Spring Cleaning - Inside and Out

We found our people!

I think we are going to like this spot. There are still no families "just our size and ages," but we've met two of the neighbors already and they seem friendly.

This "RV Resort" has an RV wash. Stacia and I had scoped it out before the guys arrived with our home. Evidently, others had scoped us out, scoping out the new digs. Michael pulled up and I was telling him about the wash - it seemed a great idea to WASH this thing before it was set up.....as we talked about it a neighbor came over and told us we could borrow his hose, and the brush from the RV wash and wash it in our site. He is a golf-cart driving host,  and assured us it would not be breaking a rule.

The shindig started with  me trying to wash the top and Michael deciding he'd do it himself. I was given the power of the hose!

Eventually, I was assigned the low spots, Nolan did the high spots, Michael had the hose, Alex had the camera and Stacia corralled Yuuki. Yuuki wanted to fight every big dog in the park. HOWEVER, she scored dog treats for Yuuki as she walked through the park.  

The Couple that works together....

 

It's nice to have a clean and shiny home again. Spring cleaning inside and out. We now know where all the scrapes, dings and touch up paint is on the body. 😁

Moving Day

There have been two truly horrendous days in our full-time journey. 😰

The day we moved into the Caboose. Michael and I shut the door on our 3200 SF home, opened the door to the Caboose and realized we couldn't even walk in the door. We needed some SERIOUS organizing and MORE downsizing. 

The day we transferred all our things from the Caboose to the motorhome was also horrendous. This was not quite as bad as that first day - but certainly full of overwhelming moments. 

Then there is today! 

We said goodbye to our home of the past couple of months. We experienced many unexpected things here....saying goodbye to Mom G, walking with Mom T through cancer...as well as good things...selling the van, family visits and birthdays. It was good to be settled these months. 

We had some kitchen favorites, clothes, school books, food, and "stuff" to move into the motorhome. Nolan put the food away. The slides were in, making the drawers and closets inaccessible - most other things landed on on couches etc. 

I found this shot funny.  Seatbelts save keyboards!

Michael and the boys left with YUUKI (who is as bad as a toddler when one is trying to Spring Clean). They stopped by Les Schwab. 

Stacia and I were able to sweep one last time, enjoy the quiet and close out our time in this lovely home.  We headed up I 5 to register at our new site. Lest you think Stacia was forced to stay and clean, or LOVES to clean, you need to know....I picked up a 4 CD set of Greek Myths from the library and she wanted to ride in the Jeep so she could listen to more myths. 

We sold the van while house-sitting. This means all the things we used to store in the van needed to find homes in the motorhome. All but the two big, black garbage bags of things we took to ST Vinnies. 

We looked like one of THOSE families with things spread around our site, all storage hatches open and being sorted through, and stuff piled high on every horizontal surface. By evening all was in order again. 

It's good to be back in our tiny home. 

Exchanging the Penny

We needed to return a few things to BreZaak before we move up I 5. We shamelessly pounded on the door until Izaak opened! Poor guy was taking a nap.  Bre and Bella were out for dessert "with the girls." 

Talking with Zaak is always great fun - but I didn't snap a photo of the event. Bre and Bella returned and Bre exchanged the first 2017 penny of the year for a $5 coin. The rest of the kids will get a $1 coin as they find 2017 pennies....though most don't seem to find them these days. LOL  I believe Nolan found last year's first penny. 

Childhood traditions carry into adulthood! 

Hello Spring

We have enjoyed house-sitting. Our budget is plumper not paying a site rental. It's fantastic to be 2 min from the girls, their husbands and BELLA. It's ben a blessing to have  space to invite people over. Michael and I loved the sun room. Michael enjoyed being able to record various sports events - the voice command television remote was a fun novelty. We were happy, during the rainiest two months in our family history, not to have to schlep to bathhouses. It's been great for Michael to be able to work on repairs at the motorhome without us all underfoot. ::snort::

We wondered if these two months would be the death of full-time Rving - maybe we'd all enjoy being back in a stick and bricks home and just move to Alaska this summer and be done with it all. We find we still love our simple lifestyle. We're excited to move back into the motorhome. We are still dreaming of a "road trip across America," and this summer's trip up the AlCan.

I found Nadine's kitchen to be just about perfect - bigger than the RV kitchen but not overwhelmingly bigger. We loved the patio off the master bedroom - with the hot tub. These two months have helped us begin to think through what we are looking for in a future Alaskan home.

Michael spent the day finishing up a few more RV repairs. We began to spruce up the home to welcome John and Nadine home. 

Cleaning the Fridge

 In honor of spring, there was a break in the rain today.  Alex took advantage of the opportunity to mow the yard.

Go Alex! 

Last year spring cleaning felt puny in the Caboose - this year we get to spring clean a house and the motorhome. I'm in hog heaven. 😎

Michael brought the motorhome home with him.  Tomorrow we will load our things back into it and say goodbye to this season of house-sitting and hello to spring back in the Motorhome.

Bella Shops!

Bella's new eating habits have necessitated a new size in clothing. Mommy took her shopping - and she LOVES shopping for clothes.

Sunday Brunch

One perk of attending our family's church is Sunday brunch with Mom, Dad and Lorri. CoRielle attend church across town. BreZaak are busy with 2nd service.

This week the Brown's and Leah joined us.  Mom used to babysit for Jim and Gloria when Jamie and I were kids. It's always fun to catch up.

We usually go to Denny's - where Mom and Dad know the  manager and staff....but we were a big enough crowd that we needed to go somewhere else. Ihop - haven't eaten there in ages.

Michael and the boys spent the afternoon working on the bunk modification in the RV.

Bunk Modification

John and Nadine will return this week and we will move back into the motorhome and into an "RV Resort". 😏

Michael has been going over daily and working on repairs and fix it jobs he noted needed fixing. I'll have to take photos for a big post soon.

We all trekked across town for the kids to see if the bunk measurements were liveable. He's putting a triple bunk into a slide in the motorhome. This will leave the living area for those who like to play games late at night and those who wake early.

I'll admit the first thing I noted was the MESS. I'm a neat/organizational freak and this would have done me in to try to live here while all this was going on. The repairs are looking nice.

We currently have two bunks in the slide.  

It's going to be tight, but the kids said they could live with the submarine-like berths. Michael thought of using thinner wood, but was advised to stick with the thicker. Our kids are not toddlers. 😮

Michael thought more than one helper would be a hinderance. Nolan volunteered. This allowed them to enjoy the day together. Alex finished school early this week and joined Michael earlier and Stacia had a date on Friday night with him.

Alex, Stacia and I did the week's grocery shopping and a few odd things we need to get done before moving.

Michael thinks he can finish the bunk tomorrow.  We'd like to bring the motorhome over for a day to load it....then get it parked at the new site before we move out of here.