Our Home Away from Home!

Our Home Away from Home!

Sunday, March 31, 2013

1st Night in New Home.....NO Fun!!!!

Let's just say that our first night in our new home will be memorable. Yep, and not in the ways that will bring us warm fuzzy thoughts down the road. 
First of all I went to bed and thought ah I will sleep tonight.........wrong. Sleep would not happen again. Too excited I guess.
Then, I had set the thermostat before I went to bed knowing it was supposed to get in the 30's again last night.
Ok I FINALLY feel asleep but not for long. It was like sleeping on Fred Flintstone's rock hard slab. I felt like a rotisserie chicken turning every 15 minutes. My hips were killing me, and becoming more tender by the hour. Finally I fell asleep.  Then about 5am I woke up frozen like a ice cube. Now if you know me very well you know I don't get cold that easily so you know it was cold in here. I checked on the dogs to be sure they were still alive, then asked Art did you turn the furnace off? He claims no, I am still doubtful. So I am trying to find a flashlight, as I can't find anything in here yet. I find my phone and shine the light on the thermostat and it was off! Urrr....So I turn it on and the furnace kicks on. Then I decided I needed a drink of water, that is where I should have stopped!  I went to go down the steps, wrong, and ouch I caught my heel in the slats of the cold air return.....


Sorry picture is blurry, only one I took but you get the idea.

Now is you are squeamish just scroll on down......


I didn't enlarge this one. Pretty isn't it. And it hurt too.

Now I have to go into the bathroom turn on the light and get a couple of band aides as it was bleeding pretty good. I didn't want to get blood on the sheets.  So by the time I did all that I am wide awake.  So I go back to bed, toss and turn, talk to Art  and keep him awake. I asked him are you sleepy still?, He says yes, so I stop talking. It wasn't long until I hear him breathing deep so I know he has fallen back asleep.  Then.....out of the silence comes snoring from a little black dachshund, named Cooper.  Now I am feeling around for my ear plug.

Soon as we are up and ready this morning we are on our way to Walmart.  We needed help, some kind of memory foam for the rock bed.


This wasn't in the budget for this month....shoot blowing it already.




Here it is laid out getting ready to be put on the bed.

Now on a happy note, enough negative right.  This life style only gives you little bumps and you  recover so much more quickly.  I wanted to share with you the pictures we have outside our windows.  Here is out the back window above the couch....

Can't you just see a deer walking up over the hill?  

Tree right on the other side of our side window above the couch. Pretty cool having a tree this close to your RV. 
Window above our chairs. Sorry about the rain spots. It rained almost all night last night. Now that was the good thing. I love to hear the rain on the roof.
And last, what we see when we look out the window by our kitchen table. The building is the bath shower/house.  I love where the fire pit is. Will be able to see it from the window.

Remember I told you we were having a pitch in at the office for Easter.  We had a wonderful time and wonderful food. This is Al, remember him from last year? He is our boss hee hee.....he is married to Dee. I need to get her picture next time.

These were the little pine trees on a hill on the main road, that I took a picture of last year when were were here. They have grown so much and so good to see something green.

We had a good day. No we had a great day! We got our golf cart back, and I am happy happy about that. Maybe now I will be able to get some deer pictures. I saw one jump across the road when we were going up to the office.  They will be coming out soon eating the new shoots coming up and I hope they will be bringing out their baby fawns. 
 Here is keeping our fingers crossed we have a better night tonight~~ correction I hope "I" have a better night and so do my hips. :)

             So from Hardin Ridge we send best wishes and take care everyone!!!




57 comments:

  1. Oh does that bring back first day memories! We drove almost 10 hours when we left home, eastern Long Island all the way to Virginia Beach. We had spent the last few days finishing up at work, finishing packing, and basically shoving stuff into the trailer wherever we could find a space to put it. First morning I decided I was cooking us a big pancake breakfast, and completely broke down when I couldn't find the measuring cups. There's a few things about departure I would change, but not choosing this life! Keep the spirits up, and the band-aids close by!

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    1. Your first day sounds more stressful than ours. I didn't cry but when I cut my heal I wanted to. When we were cooking for the pitch in I couldn't remember where everything was either. So funny some of us have almost the same events and emotions happen. I guess we can look back on it and smile someday, right? We have extra band aides from home good thing!

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  2. I couldn't survive without my foam bed topper. Sorry about the cold, and the mishap, but perhaps the colder temp made the blood clot quicker? ;)

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    1. Well I am glad to hear it helps. Looking forward to trying it tonight. You are so funny. I'm sure the cold did help. Made me laugh!

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  3. A mattress topper sure helps! Sorry you had a rough first night. The views from your new home help make up for it, right? :)

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    1. I'm glad to hear this. Oh it is ok. Made for a funny blog I guess. You are right the views do make it much better.

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  4. We don't sleep with our furnace on unless it gets below 10f overnight, maybe a small electric heater and extra blankets, and a heavy quilt. Just turn it on in the morning and heats things up pretty quick.
    The mattresses in these rv's are not usually very good, a memory foam is a must , but we replaced ours with a pillow top mattress only about $400.00.
    All these incidents make life interesting, never a dull moment. Juts keep on camping, more memories for the blog.

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    1. We have a heater we brought from home, we just didn't think to get it out. Too many things at once I guess.
      Our mattress in our Heartland fifth wheel was so comfortable. Keystone needs to do better! Oh yes, we will laugh about this for years.

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  5. Couldn't live without our memory foam!! Love that stuff. Hope you get better rest tonight and take care of that ouchie!!

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    1. Thank you I have been lots of neosporin and band aides. That memory foam will work I'm hopeful.

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  6. Ouch...

    I known what you mean about the mattress...we eventually got a new one! Also, like George, we have a small electric heater we plug in for chilly nights. Keeps the furnace from running all night.

    Be patient with yourself.....

    Here's to a good nights sleep!

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    1. I didn't say ouch but it was close! :) We have an electric heater and will plugged in now. Don't want to pay for propane the whole time we are here. We already are over our budget :( Thank you I hope we will.

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  7. Your experience is so typical...but it doesn't matter that so many others have had the same thing happen, it's miserable at the time. I actually bought two 2 in mattress toppers of memory foam, before my hips stopped yelling.
    I've tripped and sprained an ankle, etc. Just write about it, then heal and laugh about it, and thanks for the blog!

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    1. Hi Hazel, I believe I am glad I just skinned my heel and not a sprain. This one will heal sooner. You are right we are laughing already. Have to have a good out look with this life style. You are welcome glad you are joining us for this ride of a lifetime.

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  8. You might as well bite the bullet now and get the whole 12" thick foam mattress. 399.00 at Costco. Come in a 24 x 24 box and opens to queen size in a matter of minutes.
    Never even feel it when your partner tosses or turns anymore. Don't know why we tried to do without so long. I'm cheap, and always must be reminded of the math involved. 400.00 divided by 10 years mattress life span = less than 1 dollar a week. I'm worth it !

















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    1. Right now the budget won't do that much, maybe in the future. I am hopeful what we did do will help. Thanks for the math, you're right we are worth it.

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  9. No matter how "deluxe" the RV mattress is, they still feel like a concrete slab when you lay on them. Your spot looks really nice. You'll relax into things in a few days.

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    1. Thank you Colleen, we really like it. Lots of room and great views. We are starting to relax, taking awhile but we will get there. These rv factories need to invest in better mattresses sheesh!

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  10. Agree with you about the bed! We bought a 4 inch Serta memory foam online, and now our bed is SO comfy!! Luckily we were able to work those kind of bugs out before we were actually living in the fiver.

    That view is pretty awesome!! :)

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    1. Hello Jessica and Harry, thank you for your comment and welcome to the blog! :)
      We should have sleep on this bed before we left, but we didn't have any water and I would of had to run into the house to use the restroom. Brrrr... and through the snow. No thanks. It all is working out, thank goodness.

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  11. We had the same exact experience with the mattress in our rig when we first bought it. We went the same route as you in purchasing a foam mattress from W/M but it still didn't suit us just right, so we bought a memory foam mattress from Camping World and found by putting the W/M mattress on bottom and then the RV mattress in the middle and the memory foam on top. That combination worked great for us and we haven't looked back.

    We enjoy following your blog very much and look forward to reading about your latest adventures. Love your pictures too.

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    1. Hello and welcome to the blog. We will have to try this foam mattress I guess and see how it is going to work.
      Thank you I'm glad you like it. I just found I had a photography bug last year and started. I just love it.

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  12. well! ouch! and even with my ample ol hips ... I gotta have some 'give' in my mattress. I like it firm but not without well, some give... lol

    Beautiful views and what you're going to have. so excited for you...

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    1. Hi Carolyn, My hips have padding too but I guess not enough. :) Thank you, the views are something for sure. Thank you so much. We are pretty excited too.
      take care.

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  13. We only had used our trailer a month and it had already sagged where we laid. All last year I barely slept but Kathy said it wasn't in the budget so I slept half nights. When we came to Florida suddenly I wasn't the only one not sleeping. After two and a half months it wasn't in our budget but we replaced it with a Serta Memory Foam mattress. RV Manufactures are noted for putting cheap mattresses into their units. Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. That is funny not in your budget, as this wasn't in ours either :) But when you don't sleep hey you have to do what you have to do, right? Art didn't sleep too bad but I was the one keeping him awake. It worked I guess as he was willing to do the foam mattress.
      Thank you we are.

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  14. It is only one of many days ahead and there are bound to be more positive than negative experiences for sure. Enjoy the memory foam, made all of the difference in our rig.

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    1. Oh there is already more positive and it has only been 2 days. I believe the foam mattress will make a big difference also.

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  15. Oh, yes have spent nights like that, until things are JUST right.. couple of times ran out of propane, that is lovely too. An electric mattress pad works wonders :) I was a happy camper after I found/got that!!! The foam topper is a friend too!!

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    1. It seems like most people with RVs have had similar experiences. I have never heard of an electric mattress pad, is it air? Well I want a friend in the bed that is for sure.

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  16. Welcome to the wild & wondrous whacky world of RVing. Our first night out years ago in a small Class C found us trying to sleep in a Flying J in Effingham. Trucks were so noisy we couldn't hear ourselves think. Freezing cold out & the furnace ran our battery down. Then Kelly dropped our coffee pot on the pavement & broke it all to bits. And then there was the next day...... As I said, welcome to the wondrous & wildly whacky world of RVing....it's the best:))

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    1. I think I will keep the rock hard bed to a noisy truck stop, plus your freezing cold. At least we were safe and quiet :) Oh I'm sure she felt bad. That sure didn't start out your trip well at all. We are very happy to be experiencing every moment the good and the bad :)))

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  17. Oh my gosh, I read your last blog but didn't expect this one! I was pretty fortunate my RV mattress was fairly comfortable for me, but I would have done exactly what you did if I had been uncomfortable. I hope the memory foam helps. There is so much for you to get used to - just keep an eye on the propane because the furnace drinks it up pretty fast.

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    1. I didn't either but pretty funny actually. Our other fifth wheel had a comfortable mattress. So we were not expecting this to be so bad. And we are only using the furnace to take the chill off in the mornings. Running the fireplace and heater now.

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  18. I hope that topper works for you. I like the new gel memory foam stuff from what I've read on it. I have an older memory foam topper 4", it really helped, but it's wearing out now & I need a new one I think. I have problems with my hips too! And OUCH on the heel! I almost cried for you! OUCH ouch ouch!

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    1. Hi Cyn, I'm sure it will. Have never seen the gel memory foam ones, hmmm bet they are expensive?
      The heel is better, pretty sore but a long way from my heart. Thanks for the sympathy though!

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  19. I think I would replace that vent. My son replaced his floor vents with some he found at Home Depot or Lowes. They are smooth so hopefully wouldn't cut you again.

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    1. Well if I would learn how to walk and not "slid" down the stairs. I will be very careful now. I just got my heel right between the slates, now who could do that but me?! Welcome to the blog and thanks for the comment.

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  20. We have a pillow-top queen mattress, but I still have a cushy topper AND mattress pad...We don't full time, but try to get away 4-5 months in the Winter...Make sure you keep a journal in addition to your blog, it can be very helpful...Yep, when we head out the drive with our Hiker we don't wonder IF something will go wrong, but WHAT it will be!!!

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    1. Hi Dennis and Donna, welcome to the blog. That is great you can get away for several months in the winter. I do have a journal my daughter gave me a special camping one, it is nice. Yes, we know to expect all kinds of things, after reading blogs you come to learn.

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  21. Oh such memories you brought back. We left Montana in January trying to outrun a snowstorm. We didn't win. I was still in a wheelchair, our furnace didn't work and it was only 10 degrees. But so worth it. Now I can look back and laugh about it. Take care of that heel. It is going to hurt for a few days. Our Scooter is a snorer also. Drives me crazy.

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    1. Oh my I think your problems were way worse than ours. I am taking care of it, but boy is is sore. Will be for several days I imagine. That is funny, wonder if it is common for dachshunds? Effie doesn't do it too bad. The ear plug worked. :)

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  22. As I kept scrolling through the post my mouth hung open wider and wider...what a first night! So happy the next morning made up for it!

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    1. That is funny, I'm glad it was entertaining. That is what I was going for. :) All is well now and all better.

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  23. A good bed is an absolute necessity. When we got the Alfa we slept one night and were off to the mattres store the next day. The dealer had replaced the matress with a new one, but it was to short, so just a topper was not the solution. We spent big bucks, but then I had a problem with the memory foam reflecting my body heat back at me. $160 later I bought a "cooling matress pad" and put a quilt over that. The bed is now ver very comfortable and not hot. I hope your solution is also good. If your bed seems hot, you can put more between you and the faom.

    It s all better than sleeping on the ground in a tent!

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    1. I never thought about the heat being held in thanks for the tip. I know I will get hot this summer, always do. We have extra sheets we could put on to give more separation. You are soooo right, my tent days and sleeping on the ground are long gone.

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  24. After 6 yrs of researching FT RV'ing before hitting the road. We knew to test the mattress. 3" memory foam for us works wonders.
    I sliced my big toe up on the heat grate when we had a house. Nasty!
    You have a great attitude. A couple of glitches but the rewards are great.

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    1. You were smart. Like I said in above comments our mattress in the other fifth wheel was great so we were not expecting this one to be so bad.
      Well I guess you might as well laugh about it. Makes it more bearable. :) The rewards are super duper great!!!

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  25. Oh poor Tammy, sorry about the wounded heel, but it will heal. Pardon the pun...
    It will make it a memorable moment for sure. After you get all the kinks worked out of your new home, it will be heavenly.

    I have a 3" memory foam topper for my mattress too and it has helped.
    I'm back home in Fredericton N.B. and the snow is gone except for a few small patches in the shade and my tulips are poking out of the ground. I'm happy that spring is here.

    Happy Easter,
    Hugs,
    JB

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    1. Hi Julia, thank you. Oh it could have been worse. It is healing...:))
      The kinks are going slowly I can tell. I worked some of them out today.
      I'll bet you are glad to be home. And especially glad the snow is gone. And tulips such lovely plants. Trouble is they don't last too long. Me too!
      Happy Spring to you.

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  26. We bought a memory foam mattress from Canadian Tire..1/2 price (Canada) that did the trick...I think RV dealers skimp on their mattress' these days!!! Good luck with the mattress pad!!! Hope your heel is ok!!!Marilyn

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    1. Hi mjc. welcome and thanks for the comment.
      Well RV dealers shouldn't skimp. Especially after what you pay for these fifth wheels. We should have mattresses of down feathers. Thank you it is doing better. Take care, Marilyn.

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    2. Out of 5 5th wheel Trailers we've had only 1 had a decent mattress and that was a Jayco about 10 years ago!!!!Marilyn

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  27. Saw your blog mentioned on The Bayfield Bunch blog & just had to check it out since Al stated you were newbies. We are newbies too! We are also from Indiana, Greenwood actually. Our house is sold, husband just retired, & we are currently living in our 5er. We are in Sioux Falls, SD as I write this to declare our domicile & will also be heading out as full timers in just 2 short weeks. I'll be following your blog & wish you & your husband the very best. Maybe we'll see you down the road, Gayle Pietz
    As Time Goes....Bye atgbye.wordpress.com

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    1. Hello and welcome to the blog. Yes, fulltimers for 3 whole days! And we love it already. That is neat from IN too. We know where Greenwood is. Love SD would love to camphost there some day. Good luck to you both. Are you planning on starting a blog? Hope to see you yes, Love to meet new people all the time. Thank you!

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  28. Well, I am definitely a little late to THIS party! Good grief, you have a million comments already. I just wanted to tell you - ouch! That foot must have really hurt, I'm so sorry. You really had a bad night, hopefully it is healing up well. I also had to get a memory foam mattress at Walmart - my little over-the-cab bunk mattress is not very thick, so I got a 2" one, too. It's almost two years later, and it's still comfortable. I'm glad you invested in the mattress, a good night's sleep is so important.

    I love your views! Beautiful!!! And I, too, love rain on the roof - I don't hear it nearly enough. For every bad thing that happens to us full-timers, many more good things happen all day long, don't they?

    Congratulations on being full-timers - you made it!! :)

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    1. Hey I am just glad you make it! :) Just think 1/2 of the comments are mine. And you were my mentor in the beginning whether you knew it or not.
      Anything on the foot hurts so bad seems like. It is healing and I soaked it so that helped a lot. The foam mattress helped so much, thank goodness Walmart had it.
      Can you imagine what those views are going to look like when the trees leaf out?? We will get to see 3 seasons here. Yes, for sure, many many more good things. Thanks you so much, yes we MADE IT!!!

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Thank you for your comments. I love reading them, they make me feel
like I get to know each of you personally. Please keep them coming.......