Friday, June 14, 2013

Friday Fun .... and Work

I haven't been writing much the last week or so.  It's not that nothing's happening, but it's mostly getting the house ready to maybe rent it.  My girlfriend, Judy's, daughter has  recently returned to the Sacramento area from Southern California and Judy says she's very interested in the possibility of renting my little two bedroom house.  That would be a great help for me to be able to head out for a year or so of RV living.

Before I went to Mexico I would have been a little nervous about being without a home for any length of time; but now I really have no misgivings.  I know I'm happy in the RV and without the stress of maintaining the total responsibility for the house, I could be very comfortable heading out for a really extended time.  This trip will probably be practice for the possibility of selling the house and going to full-time RV life.

I still haven't come to any final conclusion about whether to keep or sell Daphne Dolphin.  I have been surfing the web and certainly taking in all comments I've received.  As you may know I took Daphne in for a 'physical exam' - mainly to find out about installing an awning and some kind of rack on the rear for carrying my electric bike (which cannot be supported by my current bike rack) or possibly a scooter or ????  Well, I only visited one RV sales and service place outside of Redding [near Cottonwood where Daphne is resting at my son's house since I can't keep her here at my house].  The service manager there told me I could not install an awning and there's no way to anchor a shelf support on the rear of the rig.

That's when I started surfing the Net for something a little newer, bigger and with awning, towing ability, more storage space, generator, etc.  Now that I've received several  suggestions from readers, I'm thinking maybe I should take Daphne to another RV service place.  The one I went to never mentioned anything about, for instance, mounting something on the front of the vehicle for an electric bike.  And, there've been suggestions about freestanding awning / sun shades, etc.  So, I'm going to head up that way, I think, next week and kind of start over with investigating the possibilities with Daphne.

And, I've been looking at lots of other possibilities - especially Lazy Daze used rigs.  They're not quite as easy to find - I think folks keep them - but I've found a couple that are possibilities if I decide to buy.
Like almost everything in life.  Each decision depends on something else; like:
*If I refinance the house my payments will be lower - so I'd have more for travel
*If I rent the house and refinance that's even better
*If I buy a newer RV I could maybe buy a used car (smaller than my Toyota Camry) that I could tow
*If I keep Daphne can I update lots of things that I'd like to have in her?

........The list goes on......  Comments appreciated!  Have a great weekend every body!
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28 comments:

  1. Are you a member of the Yahoo! Toyota RV group? If you're not, you should be. There are lots of members with Toy Homes that give great advice. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-campers/
    I'd say get a 2nd opinion about the modifications you want to make.

    I didn't want to spend the money for a awning so I bought a Coolaroo Triangle Sun Sail - http://tinyurl.com/m4huc47 It provides shade and I just attach it somewhere on my roof with bungee cords and stake out the other side to a picnic table or a tree.

    Kudos to you for learning Spanish and traveling in Mexico. I'd love to hear more about it!

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    1. Thanks Cheryl - That's the first I've heard of the Coolaroo Triangle Sun Sail. I'm going to get second opinions on all work needing to be done on the Dolphin this coming week. If I decide to keep her (and I'd really like to) I will buy the Sun Sail at amazon. Is there some way you can get credit for the purchase if I make it?

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  2. Lots of decisions to make and they all lead to the open road. Yeah!

    Refinancing the house seems like an excellent idea no matter what else you do.

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    1. Yes, I'm in the throws of getting refinancing quotes - everybody promises a quote - no strings attached - but there are. First, I fill out the info for a 'free quote' online and say that I want the quote in an email. My phone's been ringing off the hook. I don't want to answer because the ads say they can give the quote online! Frustrating!

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    2. Have you checked with your mortgage holder to see if they allow loan modifications? Mine did and that's the route I took to get a lower interest rate.

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  4. Yes, I'm prejudiced for the Lazy Daze, but if you are looking for a less stressful solution to RV, I don't think you could go wrong with one. Everything you add to an RV takes away from the payload, which, I understand, is already pretty skimpy in a Toyota. A 24-foot Lazy Daze on a 2003 or later chassis will give you way more than adequate capacity.

    When you have some time, and if you haven't already done so, take a look here

    http://lazydazearticles.blogspot.com/2012/01/long-road-to-lazy-daze-part-1.html

    and see what Joan Taylor (the first lady of Lazy Daze) says about her method of decision. I'm pretty sure she had a small Toyota-type rig like yours beforehand.

    There is a Lazy Daze ladies only event near Bandon, Oregon, in September that would be of great help to you. I hope to attend, but can never plan anything very far in advance because of "care duties".

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    1. I read her first installment - great info. How do I get to the second and third installments of her quest for a Lazy Daze? I'll go back an see if I can find them too.

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  5. Thanks Judilyn - I've started following the Lazy Daze blog. You guys are a great group. I'll look for Joan.

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  6. I went back to the main page and searched (upper left corner) for Joan Taylor, and all three chapters came up. Then I tried a trick that has worked in the past for such circumstances, and this is to simply replace the number "1" in the original URL with a "2"; then a "3", of course. It worked!

    Here is Part Two:

    http://lazydazearticles.blogspot.com/2012/01/long-road-to-lazy-daze-part-2.html

    And Part Three:

    http://lazydazearticles.blogspot.com/2012/01/long-road-to-lazy-daze-part-3.html

    The whole blog is a real treasure of information with so much text and accompanying pictures. The files at the group's site are full of really good information, too.

    There are so many people that take the time and spend the effort to help out, both physically and on "the screen". The amount of knowledge that is passed around is so valuable!!

    I have had a Lazy Daze since 1991, and have been a member of the group since 2001. I think it started in 2000. It is just invaluable.

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