Transitions

Getting older is the catalyst for our transition.  About ten years ago, we decided that changes to our home would be thought through with resale in mind.  The peach kitchen had to to be repainted.  As much as I loved our deer head -  Arthur, eventually he would need a new home.  The hardwood floors would have to be redone.....

We would have to get rid of things.  Lots of things.  About five years ago Eric and I started giving things away each September when we had "Reverse Birthday" parties for Eric.  The Salvation Army received LOTS of household items, clothing, books etc.

More walls and ceilings were painted.  Eventually, every room in the house had been repainted and I painted the interior of the garage.  Eric painted the outside of the house and we replaced the front door and sidelight.  The front stairs were replaced, as well as the bow window in the living room.  We did a property clean up and sent two small dumpsters full of all kinds of stuff that accumulated on our 3.5 acres of land and our small barn off to the dump.  The black top driveway was in super sad shape and was replaced with a crushed stone driveway.

We needed a place to live in and drive after we sold our home.  After years and years of looking at motor homes, fifth wheels and debating the pluses and minuses of a motor home and a car versus a truck and a fifth wheel, we finally settled on a motor home.  We like to visit cities and a car is much easier to park than an F 350 truck, and cheaper too.

Eric and I decided on a short list of floor plans and motor home manufacturers and started to shop.  Actually, Eric did the shopping.  He was on the phone with individuals selling their motor homes, on the internet with dealers. On July 29 Eric and our son, Adam, flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and picked up our 2004 Winnebago Vectra 40 AD motor home.  I had to work that weekend and waited impatiently to see my new home.  We christened it Eagle 5 as an homage to the Winnebago in Spaceballs, Mel  Brooks' parody on Sci Fi movies.

Eric and I did little things to make the house look as good as possible, from a little bit of concrete work at the sliding glass door to scrubbing every window in the house inside and out to super scrubbing the flagstone in the family room.  And more....

The house looked better and better with less stuff in it.  By January I decided to start practicing staging it.  A smaller table for the dining room made it look as large as possible.  The couch cover that came with my used couch, thank you Nancy, freshened up our living room.  Plants added a freshness to the living room and family room. 

The Realtor was impressed with our work.  The house went on the market February 13.  We accepted terms of the buyer on February 21 and closed on the house just before we left for North Carolina on April 14.

So after years of work, we had a super busy 2012.  Things slowed down after we returned from North Carolina on April 23.  Eric and I parked our 'rig' in Eric's mom's driveway.  Thanks Jerry! And we waited for Arrowhead Marina & RV Park in Glenville, New York to open. 

It's very restful living in an RV Park.  There's a lot less to do around our house, inside and out.  Walks always include lots of conversations with the neighbors.  Only well behaved dogs are allowed into campgrounds.  They're all friendly.  It's fun to go look at the boats moored at the marina.  We've seen a 60 foot yacht and a canal boat.  There's a collection of ducks looking for snacks.....