Retirement is a lot of work!

March 4, 2018

Are we having fun yet?  Not much this week. We spent our last night in the apartment Sunday night and then got up early to take the bed apart, bag the mattress, wash the sheets, and finish packing. The two men Steve hired to help move the furniture into the pod arrived at 11 am and started hauling things out. At the end of the day, the pod was full and we were feeling our age.

So we spent our first night in the RV Monday night. A few years ago, a couple in an RV parked outside the Richmond International Raceway died from carbon monoxide poisoning so I needed a lesson on what we have turned on—Gas: No, Electric: Yes, and how the heat pump works, what heats our water, etc. We do have to turn the gas on when we use the stove but the valve can be turned off.

So I did not die in my sleep that night. And we have 3 places in the RV where there are gas and carbon monoxide alarms so I am sleeping well. Tuesday we cleaned the apartment because we saved a boat load of money doing it ourselves.  The RV was looking rough, boxes everywhere and we had a lot of decisions to make about what to put in the 10-12 bays below and what we need often enough that we should have it inside. Once I got the bathroom and kitchen stuff organized, I felt better.

We did give up our sewing machines to storage this week. Yes, Steve has a big one that he used to repair sails and make canvas covers and repaired Haiti luggage, and can sew through layers of jean seams. And I thought I had always wanted to sew when I retired.  I had packed the Kenmore I have had since Mom and Dad gave it to me when I graduated from college, along with two large boxes of planned projects. Then it all started to seem stupid. Why would we sew when we planned on going places where hiking and biking and seeing things were going to be more important than the occasional sewing on a rainy day?

Taking out the sewing machines left room for some really comfy folding chairs that you can recline on in the shade under our awning when you come to visit us—and we want visitors!

The storage space did not have room for our bikes so we decided that instead of taking the folding bikes we had on the boat, we would leave them at Jessica and David’s shed in Weems until we are back there and take our regular bikes.  That meant buying a bike rack for the back of the RV-----did I mention this week was expensive?

As of Friday morning we are now residents of South Dakota. There are states that have no property taxes or income taxes—Florida, Texas, South Dakota. So full-time RV-ers who have no other home can “move” their residency to one of these states to avoid the outrageous taxes we would otherwise pay on our RV here in Virginia every year. Thursday we flew to Sioux Falls, SD. Spent one night in a hotel, had appointments at DMV the next morning where - with the hotel receipt showing we had at least spent one night in SD - we got driver’s licenses and registered to vote. Sounds weird but they must be used to it. The woman who filled out the forms for me asked me, “So are you going to live here or are you an RV’er?” I am an RV’er. So I got my license. Now we will register the RV and get SD license plates, etc. Friday night we were back in our RV in Ashland, VA.  Strange world we live in—but interesting.

In Sioux Falls the piles of snow in the parking lots and alongside the roads were twice as high as the rental car. Who wants to live in SD? It is the 4^th from the least populated state in the U.S. Wyoming is the least populated. We talked about how the native Sioux, Lakota, and Cheyenne Indians survived because of the millions of buffalo. About how killing off the buffalo was one way the white people killed off the Indians. We reviewed history of great Indians like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse who tried their best to share their land in peace with the invading whites and lost their lives in the process.

The last time I was in South Dakota was when Dad rented an RV back in 1970 and took us west. In SD we saw an outdoor pageant and Mt Rushmore and I saw real Indians for the first time. I was 18.

It is the history of this country that will be fun to learn more about as we travel and we have some Audible books to listen to on the way that will help us.

Garvey and Polette spent Saturday night with us in the pull-out queen bed. They loved learning how to work the toilets (foot pedal to flush), switch on the lights and fireplace, playing the DVD player to watch “Matilda” for the umpteenth time. I have one box of toys and Polette is never bored but because it was too cold to be outside much, Garvey ran out of things to do. I played 5 Straight with him. He needs to bring his books. I am going to miss them a lot.

This afternoon we hosted an “open house” for local friends. Had fun seeing people we had not seen since our wedding and showing everyone where we will live for the next year or more.

Thursday we will leave for Charleston so next week will be more interesting…