Thinking of going back to full time

[JandC]

We are coming up on our third year off the road. We enjoy having our Florida home and spending time there, but being out on the road for an extended time this summer has us leaning toward returning to the full time life.

We have made our way north, turned left and went to the Oregon coast. Turned around and began making our way back east. Made all the usual stops plus some we had never visited before. After spending a week riding all over the Black Hills of South Dakota on our Harley we both started thinking the same thing, maybe we should go back out on the road full time while our health was still good.

Most of the transition will be easier than the first time. Homes are selling quickly in SW Florida. We learned the first time that it is cheaper and easier to just let your furniture go "pennies on the dollar" instead of renting storage space for years. We will stay Florida residents due to tax liabilities, cheap registrations, etc.

The hardest part will be deciding what RV to begin another full time adventure in. Do we go back to a Montana fiver or do we look for a gently used DP and pull an enclosed trailer? There are advantages and disadvantages to both. One of the advantages of a DP and trailer is that we can travel with a small car and our motorcycle, instead of just a 1-ton truck for transportation.

We have some planning to do, but are thinking of making the transition early spring of 2018.

[DQDick]

Good luck on your decision. We wouldn't change from full time and do have a spot to park it if or when we can't do the road anymore. We just traded for a 3720 and love it.

[rames14]

Good luck with your planning. You have more information this time to go on. I know many people switch to 5th wheels from motorhomes because of issues. Seems regardless of how much you spend, you can't avoid problems. Then it becomes a matter of how you want to travel. You could always drive two vehicles between places, especially if you're there for awhile. In Colorado, I don't want to tow double (which is legal), so we pull the UTV with Kayak on top with one vehicle while I drive the Montana/truck. Best of luck.

[PackerFan]

We all knew you would eventually come back from the "Dark Side"! Looking forward to meeting up again with you guys along the road sometime.

[JandC]

Dick, we did miss full timing. This summer is the most miles and the longest we have stayed out since buying the house. I guess it made us realize how much we missed it.

Rames14, I know there are folks that drive two vehicles but I'm just not a big fan of the practice, especially when full time. But having a 40'-43' DP pulling a 20'-24' enclosed trailer also creates some problems, like what CG's you can squeeze in and how many will have pull thru sites that are 70' long. I am certain of one thing, whatever RV we end up with it will have to be diesel.

Scott, the first year with the Florida house I was convinced that was the way to go. Second year still liked it but started to miss traveling. This year began dreaming about selling out but only joked with the DW about it. Now she is wanting to go back to traveling full time so my 30% vote does count! PS: don't let Sue post anything on FB or comment, we are trying to keep the kids out of the loop for as long as possible. We want to move and not tell them where!

[JandC]

We had our realtor come over for a chat and our time table has moved up. He claims the pool of available homes for sale in SW Florida is down plus the market starts picking up in October and peaks in January, so we will list October 1 instead of waiting until after the holidays.

First priority was to secure a spot in a CG in SW Florida (we still want to winter in this area). So far all 70' or longer pull through sites are booked solid from January to March within a 30 miles radius! We are on a waiting list at one place and will add our name to some more lists next week.

[shovelhead86]

Originally Posted by JandC

We are coming up on our third year off the road. We enjoy having our Florida home and spending time there, but being out on the road for an extended time this summer has us leaning toward returning to the full time life.

We have made our way north, turned left and went to the Oregon coast. Turned around and began making our way back east. Made all the usual stops plus some we had never visited before. After spending a week riding all over the Black Hills of South Dakota on our Harley we both started thinking the same thing, maybe we should go back out on the road full time while our health was still good.

Most of the transition will be easier than the first time. Homes are selling quickly in SW Florida. We learned the first time that it is cheaper and easier to just let your furniture go "pennies on the dollar" instead of renting storage space for years. We will stay Florida residents due to tax liabilities, cheap registrations, etc.

The hardest part will be deciding what RV to begin another full time adventure in. Do we go back to a Montana fiver or do we look for a gently used DP and pull an enclosed trailer? There are advantages and disadvantages to both. One of the advantages of a DP and trailer is that we can travel with a small car and our motorcycle, instead of just a 1-ton truck for transportation.

We have some planning to do, but are thinking of making the transition early spring of 2018.

How do you suppose you will pull both a car and a Harley behind DP? I can see 1 or the other.

[PackerFan]

Just jam the Harley in the trunk of the car!

[mlh]

A friend pulled a car and a motor cycle behind a DP. She put them in a trailer.
Lynwood

[mhs4771]

If the DP has a robust enough frame, they make hydraulic lifts that will hold a Harley and still pull a car behind. Had friends with a 42' MH with their Harley on the lift and pulling a Hummer.

[jcurtis934]

I would put your name on the list at riverside rv resort which is 5 miles outside of port Charlotte in the country on Route 769, little past lake suzy. New lakes section has huge sites. Couple of us moc'rs there. As to type of rv, you'll figure out what is best for you...Wife will figure out what you both want...end of discussion.

[JandC]

Originally Posted by shovelhead86

How do you suppose you will pull both a car and a Harley behind DP? I can see 1 or the other.

This was never going to be an issue. We were narrowing our DP search down to a 42 to 45 footer (used) with tag axle that could pull at least 10,000 pounds. I have already looked at some different enclosed trailers. Probably will end up with a 24 to 28 foot enclosed trailer with torsion axles, nothing fancy.

I know it will limit us to what CG's we can utilize since we will be 73 to 79 feet long. This summer while we were out for over 3 months we were surprised at how many CG's we could have stayed at with that big of a combination. Plus with a diesel generator we would make more use of Walmarts and dry camping situations.

[JandC]

Originally Posted by jcurtis934

I would put your name on the list at riverside rv resort which is 5 miles outside of port Charlotte in the country on Route 769, little past lake suzy. New lakes section has huge sites. Couple of us moc'rs there. As to type of rv, you'll figure out what is best for you...Wife will figure out what you both want...end of discussion.

Thanks for the tip. I had read about Riverside but when I saw their address in Arcadia I discounted it as being a little too far. Now that I see it is just out on Kings Highway from Port Charlotte that would be a pretty good location.

We have talked to the folks at Upriver RV Resort. It is just a few miles out Bayshore Drive east of I-75 (N. Ft. Myers). They have 120' super pull thru sites but are all reserved for this coming winter. He put us on a waiting list and said they always have cancellations.

We will get up to Riverside as soon as we can and talk with them. I use the Port Charlotte Harley dealer which is the opposite direction on Kings Highway so we are in that general area every couple weeks anyway.

[JandC]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

If the DP has a robust enough frame, they make hydraulic lifts that will hold a Harley and still pull a car behind. Had friends with a 42' MH with their Harley on the lift and pulling a Hummer.

We found a used DP that had a set up like that already on it. That method would certainly keep your length down to a minimum. I know from being full time before that we were only able to get our storage locker requirements down to a single 10x30. This time we are set on getting it down to a 10x10. I figure we will start out with a large enclosed trailer that will handle our small car, the Harley Trike, and some boxes and bikes.

At one of the MH dealers we have visited they sell Newmars and Tiffins. The only reason we were there was to look at a few of their well used rigs. The salesmen wanted to show me the new enclosed trailers they sell. They are the ones that are double hydraulic floors inside, pull one vehicle in, raise the floor, and then pull the other one in. They even had one discounted for just under $36,000! I told him if they ever had one they wanted to get rid of for around $5,000 give me a call.

[JandC]

House has been listed for 10 days and we now have a contract signed. Now we have about 35 days to clear the rest of our stuff out.

Ended up visiting Riverside (Arcadia), thanks for the tip jcurtis934. That is a really nice park. They put us on a waiting list and had just called a few days ago to tell us they had a cancellation. I had to ask them to put me on the bottom of the list because at that point we hadn't sold the house yet. Then yesterday Upriver RV outside of Ft. Myers said we could have a site for the winter there if we put our rig on it November 1st. The good part is while we aren't living in it in November they will only charge us $100 for November! We jumped all over that deal.

We still have to decide on what rig we will full time in. We can get by in our current MH until after the first of the year so our search will be slow. Can't wait to be a full timer again!!!!

[PackerFan]

Welcome Back!!

[CaptnJohn]

Take a peak at the Montana HC toy hauler. Not full timing but was happy to get out of the Dp and back into a 5er..

[JandC]

Originally Posted by PackerFan

Welcome Back!!

Thanks Scott!

[JandC]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

Take a peak at the Montana HC toy hauler. Not full timing but was happy to get out of the Dp and back into a 5er..

Thanks John, didn't know Montana had that 380 model. I'll have to check but the 100x60 garage will be close for a Trike. Compared to other TH's I have been in that model certainly has good living space though.

[JandC]

Close on the house in 19 days, but whos counting? Guess I'm more excited about going back to full timing than I originally thought.

Made a tentative deal on a used DP yesterday up at Lazy Days. It looked like they had tons of new Montana models in stock. I asked the boss if she at least wanted to go through a couple models, especially the toy hauler 380. She wouldn't bite and I only have a 40% vote in this venture, so.....