Our First Kampsite

Things are moving along now!  This Friday we will get the hitch installed on our Truck and pick up our trailer.  I hope to have some pictures of us and our new rig posted soon.

The plan:  We will pick up our camper on May 31st and park our fifth wheel in our driveway until June 3rd.  The Pekin, Illinois traffic folks said we had to have our truck attached to the trailer if we wanted to park on the street, and said we could only park 72 hours or be ticketed.  We chose to park on our driveway, which is not as long as the 5th wheel, so we will be across the sidewalk too.  This will give us a chance to load some stuff we into the trailer before our first night camping.

We've been ordering some essential hardware for our trailer through Amazon.  Who would have thought we can get RV supplies like sewer hoses, leveling blocks, wheel chocks and the like through Amazon.

We've made reservations at Kentuckiana campground near Hopedale, Illinois.  We have camped there in the past and are looking forward to our first camping trip in quite a while.  We plan to stay there at the campground about a month and will have garage sales and eliminate furniture from our rented house.  The campground Kampground is far enough away to give us a glimpse of what it will be like to live without family around, but still be close enough for both us and them to get acclimated to the idea.

I will be posting a campground review at the end of our stay.

Kentuckiana's site map:

http://www.kentuckianahome.com/pictures/maps/Kentuckiana_Sitemap.jpg

Many Firsts

After many, many years of doing the same old thing Cindy and I are going to begin a lot of firsts. As an example our pastor was gone over the weekend and since I am one of the deacons of our church I was able to participate in this weeks Sunday service. I was also able to spend some time with one of the church members and pray with them before their surgery. This was a great growing experience for me.

We finally found a vehicle to pull our fifth wheel. It isn't exactly what I wanted but I believe it is the right vehicle for us. It is a GMC Sierra 3500 crew cab with 2wd, and it's a dually. It is set up with a trailer towing package but doesn't have a hitch yet. I will be driving to Colmans Country Campers in Springfield Illinois within the next few days to get the hitch installed. This will not be a cheap installation. I believe it will cost around $1,400 for the hitch and installation.

I didn't get any replies to my question about full timers RV insurance so I ended up with GEICO insurance for both the Truck and the fifth wheel. The things I learned about full time RV insurance are: 1. I tried to deal with local agents and found they didn't seem to have enough time to answer questions. 2. RV full time insurance is really a combination of vehicle and homeowners insurance. 3. I would advise anyone to get replacement coverage. In case the trailer is a total loss they will replace the trailer with a newer model.

Direct TV is also something that will be a first as of June 3rd. We will be cancelling comcast soon. Cindy and I will be dish heads.

I believe our first campsite will be Kentuckiana campground by Hopedale Illinois. I will provide additional information about the campsite in a later blog.

Summary of our firsts:
First church service I helped to execute.
First time I went to the hospital to pray with someone before surgery (Cindy Helped).
First time Cindy and I will own a truck.
First time Cindy and I will own a fifth wheel
First time we will camp in our new home.
First time we will distribute our family heirlooms and furniture to our kids.
First time we will have a moving / liquidation sale of our possessions.


Our dreams are about to be realized. I should get the truck tomorrow and the trailer is at the dealership and almost ready to go. We should be able to pick it up within the next week.

I will begin blogging more often now that we will start camping soon.

I never look at tasks as things I have to do, but things I get to do by the grace of God. God is good.