It’s Done (Roslyn-NY)

 

The house is sold and we just turned over the keys to the new owners. We tried to go through the things in the house but the new owners are not very fluent in English.

Until May 23, we are staying an Beverly’s house ( Ann’s sister).  This will give us time to setup the camper for travel.

We are now Full Time Travelers. 

It has been an exhausting couple of days, both physically and mentally.  Both Ann and I are both drained and relieved.

For the past two days we have been doing the final packing and moving out to the camper.   What to bring and what to throw out the last minute was taxing mentally.  All the clothes you had for years, need to be gone through and picked over.  For the last few months we have been doing just that, but the last few days really brought it to a head.  Do I really need this?  Will I ever wear it again?  Can I do without it?  Is there room in the camper?  And don’t forget about the weight.  There are weight limits on the camper.  These are all of the questions we were asking ourselves and each other.

Then there is the physical. We sold the car a week ago so we are using the truck to get around.  The last couple of days, up at 5AM pack up the truck.  Make a run out to the camper. Unload and unpack.  Three time a day.  When we pack up the truck means bringing things up from the basement or down from the second floor many many times. 

Then there is the stuff we are getting rid of.  For weeks we have been taking load after load to be donated.  Putting things that cannot be donated in black garbage bags.  We can only do this twice a week and only 6 bags at a time.

Well it is all over now.  We are both sad and happy.  Sad that a part of our lives for 18 years is over. Happy because we are beginning a life long dream, many years in the planning.  So, after Heidi an Jay’s wedding next week, we will take off.  Next stop, Alaska and beyond!

See you on the Roan Road…

A Done Deal - (Flushing NY ..the end..)

 

Well it is a done deal.  After over 90 days, which is way past the closing contract ended, we finally closed.  It was the Closing from Hell.  We arrived at the lawyer’s office yesterday around 11 AM and didn’t leave until 5 PM, and it was not complete.   We had to go back today to pick up the checks.  We are still in the house until Sunday when we will be houseless, not homeless.  Our home is now parked in Amityville.

The buyers are taking all of the furniture we do not want and could not sell.  Than is a big relief because we would have to pay to have it removed.  The car is sold and we are using the truck to get around.

We will be staying at Bev’s house (Ann’s Sister) or at the Camper until we hit the road on May 23, first stop, Alaska.

To all: if you are going to call us please call on our Cell phones as the home land line is being turned off.  If you need our phone numbers or new mailing address please email me at roybrody@gmail.com.

 

See you down the Roan Road….

Update (Flushing, NY–OMG still)

 

We are making progress on closing on the house.  After spending hours and hours at the Buildings Dept. and seeing the Big Shots, we had to see the Big Cheese.  He only sees three people a day from 11 AM to 12 PM.  So you have to come early, around 8:30 AM, sign in and come back by 11 AM.  On Wednesday we got there around 8:45, and we were the first.  Finally around 11:45 we got to see him.  He was extremely helpful. The bottom line is we need a historical map dated before 1938 that shows our property with the garage. With this document and all of the other records we already gave him we could get the LNO (Letter of No Objection).  He told us to go to a service, which was across the street, and if they did not have the correct map, don’t pay them.   We went to the historical map guy gave him the the info on our address and left a refundable deposit and went home to a restless nights sleep.  In the morning we got a phone call from the map guy that they had the correct map and to come in.  Licitly split we were out of the house and on our way.  $60 poorer we had the map in hand.  Back to the Building Dept. to start the process again.  This time we were the third person to sign up for the day.   Long story short,  by 1 PM we walked out with a certified copy of the LNO, which is as good as a C of O. OMG we are done!  That is unless the  buyer’s bank comes up with something else.  One small step for US, one giant leap on our way to Alaska.

Meanwhile, we brought the camper in on Tuesday to a local RV dealer to have it inspected for the Extended Warranty we purchased.  They said it should be done in a few hours.  That afternoon I called and asked how it was going?  “Oh I am glad you called”  they said.  “We cannot get  AC in the camper, did you have any problems”?  “ WHAT”? I said, “NO”.  “Did you check the EMS?” I said.  “Uh, what’s that”, they said.  “I will be there after lunch to look” I said .  The EMS system is a device that checks the incoming power, and if there is a problem will not let and AC into the trailer.  So we got in the truck and went out to Amityville, not a cheap ride, considering 8 mpg at $4.25/gal.  So guess what, the EMS was doing its job.  They had an open ground in their power system and it shut down the power to the trailer so nothing in the trailer will be damaged.  My faith in these people was waning fast.  Here it is Thursday evening and still no call that the camper is ready.

Stay glued to your computer for the next thrilling installment!!!!!

See you down the Roan Road…

We're Back. (Flushing, NY- still)

 

We are back from Florida with the camper.  It is back in Amityville.  Before we left to pickup the camper I had a 50 gallon fuel tank installed in the bed of the truck.  It is great, you can go and go and go and never stop.  We only stopped to go to the bathroom.  The good thing is we now can carry 88 gallons of fuel.  We can get fuel where it is less expensive and save money.  The bad part is when we do fill it up OUCH !!. That’s $250. 

We made it to Orlando and went right to the storage facility.  Everything on the camper looked ok.  I went to open the door and it would not open.  The lock seems to be opening but the door would not.  I was about to start unscrewing the frame to remove the door when I gave it one last try.  I turned the key to the position I thought would be unlocked and with a screw driver I slowly and carefully pried the door open.  It popped open.  The insulation around the door held the door shut.  Once I broke the seal it was fine. 

Everything in the camper was ok.  So we hitched up and headed out to the nearest campsite to clean up the camper and put away STUFF.  We decided to take an extra day to slowly straighten out everything.  On Saturday we started beck to NYC.

On the way back we stayed in a campsite 2 nights and in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel the last night.

We finally pulled into Amityville around 4PM.  We transferred our STUFF to the truck and left our home in Amityville and headed to our house in Flushing. 

Yesterday we hitched up and went to get 6 new tires for our home.  Then back to Amityville.

That’s all for now, more to come.

Happy Holidays to all

See you down the Roan Road…

Stuck in Flushing (Flushing, NY “duh”)

 

Well, I guess we are back on the air (posting).  

It has been interesting.  I guess all of you know that he house has been sold!!  We are just waiting for a closing date.

The latest wrinkle is the buyers bank.  No surprise there.  It appears that they want a C of O (certificate of occupancy) for the garage. We looked everywhere in our papers and nothing. Why this never came up when we bought the house, I have no idea.  We have a C of O for the house because in 1954 the fourth bedroom was added. 

So being retired, I said I would go down to the Dept. of Buildings and get one.   It turns out that if the house and the garage were build before 1938 there is no C of O.  Ok, I said, can you give me a letter stating that.  No, they said.  You need a “Letter  of No Objection”.  Ok, I said.  How do I get one.  Well I have to first call a to get official historical maps of the area then contact the Dept. of Finance and get tax records for the house before 1938, then take pictures of the house and bring all of that back to the Dept. of Buildings give them $25 and in 15 days I will get the Letter of No Objection.  Talk about a run on sentence.

So I contacted the company about the maps.  They said sure, but it will cost you $212 and you will get them within 2-3 business days.  Then I emailed the Dept. of Finance for the records.  Within 2 days I got an email that the research was done and I can get them from the office at 31 Chambers Street or have them mailed and it would cost $15.  Now that was a bargain.

So Friday morning I got up early, took my special reduced fair senior citizen metro card (a great deal) and took the Q27 bus to the number famous number 7 train and changed at Grand Central Station, to the number 6 downtown train and arrived at City Hall station.

When I got to the records dept. they actually had everything there and waiting for me.  I paid the $15, in cash, and was out the door in 15 minutes.  That was easy.

I then took the number 6 train uptown to Grand Central Station, and changed to the number famous number 7 train to Main Street Flushing.  Then I took the Q 27 bus back to 45-58 172 Street (that’s our house).  What to my surprise when I got home was a FedEX package waiting by the door with the Historical maps! 

BTW, I did all of that traveling by myself because Ann refused to cancel a haircut appointment.

The day before I took my trusty Canon Tsi DSLR camera and took the pictures of the house and printed them out on my trusty HP printer, so I could be ready.

I then gathered up all the documentation and headed back to the Dept. of Building to get my Letter of No Objection.  When I got there they said we only do the Letter of No Objections between 8 and 12.  It was now 2 PM.  Great!!!   Actually, they were really nice at the Dept. of Buildings because they did it anyway (whew!).

So, here we are waiting the 15 days for the Letter of No Objection.  We decided that after Ann’s dentist appointment Tuesday (the 27th) morning, we will head south to Florida to get the camper (which is in storage) and bring it back. Great to be retired.

The bank better not find some other delaying tactics because we are running out of time and patience.

We did it !!! (Flushing, NY)

 

It is 19 degrees in Flushing. Got to head for warmer weather sooooon!!!  Click Click goes the gas meter.  Down Down goes my bank account.

We received an offer on the house we could live with.  Not what I wanted, but fair in todays market.  They are putting 25% down in cash and supposed to be pre approved.  We went to contact the deposit was sent and the contact signed.  Now we actually have to get off our butts and sell most of the STUFF and hit the road.  That means sell or donate all of the furniture and STUFF. 

We have sold or are selling some of the paintings.  Heidi said she will take the two portraits of my grandparents (NOT).

Here are pictures of the furniture than needs to go.

If you are interested in any of the above email me  roybrody@gmail.com or call me at 917 733 4035.   Lets play “let’s make a deal”.

Also, if you are interested in woodworking I have many woodworking tools I reluctantly need to sell.

It includes but not limited to, drills, sanders, saws, clamps, etc. No reasonable offer refused.

There is more, come on down and look around, it all has to go.

More to come.

See you down the Roan Road…

Well we are back (Flushing, NY)

 

It has been a while since our last post, so I will summarize since the last blog.

 

Well, we have been chilling out so much in Sunny Florida that we are pretty much frozen!  Getting the Hitch Itch now!

Friday:

Went to Tampa for our appointment with Ford to have the truck inspected for the extended warranty.  Everything was OK, except the rear main seal on the transmission was leaking.  The good news was, it was under warranty.  The bad new is that is would not be ready until late in the afternoon.  They offered us a free shuttle bus service they had, but where to go?  Of course, we went to the Mall.  Where else??

When we got to the Mall guess what we found, besides Food.

That’s Ann waiting on line for:

Yup, that’s right, a Carousel, smack in the middle of the Mall and Ann could not resist.

 

Saturday:

Took a trip with Fran and Rick to Tarpon Springs, the sponge capital.  Ann picked up some hand lotions with olive oil, she needed.  I told her we had plenty of Extra Virgin Olive Oil at home she could use, but it didn’t work.

After the trip to Tarpon Springs we went back to Fran & Rick’s house. Ann lied down on a recliner and promptly feel asleep! Imagine Ann actually taking a nap (miracles do happen)!

Fran and Rick made a barbeque for dinner. Their younger son, Seth, and his wife, Jessica and their 2 children, Cierra and Chase also came over.  We all had a great time.

Sunday:

Ann and I went down to St. Petersburg.  We took a walk along the pier.  The pier and the river front has been redone and it really looks great.  On the pier we sat and listened to a four piece jazz band.

The pier is right next to the airport, so we could watch the planes taking off and the boats going by.  It was a very pleasant day.

When we got back from back we went out to dinner with Rick, Fran and Rick’s mother, Ellen, at a great Italian restaurant called Johnny’s.

Monday:

In the morning we took our time because it was only a 70 mile trip.  We went through our hitch up routine and pulled out about 10:30 AM.

We pulled into Blueberry Hill campground in Bushnell, where we were greeted by the some of the members of the group who were already setting up.  We unhitched, connected our electric, water and sewer and let out our slides.  We were ready for the fun stuff.

Through the day the New Horizon rigs kept coming in, a total of 17.  During the rally we had seminars  on Solar and Battery maintenance.  General rig maintenance, even a Personal Trainer.  Personal Trainer is one of the other guys with more knowledge will come around to your rig and answer specific question you may have.  I cannot begin to tell you the amount of information we received on the Camper, the truck and the great bunch of people we met.

There was an open house, where all of us opened up campers to everyone else, so all of us could see all of the other campers.  Since the New Horizons are custom campers, no two are the same.  We got some good ideas from each.  We still like our home the best.

Thursday:

Thursday was a free day we could explore the area.  We decided to go to Homosassa Springs with two other couples, Joe and Valerie and Jim and Jan.  We had a great time. 

Saturday:

In the morning we went to the planning meeting for the next rally in 18 months. After that we left for Orlando to store the camper until the house sells.  We pulled into the Adult Toy Storage around 1:30PM,  a little late (the sign said they closed at 1 PM), but there was still someone there and they got us in and parked.  We took everything out of the camper and packed up the truck.  Locked up the the camper and with a tear in our eyes we said good bye to The Roan, our home, had headed north.  (FYI, you would be amazed at how many campers of all sizes and shapes were parked at this storage facility, it is unreal!).

The rally was great and we had a wonderful time from the minute we pulled into the campground.  We made lots of new friends and we are looking forward to seeing them again.  (Roy enjoyed every minute of of this rally, he was “tech talking” every waking moment with the guys about the truck or the camper!!)

The following is not an admission of guilt, but an explanation of what happened.  We headed to north with the truck and all of our possessions.  We arrived in Jacksonville around 6PM and pulled into a motel for the night.  When we were checking in I asked if they had WiFi.  Then it hit me, OH Shit!  I left the Internet air card in the camper.  Not only did I leave it in the camper, but it was turned on and connected to our router.  (It is all Ann’s fault).  So in the morning it was back down I-95 to Orlando, 145 miles, to pick up the air card.  Now I want to repeat, IT WAS NOT MY FAULT!!,  no matter what other people may say behind my back.

On the way back the Tire Pressure Monitor I installed paid for itself.  One of the inside dual rear tires started to give an alarm of low pressure.  I pulled off the road to see if anything was wrong.  It read low, but not too low.  I decided to get off at the next exit to get air in the tire.  After putting more air in the tire, it kept going down.  I asked at a truck stop if there was a tire repair shop around.  They recommended a shop one exit south of us, 4 miles.  Ann called them and they said they would be waiting for us.  When we got their the found a nail in the tire.  If it were not for the monitor we could have lost two new tires.  We only lost a few hours, but saved a bundle of money.

The rest of the trip was uneventful except to say that New Jersey and New York have some of the Worst Roads. 

Well,  that was a long post. 

We are now in our Sticks and Bricks house waiting for a buyer.

See You Down the Roan Road…