Just when we thought it was hopeless, we finally managed to nail a decent RV! Tom went and looked at the $3,000 Winnebago, which had its pros and cons. The biggest con was the price. We’re going to be struggling bad enough as it is and we really didn’t want to have to spend that much on the RV if possible. So it was either that or the dumpy one in Glendale that was $2300 but didn’t run as well and just didn’t have as many pros as the Winnebago. Then there was this auction on a 20’ RV that may’ve had its flaws, yet looked beautiful. We didn’t exactly dig the colors when we saw the pictures (not that it matters since it’s just a temporary home), but it was clean and remodeled beautifully. Its only real negative is that the toilet is in the middle of the shower stall so you have to either sit on the toilet or stand right smack next to it when showering. Also, it has a cab AC, but no roof AC, so getting through Death Valley may be rough. It should be cool most of the time once we get to Oregon, though. After all, we’re going to be on a giant mountain in the forest.

So anyway, it was sitting at $1,176 with 8 bids. The highest bidder was a rookie which was good. However, the others had more experience, so I knew I was going to have to put a serious spell on these people. Most people don’t usually bid on such big items unless they know what they’re doing and I knew this. So I concentrated so hard on making them sick once the end came and I made them have to up and puke their guts out so badly that I almost ended up puking myself. It made us win, though. The rookie tried to swoop in on us, but then we beat them out and won the RV for just $1,350! We never thought we’d get anything under $2,000. Tom’s perfect timing and wise thinking really helped along with my spells. It’s not what we’d call a steal of a deal, but definitely something a bit more than suitable. And it still is a pretty good deal, too. I knew I couldn’t make the long-timers simply “forget” to swoop in at the end, so I made them sick instead. They’ll no doubt be forever wondering what came over them and why.

Anyway, it’s a ’75 GMC Midas and is 7’ shorter than Dennis’. Its layout and space aren’t going to be as nice, but at least this thing drives and will be cleaner and remodeled. We’ll still clean it ourselves to get it free of dust and things like that. I don’t want to put my big stuffed dog or my big Chris doll on top of the dust.

The swap meet we had planned for next weekend is going to be delayed a week because this thing is coming from a dealership that liquidates vehicles rather than an individual and is only open till 5 PM during the week. Therefore, Miss Perfect won’t be able to help us until Saturday. This is okay, though, as we have 17 days to pick it up. Anyway, when we get it, we’ll spruce it up as best we can. He thinks that if he just charges the cab AC, it may cool most of the living space. Because of this, I may take Tom’s advice and not worry about my schedule. I won’t even have to worry about it on the way either since I expect all the excitement will cause me to sleep intermittently anyway. I figure I’ll have a hard time sleeping at night with Tom snoring and the rats squeaking and because I’m still mostly nocturnal, but will be lulled to sleep by the engine running in the daytime right along with the rats who are also nocturnal.

We’re not sure if we’re going to run any more auctions while we’re here because we’ll want to have stuff to sell once we get there to help cushion us till he gets work. We’re going to restock the store, too. Instead of $89 + shipping on Samantha, I think we may list her at $99 with free shipping.

Meanwhile, we’ve been stiffed by 3 people so far – the people who won the two incense auctions, and the Madonna disc winner.

Also, the guy who won some computer hardware insists he never got it, so Tom will ask the PO to look it up. Either way, he has a receipt proving he sent it which will clear him with eBay and we won’t have to give the guy a refund. We get delivery confirmations with the more expensive things as we know that sooner or later someone’s going to claim they didn’t get something they really did.

Because the truck has rear-wheel drive, Tom’s either going to disconnect the driveshaft so it can be towed or rent a dolly-like trailer that’ll lift it. It’ll protect the tires this way, too.

Pretty soon we’ll be washing and stripping the car that I vibe we’ll get $200 for even though Tom’s hoping for $350, but hey, $200 is $200 and we can’t take the thing with us.

First we were being teased with the well till we discovered what the real problem was, and now the AC’s teasing us. It comes on and blows warm air. Just when we think it’s not going to start blowing cool air, it does.

So this is basically it. All that’s left to do is sell our stuff, then we’re free to go!

The good thing about the land next to ours being sold is that if they’re planning to build on it, they should’ve already started, in which case we’ll get a different piece of land. I’d really, really like a year or two to ourselves before we get company, and I’d really like to have the fences before their dogs arrive and not afterward. Either way, I just don’t know how eager Tom will be to do the fences as it still seems that he likes to see me wait for things. I don’t know just what the kick is he supposedly gets out of it, but the more desperate I am for something, the more he seems to want to stall me from getting it. I’m also going by this place. We had the money, yet when we did, he didn’t put up the fences he knew I so desperately wanted, though now, in light of the circumstances, I’m glad he didn’t. Still, there were a few instances when we had the money and yet it never got done. Maybe it was just the size of the land that put a damper on his own eagerness.

I tease him, saying he’s going to end up complaining big time about the cold, especially when he wants to work outdoors, saying he’s not used to it. Meanwhile, I’m simply returning to what I grew up with, only there’ll be less rain, snow and humidity. I’ll be glad I won’t have to play bus in the cold and that I can just stay inside, except for when we go out since I know the heater will be broken most of the time because that’s just how most of our stuff ends up. It spends more time being broken than being functional.

We decided that whether we share a room or not, we’re still going to have 2 bedrooms (we most definitely will go with a 2-story dome that’ll total about 1800 square feet) and we might do Murphy beds that pull out of the wall.

We may also go all-laptop and make a closed compartment for things like printers and scanners. That way we won’t see all the ugly equipment and the 10 million wires that go with it, and when we need to print something, we’ll just hook the laptops up to it.