It's begun....

Welcome to Oceanside, CA at Paradise by the Sea!
We've moved into the trailer with all our household goods! (Holy ****!)  We can't believe how much stuff we had and how much we've had to cram into every nook and cranny in our trailer.  It took us 2.5 days to get it loaded.  We have gone from 2500 sq ft, 3 bed/2.5 bath, 2 story into a 43 ft trailer, maybe 430 sq ft!  We have more than I'm sure we need, but it's hard getting rid of so much at one time.  We will be leaving a trail of our journey with our things we decided to off-load along the way!
So, our move went pretty smooth.  We must have secured everything well because nothing fell down on us when we opened cabinets.  We got the RV spot we wanted (the biggest one!), and our set-up went well.  Most importantly, everything works and we are level!  The boys have their set-up in the back with a bean bag, recliner chairs, bed, music and the Wii.

Our site! (see 'da train tracks)

It feels like we are camping at this point.  Maybe tomorrow will be different as I have to go to work and the boys have school.  We will be here until June 16th enjoying the many amenities the RV resort has to offer.  The boys are loving the office area where the pool/hot tub, and Wii game center is.  The beach is just under the train tracks and across the street.  The trains have been tolerable so far, and will hopefully turn into "white noise".  Although a freight train went by last night and it felt like an earthquake!  In a couple of days we should have sunny/warm weather to enjoy the beach being just out our door.

This is a great place to begin the first part of our journey, yet close enough to where we came from, it allows us to ease into our new "normal". 

Cozy quarters

Thinning out

We have been getting rid of, selling, donating or boxing up our house.  It is echoing in every room, so I guess we've done a good job.  There is still so much that we want/need to take with us, but I feel like there will not be enough room!  I am comforted by the thought that we aren't "on the road" yet, because there are going to be many issues to work out before we "go"(which will be mid-June).  It is only 10 days until we are in our trailer permanently!  We've been waiting for this for a while now, and with the excitement of trying something new, the anticipation of issues are surfacing.  I've sent out postcards with our new information and am trying to change all bills and mailings to our new address or going "green".  You would think that I've got this down after 12 moves!
Jason has done some building in the trailer already for additional storage and shelves which is difficult due to lack of room and weight issues.  The walls which are made of the thinnest wood can really only hold sticky hooks.  There will be much more to be modified once we are all living in it daily.  We've been taking the trailer out of storage 1-2 times a week to put more stuff in or to build, so Jason is getting really good at towing and backing it into a parking space.  I'm getting more used to it too.

Second time....

We have been waiting weeks to get our trailer back from the dealership.  They finally figured out what went wrong with our hydraulic lifts, and fixed things.  Thank goodness this happened so soon after getting the trailer and not on the road yet.  The second time picking it up, all went well.  We made sure they pushed every button and things did what they should do when you push that button.
Pulling the trailer for the second time around, was not a big deal as the first time (at least not for me, I'm the one writing...:)).  We had to put the trailer in storage for a few days until we were ready to take it out for it's maiden voyage.  Wow, there are some tight spaces the storage place wants you to get your 43 ft 5th wheel backed into.  We had to change spots, it was just too tight.  And even if we got it in, what about getting it out again without taking out the support beams?!!  Jason, has some patience let me tell you.....
Our first trip was planned for Spring vacation.  We wanted to be in good weather to check things out and see how well everything worked, and if we remembered how to do it all.  We traveled 1 1/2 hrs south to Borrego Springs, south of Palm Springs.  The road there was the curviest and steepest, what a great start on this voyage!  90* turns and 8% grade (aptly named Montezuma Rd.)  Jason is a great driver; I was holding on to the door handle and shifting my weight with each turn.

It was hot, we were in heaven!

The Springs at Borrego is an RV park, with high ratings.  Well kept grounds, washing room, plenty of showers/bathrooms, pool, rec rooms, gym, and best of all a 9-hole golf course.  

The first day, we set up, everything worked, or we got it to work.  The air conditioning units work really well!  That night, being in the desert, we saw the most amazing star-studded night sky.  I could've laid out in my chair star-gazing for hours!

Day 2, we thought we'd take a drive to Palm Springs, only to find out that it's almost a 2 hour drive!  Oh well, back to the RV park and into the pool!  We did drive past some amazing metal sculptures of a dragon, camel, scorpian, and field workers.  All this in the middle of the desert plains.  Very interesting.  

Day 3 we took a road trip to the Salton Sea, hearing about it from time to time from Huell Howser or Anthony Bourdain.  Let's just say, we drove, we saw, we turned around and went back to the RV park.  A very interesting history, but nothing to see presently.  As Andre said, "the highlight of the Salton Sea was the bright yellow high school we drove by".    

Back at the RV park, we were gearing up for some golf!

We all had fun, but definitely need more practice.  Thank goodness it was in the early afternoon and business on the course was dying down, there were only a couple of people behind us, who played through.  The boys had more fun driving the golf carts than actually playing the game.  

After getting there, getting back home was a breeze.  The drive went well, but I couldn't bring myself to  read my book or any of the manuals I brought with me; I kept watching out the rearview mirrors at how close we were to the edge of the road, and of course, leaning in my seat!

Living full-time in the trailer will be hard, but we will get used to it and used to dealing with having less things around us.  There are some modifications we would like to make, but none that need to be done right now (another air conditioner, make the microwave a convection microwave, take out a cabinet, etc.)  There are a lot of hooks to get placed and shelves to be made, which is all hard considering you are nailing into thin particle board.   (Thank you Uncle Joel for your words of wisdom about gearing ourselves up for trailer living!) 

At home, we are getting rid of, storing, or selling on craigslist.  We are counting down the days (25!), until we need to be out of the house and set-up for living in the trailer full-time.  Things to do list seems daunting, however also freeing and keeps us moving in the right direction.  Speaking of direction, we are planning to  make our first trip to Oregon, somewhere between Portland and Salem.  When we have further information, we will post it.  We have our Texas address and will be mailing out information cards soon.  

Our 4-legged family member joining us on our adventure, Elwood!