Advice for green newbies

[chuckster66]

Hello all,
My wife and I are selling our home and going to live full time in a fifth wheel. I have disabilities and my wife had open heart surgery a year ago at age 46. The upkeep of a house and yard and the heat in Texas is really hard on us. Plus we are on a limited budget and the monthly house payment/upkeep does not fit a disabled income (no pun intended)
We have looked and read "a bunch" and still feel we haven't begun to reach the base camp.:h
We will be putting our home on the market in August and have looked at the Grand Design Reflections units. We should be able to pay cash and do not want to take out a loan. I own a 2005 F250 King Ranch (117,000 miles) and it will pull anything in the Reflections line. I have received a lot of good advice from my in-laws as they full timed for several years in a 2006 Mobile Suites.
The first 6 months to a year we will primarily be stationary while my disability is processed. I have adrenal issues along with POTS and some other autonomic issues.

Question: Thoughts on the Grand Design company (service, quality, etc..)
Thoughts on brands of Slider hitches as my truck has a 6.5 ft bed
General advice from salty veterans given the information I have listed above.

Thanks in advance and please be honest. If the USMC could not offend me you won't:)

Chuckster

[chuckster66]

Thanks everyone, my wife and I appreciate the advice and kind words. Getting the house ready to show so praying all goes well with the sale.
God bless,
Charlie

[2gypsies1]

The thing I would advise is to check your medical insurance carefully and make sure you can use it in any state while traveling.

Also, since you enjoyed tenting, I feel you would have no issues finding a RV that your truck could pull. Not everyone needs a huge space for full-timing. We've seen it done happily in very small rigs.

I also agree that your wife should know how to drive the rig. That can put both of you at ease.

...and DO check out Escapees and their home-owned parks and co-ops. We especially like their Benson, AZ park for winter. It can get cool there and perhaps a light dusting of snow occasionally but it suited us just fine. It's 40 miles east of Tucson with terrific medical facilities. You'll meet friendly, helpful folks through the parks. They also have a good forum. Good luck!

[C-Bears]

Can't really add much to what has been put out there. My initial thought is that since you already have the truck then stick with a manageable fifth wheel for now, especially since you don't have unlimited financial resources.

An exit plan is a nice option, but it usually involves having extra money. If you are going to have to be stationary for the first 6 months to a year be selective on what CG you pick for that long of a stay. You could end up with an opportunity to build up additional savings before actually hitting the road.

Good luck brother (fellow Vet)

[Rlaubert]

Chuckster,
Welcome. With the health issues you both have, perhaps you should look at something a little less strenuous to set up and tear down? We lived for over 12 years in a fifth wheel. Granted the space was nice, but bending down, reaching up, pulling and pushing to get connected and the size of the rigs made set up and tear down days a pain. When we decided to go on the road we looked at the Class A motor home. I won't get into the discussion of Toad vs Tow Vehicle. But for us a TOAD was a cheaper option. Our class A has a simple set up. If we don't want to connect to power when we get in, we run our generator. We carry plenty of water, house batteries will last for days and it levels automatically. We have been places where we didn't even disconnect the car for several days.
Oh, I have 8 heart stints, 3 heart attacks and the wife has her share of issues as well. Neither of us are on disability, but I am retired military and took early SS when I got laid off and unemployment ran out. We now travel around the country and LOVE IT.

Best of luck,

[MarkTwain]

djgarcia wrote:
Chuckster66--
Just an alternative "full time RV life". This could be a temporary or permanent plan depending on your medical needs relative to how much care you need. Just as a start I would be pick a winter and summer area ,RV Resort or park you really like. The idea is to just switch back and forth depending on the weather conditions. i.e. Winter in Ariz. or Indio Ca., and then Oregon the coast in the summer or some other state, area that is relatively cool in the summer. Cooler than Texas:):) This plan also allows you to take advantage of special (cheaper) prices for RVers that stay 3 to 4 months at a time. In Ariz., if I register for for Oct. Nov. & Dec. the resort will give me one extra months stay free. This will vary from Resort to Resort and location to location.This gives you the best of both worlds year round. This also gives you an opportunity to discover new RV areas, RV resorts you might like and eventually you will find a permanent RV home.

Chuckster66--
With regard to medical needs and services you and the wife might need, places like Surprise, El Mirage, Phoenix in Ariz. has medical doctors and hospitals is abundance. Same for example in the Palm Springs, Indio and Hemet areas. When I first started "snow Birding" in Ariz, the first thing I did was contact a hospital and asked for the contact information for the type of Dr. I needed. I then make an appoint and established the Dr. as my primary care Dr. and then had all my current medical records sent to the new primary Doctors office. I also checked with the hospitals and Doctors regarding what insurances they would accept. My primary Doctor in my home town can also write a lab work up document for me to take to a lab in Ariz. and then have the results faxed back to my home town Dr.

[Valkyriebush]

dahkota wrote:
Because you are in Texas and because you have medical issues, I highly suggest you check out Escapees. The main location is Livingston, Texas and they offer CARE(Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees), an excellent program that helps when the need arises. They also have programs like SmartWeigh that makes sure your truck and 5er are a good match. Because Escapees has been around for years and works primarily with full timers and retirees, they can help answer any questions you might have. It is a great organization/club and worth a look/see. Best wishes to you and your future plans.

X-2, Mailing service as well. Home base leased lots too. Only $29.00 Semper Fi!

[sdianel_-acct_c]

Semper Fi! Thank you for your service. Make sure you have national medical insurance rather than an HMO. If you are using the VA, you can't go to any VA facility if it's out of the "region" - you're not in the computer! You can however go to any emergency room and they can get pre approval to treat you. My husband is a former Marine Vietnam Vet. W used to travel for 4 months at a time and came to our home base in Florida to see our doctors and get our prescriptions filled enough to last 3 months. We have a DP Class A, stayed at our home base about 2 months then hit the road again. We have been at home base since October because he had open heart triple bypass surgery January 13. He has done very well. We are leaving mid July for our first trip post op. We plan on driving 2-3 hours a day and staying put for 2 or 3 days for him to rest before we travel again. When we went full timing people thought we were crazy. We asked ourselves "what is the worst thing that could happen?" and if we could handle that we'd be OK. Even without medical issues people have emergencies on the road. I agree you should have an exit plan just in case. When we can't RV anymore, our plan is to rent a small apartment near our kids. As my husband said, I know my limits. God Bless you both and see you down the road!

[chuckster66]

We appreciate all the input, lots of good advice and things to think about.

Note: My disability affects me most in the heat and nothing heart related. The debilitating part is when I am up for periods of time I can become dizzy and weak and have to lie down until it passes. My wife is doing much better but hospitals/doctors are a concern we have taken into consideration. When I say full timing I guess I should clarify. We will be living full time but stationary for several weeks if not months at a time. We won't be on the road all the time, that is not our desire (much like djgarcia mentioned). Last year 3 months after my wife's surgery we spent 2 weeks tent camping in Colter Bay (Tetons) and fell in love with the peacefulness. I am not so naive as to think there won't be issues as I have read horror stories from truck failure to RV's that were constantly in the shop.
Everything posted has been a tremendous help and will be taken into consideration as we make our plans. We will form a fallback plan for sure. dahkota thanks for the info on Escapees, we will definitely be reaching out to them.
Just for everyone's info I am 48 and my wife is 47.
Thanks again and keep it coming...

[mockturtle]

dahkota wrote:
Because you are in Texas and because you have medical issues, I highly suggest you check out Escapees. The main location is Livingston, Texas and they offer CARE(Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees), an excellent program that helps when the need arises. They also have programs like SmartWeigh that makes sure your truck and 5er are a good match. Because Escapees has been around for years and works primarily with full timers and retirees, they can help answer any questions you might have. It is a great organization/club and worth a look/see. Best wishes to you and your future plans.

Great Advice! And Escapees has many parks where you can stay for a very reasonable cost while traveling around looking for your ideal spot. Check them out.

[WyoTraveler]

darsben wrote:
You have heart issues (pots) your wife has heart issues.
Why would you want to travel far from your doctors.
What will happen if you take ill in Wyoming (or other place) and cannot drive the rig? Is your wife capable.

Picking on WY medical?:B . Actually a good point. We live in NW WY. Although Cody has a fancy hospital if we need a good DR for heart problems or other serious med problems we have to drive a 100 miles to Billings, MT. We have been in a few states in rural areas where fellow FT campers were having devastating med problems. Sad and gets my attention. Cases where husband doing 100% of driving stuck in an area with less than good medical and in serious condition and wife unable to drive RV and unable to pay to have it moved.

These problems aren't totally rare with older seniors. However, We FT'd for about 4 years 2000 - 2004. Maybe others can chime in but I didn't find FTing a cheap way to live. JMHO. We didn't quit FTing because of med problems or the expense. We got bored and were cramped into a small box. Being married 45 years we love rural and we love RVing. A few months a year in our MH is about all we can take.

[MarkTwain]

Chuckster66--
Just an alternative "full time RV life". This could be a temporary or permanent plan depending on your medical needs relative to how much care you need. Just as a start I would be pick a winter and summer area ,RV Resort or park you really like. The idea is to just switch back and forth depending on the weather conditions. i.e. Winter in Ariz. or Indio Ca., and then Oregon the coast in the summer or some other state, area that is relatively cool in the summer. Cooler than Texas:):) This plan also allows you to take advantage of special (cheaper) prices for RVers that stay 3 to 4 months at a time. In Ariz., if I register for for Oct. Nov. & Dec. the resort will give me one extra months stay free. This will vary from Resort to Resort and location to location.This gives you the best of both worlds year round. This also gives you an opportunity to discover new RV areas, RV resorts you might like and eventually you will find a permanent RV home.

[dahkota]

Because you are in Texas and because you have medical issues, I highly suggest you check out Escapees. The main location is Livingston, Texas and they offer CARE(Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees), an excellent program that helps when the need arises. They also have programs like SmartWeigh that makes sure your truck and 5er are a good match. Because Escapees has been around for years and works primarily with full timers and retirees, they can help answer any questions you might have. It is a great organization/club and worth a look/see. Best wishes to you and your future plans.

[donn0128]

Your welcome,
Friend has one too. It is back in the shop for another turbo to the tune of 2K. If I remember right, your Ford in those years had a 9900 GVWR. With the diesel the truck usually scaled ready to go around 8000 pounds. Leaving you a scant 1900 pounds for hitch, fuel, passangers and personal stuff. Even with a 12K GVWR that trailer will carry far more than the dry listed pin of 1600 pounds guaranteed! My 35 foot Cedar Creek loaded ready to travel scales at 13,500 pounds with a 13,750 GVWR. Yea, I travel loaded, but I also have a 3000 pound pin weight. Looking strictly at the dry specs, my 2500 D/A should have handled it easily. Yea right! Loaded ready to travel the truck was 1800 pounds overloaded. There was nothing I could do to change that. So after three years of worry and countless dollars trying to make a silk purse out of it I bit the bullet and bought what I should have bought 3 years earlier, a dually. Towing is day and night difference.
BTW, do not skimp on living space just trying to accomodate your undersized truck. You eventually will hate your mistakes. As a basic example,have you considered how or where your going to do laundry? Sitting in a laundrymat for several hours a couple times a week is not my idea of retirement. I know lots of folks do it, but.....
Another consideration, can you use the toilet easily and comfortably? How about a shower? Is making a meal easy or a choir in your chosen floor plan? Flior plans that might be OK for a weekend can become a bad experience when living full time in it. Go get rid of the salesman and play house in the model you think you like for 30 minutes or so. Try making the bed, sitting on the toilet, pretend your making a meal. Where are you going to store extra clothes, the outside BBQ? Well you get the idea. Each of you make a list of likes and dislikes,and compare them.
Expenses and exit plans are paramount in your decisions, but so is a floor plan you can comfortably live in for months at a time.

[darsben]

You have heart issues (pots) your wife has heart issues.
Why would you want to travel far from your doctors.
What will happen if you take ill in Wyoming (or other place) and cannot drive the rig? Is your wife capable.