Thinking about our next trip

Every day Craig has been getting something done on the house.  But there are still some very big jobs ahead, and we have not even talked about getting rid of stuff, so I don't feel hopeful about putting it on the market anytime this year. 
I on the other hand have been doing nothing.  I would like to be working on refinishing the kitchen cabinets, but see no sense in doing it until we are closer to getting out.  I'm depressed about how the painting I did is no longer "new," and will need to be retouched in places.


March - April is always a disturbing time.  The dining room table is covered with papers and receipts as I try to get things organized for taxes.  We took the first pass at them last week, and things don't look too bad.  It looks like we won't have to pay too much. 


 Next year will be so much easier with no income to speak of! 

I've ben thinking about our next three or four day Alfa trip after the taxes are done. Possibly up to the "Gold Country" in the Sierra foothills.  It would be the first time we took both the RV and the Prius.  I want to see how it will be to drive separately because that is what we will be doing for our Oregon trip in June-July.


On the food front, everything is going very well.  I have more interesting foods I'd like to share, but not today.


Although I am trying to limit my intake of meat and dairy, I don't think I will ever be  100% vegan.


 Limit has got to be the operative word. 


 At first I fussed about portion sizes of 2 or 3 ounces of chicken or fish as being way to small. 

 Now it is feeling like quite enough. 


I have been making daily use of my food scale and measuring cups.


I am not eating any "diet" meals, shakes or special foods. 


Sometimes the best I can do is make small adjustments or omit part of a  past menu.  
Yesterday's breakfast was an example. We have always enjoyed our "American" breakfast at least once a week.  Fried or scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon or ham, hash brown potatoes, and white toast with lots of butter or "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter." 


Yesterday I made scrambled eggs using two less egg yolks, used only the whites, onions and peppers, and 4 ounces dice ham. (for two of us) The onions and peppers gave it a little extra fiber.  We skipped the hash browns, and I had only one thin slice of my high fiber bread for toast. I've switched to Benecol for the toast, but actually like a bit of All Fruit better.


 Dinner was very light, and I did not make my fiber goal for the day. Small changes.  Not every day is perfect.


Most days I just have a high fiber cereal, blueberries and Almond Smooth instead of milk for breakfast. It is a good, simple filling start and I'm usually more satisfied for longer than I was with the eggs and ham.

Tidbits I've learned

In the last week or so I've learned a couple of things that I'm sure all of the seasoned RVers know.

One is that if you are a member of the Moose Lodge, you can park in lodge lots, and that many lodges have RV hookups.  We have several lodges in our area.  I am going to look into what else they do and see if we want to join.

Second, the National parks have a life time pass that seniors can buy.  I think it is called the Eagle Pass.  Since going to see the National parks is on my travel wish list, it is time to look into that as well.

The third bit of information is that interest on an RV loan is tax deductible as a second home.  We do expect to pay for the RV etc. from the sale of the house since by then all of our available money (except retirement accounts)  will probably be tied up in fixing up this place, getting an RV loan might be necessary.

 I want to buy a rig when the house is ready, or almost ready for sale.  That should give us a few months to take some shorter trips to get to know the rig and do whatever we have to it.  I don't want to buy one before the big projects are still undone, because it would be to painful to see it just sitting, and not be able to take it out because we had to stay home doing something on the house.   Craig does an excellent job on his repairs, it just takes him awhile to do them.

 If we buy used, we might want to start seriously looking when the house is "almost" ready.  Then if we find something we can get it and pay the loan off when the house sells.  We both hate debt, and except for our mortgage don't have any, but I think if we overlap it will be OK.

For as long as we have been married, 44 years, Craig has never been one to talk about long term goals or make plans.  I'm sure he has some, although he will deny it. That is just the way he is.  We do make decisions together, there just isn't much discussion.  So when he does say something pertaining to the future, I listen.  Recently he has said he would rather get a motor home than a fifth wheel and he thinks we should buy a used one rather than new.   When the time get closer, I know he will be doing his own research.

Daily countdown:

554  days, or 1 year, 6 months, 4 days to go.  

Exercise Goal:        

1000 miles on the treadmill     3 miles  today   906.5  to go 

         Someday I will be hiking in National Parks!