Before I start this post I will say our moving in was not without its challenges, but I also think it is interesting that transitioning out of the RV was as difficult in its own way as moving in. It felt a bit like the lifestyle didn’t want to let go of us, which may sound silly but was the way I felt.
It started with the fact that our truck stopped running the night before the closing. For about 2 years we have had a DEF sensor malfunctioning, but we always fix it by turning the truck on and off a few times after we fill the DEF. We never fixed it because it is super pricey to replace, and the workaround was fine for us. Unfortunately, this time the workaround was not effective and the truck actually locked us out so we could only run at idle speed.
This situation gave us a list of choices. We could stay at the RV park (we had two weeks left) and make trips back and forth to the house (a solid 30 min drive each way). Other choices were to rent a truck for the weekend and move our stuff or try and find someone to move the RV for us. All the choices frankly were really pricey especially paying someone to move the RV. Ultimately, we decided to pay to have the truck towed to a local Ford dealer and I went in and explained the situation and begged them to at least take a look.
Thankfully the people at the dealer were extremely nice and they not only squeezed the truck in but had the sensor reset by 6pm on Friday. That was amazing (although somewhat costly) but we were all set to move the RV on Saturday. There were certain things we felt we needed to be in the house on Saturday which was absolutely necessary because we only had access to 15 amp in the spot we put the RV and that’s not enough for AC. It was also really hot that weekend so we really had to get all the basics in one day.
Thankfully moving the RV itself and getting it in place was relatively straightforward and this is where we put it. We stretched an extension cord to keep the fridge running and then jumped in the truck to run to Lee’s parents house. The only piece of furniture I kept from when we went on the road was our bed.
Denny and Dede have a group of tubs in their basement with photos albums and some mementos but what we really wanted was our bed. Back in 1994 we bought a $400 four poster solid oak bed which was a HUGE purchase for us and equaled our rent at the time. I just couldn’t give it up when we went on the road, so it went from storage to their basement, and it was the first thing we wanted to get. Unfortunately, we no longer had the box spring (mattress has been in the RV with us) so we also needed to go to a store near them and get one. We also wanted to see what they had in the way of cheapie “throwaway” furniture we could use while we took our time looking for real stuff, and we scored with a couple of tables, a chair for Lee and a killer Ethan Allen desk for me. By the time we headed back to the house our truck was full and we were ready to start and set up.
Oh and one last thing, I really needed a shower curtain for that first night and thankfully DeDe had a brand new one waiting for me. It was great because it pointed me in a direction for bathroom colors which I am really struggling with. Some people may love a blank slate, but I struggle, so mainly I am sticking for neutrals for right now until something speaks to me. The shower curtain was an awesome start though!
The next day was Father’s Day and I went to church and breakfast with my Dad before bringing him back to the house. He was our first visitor and he really liked it and as a farm owner had lots of great advice.
After he left, we started the many, many trips back and forth between the RV and the house with the understanding we wouldn’t bring things over until we had a place for them. We also decided to get a new fridge which wasn’t coming until Wednesday, so we kept all the food in the RV. Every time we walked over, we grabbed multiple bags of stuff and then would spend time finding a home for it. This activity was further complicated by the fact I wanted to clean and line the cabinets before stocking them so Lee set up a folding table in the pantry. We also used the shelves in the two car detached garage as a staging area.
I also wanted to run everything through our dishwasher which initially was amazing but got a little tiring after the 10th load. Still everything came out nice and clean and went into my cleaned cabinets. I’ll admit I was a little giddy after that first load and I am still super grateful to have one after 10 years of handwashing dishes.
One thing we didn’t think about was lamps. Only a few rooms have overhead lighting so the first night was pretty funny. Lee went to see his step-dad on Father’s Day and they went to the thrift store again and bought a couple of cheap lamps. It’s the little things 🙂 We also never received a trash can and the trash was piling up but after Lee made a call they dropped the bin off on Monday and our first pickup was Tuesday!
The other thing we didn’t expect was how much Jack freaked out. He hated the wood floors and hated not being able to see us all the time so he basically follows us from room to room. He loves the back yard but preferred the RV to the house every time. Eventually we stopped taking him to the RV and once I brought his toys over and added a dog bed in every room he seemed to settle a bit. Still for such a chill RV dog I was surprised he had such a hard time adjusting and we have had to give him lots of extra attention.
The other thing was the critters. He flushed a huge racoon one night which surprised us and one morning I found a large mouse drowned in the spare bathroom toilet. The first was super scary (Jack wasn’t hurt thankfully) and the second was really gross but it’s all part of farm living. Our plan is to eventually get a cat and a second larger dog, but we want to give Jack time to adjust first.
We also had some time pressure to get the internet/cable working prior to Monday when I started back at work and I had to get my desk setup. I really like my office and since it has the rug from the RV and a new bed for Jack he really likes hanging out in there with me. The internet speed is pretty good but the cable part of it was a pain in the ass. Lee bought the lowest package which doesn’t come with standard channels of ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS. We were pretty mad about that and it was $40 more just to get the basic channels. Lee and I both spent time on the phone with them but ultimately they had us over a barrel and now we are paying $110 for both plus internet. It’s still cheaper than the $165 for Starlink and I havent had a conference call interrupted yet from poor service.
The next week was a whirlwind. Lee was off all week but I was working and in between conference calls I was scrubbing cabinets (took me all week) and making trips from the RV. Because it was so hot in the RV we could only do small groups at a time although this got easier once Lee bought a wagon. He also made multiple trips to Home Depot and I ordered a TON of stuff on Amazon. Little bit by little bit things started to come together but we were definitely living in two places through Wednesday.
I should probably take a moment and talk about my experience with FB Marketplace, Craig’s List, estate sales versus garage sales. I could write a whole post on just this but in short most of the things we have bought have been on Facebook Marketplace. It has its challenges for sure, but you can look at a particular item and with some questions hopefully get more detail if you need it. Since we were looking for specific items estate sales and garage sales haven’t been the best choice for us at this point and although I love the farm stuff on Craig’s List people are really slow at getting back to you. The great thing about Marketplace is the instant response the bad thing is the good items go fast so you have to jump in them. The other downside is you have to go to the people and coordinate with their schedules which again can be a real pain. Still we have gotten several good items including a temporary dining room table and three chairs for $50.
Most of the things were just easier to get from Amazon and on Weds and Thursday we had huge deliveries. We also got our refrigerator, a deep freezer, washer dryer, and lawn mower which was a super pricey day but really important things. We then moved over all the food, clothes, and Lee mowed the front lawn for the first time which was much needed.
At this point we had all the basics moved into the house and I wanted to point out something odd. First of all our things looked really weird in the house since we had less than the space needed, but conversely as reader Mark commented there was waaay more in that RV than we even realized. Even with all this space we needed storage areas so a trip to the Container Store and buying some storage made a big difference. Otherwise everything would have been sitting on the floor. For example I didn’t have enough standard hangars but those we got with no problem. Those little things do add up though and I am glad we had plenty of money set aside.
The list is crazy long and honestly by the end I was tired of shopping. Every purchase was made with thought and care so it took a couple of weeks to get it all. While we were doing all this we also had a variety of contractors come to the house for bigger items but I am going to leave that until the next post. Let me just leave you with this one last picture of my work clothes hanging in a closet that lets you know how strange this can be sometimes. These are all the work clothes I could fit in the RV.
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