In 2010 we liquidate our sticks and stones home, bought a 39' Titanium 5th wheel/truck combo and became Gypsies. Our 5 year plan was to travel East to West (USA) and West to East (Canada) and settle in a Mobile somewhere in Southern USA (Arizona was considered) and a Mobile somewhere in the Lindsay area of Ontario.
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| Mobile in Alamo, Tx |
As of August 4th 2012, we bought a Mobile in Alamo Texas (2010), sold the 5th wheel in 2012, bought a Mobile in Ontario as well as a 23' Class 'C' Motor home for travelling. We did our 5 year plan in 2 years.
We are finding it inconvenient not having a small car down here, we will tow Jane's PT Cruise next year and buy a Dodge Caravan (Van of some sort) for the next Summer in Ontario.
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| New deck w Pergola |
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| Mobile in Lindsay, Ont. |
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| New Motor home |
We arrived on Nov. 3rd after 3 long days on the road, the last day being 16 hours, arriving around midnight and to bed by 2AM but we were so glad to have arrived and safely.
We had some mechanical problems on our 1st day out at mile 132 where we lost power and gear shifting. We lucked out at a country garage and found out that the vehicle was in top shape but there was moisture in the module panel of the auto transmission (probably from not being ib use for awhile). We lost about 90 mins. and knew what to do if it reoccured, which it did. Then in Arkansas we blew a tire (safely) early evening on a busy highway. It was dark and scary too. We were able to get to the shoulder and call for help. John and his huge tow truck came to our rescue within the hour and had us on our way shortly thereafter. I should point out that we started off with 6 brand new tires, we are bringing back the flat and hope for an adjustment. Rather that take another day we decided to catch up on the lost time on our last day. Once again the highways and weather were just awesome. We took 3 different routes coming down here over the past 3 years and all the US roads were fantastic, some construction of course, but sure puts Ontario/Toronto to shame.
We have been here 3 weeks and can't believe all that we have done already, and we came down here for a rest, lol!
Our priority was to cut down the front garden so we could get into the house. The Papaya tree, that I thought I killed, came back. Last year it was almost to the roof level and full of mature fruit. It has a nice tropical leaf but unfortunately it is not suitable for a front garden. The fruit is not to tasty, for me anyway.
We lost 3 of our 4 fruit trees because our lawn care service removed my sprinkling system and forgot to put it back after cutting. They replanted 3 new trees this morning but no oranges this year, we still have some grapefruit though.
Last year we lost our flowering bushes in the front garden so we replaced them with a hardy local flowering bush that keeps blooming all seasons long.
We were fortunate to get 7 chain link gates which were excess from Pat and Vic's (our friends from Kentucky) new Mobile. I was able to make an enclosed dog run for the guys to do their business without getting tangled up with a rope.
It turned out to be both practical and attractive, the red chips help keep it nice and clean.
We are back on the 1st Responders Team and our day of duty is 7AM Sat. to 7AM Sun. We are fortunate to have friends (Pattie, Vic & Pat) loan us their golf carts for our day of duty. There is a large heavy kit including a defibrillator, back board and first aid stuff that could be required on a call, plus we need to get to where going FAST.
We got a quick trip to Don West flea market, one of the largest in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley). A good place to pickup fresh fruit and things you don't need. This week we are going to Mexico on Wed. and a local Hispanic (my favourite) flea market.
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| Over grown garden |
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| There were hornets nests too! |
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| Papaya Tree |
Next was people food, dog food, then TV and Internet. Our TV/Internet provider went bankrupt but the RV Park arranged for Time Warner to take over. We were able to get a tire replacement at our local Walmart store. Walmart's can be found within a 5 miles radius from wherever you may be. Walmart and H.E.B are the 2 main grocery outlets here in the Valley and both are very good, although Walmart has everything you need under one roof. We probably will shop more ar Walmart this year because we just have the Motor Home for transportation.
I washed and vacuumed (mostly dog hair) the Motor Home and found an empty lot nearby for temporary storage.
We lost 3 of our 4 fruit trees because our lawn care service removed my sprinkling system and forgot to put it back after cutting. They replanted 3 new trees this morning but no oranges this year, we still have some grapefruit though.
Last year we lost our flowering bushes in the front garden so we replaced them with a hardy local flowering bush that keeps blooming all seasons long.
We were fortunate to get 7 chain link gates which were excess from Pat and Vic's (our friends from Kentucky) new Mobile. I was able to make an enclosed dog run for the guys to do their business without getting tangled up with a rope.
We are back on the 1st Responders Team and our day of duty is 7AM Sat. to 7AM Sun. We are fortunate to have friends (Pattie, Vic & Pat) loan us their golf carts for our day of duty. There is a large heavy kit including a defibrillator, back board and first aid stuff that could be required on a call, plus we need to get to where going FAST.We got a quick trip to Don West flea market, one of the largest in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley). A good place to pickup fresh fruit and things you don't need. This week we are going to Mexico on Wed. and a local Hispanic (my favourite) flea market.
We have been helpers for the Saturday night Texas Western Dance, played bean bag baseball and Jane has been at the pool whenever the Sun shines. The weather was great when we arrived, then cooled off (70ish) and now back up into the 80's, Sunny and 88F for tomorrow....certainly worth waking up for, lol!
TTFN
P&J
