Old Hands at Fulltiming: Two Weeks In

At Llano Grande RV Resort, Mercedes, Texas...

As I type this, I notice the page counter on this blog has clicked over 200,000 views--which is relatively meaningless, I guess, as I'm not sure when Blogger began calculating this statistic. I think it was back when Google Plus began its mind meld with Blogger a few years ago. That's when, without my having a say in it, they also began counting the number of visits to my Google Plus profile page to come up with a number that is now approaching three million! Well, I don't buy that, and I'm pretty sure the pageview number is in error, too, but on the low side, since they obviously didn't begin counting this for the first six or seven years of this blog's life. So, I don't know what the real number is.

What I am reminded of, however, is to thank you readers for looking in on the workings of this feverish mind as I blather on about the RV lifestyle. I'm still amazed but delighted that you keep coming back.

Nowadays, folks ask of us how it's going "with the fulltiming thing." Sometimes I get the feeling they are expecting some kind of meltdown when we finally realize we have lost our minds. Well, that hasn't happened and, mercifully, it doesn't seem at all likely. For me, the happiest change so far has been the total absence of any thought toward the upkeep of our stick and brick house. I deleted from my cell phone the apps controlling the house's security system and video feeds, ecstatic that I will never have to check them again or to wait for the sensors to detect movement around the property and send me a warning signal. 

Furthermore, I don't keep track of the weather back in Fort Worth as I once did. If there is a forecast for adverse weather, I really don't care, so long as our friends and family members are safe. If a tree falls on our former house, it's not our problem.

Particularly gratifying is the much smaller number of payments required to support the house. When I pay bills on the computer, I sometimes think I've forgotten some. I can't tell you how good it feels simply to keep that money in the bank.

There have been a couple of occasions when we caught ourselves referring to the residence we just sold as "home." For example, we might say something like, "We need to visit with (someone) when we get home." Then we catch ourselves and realize that we are already "home" wherever we happen to be. 

We never find that we have nothing to do. At any given time, we probably have a half dozen events or trips in the planning stage, and I spend a fair amount of time working out the logistics, tickets and associated reservations that must be made. The computer, Internet and cell phones are essential for this, of course, so we find ourselves online a good deal of the time. I can't imagine how we would do this without today's technology.

So, to summarize our feeling about fulltiming at just over two weeks, I would have to say, not surprisingly, that it's all positive.

We welcomed old friends Bobbie Jo and John back to Llano Grande today. We had been planning this reunion for some time, and it was good to see them again. We quickly introduced them to friends Jackie and Steve, our traveling partners for this trip to the Valley. Pretty soon, it seemed we had all been friends for a long time, and we enjoyed a hamburger cookout with Steve doing the honors as chef. Yes, life is good here in the Rio Grande Valley.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.