Why the title?

"Pioneers take the arrows"

Oh, wait. I should be upbeat and taking arrows doesn't sound like an upbeat thing to say.

So, let me amend that statement.

It was courage and vision that led the pioneers to leave behind a comfortable, settled life and trek West to begin a new life in a new place. Many of those from the East that went West found a strength within themselves that they didn't see while they were in their old life. Instead of being one of those that just kind of went along with the others in the old life, they became leaders and visionaries in their new lives.

The sentiments of that last paragraph come from a favorite author, Louis L'Amour, in many of his books. So, I can't really say that it is an original thought from me. However, what he said is truthful.

Welcome to being a pioneer. Look ahead and ignore the "barking dogs" that give you negative opinions and comments. Louis L'Amour also spoke of the barking dogs.

In some of his stories, it was usually a father or older man telling a young boy how it was that when the Westward bound Conestoga wagons rolled through towns, the dogs came out to bark at them. His character then told the young listener that the barking didn't stop the wagons from going on to their destinations.

Following the advice of the Louis L'Amour characters, may we all forge ahead with our plans, after carefully considering all consequences and leave the "barkers" behind.

Friday, May 20, 2011

It’s Gone…and Just in Time for Disaster

2:00pm was our appointment for signing at the closing. We went to work this morning and left at about 11:00am to have time to get back to the coach and let the dogs out before going to the do the paperwork. Finally, we have the house officially sold and are no longer responsible for any part of it.

Now, that the house is gone, we are officially ready for this, which is “scheduled” for tomorrow:

http://ignoringthebarkingdogs.blogspot.com/2011/03/awesome-its-end-of-world.html

Oh, was that not what was expected? I guess we’ll see if we even need the Mobile Suites after tomorrow. Perhaps we only need it to keep one step ahead of the impending earthquakes.

We have been finding it interesting to learn to live in the coach. Sadly, like any other human made product, there are occasional problems. In our case it was a leak near the bathroom. So, yesterday we unhooked the front part of our new fence and pulled the coach out to take it to the dealership to get the leak fixed. Lewis RV in Oklahoma City has been an excellent dealership, and they have once again proved to be professional and quick in their service department.

We were only out of the mobile home park for about six hours. We had set an appointment before time and showed up around 9:00am for the repair. We were back in the park at around 2:30pm and parked in our spot. In fact, this time it took less time to get it situated where we wanted it. The parking spots that are available have a long concrete pad to serve as a patio. The first time I parked the coach I had a hard time because the concrete pads for the wheels to sit on aren’t exactly parallel with that long pad.

Now that our coach is permanently our home, I’ll include some photos of the area immediately around our spot. Even though it is a mobile home park, it is a pretty nice looking one. Not perfect, but the price is right and it is close to work, making it a lot easier for Jo to get to work should she be called in at night or on weekends. So, in addition to saving money from a home mortgage, we also have savings by only driving 2 ½ miles to work instead of 26.

Our site runs East and West and this is taken from SW of the site.

DSC_8922

When we first looked at the park, only two sites were available.  Later, the owner told us that another had come available, one with a fence on two sides and part of a third.  By taking this site, we got a larger yard but didn’t have to pay for fencing for the larger size.

DSC_8928

The above shot was taken from the NW of the pad and the one below is from the NE corner of the yard looking toward the west.

DSC_8930

The only drawback that I’ve found so far is some ticks, but I can probably get a spray for that little problem.

3 comments:

  1. Nice looking yard you have there Terry! Congrats on now being fulltimers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats. How long before you guys hit the road?


    Dan

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  3. Doris and Dave,

    It is a nice yard and since we can save $20 per month by mowing it ourselve, we'll do that. We also need to do some raking, and Jo wants to get some grass for shady areas. What we have now is mostly native grass.

    Dan,

    Traveling will come after Jo can retire. We work for the state, so we need to check with that agency to see just when she can. She thinks somewhere between 2 and 5 years. While 2 would be nice, we do still have to pay for the Suites before traveling. So, probably longer.

    And, thanks to all for the comments and compliments.

    ReplyDelete

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