TLE's Perspective - Chapter 3 - Getting rid of more stuff....

The final move from the house to the coach happened very quickly, but we still hadn't gotten rid of nearly enough stuff.  Thankfully with my kids renting the house we were able to solve a few of the furniture problems, plus we also have use of some storage space in the back of my son's offices.  The hardest thing for me initially was deciding what I really couldn't give up and what to do with it, so at first it went into the warehouse. 

We had also made the decision to take my TBird with us when we hit the road, but did not want to flat tow it so we found a 26' trailer.  This was another serendipitous event.  Clarke knew he didn't want to extend our overall length more than necessary so he measured the car and added some length for the bikes, and started looking for a trailer that would carry the weight.  Most trailers that would carry the weight were too long, but we found a custom built trailer that was 22'  with a 4' tongue, perfect for us.  Of course now I had a "garage" on-site that I could store things in!

Living stationary, but in the coach for 12 months enabled me to make adjustments in what I did and didn't use and what I thought would make my life easier on the road.   One of the first things we changed out was the old radar range microwave.  Yes it was a 1982 microwave!  It worked perfectly, but I wanted to change to a micro-convection for faster cooking.  I did not take the propane oven out since I knew that we would be dry camping and would not want to use the electricity if I wanted to bake.  Mind you, I do not bake a lot, but when inspiration strikes...... 

Next on my list was an induction burner.  I hated having to open up the 3-burner stove if I only needed one burner.  This cuts down on overall counter space by almost 2'.  I heard many RVers liked  induction burners so I read up on them and ordered one.  The burner inducts heat to the pan surface leaving the burner surface cool.  It also cooks quickly.  I love it for stir fry or for boiling water for pasta, etc.  It has a timer on it so I can start Clarke's old fashioned oatmeal, set the timer and walk away - the burner turns off when done! I have found I use this burner a lot, even if I need two pots.  I will cook my noodles first than my stir fry adding the noodles back in to heat up.  This gives me more counter space which in an RV is premium. The burner can also be used outside which I have not done yet.  I also found out that I can use the burner while boon docking since it cooks so quickly I don't use up that much amperage.  I have also been able to cook on it when we only have 15 or 20 amp power.  I make sure everything else pulling a lot of electricity is off and don't use the burner past the #5 setting.  This setting allows the burner to heat up quickly than I reset it lower for cooking.  I don't remember how many amps the setting pulls, but I do know that I have watched the meter to make sure it doesn't pull more than 10....sorry techno geeks, I just make sure not to blow the fuses!

It sounds like I have been adding more "stuff" not getting rid of it!  Well, yes.....then  2 months from "lift-off" we had a trailer full of things and no room to put the TBird, so we had to start making decisions again.  I figured if I had not removed it from the trailer for use in 6 months I did not need it, so we purged our trailer and our warehouse items again.  We managed to stow everything we thought we wanted into the coach and trailer and all our warehouse items onto two industrial warehouse sets of shelving.  

Stuffing, stowing & storing......