David & Brenda In Front Of House
Well….It’s official. We are homeless. Or should I say full-timers. Yes, that sounds better.
Our house officially closed today. We moved out last Monday and have been on the road. So we already said our good-byes. It was a hard, sad day pulling out of our driveway one last time.
Someone had placed balloons on the light post to wish us well. I’m guessing one of the neighbors.
Our best friends Joe and Lynn took the day off and came over for one last hug. Our new friends John and Terri had made a great sign that we discovered on our way out. I mentioned this a couple posts ago but it’s all coming back to me now as this is final.
We’ve waited and prepared so long for this, it still doesn’t seem real. I think it’ll hit us more, believe it or not, next Spring when we would normally be heading back home from our winter trip. But we are home. We are no longer on a “trip”. We are living in our motor coach. Full-time.
I keep telling myself that nothing is permanent. If we wanted to, if the need to be near family and friends pulls us harder than before, we could always find another, smaller house and set roots down again. Then I think about all the taxes in NY and rethink that settling down part. I also know that the road calls to us. We will not stay put for long. We’re sick with the travel bug and we’d be off again. Stick and bricks house or not.
I do know that not having to worry about the overhead of the house will be freeing and way less stressful. Once we get settled in our new motor coach (which is of course is running behind on delivery) things will be different. Certainly a different feel to the coach. A different lay out. Different noises. But things will also be the same. The kitties will settle into their new spots to claim. A different routine will be learned while packing up and driving off. A different route will be taken to different locales.
New friends will be made. New adventures will be had.
We look forward to coming back to Rochester to visit and share our tales of the road. We certainly will miss our family and friends. We will continue to Skype and talk on the phone. We will, of course, keep updating this travel blog so everyone can see where we have been and where we are going.
Other things that we will miss…
The Geese And Their Babies
Watching the neighborhood geese raise their babies and watching as they teach them to fly.
Bella Pasta Cafe On Ridge Road In Greece
Bella Pasta Cafe. Great food. Great people and friends. Our go to for anything Italian.
Enjoying Abbott’s Frozen Custard, Chocolate Almond Of Course
Abbott’s frozen custard. A Rochester tradition. Chocolate Almond of course. The only flavor in my opinion.
Wegmans Grocery Store
Wegmans grocery store. A family run Rochester business that has grown into a huge empire across several states but has not lost it’s family run feel. I don’t care. Trader Joe’s. Whole Foods. Whatever. Nothing is like Wegmans. When people leave Rochester and they come back to visit, they always have to go to Wegmans. It’s a must.
Pizzaria Americana On Long Pond Road In Greece
Pizzaria Americana pizza. MMMMMMM. With all the traveling that we have done, you’d be amazed at how hard it is to find a decent pizza. Pizzaria Americana is the best in our opinion. They even named a pizza after David that he created. And it was always delivered hot and fresh. They’ve truly spoiled us.
David Goofing Off In The Dumpster.
Oops. I don’t know how that got in there. David’s coming with me. After 19 years of marriage (July 1st) I’m not giving him up that easily.
Plus he looks good in that chauffeur hat while he drives me around the country. (Just kidding, I drive too.)
I think I’ll keep him.
So…we, of course, will miss our family and friends. And our house that we made our home for 8 years. The large shower with high water pressure. The great neighbors who are now friends. The large hot water tank. The large washer and dryer. And obviously you can see we’ll miss the local food.
We won’t miss the maintenance a house comes with. The taxes a house comes with. The cleaning of 3.5 bathrooms, 3000+ sq ft of house.
But you know what? With our new coach we will have aqua-hot (on demand hot water). I still have a washer and dryer, just smaller. Water pressure comes and goes depending on where you are in the country. So no need for a pity party.
And our backyard view! Snow capped mountains or Saguro cacti or the ocean. Life is what you make it.
We will be back. For a visit. Then it’ll be off on the next adventure. Only life knows what’s in store for us. We’re trying to live life to the fullest as much as we can, while we can.
For life is short.
Please join us on this next chapter in our book of life. For without chapters, you only have a pamphlet.
When was the last time you got Outside Your Bubble?
Congrats and safe travels!
Thanks Jeff. Can’t wait to see you and Mary in September!
We have been full-timers for two years now. The biggest downside? Not having a nifty garage in which to work on the RV. Now that you live in the RV it will be harder to do major improvements.
Stop by Sun-N-Fun in Sarasota during the winter and show it off.
Sigh….
Love….
Hugs…..
Coffee…
Sounds like you will enjoy this great adventure.
We are half timers. Winter house in Florida, RV Travel in summer. Hoping to convince my wife to go full time. House expenses going up every year.
We certainly know about house expenses and how how they go up. New York is bad for property taxes and with being on the road 7-8 months as it was, it just didn’t make sense to hang onto the house anymore. The overhead and worrying all time is now gone and it feels good! Not to mention, you don’t realize how much stuff you really don’t need and everything that’s just cluttering up your life. It’s draining on your soul and you don’t realize it until it’s gone. So freeing!
Hello! Just found your blog via HitchItch. We are two-months in on a several-month long trip, but our house is for sale so we may become homeless/full-timers at some point too. Was your German Shepherd completely black? We have a solid black GSD, and of our 3 dogs she is the sweetest one, and the best traveler. Sorry to hear you lost her – I know how hard it is.
Hi…
Welcome to our life on the road. :) Yes, Tasha was all black. Most people are amazed that GS can be all black or even all white as they as not used to see them like that. So my guess is you also get a lot of questions. :) She was wonderful and is surely missed.
Wish you well on the road. Good luck with the home sale!
Yes, you’re exactly right, we get lots of questions about her. My favorite was when someone asked me if I imported her from Germany. Which is funny because she’s actually from the streets of south Atlanta – we got her from animal control. If our paths cross someday you’ll have to come meet her!
We’ve been on a year’s adventure that has lasted 16 months! We’re dragging our feet coming back to our home in Geneseo, N.Y., but we’ll be home the end of July. (I’m writing from in Polson, Montana at the end of Flathead Lake – a must see!) I so agree with everything you’ve said about what you’ll miss, and what you look forward to. (Wegman’s is tops, but have you been to AJ’s Fine Foods in Arizona? or Market of Choice in Eugene Oregon?) We’re going to put the old house up for sale and set off as full timers as soon as we can get our “ducks in a row”. Blaze the trail from New York and we’ll follow soon. Love reading your blog and look forward to more in the future.
Sue and Dave
Hi Sue…
Nice to read someone else like us more or less said…What are we doing!?!?!? I mean, it is not like others do not full time. But when you come back from an extended time away, you just realize how much “STUFF” you have and what you have to deal with. So…life is very short as they say….and we now refuse to clutter it all up. ;)
We are not doing much “Blazing” at the moment as we sit and await our new coach to be processed by Camping World so we can take delivery. So, we sit here in their parking lot as our new coach sits in a locked up area on the other side. ;)
Hope to be able to meet up!
David & Brenda
Miss you guys and glad to hear you are finally getting your new home. Not sure why I am having such a hard time with this, you’re gone most of the time anyway but I guess this still felt like your home to me. Hugging you from afar.
Gail
We certainly miss everyone back home too. We will be back in the summertime to visit and give lots of hugs all around. We can always Skype when the need arises for some face to face time.
Hugs and kisses for now. Love you all!