BEGINNING THE GREAT ADVENTURE

Well, after a year of research, plotting and planning, we have officially made the move from our home into our camper.  Call us crazy, but we have decided to downsize, simplify and enjoy the next few years while we are still able to explore the country and see friends and family.  There is so much to see in this wonderful country and we want to see it up close and personal.  We are joining the ranks of over one million others who are living life on the road.

The decision was not that hard, but the process was.  Moving from a home into a camper requires a lot of planning and a lot of purging of unnecessary "stuff" that we accumulate.  We, along with most people, have way too much stuff that it totally unnecessary.....you realize it when you have to whittle 30 T-shirts down to 6 or 7...and everything else you have.  You decide what is important and what isn't.  Family pictures......hoarded each and every one...the dog...yeah, he comes.  All of the technology to keep us connected to friends and family, of course.  Books?  Who me?  This camper is now a bookmobile, thank you.

We have left our lovely home in Summerville, South Carolina...(see below)

in the hands of good friends who will take good care of it for 4-6 months as their new home is being built.  We are so blessed to know that they are there.  Many full time campers sell their homes, but we want to keep our home to return to when the journey is over. We hope to keep it rented to good people until we return.

Here is our new home:

As you can see, there was a lot of downsizing to do.  But we do have a full bath, a kitchen complete with oven and microwave, (no dishwasher),  living room, dining area, small office space and king sized bed......we love it..  All of the comforts of home.  And we can take it with us!  It is pulled by a Chevy DuroMax diesel truck.  

On Thursday, the 20th we will be heading for our first destination, Mission Texas.  There Tom will do 20-25 hours a week of light maintenance...(right up his alley) in return for free lot rent for the camper. We will be there from October 8th until April 15th, when the "Winter Texan " season is over. This will be our longest stop as we want to see as much of the country as we can.  Over 500,000 Americans winter over in Southern Texas.  Our address there will be :

Tom and Jackie Hynd

c/o Mission Bell RV Resort

1005 N Stewart Ave. #334

Mission Texas  78572

Please be sure to keep this address handy!  And look up Mission Bell RV resort on the web, it is a lovely 55+ resort that has about 600 sites...some permanent.  I cannot wait to take in the Tex-Mex culture!

We are currently at the Charleston Air Force Base where we are making final preparations on the camper and the vehicles as we prepare to leave.  We will be sending you updates every few days and keep you posted as to our adventures.  We will travel from Charleston to the Florida/ Georgia border, to Pensacola Florida, to Lafayette, Louisiana, to Galveston, Texas, to Corpus Christi and finally into Mission.  The trip will take us 18 days.

We cannot wait to see what the next few months bring and invite you to come along on our journey.  Please save the blog to your favorites and check in on us every few days.....we would love that!

Blessings,

Tom, Jackie and Barklee