Going Full Time

Muskegon, Michigan Campground - 2012

In August of 2012 Chris and I arrived in Muskegon, MI, where my retired sister and brother-in-law had a summer retreat from the sweltering heat of Texas.  This was our 4th trip to Muskegon to visit our family, the third trip in our 5th Wheel.  It was the first time to stay at Duck Creek RV Resort.  Unlike our previous campground stays in Muskegon, this park had full hookups!  Yippee!  We had previously stayed at Fisherman's Landing in Muskegon.  In was just a couple of miles from my sister, it was on beautiful Muskegon Lake,  and there was access to a bicycle trail from the campground.  The only thing missing was sewer hookup.  Every few days the sewer had to be dumped.  We carried a little blue wagon designed to assist in this chore.  It's either use the wagon or the rig had to be unhooked and moved to the dump station, then returned to the campsite to hook up electric and water, and set up inside again.  UGH!  Our stays at Fisherman's Landing ranged from 1 week to 10 days.  Because this new campground had full hookups we planned to stay a month.  Another perk of Duck Creek was easy access to a bicycle trail.  Perfect!

It was at Duck Creek RV Resort that we began to question why we would return to our home in Mustang, OK after each of our trips.  We continued to pay the bills while we were gone.  Lawn had to be mowed.  Electricity was used to keep the home cool and refrigerator running.  The list goes on, and on.  We keep returning home because we like our home.  It has our stuff.  LOTS and lots of stuff that we accumulated over a lifetime.  Treasures.  Keepsakes.  Heirlooms.  What would we do with all that stuff?  So was our home a storage facility for our stuff?  If so, that is one expensive storage facility.

The talk began that August about going full time.  The thought was overwhelming.  This definitely required prayer.  Lots of prayer.  While at Duck Creek, we decided to visit some churches to see if there were any we might like.  It was the second church we visited that I knew I could be very happy calling this our church home while in Michigan.  Toward the end of our stay in Michigan that summer, a camper pulled in to the site next to us.  The tags said they were from Texas.  I believe that their showing up at this particular time was not coincidental.  We approached the couple to ask where they were from in Texas and found out they were full-time RVers.  The questions we had started to flow.  If we decided to go full time it was not going to be all that difficult.  Downsizing would be the hard part.

Downsizing.  It would have to be done eventually.  Our sons would go through all of our stuff in the event Chris and I both passed at the same time.   There was the possibility that if just Chris or I passed then the other one would be left with the enormous task.  The final option was that Chris and I go through our belongings together and make those decisions ourselves.

We did not arrive home in Mustang until mid October 2012.  About 2 weeks after returning home and after 2 1/2 months of praying and discussing the possibility of going full time we finally reached a decision.  We were going to go full time!  If we didn't like it or if our health changed, we could always revert to a stationary home at a later date.  We decided to get the smallest climate-controlled storage unit we could find and therein we would place non-replaceable items such as photos, videos, and other items that we wanted to hang onto for at least awhile.

We called a friend who was a realtor and asked her to list our house.  It was October and that should give us the winter to try to sell our home and decide what to do with everything in it.  It didn't work out like we thought.  We had a contract on the house with 24 hours of the listing.  They wanted to close just after Thanksgiving.  We would have about 5 weeks to downsize.

During the next 5 weeks we gave a few items to our sons (whatever they wanted or had room for), gave a truckload to goodwill/salvation army, hauled a truckload or more to the dump, had a garage sale, and had a living estate auction.  We kept the little bit that would fit in storage and that we were not ready to get rid of.  Anything else we kept would have to fit in our 5th Wheel.  We decided to keep our 10-year-old dog, Schooner with us as we traveled.  Our other dog, Rambo, was 4 years old and we would try to find a loving home for him.  As it turned out Rambo went to a very loving couple who promised to spoil him rotten.

 A few days before closing on the house we moved into our 5th Wheel.  WHEW!  What a month!  As we have reflected over the last couple of years about that month we are both glad it was over so fast.  In continued reflection we are both glad we made the decision to be full-time RVers.   People ask if we miss our home.  Not at all!  We take it everywhere we go.  We are asked if we miss our friends.  Not at all!  They are everywhere we go.  Sometimes our friends or family even come visit us at our campgrounds!  That is always so fun,  like having a family reunion!

Two weeks after moving into our 5th wheel we found a lightly used motorhome for sale in Texas.  What a blessing this motorhome was to us.  It gave us more living space than our 5th wheel and included a washer and dryer.  It became our new home.

Sometimes during our retirement we have a lake home.  Sometimes we have a little home in the woods.  Sometimes we have a neighborhood setting, and in some places we have concrete pads and perfectly manicured lawns and shrubs.  I love that this all changes during the course of a year and it doesn't have to be the same next year.  We can go where we want, when we want.  Our preference is north for the summer, south for the winter, and Tulsa in between!  What can I say?  We have an RV, a car, and a dog.  What a retirement!

Fall 2013 at Duck Creek RV Resort, Muskegon,  Michigan