights were in the "back lot" area which contained 6 or 8 houses (one from the Golden Girls, one from Herbie the Love Bug, and another that I can't remember what TV show it was used for. Plus the NYC street. Now it's all on a street with back drops of NYC and San Francisco. Well worth the price of admission though...especially when it was free!

My sister Eileen and her husband John are flying in from Charlotte NC on Friday and will stay the weekend in Daytona Beach. My sister Diana (Bunny to those of you who know her), who lives in Madeira Beach FL is driving up on Saturday and she and I will go spend the day with Eileen and John.

Soon after that it will be off to Houston again to make my final preparations to head south. The only remaining holdout to crossing the border is my lump sum pension payout check. I want it in my hand when I finally get underway. Belize has very attractive saving account interest rates so I'll deposit some there, which will be in Belize dollars and readily accessible and some in a U.S. bank to have access to American dollars, accessible through ATM. I'm covering all of my bases...

But, when all is said and done, it's going to be hard to leave my kids again for God knows how long, until I visit FL. They CAN come down and visit me though! I'd really enjoy that. And remember that you are also welcome to come for a visit. The scuba diving, snorkling (for those who don't dive), fishing, sightseeing, and just plain hanging around is GREAT!!!
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My new home

Well I thought I had posted a picture of my new home that I'm dragging to Belize but I guess now. So here it is. It's a 1994 22 foot Coachman Catalina. It's been checked out by an RV dealer who said it was in excellent shape. It has 1 bedroom with a full sized bed in the rear and 2 bunk beds up front, and a full kitchen and bath.

 

While I was staying at my cousin Pat's in Houston for those couple of weeks in November I was sleeping in it and it was very comfortable so I have no reservations about living in it full time. If I don't have an electric hook up anywhere everything will run nicely off the solar/battery string except the AC. I have a gas generator that will run that. The fridge will run on either electric or propane, also depending on whether I have electric or not (if for some reason the solar/batteries lose power). The stove runs on propane but that's plentiful in Belize because everyone cooks with it. And of course I have a BBQ grill.

 

I do plan on adding 2 additional batteries to the 2 that I already have, so that my storage capacity is greater. They can also be charged directly from my Jeep when the engine is running or from the generator so I think I have all my bases covered there. That's not to say that I won't have an electric hook up in Belize. But for the 1st week or 2, while I'm looking for that perfect spot to call home I may not.

Hopefully I've prepared for every possibility when it comes to living in a trailer out of the country. God knows I've done an awful lot of research on various websites supported by people living off the grid and survivalists. They had some great info on keeping safe and what works well in the wild. I've taken it all in and bought some of the things recommended like a solar/crank operated AM/FM/Short Wave/Weather radio (it can also be plugged in). I also purchased a very portable water filtering system that allows you to take the dirtiest of water and make it drinkable. Now whether it tastes good or not remains to be seen but I'll have plenty of packets of lemonade to help flavor it.

I've added 2 tires plus a spare for the Jeep and the trailer as well as 2-2 ton floor jacks and 2-2 ton bottle jacks just on case of a flat tire or blow out. I also put locking lug nuts on all of my tires so I don't have to worry about someone stealing them without having to go through a lot of trouble. I have a tongue lock to prevent someone from pulling up towing my trailer off if I'm not there plus every hitch pin has a key lock.

 

So while it sounds like Belize is a dangerous place it really isn't. To tell you the truth most of these precautions are for my drive through Mexico and just for peace of mind as I do plan on traveling Central America and doing some camping in the rain forest and mountains of Belize and Guatemala. Lots of Mayan ruins, wildlife preserves and other interesting places to visit on day trips and longer. I have my 17 foot canoe with me and canoe trips are a possibility too.

 

My son Rich has an account on a website called http://caretaker.org/ that lists caretaker jobs all over the world. I answered an ad last night for someone to just live on their property while they aren't there, which is 90% of the time. They provide electric and water hook up if the person selected has a trailer or a room in the house. They also supply Internet and satellite TV. And best part is they are near where I want to be. So, keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

Well that's about it for now. I just wanted to post the picture of my new home... More later!

 

Winding down my southwestern family visits

Well my time visiting family in the southwest is winding down. I've enjoyed it so much and am so greatful to my cousins who have put up with my sorry butt:

Houston: Pat and Trese Coyle and family
Ft Worth: Greg and Annette and family
Phoenix: Bobbie Jean and Charlie Pratt
Houston: Pat and family again (how can they stand me once again! LOL).

I've gotten to visit with so many 1st cousins and met so many 2nd and 3rd cousins that I lost count. It's amazing how large and loving our family is!!!

Jodi and I took the "northern route" through TX, OK and AZ and got to see the Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, the Meteor Crator and the Grand Canyon on our way to Phoenix. And as much as I didn't want to see it we were in snow on our way to Phoenix. I'm not sure who pushed the cold, and at times rainy weather ahead of us (I blamed Jodi for bringing it from Seattle) on our trip. Bobbie Jean brought Jodi and I to Sedona for a day and it brought fond and sad memories back for me as that's where my soon to be ex wife honeymooned in 2002. But it's still a very beautiful place to visit. If you haven't been to any of the places I've mentioned you should add it to your bucket list. America has so many amazing and beautiful parks! After a week and a half in Phoenix it was back to Houston.

It was a long and lonely drive to Houston from Phoenix without my traveling companion cousin Jodi. But I made it here on Sunday afternoon. Today was new tires for the Jeep and some final shopping for the last of my necessities. Tomorrow is a tune up and oil change. I'm hoping to rest the final 2 days before my next long drive.

I'm leaving for Christmas with my kids in Orlando on Saturday and will come back to Houston just before the New Year to finish final preparations for heading south. I'm itching to get to Belize and plant my roots. But my kids are too important to leave without seeing one more time for who knows how long.

My trip thru TX and AZ

I'm having a wonderful trip so far and I don't expect anything less on the last leg. I've become reacquainted with family that I haven't seen in far too many years. All have gone so far out of their way to make me feel welcome. I know they will deny it but it's true. I hate to leave each place but need to head on to the next town to keep to my schedule. My cousin Jodi, from Seattle, flew into Houston a few days after I got there and has driven with me to Ft. Worth and tomorrow we're headed to Phoenix in a round-about way. We decided to extend out trip by driving I-40 thru the TX panhandle so we can see the Petrified Forest, The painted dessert, the meteor crater and the Grand Canyon before turning south to Phoenix. So instead of hitting Phoenix on Monday we'll arrive sometime Tuesday.

My plan is visit family there for about 2 weeks, drive back to Houston, fly home for Christmas with my kids, back to Houston and then head south right after the New Year. I'm also planning on taking it slow through Mexico to see what they have to offer before crossing into Belize and finding a permanent spot to call home. More later!

My trip has started

Well I did leave on Friday November 13th as I planned (chosen because 13 is my lucky number and it's a lucky day for me when it falls on a Friday). I thought it would be a nice 15-18 hour drive but that soon changed. I hadn't even left Orlando when I started having swaying (side to side) problems with the RV when I hit 50mph. I was on I-4 headed toward the turnpike when it happened first. What a scary ordeal that was! I saw cars in the 3 lanes behind me slamming on brakes and swerving. Very scary. At least I didn't cause any accidents. So I looked for the "sweet spot", which turned out to be 45mph. So that made me think it would be a long slow trip... We'll on Saturday I talked with my cousin Pat Coyle about it and he made a couple of calls. The fix was moving some of stuff I had distributed through out the RV to the front to add more weight to the tongue. I thought I was doing a smart thing by evenly distributing the weight throughout the RV. Obviously not. Plus I hadn't added water to the fresh water tank thinking I could save the gas that it would take to haul it all the way to TX. Well I filled it in a gas station that had facilities for RVs. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful but longggg. Thank God for Pat in helping me solve the sway problem I hate white knuckle drives and all I could think of was "I'm driving how far at 45mph? It's a good thing I don't have a schedule once I cross the border."

The only downer so far is that my 2nd cousin Chelsey (Pat and Teresa's daughter) hurt her knee and was in the ER when I got there. The ER did an xray that was inconclusive so tomorrow they will make an Ortho appointment to get it fully checked out. Hopefully it will just be a bad sprain and she'll heal quickly.

More later!

Setting my schedule to leave Orlando

While I still haven't packed the RV yet I am starting to put together my trip schedule out west to visit my family and friends. My daughter Carrie will be coming with me instead of my son Matt because of his need to get a job. Carrie just got laid off by my daughter Nicole because Nicole went back to part time work so she won't need Carrie to baby sit any more.

Anyway, here is my tentative schedule as it stands right now:

11/13-12/14 On the road from Winter Park FL to Houston TX

11/14-11/21 Houston (leaving the RV on Houston for the duration)

11/21-11/28 Dallas

11/28-12/13 Phoenix

12/13-12/14 Driving back to Houston

From here it's either fly home to Orlando for Christmas or on to Belize and plant myself then fly to Orlando for Christmas. Either way I'll be flying Carrie home from either Phoenix or Houston.

I am so itching to get on the road to Belize though and set up. Right now I'm headed back to Orlando from Alpharetta. Well actually I have to pack the car first. Matt and I came up here on Friday to get the very last of my stuff and say goodbye to some very dear friends who I will miss very much. So this is my last trip to Atlanta and my next to last trip through GA. I have to pass through a bit of GA on I-10 headed to TX but that will be it.

More later!!!