New Mexico

Before leaving Arizon we had new tires and rear axle brakes installed on our Jeep. The tires had over 50,000 miles on and we didn’t want to take the chance of any tire problems especially in some of the more remote areas we traveled. We headed for New Mexico March 14th, stayed the first night at a Walmart in Deming, New Mexico. We spent the next 2 nights at a campground in Vado, New Mexico just south of Las Cruses.

Close to our campground was Mesilla, NM. The old downtown district with many original adobe and frame or brick buildings present, was a delightful treasure to explore. Complete with a center plaza, old church, and opportunities to shop or get a meal, Old Mesilla is a place where you can step back in time. It looks much like it did back in the 1800s.

This building is the former courthouse.

Side street in Old Mesilla

Mesilla was famous for being the place where Billy the Kid was sentenced to hang-he escaped from jail while there-but many other outlaws and rustlers called this town home. We toured many of the old buildings, including the old courthouse which is now a store called Billy the Kid. We had lunch at El Patio Cantina, in a very old building, which originally housed the Butterfield Overland Mail. We felt like time stood still in Old Mesilla, and we could almost see the gunslingers who used to frequent the saloons there.

Sign on the restaurant where we ate lunch, El Patio. This used to be the office for the Butterfield Overland Mail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Mesilla has a central plaza and an old Catholic Church across the street. This entire area is on the National Historic Registry and for good reason as so many of the original buildings have survived.

Original brick building, thought to be the oldest in New Mexico

Placque on the oldest brick building

 

Catholic Church, Old Mesilla

Historical Marker in the Plaza

 

Motorhome Repairs

Many other fulltimers have told us that keeping their RV serviced and maintained, particularly if it is several years old-is a day to day routine. After spending most of a February day sightseeing, we came home to an acrid smell as we opened the door of our motorhome. David discovered that the auxillary batteries under an interior step were “boiling”. He let them cool off, then checked the water levels which were very low. He talked to a couple of other RVers who said that in the dry climate of Arizona, the water in the batteries will evaporate fairly quickly. After they cooled he filled the cells and they recharged successfully.

Several nights later, we noticed the ceiling lights, as well as the refrigerator light were much brighter than normal, and the switch for the water heater felt hot. We shut all of these off, unplugged the motorhome’s electric cord, and the next morning made some calls to RV service repair shops. Two mobile repair services were recommended to us, and we called both; one was busy and couldn’t come for a few days. The other repairman was able to come that afternoon.

After checking our electrical system out thoroughly, he discovered that our inverter was putting out 24 volts instead of the 12 volts it should have been; it needed to be replaced. He ordered a new inverter which arrived the next day. After installing the inverter, he put in new switches for the water heater which have LED lights (they are both brighter and cooler) and checked out the water heater, refrigerator, furnace and other appliances which he determined had not been damaged by the high voltage.

We did end up replacing both the auxillary batteries, and the coach battery which had also been damaged by the faulty inverter. We discovered this after we weren’t able to start the motorhome, and when the electric step and slides quit working. All of these problems occurred within one week. Needless to say, February was a very tumultuous month for us; first with David’s high blood sugars, and then with the added expense of electrical repairs and needing new batteries. But we don’t have motorhome or Jeep payments; most of the other fulltimers we have met have at least one payment to make. We have tax refunds coming which will help rebuild our reserve fund which we have dipped into this month. So it could have been much worse, and we were thankful that our motorhome wasn’t damaged; it could have burnt up while we were gone. Smoke is happy, too, that his home is safe.

Living in an RV vs. living in a traditional home

Joan:  We visited friends in Platteville last evening; they have a beautiful large home on acres of land with lots of trees and lovely scenery. Their home is filled with character and is welcoming and cozy. For just a little while, I found myself missing our traditional home, but the feeling passed quickly. I’m sure it is only natural to miss our old life sometimes; we had comfy furniture, plenty of room to spread out, friendly neighbors, and family close by. We had things we collected, books, many hobbies, and a yard with trees and flowers, and a great view of the setting sun. Unfortunately, owning a home meant that we also spent many hours each week taking care of the house and yard, keeping everything clean, repaired and functioning smoothly. David and I built a two car garage, a large deck on the back of the house with a pergola, did loads of remodeling inside to make our home the way we wanted it. We had many “things”; what we were short of was time. We never seemed to have enough time to do what we wanted to do. Work and everyday obligations kept getting in the way.

Our life has changed drastically since we moved into our motorhome on July 17th. The first two weeks were very busy, until the closing of our house was completed on July 30th. We still had yard work, the final garage sale July 20th, cleaning the house and garage for the new owner, and donating what was left over after the garage sale.

The biggest difference in our life now is TIME. We have so much more time. Even though we have been busy during August-getting our address changed on our driver licenses, at the bank, with our insurance agent, notifying everyone of our new address; signing up for Medicare supplement and drug plans, completing the process for David’s pension payments from the Teamsters, getting new license tags for our vehicles, going to two funerals, having visits with out of town friends-even with all that we have more time to do what we want to do.

For most of our married life, David worked long hours at his job driving semi. I have worked full time for most of my nursing career, and also managed our household. After my shoulder surgery in January, I retired but this did not mean I was done working. There was still plenty to do: I did all of the yard work, all the housework, paid bills, did the grocery shopping, arranged for any repairs that David or I couldn’t do, and ran errands.

During the warmer months, we went camping with family and friends, but it was lots of work getting ready to go camping, and cleaning up the camper afterwards. Not to mention the hauling in of stuff we needed for the weekend, and hauling it back into the house afterwards (several hours of work each time, a job I usually did).  When we did take a vacation (which didn’t happen very often), we were exhausted after getting ready to go on vacation, and would go back to work feeling like we needed another vacation to recuperate! A year ago we decided to sell our house and become full time RVer’s. We didn’t want to keep a traditional home, and knew we would have more money for traveling if we didn’t have the expense of keeping our home. Even though it was paid for, it would cost quite a bit for utilities, property tax, insurance; and maintenance.

Our life now is so different. We get up in the morning, sit outside and drink our coffee and talk about what to do that day. Depending on what we feel like we either stay “home” or take a day trip somewhere. Once we are on our travels, this scenario will change slightly; we will likely plan ahead depending on where we are going and what we decide to do once we get there. We aren’t going to be in a hurry so the plan is to slowly explore the United States, concentrating on warmer locations in the winter months, and the cooler states in the summer months-spending some time in the midwest to visit family and friends in Iowa. Now both of us share the household tasks; I do most of the cleaning inside, and David does most of the cleaning outside. We take turns doing dishes, laundry (we have a laundromat right here in the campground), making the bed, taking care of Smoke, and whatever odd jobs come up. It takes me about 30-40 minutes to thoroughly clean the camper once a week; the daily cleaning takes about 15 minutes. I tend to clean whatever needs it at the time I notice that it needs it. Dave keeps the garbage and recycle containers emptied, and I keep an eye on the groceries/toiletries/misc. supplies and write down whatever is getting low. Because we don’t have the storage space in our cabinets or fridge that we did in our traditional home, we do go to the store more often but it isn’t a chore because we are out and about at least every other day anyway. We don’t have many bills, and almost all of our payments are electronic so it’s just a matter of checking our online bank accounts occasionally to keep everything balanced.

Compared to all the tasks we did as home owners, the maintenance we are doing now on our motorhome is minimal. We will get the motorhome serviced professionally at least once a year, depending on how many miles we put on it. David doesn’t feel comfortable doing service work on such a large vehicle, so he is going to let the experts do it. Meantime, he is taking care of the smaller jobs himself, such as putting on new wiper blades, tightening up loose screws, and putting in some new drawer slide mounts that were cracked.

I decided to keep track of our expenses each month; I write down everything we spend, and have divided the expenses into categories so we can keep track of how much we spend in each area. We are well on track so far staying on budget. Our plan is to keep basic expenses lower than our monthly income; allowing us to save money each month for our emergency fund. We joined the Good Sam Club so we could sign up for their RV road service plan, which we have had in the past; it covers towing, emergency starts or gas, and other basic services.

Anxious to Start Traveling

We have been at Rustic Barn in Kieler for almost a month now. We have both been experiencing “itchy feet” and are anxious to get on the road. Our cat, Smoke, has adjusted very well to living in the motorhome. He was somewhat restless at first, and kept looking for the “rest of his house”. Joan has been taking him for frequent walks, sometimes twice daily as he wants to go outside and meows pitifully if he hears or sees us outside when he is inside. Smoke is more content as time goes by, friskier than he was the first week or so, and likes to sit on his rug on the front dash of the motorhome-watching the people and activity around our campsite; he gets really excited when birds come close by. We have been leaving him alone in the motorhome when we go on day trips to various locations in the area and he seems to cope well with our absence, although he demands extra attention when we return.

To help pass the time, we visit with other campers, go for long walks, or read books; Joan is doing some drawing with colored pencils; David has done several adjustments on compartment latches outside, rearranging of items in the compartments, and installed a couple of new drawer slides on drawers inside the camper. We enjoy our “day trips” in the tri-state area, doing a little sightseeing, and eat an occasional meal out. Once we get our yearly physicals completed in September, along with any followup tests needed, and get our prescriptions for the year; then we can finally begin the first part of our journey around the United States. We will visit some aunts and uncles on Joan’s mother’s side of the family first; we have gotten very close to them through the years, and want to pay them a visit while we are still in this area. One couple lives in northern Iowa, and the other couple in Minnesota; after a few days visiting, we plan to head for South Dakota and the Black Hills.

We knew that buying a used motorhome meant we would be running the risk of appliances needing to be replaced, as well as any repairs to the motor, transmission, or other components. We saved about 40% off it’s new price by buying our 2004 Damon Intruder used last fall, and were able to pay off the loan after selling our home. Because we don’t have a motorhome payment, we are able to save some money each month for our emergency fund. This is a fund we will use for any repairs, to replace tires, or appliances. We should come out ahead over the years, and have more money for traveling,

We also paid off the loan on our 2009 Jeep Wrangler, and paid several other bills. We had some miscellaneous startup costs: new tires for the front wheels of the motorhome, multiple storage and organizational containers for the compartments and cabinets, a couple of new smaller appliances (crock pot and electric skillet), new dinnerware and frypans, and a few other items. We also paid the yearly premium on the motorhome insurance, changing the policy to one recommended for fulltime RV living. We have the cost of a mailbox service, but are able to check our mailbox every few days due to staying in this general area. Once we are on the road, there will be additional fees for forwarding mail.

We signed up for Medicare supplemental plans with the medical clinic where our doctors are located. They will pay for all medical expenses, whether doctor visits or hospitalization/surgery. The premiums are affordable, and it will be great not to be getting bills for medical treatment. We need to visit their clinics when we are in the area; but emergency treatment is covered throughout the USA, and also in foreign countries (there is a limit to covered amounts and a copay outside the USA). We also obtained prescription drug plans, and will use Walgreen’s pharmacies which are located almost everywhere. We have been making good use of our time while at Rustic Barn, and getting our affairs in order. We have to admit that staying here was a good idea, giving us plenty of time to make all the arrangements for the transition to fulltime RV living. All in all, we are enjoying being retired, having lots of leisure time, and enjoying visits with family and friends.