~Wednesday, March 1, 2023~
Day 991
Wow guys, I can’t believe I’m typing Day 991 in this blog post, inching ever closer to Day 1,000!!! It will also be the same day as my sister’s birthday, so it will be an all-around day to celebrate for sure!! Hopefully you’ll celebrate with us from wherever you are! Get the champagne ready!🍾
As we tend to projects at the campground, Wednesday seems to be lawn mowing/trimming day. And with 108 lawn appointed campsites, that should just about take all day. Ahhh, nothing like the smell of fresh-mown grass….that is if you’re not prone to allergies.
A few days ago, I posted about ordering a new ventilation fan (a Fantastic Fan) for the bathroom, so install day is here! And like all projects, there came a few snags in the process. First the demo….usually a fun thing, right?? You know the kind where you can take out any aggressions on an inanimate object. Not when you’re on a 100-degree roof I guess. Evidently the old unit that was originally installed on our Lance 2465 had a different anchoring system and had quite a bit of residual glue and caulking that was so heavily on there, that when Jeff went to remove it, it took some of the roofing material off with it (the thickness of an apple peel). He doesn’t think that that will compromise the roof in any way considering how the new fan’s flange and new caulk will cover most, if not all of it. The new fan also comes with 16 screws for which I completely cringe at knowing that we’ll have 16 additional holes in our roof. But Jeff assures me that he’ll caulk the heck out of it to make sure there are no leaks down the road. He did an excellent job on installing our solar panels so don’t know why I’m questioning a few more holes 😬. Today, he would get as far as removal, not installation. So stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I stayed in a nice air-conditioned trailer most of the afternoon (thank you Honda generator!) continuing my moving research. After delving into more information about our future healthcare, I found some very interesting information. Since Jeff and I are in a semi-retired state at this point in our lives, with the thought of having “fun” jobs when we set new roots, we need to be mindful about our income and how it could affect what we would qualify for in terms of federal assistance. At 59, we’re still 6 years away from Medicare, so in the meantime we’re trying to see how to offset the HIGH premiums until then. So we want to be careful that our AGI isn’t too high which could negatively impact our healthcare premiums. For example, with an AGI of let’s say $24,000, the federal tax credit is so great, that it nearly negates any costs to the customer, at least in the states we’re looking at, except Virginia. Virginia does not offer Federal tax credits, but DOES offer Medicaid assistance which is state run. So hitting a sweet spot AGI and justifying working those “fun” jobs are things we need to consider with our move. More to stay tuned for.
I also spent a little time today looking at reviews for a few of the long-distance moving companies I had on my list. Needless to say, the process was a bit frustrating with conflicting reviews. For instance, Forbes will rate one company as #1 while another like U.S. News and World Report will rate the same company as #4. So it’s hard to decide which is the most accurate, requiring you to look further at what the reviews are “saying”, not just by ratings. I also found out that the company in California that is storing my precious piano (Encore Piano Storage/Movers), does not do long-distance moving 😫. But they did have a recommendation for a company they’ve used for years and one that I had already heard about. However, I’m always looking for 5-star, not 4-star reviews, so we’ll see if they make the cut. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to get a quote.
I’m also trying to research RV storage places while we’re in Illinois this Spring. The plan is with Hannah’s due date of June 23rd, she is likely to have the baby 4 to 5 weeks early since that has been the trend in her prior pregnancies. We will be in North Carolina between the middle of April and mid May where we’ll camp and really get familiar with the cities we’re interested in, then store the trailer likely in Asheville while we drive Hank to Illinois to be with Hannah, Devin and the grandkids to help in any way we can. And of course we wouldn’t miss the birth of our first granddaughter. While we stay with them for about a month, if a worthwhile property does comes up, we’ll only have an 8-hour drive to see it in person. So we’ll spend the majority of our summer between North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, hoping to find our ideal home. Let’s hope it’s THIS summer or sooner!!