Status Update on Our New Home - Friday, July 28, 2017

First, Happy Birthday to my sister, Jan. We've been sharing the planet for 62 years and have had lots of fun adventures together: going out dancing, playing pinochle, family dinners, and lots and lots of hiking to beautiful places in the Pacific Northwest. Thank you for always being there. I love you, Jan.

🎂     🎂     🎂     🎂     🎂

Our home is coming along. It's been three weeks since it was delivered and set on our site. 

All of the utilities, except internet, are hooked up. The air conditioner is installed (very important in our 100+ degree days coming up). Most of the deck is in place, but no one has worked on it for a week. The deck still needs slats and the roof. Interior trim-out is mostly done; we are doing a final walk-through today to let them know what needs to be repaired or fixed (that we know of). Skirting was put on yesterday and painted today. 

Here are photos of work in progress...

Delivery of air conditioner

Working on inside AC

Outside AC technician

Photos of the deck build by a husband and wife team. They do high-quality work!

Raw materials

Deck framework

Oh, yay, steps and a floor to the deck!

In progress

In progress

Rear stairs to a small concrete patio

All the supports underneath

Now it's looking good!

This deck will do just fine.

Front entry

Back door & stairs

Next, comes the skirting to keep unwelcome critters out. 

Back side started first

Front closed in

Looking more finished

 And, just add paint. Voila! Looking really good now!

Front of our home by the road

All the utilities on this side

Front entrance

We'll really feel like it's finished when they get the roof and slats on the deck. Once they complete that, we can sand and stain the deck.

It's getting close to the finish line. Our plan is to move in this weekend. We've been doing lots of shopping in anticipation. This is so exciting.

Stay tuned for interior photos and hopefully a finished deck. Not all of our furniture has been delivered. 

Beware if you ever order furniture from Rooms 2 Go. We ordered our living room and dining room furniture on July 2nd or 3rd. Our expectation for a delivery date was the third or fourth week in July. Their first promise of a delivery date was August 26!! What?? They have since moved it up to August 15, and now it's August 12. What is going on with them? I feel like we should start a pool to guess when the furniture might actually be delivered. At least the delivery date is going in the right direction...maybe we'll get it sooner. We'll let you know.

Travel Bug out.

Changes and A Home Base in San Antonio, Texas - Friday, Mar. 10, 2017, Part 2

After spending time on the nature walk Friday morning, I met Bob at his work and we went out for Thai food. When we finished eating, our next destination was Tim's Tiny Homes in Seguin, Texas, to look at park models and manufactured homes.

We do not plan to stop traveling, but we do want a home base for our travels. Traveler's World RV Resort in San Antonio, where we have lived for five years in our 5th wheel, is the place we want to call home. The people are wonderful. During the busy season (fall & winter) there are many activities from which to choose. Plus, the temperature is pretty mild during the winter. 

At Tim's Tiny Homes we looked at park models (under 400 sq ft) and manufactured homes. This is the third place we've been and found a manufactured home we really like. The home is two bedrooms and two full bathrooms. It is made by Athens Park Homes. 

March 30-31 we plan to drive to Athens, Texas, to visit the manufacturing facility and see how Athens manufactured homes are built. While we're in the area, we also plan to look at Diamond and Platinum manufactured home builders.

Careful consideration is going into our decision and we think it's the right one for us. Since we're both working, we won't be traveling full time for a few years. This move will allow us to bring the contents of our small storage unit here from Oregon.

Our jobs allow some long vacations, so we will still be traveling. 2017 travels will take us to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida in May. Then we will go on a six-week road trip to Washington, D.C. later this summer.

I am changing from full-time permanent to full-time seasonal and will work from November through May. If needed, I can be on call during the slow season.

Because of this change, I will be traveling quite a bit this summer with my friend, Susan, and her husband, Darren. 

1. In June, we will be on a three-week driving trip to Billings, Montana for the Volksmarch convention. We will stop along the route to do Volksmarches at state capitals, national parks, national monuments and other interesting places. We hope to do two 10k walks per day (feet, hips, and knees permitting).
2. In August, we will go on a five-day driving trip to Grand Island, Nebraska for a Volksmarching weekend during the total eclipse of the sun.

Then later in August, I will fly to Portland, Oregon to visit my family for two weeks. Bob is working full time. I invited him to go with us, but he can't get that much time off work. Bob and I will, however, have two weeks together on our Florida trip and six weeks on our Washington, D.C. trip and I'll be home from mid-June until mid-August.

That's the latest news from Texas. Have a great Wednesday, y'all. TravelBug out.