So, we’re doing it now.

[aadler]

Saturday eight days ago was my last day of work. We spent the next four days making preparations (including me giving my car to my niece), then Thursday morning Susan went to teach a clinical class and I cleared the last of our possessions out of the extended stay hotel room. Put about half of those into storage, then drove our motorhome to a central-state location, where Susan joined me once she got off work.

(Bit of a traumatic experience for her dog. Mama left, then The Man started carrying things out, till the only things left in the room were the dog and a big bag full of trash. Then The Man came back, took her for a final walk while tossing the trash into the dumpster, then drove her four hours away to a place she’d never been before. When Mama finally showed up to join us, she — the dog — was hysterically ecstatic.)

The day after our arrival, Susan went to the convention center (the reason we came here) and delivered a talk for attendees at our state’s Student Nurses Association. Then we had the rest of the weekend to ourselves. We’ll go back to upper-corner-of-the-state for the next three weeks; she’ll teach her final clinical November 3rd, then we’ll both be fully retired, and will go … more or less wherever we feel like going.

We were going to set up the motorhome so it would tow Susan’s car, but 1) that would have cost about $3,000 and 2) it turns out that her vehicle, because it’s an all-wheel drive, isn’t supposed to be towed. We’d have had to travel separately on Thursday anyhow — I started off sooner, traveled slower, she arrived ten minutes after I did — but even in normal circumstances it shouldn’t be that big a deal. If we have a long way to go, we’ll break it down into shorter legs: drive a couple of hours, stop for an hour, drive for a couple of hours, arrive.

Thinking it over, I realized that we won’t actually be “living the RV lifestyle”, but just living in an RV. We’ll go see things we’d like to see, visit people we’d like to visit, and just have the added convenience of bringing our home with us. I don’t really know yet what we’re going to be doing; retirement (living without a job being a part of it) is a brand-new experience for us both.

Getting ready to find out, though.

Comments

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

I hope you both enjoy your upcoming retirement very much! Having the freedom to do as you like when you like is really great.