Today we moved to Milton Heights. We will be here for 11 days before we start our house sitting in London, Ontario. The morning was taken up with getting the propane in the Seneca filled, sorting stuff out at the storage locker in Ajax and stocking up on food.
While Michael was unhooking the car from the Seneca, a couple came over and chatted to us for a while. They are here for the whole winter.
Our site at Milton is a pull through and long enough to take the RV and the car. Nice and level, so we did not have to do much with the levelers to get us nice and stable. There are quite a lot of other campers here, some of whom are staying for the whole winter. There are actually people staying here and working full time. One guy is camping in a small truck camper. It is amazing to see what people are doing with trying to make the winter stay more comfortable. There are some winter campers who have put skirting around the bottom of their RVs and wooden frames with plastic sheeting around the doors to stop the cold wind blowing when the door is opened. Some people even use this space to hang coats and store boots, shovels etc. We will not be doing this as we are only here until December 8th.
It was very easy to set up the Winegard Carryout automatic satellite dish. Michael also filled the water tank, cleaned out the tanks and got us all settled. We have rented a 100 lb tank of propane so that we don't have to keep going to a propane retailer to fill the RV propane tank. We had an Extend-A-Stay fitted by Owasco so that we could use an external tank. I hope we can handle the cold weather that is coming.
I spent the day unpacking the suitcase from the trip to California and putting stuff away. We are slowly getting ourselves organized.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Back in Ontario
I can't believe that I was so busy that I didn't get back to posting until now.
We had a great US Thanksgiving in Vista, California. Virginia was released from the hospital on Wednesday November 24th so she was able to celebrate with us all. She was still quite weak after her ordeal so we did not stay too long, besides we had to start packing for the trip back to Toronto the next day.
I was quite apprehensive about flying back to Canada on the day after Thanksgiving, but what a surprise! The roads were clear, the train was empty, as was the Flyaway bus from LA Union Station to LAX. LAX was also very quiet and we walked straight through security without a holdup. I was subjected to the body scan. Michael was not. We flew home on a 767 which was wonderful, especially as there were many empty seats. I guess everyone in the US were either spending the whole weekend where they were or were out shopping at the "Black Friday" sales.
We arrived back in Toronto after dark and drove straight to Moodies in Ajax where the Motorhome was in storage. Michael had forgotten to turn off the house batteries before he left so he was quite anxious to see if we had any power. He tried to start the generator but there was not enough power, so we moved the MH from the storage over to a campsite at the back where we knew there was power. We plugged in and all was well. The first thing we did was turn on the furnace to get the inside nice and toasty warm. Leveling was done, slides put out and we crawled into bed, exhausted after the long day of travel.
We had a great US Thanksgiving in Vista, California. Virginia was released from the hospital on Wednesday November 24th so she was able to celebrate with us all. She was still quite weak after her ordeal so we did not stay too long, besides we had to start packing for the trip back to Toronto the next day.
I was quite apprehensive about flying back to Canada on the day after Thanksgiving, but what a surprise! The roads were clear, the train was empty, as was the Flyaway bus from LA Union Station to LAX. LAX was also very quiet and we walked straight through security without a holdup. I was subjected to the body scan. Michael was not. We flew home on a 767 which was wonderful, especially as there were many empty seats. I guess everyone in the US were either spending the whole weekend where they were or were out shopping at the "Black Friday" sales.
We arrived back in Toronto after dark and drove straight to Moodies in Ajax where the Motorhome was in storage. Michael had forgotten to turn off the house batteries before he left so he was quite anxious to see if we had any power. He tried to start the generator but there was not enough power, so we moved the MH from the storage over to a campsite at the back where we knew there was power. We plugged in and all was well. The first thing we did was turn on the furnace to get the inside nice and toasty warm. Leveling was done, slides put out and we crawled into bed, exhausted after the long day of travel.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
A busy Tuesday
We never did get to the RVworld Storage to sign the lease yesterday and it did not look as if we were going to get there today either, but we did. The rates are $130 a month. A little pricey, but it is very close to the Chateau at San Marcos where Virginia is moving to so it is nice and convenient.
We got more of V's furniture and stuff over to the Chateau and I set up the computer. She bought a very nice computer desk from the Estate Sales Warehouse. I can't say that it is an antique, being a computer table, but it is very nice anyway. I was not able to test the set up as there is no electricity or cable internet connection, but I think everything is set up as before.
The living room looks very comfortable with the furniture that she has purchased and yesterday we got the 32 inch Samsung LCD TV that she wanted. A little more to move tomorrow and she will be coming home from the hospital sometime tomorrow.
Thursday we are celebrating US Thanksgiving at Carolyn's house and we are providing the pumpkin pie and an apple pie, both purchased from Costco. Costco was an absolute madhouse!
We got more of V's furniture and stuff over to the Chateau and I set up the computer. She bought a very nice computer desk from the Estate Sales Warehouse. I can't say that it is an antique, being a computer table, but it is very nice anyway. I was not able to test the set up as there is no electricity or cable internet connection, but I think everything is set up as before.
The living room looks very comfortable with the furniture that she has purchased and yesterday we got the 32 inch Samsung LCD TV that she wanted. A little more to move tomorrow and she will be coming home from the hospital sometime tomorrow.
Thursday we are celebrating US Thanksgiving at Carolyn's house and we are providing the pumpkin pie and an apple pie, both purchased from Costco. Costco was an absolute madhouse!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Life in Oceanside, CA
Since last Friday we have been staying at Virginia's house. On Friday morning she awoke in terrible pain in her left leg and we were forced to get the ambulance to take her into the hospital. The outcome was that she has cellulitis in her leg and had to have IV antibiotics. She will be there until Wednesday. In the meantime we are getting stuff over to her new residence. She has bought quite a lot of furniture from Estate sales in the area and most of it will be delivered today. She has yet to buy a TV and with the Black Friday sale coming up, she will be able to get a good price on a 32" LCD.
Another thing we are doing today is signing the lease on the RV storage at RV World storage in San Marcos. $130 a month but it is very convenient. There are not many places that will allow a 6 week storage lease, so we are happy with this choice.
This is the first time we have been in California when it has been so cool and wet. We had very heavy rain yesterday and the day before, so did not do much other than visit V. and go shopping at the outlets. We did not bring clothes for cold weather so have been trying to manage with the stuff we have here.
I can't believe that we have to fly out of here on Friday. That will be entertaining as the airports will be crowded with travellers returning from Thanksgiving Day trips.
Another thing we are doing today is signing the lease on the RV storage at RV World storage in San Marcos. $130 a month but it is very convenient. There are not many places that will allow a 6 week storage lease, so we are happy with this choice.
This is the first time we have been in California when it has been so cool and wet. We had very heavy rain yesterday and the day before, so did not do much other than visit V. and go shopping at the outlets. We did not bring clothes for cold weather so have been trying to manage with the stuff we have here.
I can't believe that we have to fly out of here on Friday. That will be entertaining as the airports will be crowded with travellers returning from Thanksgiving Day trips.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
California
We flew into LAX yesterday at 2:15 and took the Fly-Away bus and then the Metrolink train down to Oceanside. The train was only $14 for me and $7 for Michael (because he is a really old dude). This is a 2 hour trip. Why must GO in Ontario be so expensive? It was dark by 5:30 so we did not get to see the interesting part of the trip, i.e. along the Pacific Coast, but we will see that on the way back on the 26th. Luckily for us there was a cab waiting at the station and $35 later we were at Virginia's door.
Virginia is looking well. A little pale, but she is the Eveready Bunny and keeps going and going. We are going to help to find stuff for her new condo in Assisted Living in San Marcos. We will go up there today to check it out.
This is my 3rd trip here since April and I will be here again in February. The plan is to stay in Virginia's house and put the RV into storage in San Marcos. We found a place there through the Internet, and will be going to pay the $130 for February and $65 for half of March.
I am shocked at the price of diesel here $3:35 a gallon. More expensive than gas. Oh well. We won't be doing a lot of running around in the RV so I guess it will be OK.
Virginia is looking well. A little pale, but she is the Eveready Bunny and keeps going and going. We are going to help to find stuff for her new condo in Assisted Living in San Marcos. We will go up there today to check it out.
This is my 3rd trip here since April and I will be here again in February. The plan is to stay in Virginia's house and put the RV into storage in San Marcos. We found a place there through the Internet, and will be going to pay the $130 for February and $65 for half of March.
I am shocked at the price of diesel here $3:35 a gallon. More expensive than gas. Oh well. We won't be doing a lot of running around in the RV so I guess it will be OK.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Winterizing
We winterized the Seneca today because we are flying to Los Angeles tomorrow. We will be away for 10 days as we are helping my American Mom to move into Assisted Living. She is moving to The Chateau at San Marcos where she has taken a lease on a condo. Her house in Oceanside has been leased in the summer and will be available for the family.
We weren't sure what to do about wintering, whether to use RV anti-freeze or to just blow the lines was the question. In the end we blew the lines and just added anti-freeze to the traps. The ice maker in the fridge was disconnected and all water was drained from the system. This should be enough. It will also be a lot easier to de-winterize when we come back on the 26th.
The weather is starting to get cold and by the time we get back from California we should have had the first snowfall up here in Ontario. We will be at Milton for 12 days before we put the RV back into storage while we are house and cat sitting in London, Ontario. If the house sitting works out we may think about doing more of that in the future.
We weren't sure what to do about wintering, whether to use RV anti-freeze or to just blow the lines was the question. In the end we blew the lines and just added anti-freeze to the traps. The ice maker in the fridge was disconnected and all water was drained from the system. This should be enough. It will also be a lot easier to de-winterize when we come back on the 26th.
The weather is starting to get cold and by the time we get back from California we should have had the first snowfall up here in Ontario. We will be at Milton for 12 days before we put the RV back into storage while we are house and cat sitting in London, Ontario. If the house sitting works out we may think about doing more of that in the future.
Friday, November 12, 2010
An exciting Day
Today we were interviewed by the CBC for a spot on the National to be aired either tonight, tomorrow or on Sunday. The interview was about us travelling South when the Canadian dollar is at par with the US Dollar and how our travel plans are changing. We had to take the RV to Owasco, where we bought it. We were pretty much going anyway to get another lesson on winterizing this huge motor home, so we arrived at about 10:15. We then had to take a short drive down the road with the camera man inside, then we had to drop him off and go around the block again and they filmed us rolling up in the motor home. Then we were interviewed by Havard Gould, a reporter. After the interview we went inside and had to sit with our dealer while we discussed some "maintenance issues".
I don't know how long we will be able to see the link on CBC, but here it is...
Travel and the Loonie
The rest of the day was taken up with filling the tank, putting a fuel additive, going to the storage locker to grab some stuff out of there and just enjoying being inside our Condo on Wheels. I still have to pinch myself at the space inside this thing when the slides are out. Fourteen feet wide!! Our own transformer RV.
I don't know how long we will be able to see the link on CBC, but here it is...
Travel and the Loonie
The rest of the day was taken up with filling the tank, putting a fuel additive, going to the storage locker to grab some stuff out of there and just enjoying being inside our Condo on Wheels. I still have to pinch myself at the space inside this thing when the slides are out. Fourteen feet wide!! Our own transformer RV.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Settling in
We spent the weekend settling into the Seneca. I have been doing a lot of research on this vehicle on the internet. One of the sites I have gone to is RV.NET where you can post questions and get answers from people who have the same type of RV or have experienced the same problems and have answers.
It is amazing how many storage places there are in here. The RV is 14 feet wide when the slides are out. There are cupboards and places to store stuff everywhere! I must be very diligent in not accumulating stuff. It is so nice to have all my clothes hanging up, instead of lying in a creased pile at the bottom of a little closet.
We have put our lovely Indian rug down on the floor and it's amazing that the colours match the RV colours exactly! We are going to have to replace the TVs. We have the old heavy CRT ones. LCDs would be much lighter as well as giving us a couple of additional storage spaces behind them. We will look into this when we are down in California in January.
The storage under the queen bed contains our extra cleaning materials, our little shop vac and some of the satellite dish accessories. One of the best things that has happened for RVers is the invention of all those cleaning materials on disposable wiping cloths. You can find any type of wipe to clean anything, even yourself.
It is so nice not to be falling over each other and stuff. I have even been able to walk clear around the bed to straighten up the Travasak (a fancy sleeping bag type of contraption) without hurting my poor old knees. Talking about the bed and the Travasak, we are so cosy at night! We bought an electric under-pad which resides on the bed. There are separate controls for each side, so I can have my side on hot and Michael has his side on a cooler setting. We usually turn it off halfway through the night because we are so warm. Have I said this before???? I love modern technology!
I wish I could find someone to set up my wireless printer and scanner. I can't see to get it to connect. The internet stick from Bell is a bit of a disappointment in the the 500MB of data can be used up in one day!! I have now turned off images in Firefox and that seems to help. I see satellite internet in my future.
It is amazing how many storage places there are in here. The RV is 14 feet wide when the slides are out. There are cupboards and places to store stuff everywhere! I must be very diligent in not accumulating stuff. It is so nice to have all my clothes hanging up, instead of lying in a creased pile at the bottom of a little closet.
We have put our lovely Indian rug down on the floor and it's amazing that the colours match the RV colours exactly! We are going to have to replace the TVs. We have the old heavy CRT ones. LCDs would be much lighter as well as giving us a couple of additional storage spaces behind them. We will look into this when we are down in California in January.
The storage under the queen bed contains our extra cleaning materials, our little shop vac and some of the satellite dish accessories. One of the best things that has happened for RVers is the invention of all those cleaning materials on disposable wiping cloths. You can find any type of wipe to clean anything, even yourself.
It is so nice not to be falling over each other and stuff. I have even been able to walk clear around the bed to straighten up the Travasak (a fancy sleeping bag type of contraption) without hurting my poor old knees. Talking about the bed and the Travasak, we are so cosy at night! We bought an electric under-pad which resides on the bed. There are separate controls for each side, so I can have my side on hot and Michael has his side on a cooler setting. We usually turn it off halfway through the night because we are so warm. Have I said this before???? I love modern technology!
I wish I could find someone to set up my wireless printer and scanner. I can't see to get it to connect. The internet stick from Bell is a bit of a disappointment in the the 500MB of data can be used up in one day!! I have now turned off images in Firefox and that seems to help. I see satellite internet in my future.
Friday, November 05, 2010
We are in love with our new Condo on Wheels!!
Today we picked the Seneca up from Owasco, spending the day there to finalize everything and move from the Regal into the new digs. I cannot believe that we managed to squeeze so much stuff into the old RV. At the moment it is all piled up inside the living area. The first thing I did was to make up the bed. The RV's stock bedding will be mothballed in our storage locker. I was so exhausted on Friday that I just fell into bed. Michael had the hard job of pushing the buttons to open the slides and hooking up the electricity. Tomorrow we will unpack....zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Move in Day is tomorrow!
Tomorrow we go and pick up the new Seneca! I am so excited that I can hardly think.
We love the RVing lifestyle. If we don't like the neighbours, we move. If we don't like the view we move. See different places. Sleep in our own bed at night, no matter where we are. Cook in our own kitchen, no matter where we are. Can clean it in no time at all, and it's a bungalow. No property taxes, no mortgage fees, no condo fees, no water bills, no natural gas fees, no house insurance, no snow shoveling, no grass mowing. Very low rental rates, ($0 to $300 a month). This is our condo on wheels. The one we have now is great for holidays and weekends, but as a full time home it is too small. So we have been looking for a while. This one was on sale at our local RV dealership. It is a diesel, has only 6,000 miles on it and we got it for a good price. Lots of space and storage areas, and it's all on one level. It has a large generator so we can even camp in the boonies where there is no electricity. Our next step is into a nursing/retirement home! You only live once!
We have taken a seasonal site at Cedar Beach for next summer, April 1st to October 31st. Less than $300 a month. We can still go travelling to different areas. Winter we will meander slowly down to Oceanside, put the RV in storage in Escondido and stay at our American Mother's house. Again we can still do some trips in and around Southern California as we also have a Coast to Coast campground membership that is $10 a day to stay. The campground membership has over 1600 resorts in the US and Canada. Can't wait to get moving!
I calculated how much we made out of the condo in 15 years after paying all those fees and costs and came out at a minus number. Seems a little pointless. At least this way we will be able to save some money! and have a blast in the living!
We love the RVing lifestyle. If we don't like the neighbours, we move. If we don't like the view we move. See different places. Sleep in our own bed at night, no matter where we are. Cook in our own kitchen, no matter where we are. Can clean it in no time at all, and it's a bungalow. No property taxes, no mortgage fees, no condo fees, no water bills, no natural gas fees, no house insurance, no snow shoveling, no grass mowing. Very low rental rates, ($0 to $300 a month). This is our condo on wheels. The one we have now is great for holidays and weekends, but as a full time home it is too small. So we have been looking for a while. This one was on sale at our local RV dealership. It is a diesel, has only 6,000 miles on it and we got it for a good price. Lots of space and storage areas, and it's all on one level. It has a large generator so we can even camp in the boonies where there is no electricity. Our next step is into a nursing/retirement home! You only live once!
We have taken a seasonal site at Cedar Beach for next summer, April 1st to October 31st. Less than $300 a month. We can still go travelling to different areas. Winter we will meander slowly down to Oceanside, put the RV in storage in Escondido and stay at our American Mother's house. Again we can still do some trips in and around Southern California as we also have a Coast to Coast campground membership that is $10 a day to stay. The campground membership has over 1600 resorts in the US and Canada. Can't wait to get moving!
I calculated how much we made out of the condo in 15 years after paying all those fees and costs and came out at a minus number. Seems a little pointless. At least this way we will be able to save some money! and have a blast in the living!
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