Our real trouble began June 4 when the front hydraulic legs wouldn't hold up the trailer. This is how we looked until June 13 when we traded in the Mobile Suites for the Airstream. That red truck in front of our truck and RV is Eric's/

Once we knew what we were moving into, we started packing boxes to ship back to Arizona

and bagging the stuff that would go into the Airmstream. That would make it quicker when we moved to the new RV.

These two photos give an good comparison of the size different between the Mobile Suites and the Airstream.

Here are some interior shots of the space we were moving out of.

And these show where we are now.

Whew! Downsizing is Exhausting

We began RVing in 1988, first borrowing a tent trailer, then buying our own Coleman pop-up. We traveled to the east coast and to British Columbia with that RV. We enjoyed it for probably 9 years before moving up to our first 5th wheel, a 1997 Komfort with no slides. (Our son Eric is still using that tent trailer.) We took the Kombort on many great trips, including one to the east coast. Eventually, about 5 or 6 years later, we decided we wanted at least one slide. We traded it for a 2003 Montana. Enjoying that one, we drove and rode the Alaska Marine Highway to Alaska, returning entirely on land. We also drove it to the Canadian Maritime Provinces.

In 2008 after volunteer assignments in Oregon, we were headed south into California when the front legs no longer worked. We were not able to take it off our truck until it was in the garage for repairs. While it was being fixed we checked out the dealers lot and bought a 2009 10th Anniversary Montana with 2 slides. We traveled extensively in that trailer including another trip to Alaska, after which we returned all the way to the lower 48 on the Marine Highway.

In early 2012 the front landing gear on that trailer failed. When we finally got it onto the truck, we had both front legs replaced under our extended service plan. By the end of the year, when we decided to look for another 5th wheel with 3 slides, we decided to go with a DRV Mobile Suites. We ordered it on line, using lots of advice from the Suites Owners forum and 3 different DRV dealers. After deciding which dealer to buy from, we waited for it to be built the way we wanted then picked it up in Chanute, Kansas, in 2013.

The Mobile Suites is constructed with more quality interiors, more style and upgrades than the Montanas. And it had a Lippert Level-up system that was a dream to use. Put down the front legs, removed the tow vehicle, push a button and it leveled itself automatically. That is done with hydraulic landing legs. Last September we began having serious problems with the hydraulic system ... more serious than the electric legs in either Montana. We had one front leg replaced last September after it wouldn't stay up. We had to keep stopping the truck every 10 miles as we drove on I-70 and I-25 in Colorado. This May, the system again failed: first it came down while we were parked with the RV still on the truck. Then the front end of the 5th wheel got lower and lower while we were parked.

We traveled from Arizona to Oklahoma to have the closest DRV dealer examine it and, we hoped, repair the problem. When we arrived at the dealership we were told our trailer wouldn't even be examined for 7 days, even though we had been led to believe he would immediately work on it when we arrived. Seven days later he spent 2 1/2 hours testing the legs and declared it OK. He then suggested, if we intended to keep the unit, we have the legs replaced and recommended a shop in Indiana. We left the dealership and drove directly to Amarillo. While in Amarillo the trailer legs again failed. We contacted the shop in Indiana and found that the earliest appointment was at least a month out.

We drove to Colorado without disconnecting our 5th wheel. It's difficult to get fuel, to shop for food and to visit when you have to drive a one-ton dual wheel truck and a 36 foot 5th wheel everywhere.

That was enough! No more 5th wheels for us. The living space and storage space in that type of RV is great. We have lived full-time in our last 2 for a total of 7 years. But we are no longer full-timers and we decided to downsize and look on our travels more like camping.

We arrived at Chatfield State Park near Denver on June 7. Since we couldn't take the 5th wheel off our truck, our son loaned us his pickup so we could get around without taking the trailer everywhere. The next day we went looking for a travel trailer. At Windish RV in Lakewood, we looked at several Airstreams as well as a Jayco and Grand Design unit. The latter 2 had slides so there was more living space. But they felt cheap inside compared to the Mobile Suites and Airstream. So that day, we made our choice and said we would get back to them. We then drove to Stevenson Chevrolet in Lakewood. We didn't need a 1-ton dually to pull the Airstream which, fulling loaded, weighs 10,000 pounds less then the Mobile Suites. Once we made a choice there, we returned to Windish and made a down payment on the trailer. Then back to Stevenson and made a down payment there.

Not done yet, we returned to Chatfield and spent the evening with our son Eric and his family on their boat, including another celebration of my recent birthday.

Thursday it was time to begin downsizing our stuff. When we lived in the Suites full-time, we had everything we owned (except for a small storage unit of stuff) in the RV. In late 2014 we bought a small house in Arizona and took what we needed for the house out of the trailer. We traveled in 2015, then returned to Arizona. But we still had way more than we needed for our travels. We have been sorting clothes and boxing up what we want shipped back to Arizona, keeping on what we absolutely need. The 5th wheel has a large basement storage area that we will miss. The idea is the put a cover on the bed of the truck and use that to store those items.

Friday we were out by 9 to finish the paperwork and pay for the truck. Then we returned to Windish to look again at the Airstream storage. Back to Chatfield to sort, throw stuff away and give Eric and Liz what we think they can use.

Saturday there was more sorting and packing. In the evening we attended my 55th high school reunion. Sunday was a chance to relax little. Monday we took the Mobile Suites to Windish and picked up the Airstream. Since the refrigerator wasn't cold in the new trailer, we left all our food in the old RV until the next day. But it took a while to move everything else into the new RV. We had boxed and bagged a lot of it before we got there, but it still had to be carted from one unit to the other. We used the old truck to move it. Back at Chatfield, we began trying to find a place for everything.

Tuesday it was time to trade the old truck for the new one. That didn't take long at all. The biggest task was to have all the new electronics in a 2016 Chevy explained. We still have to read about it so we remember, but all the upgrades are amazing! Then we drove to Windish to pick up our food.

Wednesday we had appointments with our dermatologist and returned Eric's truck. We made a trip to Goodwill, ordered a bed cover for the truck, ran some errands and started changing our insurance to the new vehicles.

We are exhausted. It is an effort to mentally take in all the changes. We try not to get lost when we get up during the night, looking for the bathroom. Every time we want something we stop, look around and try to remember where it might be. Sometimes it takes checking several cabinets before we find it.

Finally, Thursday, we had a full day at our site in the state park. We did laundry and continued working on putting things away. By dinner time, we finally were rid of boxes and piles on every surface. Whew.


I'll post pictures of all this in my next blog.

Change and Being Busy

We bought a new trailer and a new truck to pull it. Doing all of than in just over a week is somewhat overwhelming and very, very busy. Here is a photo of our new Airstream Flying Cloud 28 and new Chevrolet 2500HD crew cab truck.

I will be posting a reflection on the experience in a few days, but right now all I have the energy, focus and time to do is figure out what we need to do tomorrow.

A Life Preserver

We haven't drowned in the jello but it sure has been an intense week. We moved our ailing RV up to Chatfield State Park in the Denver area. We were nervous the whole time, checking to be sure the front landing leg hadn't fallen. Thankfully, nothing went wrong. That was was on Tuesday.

We had planned to take the trailer to Indiana for repairs. But we really didn't feel up to driving 1,000 miles with the RV hooked up to the truck. That would mean taking it to gas stations and grocery stores as well as RV parks. We first had a new leg installed last September. Since that repair failed, we were afraid we would never trust the hydraulics in this rig again.

On Wednesday, looking for a life preserver, we went shopping for a new RV. Our purchase means we are downsizing, since the new RV is much smaller than the Mobile Suites we have been in since 2013. We spent the first year we owned it as full-timers. That means we had everything we owned in the trailer. Then we bought our small house in Arizona and moved a lot of stuff into the house. But everything we didn't need there was still in the 5th wheel. Now we have to deal with that stuff. We have downsized from an 1800 square foot house to a 5th wheel and now to a smaller RV.

But we are living in a real mess right now. We are surrounded by boxes and bags of things we will move to the new RV and boxing up the things we won't move. We will have our son Eric ship those boxes to us after we return to Arizona. Buying the RV, signing the papers, sorting through everything. All of that has been busy and stressful.

What did we purchase? If anyone would know, the Lone Ranger would. You will have to wait till my next blog post to find out.

Santa's Visit

Santa came to our house on Monday. I guess people over the age of 60 are practical folks. We didn't get a toilet like Barbara and Ron or an ipad like Jim and Gayle. We had planned to get a new mattress for Christmas. That is until our neighbor Vern volunteered to build some drawers for our kitchen. If you remember, we moved into this new Mobile Suites in October and discovered there were no drawers in the kitchen. Since Santa's visit, that has been corrected.

We began with this empty space where there would have been a dishwasher if we hadn't eliminated that from our order. At the factory, they had replaced the dishwasher with a slide-out wastebasket. We quickly moved the wastebasket and were left with empty storage space. (There was a cabinet door there.)



A week or so ago, Vern brought these drawers and frame.



And Monday, he arrived to install them.



Here are the drawer slides, waiting for the drawers.



And here are the drawers in place, just waiting for me to fill them.



It didn't take me any time to do just that. Finally, the knives, forks and spoons, as well as other cooking tools and some pans were sitting the drawers, within easy reach when I cook or put away the clean dishes. Yea!



In the next week or so, Vern will return with drawer fronts that match our other cabinets. That will be nice. But we're both happy campers, now. We feel like our new home is finally complete.

At Last!

Five weeks ago today, we signed the papers and took possession of our new 5th wheel trailer. Since then, we have moved everything from the old RV to the new one; driven 1,719 miles from Chanute, Kansas, to Mesa, Arizona; found where we stored most of our possessions in the new RV; bought a new truck and transferred all the extra equipment to it from the almost new old truck, and tried to get settled in our winter home.

Finally in the past few days, we feel we have been able to slow down and enjoy the life we have here in Arizona in the winter. Twice this week, we have spent time in the woodshop, getting started on our intarsia projects. Last night was the annual Welcome Home dinner for the returning snowbirds here at Valle Del Oro. They said 1,700 people were in attendance. The service was amazingly fast. We all went through 2 or 3 serving lines in less than 15 minutes. This shows just a small part of the crowd.



We had a great sunset.



Some of the folks line-danced to the three bands providing music around the area.



We had a good time. We also have taken time to enjoy the rose garden here in the resort. Fall and winter in Arizona are amazing.

What a Difference a Week Makes

Are we ever glad we made it to Mesa when we did. Last week it was cool but pleasant as we drove from Kansas to Arizona. Last Tuesday, we drove from Albuquerque, NM, to Holbrook, AZ. Then we came to Mesa on Wednesday. Today would have been a good travel day. But Monday there were winds gusting up to 60 along I-40 and in Show Low. Yesterday, the winds were 40-45 mph. And last night it snowed on the mountains up there. We are grateful we didn't have to sit out any of that weather in Holbrook.

Each day we are busy. Sunday we received a very warm "welcome back" from many people at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Tempe. The church is another reason we really enjoy our winter home here in Arizona. John has installed towel racks for our bath towels. We have hung pictures, arranged things on our new shelves, prepared sunshields for the front and side windows of the truck, assembled the paper work so our son Eric can get our RV licensed in Colorado. We are beginning to feel settled.

To top it all off, we have had some really nice sunrises and sunsets. I took this picture out of our window Monday.

Our Winter Home

Wednesday we arrived at our winter home, Valle del Oro in Mesa.



This is our 8th winter to stay here. The first year it was for only a week. Each year the stay has gotten longer. As we parked, we saw that three couples we know on our street had already arrived, so we feel even more at home.

We left Kansas on Saturday, going to Oklahoma, then Texas. Next, it was New Mexico.



As we drove toward Albuquerque, we saw this ominous smoke on the horizon.



We were relieved when we learned it was some sort of trash pile being burned.



Then, we were on to Arizona.



In Colorado, we were surrounded by pine and spruce forests. Then we spent six weeks passing through flat farm fields and prairie grass. The mesas, buttes and mountains of western New Mexico and Arizona are familiar and welcome sights.







We saw some honest-to-goodness fall colors.



And a structure that I believe is used to burn wood chips or sawdust from lumber production.



Wednesday morning, we left Holbrook, AZ, at nearly 6,000 ft elevation, then went up and down, over 7,000 to eventually 1,400 ft here in Mesa. That meant numerous stretches of road with signs like this.



And roads that look like this.



We began to see the familiar creosote bush and prickly pear cactus. Next came teddy bear cholla and ocotilla. But we know we are almost here when our favorite cactus, the saguaro, comes into view.



Now we begin reorganizing all the storage in our new RV. We put everything away before leaving Kansas, but we don't know where anything is. After moving things three or four times, it will take a while to remember where we put it last. But we are beginning to make progress.

Traveling West

We are driving west from Kansas to Arizona. We have been on interstate highways most of the past two days and we will remain on I-40 till we reach Holbrook, AZ. When you travel the interstates, rest areas are very important. We saw only two in Oklahoma and one was about 5 miles from the the state border. But a little later, we came to one that you could get excited about, just looking at it. Guess what state it is in.



Does this help?



Well, if you haven't figured it out, you get one more hint.



That's right, we are in Texas. Only for about 200 miles or so. I-40 crosses the Texas panhandle, the only manageable road in the state.

Thanks to all of my readers who commented on our new RV. We appreciate hearing from you.

Goodbye to the Old, Hello to the New

Finally, Thursday we took possession of our new 2014 Mobile Suites 5th wheel trailer. We went in to Kansas RV Center at 8 am, signed the papers, and were given a 2-hour walk-through of the unit. That is the best orientation we have ever had when buying a new RV. Then, we backed our truck into the dealer's garage and they helped us hook-up. Here we are, ready to pull it for the first time.



We drove it about 2 blocks to the Chanute, Kansas, Santa Fe Campground. Our first time unhooking.



Our 2009 Montana was parked there, too, and we began moving all our worldly possessions (except for a few boxes and file cabinets in Colorado) from one unit to the other. Ugh. Hard work. We called the dealer twice Thursday and Friday with minor problems and they sent technicians out to correct the problems. About 1 pm Friday, after the second visit, they hooked up a truck to the Montana and pulled it back to their shop. That was sort of a sad event. We loved that trailer and spent our first 5 years of full-timing in it. We have been to the Canadian Maritime Provinces, Alaska and the US East Coast in that RV. But we are delighted with the new one.

Moving belongings and stowing them away is a big task. We were in a mess most of the time.





Finally, by bedtime last night, things were pretty decent and almost everything had been put away somewhere. Now the task is to find it when we need it.



This 46 inch TV is a bit overwhelming when our chairs sit only 6 and 10 feet away.



What do we love about our new home? There are lots of things. One, it is very pretty. Two, it is a little over 2 feet shorter than the old one. Three, it is built much better than the Montana.

But two things , while not deal-breakers, are certainly high on the list of great things. First is this control panel.



We have 6-point automatic leveling. I have always been in charge of getting the trailer level. Now, all I have to do is push one button to raise the front of the RV so we can unhitch, then another to level. Then we just stand back and watch it go up and down, side to side until it is level. No more driving up on boards on one side or the other, checking the level and often doing it again, then lowering the front till we are level front to back, then putting out boards and putting down the rear stabilizers. It's wonderful!!! And it saves us a lot of time.

If you look back at the photo when we had things put away, and you are familiar with the standard RV day-night shades, you will notice that we don't have those. These shades have one shade that acts as a sun screen and another (the white ones you see in that photo) that blocks out the light and provides privacy at night. All it takes to put them back up is give it a little tug and it rolls itself back up.

Something else I like is the 4-door refrigerator-freezer. It has nearly twice the space of the old one did. And the shelves have small barriers to keep things from sliding off during travel.



Tonight, we are parked in Oklahoma City, enroute for Mesa, AZ. Ain't it purdy? And it pulls really great, too.