Things are happening!

Gosh, it's been awhile since I last posted.  Things are happening!  We ordered our Spendide Washer/Dryer combo machine and it came in Monday.  However, some of the installation parts got back ordered so it is still sitting outside the 5er under a tarp waiting for the rest of the stuff to arrive.  The Montana is pre-set up for the unit but you still need some things that aren't included with the appliance.  Sure is a bummer.

Today our second vehicle left.  We had owned it for 8 1/2 years so it was sort of like losing a member of the family.  Oh well, we can't take it on the road and the proceeds kind of looked good.  Now, we are a one vehicle family.  Going to take some adjusting to get thru these next few weeks until we depart, especially with me still working.  Hubby worked his last day this past Sunday night but I still have to keep slaving until March 10th - freedom day.  Boy is it hard to concentrate.  I keep expecting my employer to go ahead and just run me off cause I know I'm not worth my pay right now.

The other night I actually had dreams about breaking down and packing up to pull out.  I don't know how many times I repositioned those heavy recliners before I got it right.  Just wore myself out.  I can't imagine what the night before will be like.  I'm sure there will be no sleep. 

God is definitely working again.  I feel surounded by his graces after the long dry spell.  We just couldn't get the house sold.  However, that time gave us a chance to study more and slowly get rid of our possessions without being crunched.  I feel that we are much more prepared to go on the road because of the research, etc., that the time allowed for us to do.  And, once we gave in to just lease the house, miracles just started happening.  It wasn't God's will for us to sell the house at this time.  It's now leased for 3 years so we can table any more decisions about it until then.

Life is definitely good and I must give God the credit.

Judy

Getting Ready!

God is good!  Things are happening and we are getting ready for our departure date.  It's really going to happen.  The man leasing our house will be moving in on March 1st so we're busy with the last minute cleaning and repairs.  It's mostly a scheduling issue and things are falling into place.  This Friday and Saturday, we have to finish cleaning out the garage - stuff to the thrift store, stuff to storage and stuff to the garbage.  Want everything looking nice so the property manager won't have so much to do right off the bat.

I have turned in my notice at work.  March 10th will be my last day and Bob will work his last night on Sunday.  This week during his off time he has been installing a sliding tray in our basement storage area.  He thinks this will give us more accessability to the stuff in there.  And, there is "stuff". We're really dreading facing the scales. 

We're anxiously discussing our destinations and route.  It is all so exciting.  We're thinking that we might start off going southwest (well a little bit west) to just above the New Orleans area as March 21st might still be a tad cold to start north.  Our youngest son lives in New Orleans and that would give us a chance for a quick visit with him.  Then, we think we want to travel the Mississippi River West Bank all the way from there up to Iowa and make our way over to Des Moines where we have workamping jobs starting May 21st.  They have kind of determined where our first real stay will be.  God is really leading us and we have to constantly stop and thank him for his blessings.  There are many.

Well, that's enough chatter for today.  Can't wait to leave this gravel parking lot.

How'd We Get Here, Chapter 2

I promised to continue this story.  Well, you know our decision - to full time RV.  We soon found a truck and then in March we put our house on the market.  Then, nothing happened.  In May, we found our fifth weel and brought her home.  In June we moved into her and began selling our furniture and stuff.  That was the easy part!  The house, well nothing happened and nothing happened, still nothing happened.  We found a workamping job for the summer of 2011 and the house still sat there.  Finally in December 2010, we decided to try leasing it.  We found a property manager and he went to work.  On Feb 4th of this year we signed a 3 year lease and we are preparing to hit the road - March 21st.  It's been a long time but it is finally happening.

How'd we get here?

Well it's been a few days since we first started this blog.  Promised to tell you how we got to where we are. Travel has always been our desire and we thought we would travel the U.S. in an RV once we retired. As we  camped off and on all our lives, we dreamed of retirement and the freedom to go and come as we desired.  We started out camping in a tent for several years, then bought a small travel trailer followed by four motor homes.  The children could probably share some good stories about all this, but, you see, they are now gone and on their own (all 3 have camping tents) and we are now empty nesters.  As the children grew and we aged,  Bob's health gave way.  First came "open heart surgery" followed by a second "open heart surgery (13 years apart) and then congestive heart failure and many other problems.  Slowly our dream faded away and we reconciled ourselves to staying pretty much put and just visiting the kids on occasion.  We felt like we were tied to his medical care. 

We bought our empty nester retirement home - a small garden home on a small lake.  It is a beautiful place with lots of nice sunsets and windows across the back that look out on the lake and the woods on the otherside.  It had a nice covered porch on the back and we carefully selected rocking chairs to sit in back there.  BUT, unknowing to ourselves, the RV travel bug was still festering down deep inside somewhere and on a Saturday morning, November 14th, 2009, Bob and I were sitting around having a "pity party" when he suddenly looked at me and asked, "would things be different if we sold this home and full time RV'd"?  I was dumbfounded and suddenly found myself saying yes.  But then, I soon said we can't and at that point we started listing all the reasons we could not full time in an RV and one by one we ruled each one out with a solution.  You see, Bob takes blood thinner and must have a blood test at least once a month and he also has an implanted cardiac defibilater which has to call in a report once a month on a LAND LINE phone.  But, on that day a dream was reborn.  We decided we could die sitting there in our recliners (or rockers on the back porch) or we could travel and see our great country and possibly die somewhere along the way.  The question was "which would we rather do?".

We'll post the next chapter in this decision in a day or two.  Thank you for reading our story.

The Beginning!

Hi!  Welcome to our blog.  We are Bob & Judy Bliven who have been dreaming of full time rving for some time.  Starting March 21st we will begin this journey as pilgrims in search of God's will for our lives as we travel this beautiful country.  We have a 2009 Montana 3605RL Anniversary Edition Fifth Wheel RV which will be pulled by our 2004 Ford F350 HD Turbo Charge Diesel Crew Cab LWB Duelly Lariet edition.  Traveling with us on our journey will be our beloved dog, Berry Jane.  She has been our faithful companion for 8 years and holds a very special place in our hearts.  Please pray for us as we make this transition from our old life into the new one as I am sure there will be many trials.  We will post again soon giving you some background on how we got to this point at this time in our life.  And, please be patient with us as we learn how to do do this blogging thing.  It's new to us.