Time is flying by

Wow....time is flying by. We only have about 8 days left before we leave. We have sold just about everything in the house now. We only have some clothes and small stuff left plus Christophers nursery furniture. We have LOTS to do this weekend since it is our last weekend in Florida. Anything left after this weekend is getting donated to AmVets. We will spend next week in the RV getting things situated and stored for the trip. There is LOTS of organizing to do there trying to get whats left of our worldy goods into the very limited space we have. If all goes according to plan we will still be pulling out on Saturday morning at about 8am, April 3rd.

I recevied a call today from the Volunteer Coordinator for the Rio Grande National Forest. I applied for a volunteer position and was told a few weeks ago that they thought the postions were filled. Today they told me that they have opened up one more position and pending the interview and background check the position is mine. The job is only 3 or 4 days per week for a total of 25 hours, surveying visitors and setting up tracking equipment within the National Forest. The job will last about 4 months from mid-May through mid-September. I get to work a new part of the forest everyday and will still get my travel time with Connie and Christopher. The postion includes a site for the RV with all the hookups for electric, water and sewer plus a small stipend for every day I work. This is going to save us about $400 to $500 a month plus put a little money in our pockets. I'm pretty excited about the opportunity and hope it may get my foot in the door for a full time paid postion later on.

As excited as we are about the trip we are leaving behind my family and all of our friends. This is by far the hardest part of all of this. I've been trying to not let it get to me thinking how we will be able to keep up with everyone between cell phones, email, Facebook and our blog but it is going to be really hard. My whole life and all of Connie's adult life has been spent here. We have made some great friends over the years and have made some new friends within the last 2 years that we will miss dearly. I hope you are all reading this and know how very much you mean to us and know that we will thnk of you all every day and hope that we will all stay in touch one way or another.

Update

The test run went great. Everything in the RV works like it should. We had hot showers, hot meals and hot air from the furnace so we should be all set for Colorado weather (cross fingers now). Christopher loves my parents property. He cries whenever we go by and dont stop. I am hoping he feels the same way about the great outdoors in Colorado. We are back at the house this week trying to get things wrapped up here. I put the washer & dryer and the refrigerator on Craigslist yesterday. The washer and dryer sold last night plus we had a few calls about the fridge already. Our departure date of April 3rd is coming up fast and we have lots to do between now and then.

Verizon Mi-Fi - Our New Link to the Web

This is a little off topic but has lots to do with what we are doing and how we will be able to stay connected. On the advise of a friend I have been researching the new Verizon Wireless Mi-Fi. Its a small device, about the size of an i-pod, that acts as your own personal internet hotspot. We bought one today and signed up for the service. We will use this to stay connected to the internet on our travels. I am using it right now as I type this and it works great. We have been using Road Runner high speed internet at home for years and using this I dont even notice a speed difference. As long as you are in a location that has a cell phone signal you can log onto the internet. The best part is that the unit allows up to 5 wireless devices to access it at one time. All must be within 30 feet but that will let Connie and I both to surf the net without any worries during our travels.

The Test Run

We are sleeping in the camper for the first time tonight. Its 45 F right now so its pretty chilly for Daytona Beach. We are staying at my parents property so we are not really "roughing it". We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill for dinner. Christopher has had a great time playing outside all afternoon and running around inside like a wildman tonight. He is asleep already, which is a little early for him compared to his bedtimes lately of 12 or 1am. We are planning to spend the next few nights here to get a good feel for the furnace, electrical system and plumbing. So far all is working great. We will watch our propane use and try to get a handle on usage so we can plan accordingly for Colorado.