Our Six Month Report

Mary and I have been full time living in our motor home for six months. Our house sold on May 20 so October 20 was six months. We actually started this April 16 when we went to Tiffin in Red Bay Alabama to watch our motor home construction. After six plus months we are doing fine and believe this was a good decision. Here are some things and advice we found since starting.

1. Cost of Living and retiring to a motor home is about the same as our expenses at our house. 

Different expenses replaced the home expenses but the total is about the same.

Our house was paid for and so is our motor home.

We have no loans or credit cards balances so that helps.

Here are the largest monthly expense categories in our budget.

Camp ground rent can be expensive so our budget is $1000.00 per month.

Groceries and restaurant costs are about $700.00 per month.
Medical expenses are estimated $1000.00 per month.
COBRA and medicare supplement is $625.00 per month.
Fuel costs for motor home and toad are $400.00 per month (may go up if pump goes up)
Vehicle repairs are $500.00 per month, this includes coach and chassis repairs.

Your costs may be less and ours vary depending on the area we stay in.
If we stay healthy, medical should be less, we hope.
Our motor home and Jeep are both new so repairs should be less, we hope again.

Our budget assumes the worst so we are always prepared if costs go high.
If you pull money from the bank to meet expenses, the general rule is you need
$240,000 in savings to draw out $1000 per month. With 4% interest you will not run out!
Of course, interest is low so other investments may provide the 4% but be careful.
If you need $2000 per month, you can do the math.
Do not start retirement if you owe money on your house, cars, credit cards, etc.
Read this book by Wes Moss "You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think".

2. Medical Expenses can be high and have the potential to be much higher when you retire.

I am on Medicare and so far it has paid my expenses except for the deductible items.

A Medicare supplement pays what Medicare does not pay.

The supplement does cost $92.00 monthly and will increase with age.

A drug plan is another $18.00 monthly expense.

Some drugs are not covered or the quite expensive ones can have a high co-pay.

Mary is on a COBRA plan until she turns 65 so that is another $525.00 per month.

The COBRA plan does have good nation wide providers which we need when traveling.

Locating doctors when there is a problem looks like the main difficulty.

We continue seeing our old doctors when we are in the Indiana area.

If your health is good you need to keep it that way!

3. Internet access and a PC is a requirement. Do not even consider doing without.

Do not rely on camp ground internet, they usually don't work.

If you do use open wifi, do not do any banking or credit card purchases!

A good PC with a flatbed scanner and laser printer are required.

Use some external hard drives for your storage, not the PC. 

Use at least two, backup the first to the second unit.

Hide the external drives. Better yet, hide one somewhere else as the backup.

Use encryption on the drives to prevent data loss if stolen.

E-mail is required to send and receive documents such as insurance,  medical, etc.

The printer is required to print documents that you will receive from various sources.

The scanner is needed to scan in signed documents as PDF's to e-mail back out.

We use a Verizon phones and MiFi which has worked well and works almost everywhere.

Our data plan now has 22 GB and it is usually used up by the end of the month.

Travel plans require plenty of research and that requires plenty of data.

4. RV Club Memberships can save you money. Here are the ones we use.

I won't spell out the details so visit their web sites to see for yourself.

Savings on camp site rental usually more than pays for the annual cost.

FMCA https://www.fmca.com/ first year is $60.00, renewal is $50.00.

Good Sam Club http://www.goodsamclub.com/ first year is $27.00.

Passport America http://www.passport-america.com/ first year is $47.00.

Escapees RV Club http://www.escapees.com is great for full time RV'ers.

5. RV Forums are a good way to learn from others. Here are the ones we use.

There are many others available is you search. 

Use caution because what you read may not always be the best info.

Turn your BS filter on before you start reading.

General use forum is http://www.rv.net/forum/, select your area of interest.

FMCA has a forum but it's down as I write this. Try them later.

Escapees RV Club forum http://www.escapees.com 

Tiffin Motorhomes forum http://www.tiffinrvnetwork.com/forum/ is very good.

Most RV brands have a forum so search for your brand.

6. How to locate RV good camp grounds? Lots of choices, here are the ones we use.

Look carefully before reserving. Resorts are usually not a resort, some are.

Full hookups are best for longer stays but cost more money.

Extended stays save money, monthly rates can be the same as a 2-3 week stay.
State and other http://www.reserveamerica.com/ with reservations.

Federal lands http://www.recreation.gov/ with reservations.

Good to find almost everything http://www.allstays.com/ with filters by state.

Another to find many parks with a map http://www.rvparky.com/.

Reviews are a big help with BS filter activated http://www.rvparkreviews.com/

Good Sam also has reviews. Search Google for reviews and there are many more available.

7. Google Earth is required! Here are some things you can do with it.

Don't reserve until you use Google Earth to see for yourself, up close.

Search for Google Earth then download the small program.
Check the area around the camp ground, see what is there.
Where are the trees? Sometimes hard to see on Earth but you will have a general idea.

Use Google Earth /Street View to "drive" the roads leading to the park.

Use Google Earth /Tools/Ruler to measure the camp sites and road widths.

Pigeon Forge, TN

We are in Pigeon Forge and will be here a total of four weeks, leaving here November 6. We usually spend a week or less here every year during vacation time. Now that we are on a permanent vacation, we can stay as long as we want or as long as we have money to spend. It can be expensive!. 

Our grandson Zach was with us last week to spend some time at Dollywood and the mountains. We drove through the mountains and spent an afternoon at Cherokee, NC. The Smokey Mountain area is very busy and will probably be more busy this next week when the tree colors are at the peak. Do not try to drive over the mountain next week, you will just set in traffic. The weather has been great, temps in the 80's during the day and low 60's at night. The big change arrives here Thursday night when a cold front drops temps about 20 degrees.

Zach in line for the Dollywood Train ride

The locomotive was originally used in Alaska to build the oil pipeline. It's been at Dollywood for the trip up the hill for a number of years. It's a real steam engine and they have a complete repair shop at Dollywood to keep it maintained. It's very popular and it runs the loop all day.

Zach liked the visit to Bass Pro at I-40

Cades Cove is a popular place to visit.
We took the loop drive and stopped at the visitor center

Ice cream at the Cades Cove Campground. This was my first selfie and the sun was in our face.
We will see the Muncey family here next week. They purchased our previous Tiffin Allegro motor home.

The final day with Zach was at the NASCAR go cart track.
Zach had plenty of time to ride the various tracks.

Zach in the middle car

FMCA Campground

It's been a while since I added to the blog.... We are still in the Cincinnati area. We were going to Gaffney, SC for the six month Freightliner service but that did not work out. Our new Jeep Cherokee towing kit from Jeep has not worked properly and I had some health issues so we are staying here where the rate is great and full hookups are provided. FMCA is at Newtown, Ohio. If all goes well, we are heading to Pigeon Forge, TN on Saturday, staying for four to six weeks. Our grandson Zach will be going with us for the first week while he is on fall break from school.

Our site at FMCA

Moon over FMCA, visiting with our friends Bob and Jan. They happened to arrive here the same time as we did so we had four days to visit. They are full time and we met at Red Bay, AL while we were both watching our new motor homes being assembled at the factory.

FMCA entrance to a very nice RV park. Their annual membership dues are well worth the price and we recommend the FMCA to all motor home owners.

Versailles State Park Grass

We stayed eight days at Versailles State Park, leaving Tuesday Sept 13. While we were there, my guys showed up each Monday to handle the yard work. All I had to do was sit and watch. The guys seem to show up wherever we stay so I hope they keep up with the grass cutting. We are now at the FMCA  park on Round Bottom Road in Newtown, Ohio. The guys showed up right after we arrived and cut grass and weed trimmed again. This happens every week and I don't even ask them to do it! 

Someone moved my fire ring, the guys moved it back

Cleaning up

All I can do is watch because we don't own a lawn mower

FMCA for the next five days. Check the grass

Rose Island

Charlestown State Park is in southern Indiana in Clark County. The park borders the Ohio River. The park land was a part of the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant (INAAP), opened in 1940 for producing war ammunition and abandoned in 1992. I would love to have access to the old property. It's a huge place and many of the old buildings are still standing. I also discovered the old gunpowder bunkers, east of the park. The next time we are here, I will be attempting a drive to that area, access looks open on Google Earth. Check Google Earth for a view of the property. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Army_Ammunition_Plant for details. 

We never know what will suddenly appear when we go to a new area. We discovered a special tour of Rose Island was available during the Labor Day weekend. It is inside the state park property, located on the Ohio River. The tour was quite a hike down a 1/2 mile steep paved hill, round trip about three miles. We walked out and up the steep hill in the dark on Saturday evening. Details about Rose Island can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Island_(amusement_park). 

Ohio River overlook at the south end of Charlestown State Park

Our friends Doug & Marla were staying in their motor home next to us

Abandoned water pumps on the river provided water the to ammunition plant

Entering the Rose Island trail

It became very steep, descending about 250 feet to the park entrance. It became very steep as we went on down the path. Downhill was hard on the knees. Walking back up in the dark was like a treadmill test. We both passed OK.

This bridge was added in 2012, moved from another county

Bridge dedication plaque

Fourteen Mile Creek

Entering Rose Island with over 100 people on the tour

Our DNR guide did a great job. The concrete was a large ice water cooler. Water came from the well and they had an ice plant on site.

Original arches entering from the west end

This was the river landing where the steamboats brought people to Rose Island

The hotel was near the river boat landing, completely washed away in the 1937 flood.

Rose Island was wiped out by the 1937 flood and abandoned after that.
The ammunition plant took the property in 1940

Moon Over Winton Woods

We are back at Winton Woods site 1-F in Hamilton County, Ohio, staying until August 31. The heat seems to be turned off for a while so a much better week is ahead. There are several people and places we need to visit while we are here. Visitors are always welcome at our motor home. Park in the lot across from the campground office. Site 1-F is a short walk, the first site on the right just beyond the driveway gate.

I need to do a lot of work on our Jeep Cherokee to get it ready to tow behind our motor home. That work will take a few days next week. The Jeep is not easy to add the tow wiring cable and break away switch so I had to scrap the original plan and order different parts, more money. Anyone buying a Jeep Cherokee for a TOAD, ask me for details to save yourself some time and aggravation.

Markland Dam on Saturday Evening

This is our 4th week at Follow The River RV Resort. Not much going on here but it sure has been hot. We have been hiding in the RV several days to escape the heat. Today was better, still hot sun but the air was much better. I did some work at my daughters house between the hot days. Distance to Vevay is 8 miles, Rising Sun is 22 miles, Lawrenceburg is 35 miles, Carrollton KY is 18 miles, Madison is 24 miles. Belterra Casino is about 3 miles north and we are NOT going to the casino.

Since we are somewhat in the country, we have driven our new Jeep over 1200 miles since July 16th. Just miles, not doing much since not much to do here near the resort. We will be leaving here on August 17, my birthday, heading back to Winton Woods near Cincinnati for 15 days. During that time, I need to finish the wiring on the Jeep so it's ready to tow behind the motor home.

Markland Dam on Saturday evening

Sunset by the dam

Winton Woods, Jeep Cherokee, Follow the River

We have been in Indiana since we left Tennessee, staying at the Versailles and Brookville State Parks. Last week we stayed in Winton Woods, a very nice Hamilton County Ohio park. The rate for full hookup is less than the Indiana state parks like Brookville. 

We could not stay the weekend at Winton Woods since all sites were booked so Steve Muncey invited us to stay in the Mobilcomm parking lot Friday and Saturday. Thanks Steve. I worked there for 42.54 years and it's about two miles from Winton Woods. We ran our generator to stay cool during the two days and used some diesel but otherwise no other expense. The only excitement was the local police banging on our door about 11:15 pm Saturday night, probably thinking were were drug dealers or something. I think there were three police cars surrounding us so we must have looked like very bad people. I talked my way out of a trip to jail and they left.

On Friday we met John and Bev Durkin for dinner at Cracker Barrel and had a good time discussing old times where we both worked. John loves to play golf and Bev just enjoys being retired. On Saturday evening we had company at the motorhome and again had a nice dinner at Cracker Barrel with Dan and Carolyn Roark. We met them at Versailles two years ago and have been friends since. They have a large 5th wheel RV so we always have plenty of RV things to talk about. Sorry, no photos of them, I was not thinking of that at the time.

Saturday morning we drove to Batesville Chrysler Dodge Jeep to pick up our new Jeep Cherokee. We have the trusty old Jeep Wrangler sold in Lawrenceburg. The Cherokee purchase was debated for months but we could not find another vehicle that met our requirements such as 4 wheel drive, off road capability, towing all wheels on the ground and a more comfortable ride. We have known our salesman Paul Hildebrand for many years and knew he would give us a straight deal, which he did. Thanks Paul, we really like the Cherokee.

The only photo taken in Winton Woods was at sunset. It's a bit dark but our motor home is on the other side of the pine trees. We love the tall pine trees behind the main campground, just don't want to park under them and get a pine sap bath. The air is filled with pine scent.

Our weekend stay was at Mobilcomm. Steve Muncey had an area blocked off in the parking lot when we arrived Friday afternoon. Steve knows how to welcome us!

No utility hookups but a nice place to park. Our diesel generator kept everything powered up during the day. We ran on battery power at night since we did not need the AC after the sun went down.

The 2004 Wrangler and our new 2016 75th Anniversary Cherokee. The Cherokee has enough features that it can almost drive itself. It will take a few weeks to figure it all out. My cell phone can now do a lot of things and I get reports by email for things like service due, fault codes (hope I don't see any) and it can locate it by GPS. No one should steal this one. The Wrangler just had ignition keys to start it, a transmission and an engine. I really did like the Wrangler but it had to go to a new owner.

Here we are Sunday afternoon at Follow the River about one mile south of Markland Dam and about six miles from Vevay Indiana. Belterra Casino is about three miles north. We will not be going to the casino! This is a very nice RV park. We will be staying here for almost six weeks.

Cumberland Gap & Other Places

Today's drive took us to Cumberland Gap at the Kentucky-Tennessee-Virginia state line. You probably know the story of Danial Boone and the others that found the "gap". The National Park Service operates the park. We drove up to Pinnacle Point that has a great view of Harrogate, TN in the valley south of the gap, the gap itself, the city of Middleboro, Ky to the north and east to the Wilderness Road in Virginia. We walked a path into Virginia to get to the overlook. 

US25E goes through a 4600 foot tunnel under the mountain next to the gap. It's a four lane road started in 1980 and finished in 1996. It looks like it was a huge expensive project. We drove into Kentucky to check out Pine Mountain State Park. The campground was closed and it is just a long ride through the hills, not much else.

Traffic on I-75 south on the way back to our motor home was backed up for miles due to construction. We saw the problem in the morning as we drove north on I-75 so we knew it might still be a problem. Our WAZE software indicated the problem at about 430 pm so we took a detour through Rocky Top Tennessee (you heard of it?) and a few other small towns. If you travel, you need Google maps!

The link to the NPS web site is www.nps.gov/cuga/index.htm

Entering the 4600 foot tunnel from the Tennessee end.

It's a long tunnel and the two southbound lanes are on the other side of the wall on the left.

Daylight at the Kentucky end.

We walked into Virginia on the short path to Pinnacle Point.

The path to the Point.

The Pinnacle Point where you can see three states.

Looking toward Virginia and the Wilderness Road.

The town below is Cumberland Gap TN. Beyond that is US25E southbound and Harrogate TN

The "gap" is below the Pinnacle Point observation area.
The US25E tunnel runs through this mountain. Middleboro Ky is to the right of the mountain.

Leaving the point and who do we see? Could it be Gary Whisman!?!?