Dallas Bound with the Clampets

Lots of stuff has been cleared out of the house and still lots more to go. We did take a load of stuff to be stored and some other items to give to the kids out to Dallas. It was nice of the kids to offer to store some of our stuff in their attic, not much, just important papers and memories we just couldn't part with. I must say, that by the time we made it to Dallas we were pretty much sporting the Clampets look with the tarp just a flappin.

Since Chris and Kayla had just bought a new house, some of our funiture went to them and this load was the last of it. They were all excited to see us pull up and couldn't wait to get the stuff in and set up.

They even went down and bought new lighting to finish off the look.

I wish we could have disributed our furnishing alittle more with the other kids in the family, but they all live much farther away.

The only thing left to sell is the livingroom and bedroom sets and some basic household items and we'll be done in the house and just waiting for our lease to be up in May.

Too Much Stuff!!!

It is amazing how much stuff one can accumulate in such a short period of time. It's only been a year since moving here from Amarillo and we cleared out so much stuff then. The second garage sale is over and we are now coming down to just the nessecities in the house and of course the years of paperwork and memories.

The years of paperwork was easy to deal with, Sheryl was having a gay ole time tossing stuff in the fireplace and liberating ourselfs of old paperwork and some bad memories.

Then theres the stuff you just can't bring yourself to part with, mainly family pictures, books you may need and other family history passed down to you. The good part is, we are dividing it all up between our kids. There is stuff going to them all, and they are also storing stuff for us. This does make the task easier, knowing we don't have to trash everything.

We are planning another garage sale or two for the final push in removing the last of the big stuff. Anything left over will be donated to the local charity organizations.

Each step is bringing us closer to hitting the road, looks like we maybe sticking around the area for a bit while things work themselve out here, but we will be doing it in our new little home, and we are both looking forward to it!!!

Thats it for now, just a little update on clearing out the house.

RV Renovation FINISHED!!!

Renovations are complete!!! as you may remember from part I, cabinets were stained, walls painted and a new floor was laid. Well to finish off the look Sheryl was going for, all the valances came down and were recovered with a rich wine colored fabric. Curtains replaced mini blinds and covers replaced the green color of the couch and dining bankette.

After reading another RVes blog, we took one of their ideas and made it our own. We removed one of the dining bankettes and replaced it with our office chair. We also removed the dining table, which had those standard metal poles holding it up, and replaced the poles with a pedestal base. This freed up alot of room and made for much more comfortable seating. We did lose alittle storage space, but it was worth it.

Now it was just a matter of bring in the decorations to make it our home.

All the curtains and valances were made by recycling our house curtains (Sheryl did such a great job!!!)

The little bathroom sink area was pretty plain, so we dressed it up with a bit of tile work.

Here you can see the pedestal base, it was recycled from out house table also.

The inside of the RV has tons of storage, however the outside, well thats a different story. We were able to find a bolt on 2" reciever hitch so we could install a reciever hitch carrier. I mounted one of our heavy duty bins on the carrier as well as two gas cans for those extended trips away from it all. The spare tire bike rack fit the trailer spare very well and gives us a place to carry the bikes. With the carrier sitting out a bit from the bumper, I was able to mount our ladder there as well.

The renovations are pretty much finished and now our little RV looks more like a home and less like a travel trailer inside. Extra storage on the outside helps to bring along our bulky camping gear and tools.

Now all thats left is to wait for the right moment to take off on our grand adventure of full time RVing. It won't be long, just have to finish tying up some lose ends, and get prepped.

Thats it for now, we'll be seeing you on the road as we love our new life of exploration!!!

Short Notice Trip to Colorado

RV renovations were put on hold this week for a short notice trip to Colorado. We received word that one of Sheryls relatives she was very close to had suddenly passed away.

The local VFW came out to honor his memory as he was a WWII Vet. All the services were nice and he was laid to rest.

After spending a couple of days it was time to head home, however we did make a stop or two to enjoy the scenery. Colorado is such a beautiful state, and since I had never been there before I was just amazed everywhere I looked, no wonder folks love living there.

We stopped in Durango just to see what the town was all about, checked out the downtown area and the visitors center. The since it was Saturday center was closed, but the grounds and surrounding area were nice to see.

Once back in New Mexico we took a little side trip to Navajo Lake. Sheryl used to go there many years ago and talked about how beautiful it was. It was nice to see one of Sheryls fond memories and it brought them back for her also.

We spent the night in Albuquerque at Kirkland AFB (what a nice room) to break up the long ride home. The next morning a hearty breakfast was in order and the Route 66 Diner was our weapon of choice. What a great little place, a real 1950 style diner, and the food was great (look for a full review on our resturaunt review page) After breakfast it was a uneventful ride home, weather was rainy pretty much all the way.

It was nice to get away for a few days, just wish it had been under more pleasent circumstances. Well back home now and back to finishing the RV renovations!!!

RV Renovation Part I

As with any home, you want to put your touch on it and make it your own and our little RV was no different. Sheryl liked the floor plan but wasen't to crazy about the colors or carpet, so you know what that ment.........Change It!!! and change it she did!!! Sheryl got right to work, she had a vision in her head and was going to make it happen.

First order of business was to stain the cabnits a darker, richer color, so off came all the doors.

Let the staining begin!!!

Drying in the sun.

Next all the hardware had to be changed from that 1980s gold, to a brushed bronze look.

The ugly green carpet just had to go, so out it came. The kitchen flooring was ok to tile over so it could stay. We found a very nice stone effect tile and it went down pretty easy.

TADA....the finshed product.

The floor will be much easier to keep clean now and I must say it looks so much better than the old flooring. We also painted the walls a nice off white color, we both hated the look of the standard wallpapered walls. You can really see the differnce from the first picture compared to the last.

Stay tuned for the next installment, changing out the mini blinds for nice curtains and redoing of the valances.