Water Pump Quit - the Joys of Home Ownership

Yesterday started out pretty good. We ordered a new faucet and lavatory for the master bathroom from Lowe's this morning. We have 2 lavatories in the master bath and will replace the other faucet and lavatory next month.

We decided to have dinner at Giuseppe's Pizzeria here in Sebastian. We decided to sit outside on the patio and we ordered the 5-topping G Special pizza and a couple of beers. The pizza was OK, but I think we'll try somewhere else here in Sebastian to have pizza.

When we got home we noticed that the water pump for our well water was cycling off and on and when Mike checked it,

Unloaded the moving truck

We slept in yesterday morning since we had gotten in so late Tuesday night. We spent Tuesday unloading everything out of the moving truck. The biggest challenge was getting the riding lawn mower out of the truck.

When we had loaded it on the truck at the church property, the truck's ramp was level with the porch at the church and it was fairly easy for Mike to ride the lawn mower over the ramp into the truck. But here at the house the truck's ramp is angled down to the ground and even using the 2X4's to make the ramp wider, it was still tricky for Mike to ride the mower down the ramp. Fortunately everything worked out OK (the mower didn't tip over with Mike on it) and unloading everything else off of the truck was easy.

This morning after breakfast we drove down to Vero Beach to return the Budget rental truck. Since we were down that way, we stopped by Kaleidoscope Consignments to look around a bit (didn't buy anything today) and then stopped for an early lunch at Five Guys before going back home.

We spent the afternoon going through the stuff we had in storage. We unpacked some of the boxes, but some things will have to stay in the boxes until we have a place to put them. I kept most of my genealogy research books and we have a few other books, but they will have to stay in boxes until we get some bookcases.

We're glad that we have our stuff out of storage and here at the house and it's nice we won't have that $50 a month storage fee.

Trip from Ozark to Kissimmee then Home

We said goodbye to Mike and Gayle this morning and thanked them for their hospitality. Gayle felt a little better this morning after her surgery yesterday, but was still moving a little slower than usual. We left Mike & Gayle's this morning about 8:15 and drove south on US-231 to Dothan.

We decided to stop at the Burger King in Dothan to have breakfast before heading south to I-10. We stopped for gas at the Pilot in Midway a little after 12:00 (Eastern Time) and paid $3.599 for gas in the truck.

We continued east on I-10 to I-75 and then drove south on I-75 to Wildwood. We stopped at the Pilot in Wildwood to get gas in the truck before getting onto the Florida Turnpike. We drove south on the Florida Turnpike to I-4 and then south on I-4 to US-192 in Kissimmee. We paid

Renting a Moving Truck & Unloading Our Storage Unit

We got up this morning at 7:00 and boy was it chilly - 41° with a wind chill of 35°. Mike and Gayle had already left the house since Gayle's surgery was scheduled for this morning. After giving Tinker his breakfast, we left the house a little before 8:00 and headed down to Dothan. We decided to stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast since we had about an hour before we were scheduled to pick up the rental truck at Budget.

We got to Budget Truck Rental a little after 9:00 and signed for the 18' moving truck that Mike had reserved. We decided on Budget because they give a 20% discount (Sunday thru Thursday) for AARP members and our total cost for the truck rental was $316. We called Jimmy as we were leaving Budget and he met us at BMI Storage.

We had a 5 X 10 storage unit and it was about 3/4 full - it was amazing how much stuff we had in there! Not all of the stuff was from inside the RV. We had the the wooden platform that Mike & W.T. had made to carry our RV and Saturn spare tires that was attached to the back of the Vue, the cargo box, some folding chairs and our old ladder.

It was great having Jimmy to help us get everything out of the storage unit and loaded into the truck. Jimmy was great at figuring out the best way to load everything - no surprise there, since he is a trucker. Mike had bought a

Trip to Dothan

We left the house this morning at 9:50 after loading our suitcase, clothes, Tinker's collapsible crate, his food & bowls and a couple of his toys in the car. We decided to stop at the Burger King in Sebastian for a quick breakfast before getting on I-95.

We left the Burger King at 10:20 and got on I-95 and drove north to Jacksonville. The traffic wasn't too bad in Jacksonville since it was Sunday morning and we stayed on I-95 through Jacksonville to I-10 west instead of taking the I-295 bypass.

We stopped at the Flying J in Midway (just west of Tallahassee) a little before 4:00 to get gas in the car ($3.599 a gallon) before continuing west on I-10 to US-231 north.

We drove on US-231 north to Dothan and then north up to Ozark. We arrived at Mike & Gayle's house at 5:40 (Central Time) - a trip of 489 miles from Sebastian.

After unpacking the car and eating dinner, we spent the rest of tonight visiting and catching up on each other's news. Gayle told us that she had found out Friday that she needed to have her gall bladder removed and that her surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. She felt bad about having to have the surgery done while we were visiting with them. We told her we understood and that since she and Mike are leaving next week to drive out to San Antonio that she definitely needed to have the surgery done before they left home.

Tomorrow we're driving down to Dothan and picking up the Budget Rental Truck and then heading over to our storage unit. Jimmy, a friend of ours, said he would help us load our things into the truck and we want to stop by and visit with our friends, W.T. and Glenda.

A Busy Week

We've had a busy week and thought I would just put it in one post.

Tuesday and Wednesday we had 3 fence companies come out and give us estimates for fencing in the back yard. One estimate was for an invisible fence and the other 2 were for a chain link fence. After getting all of the fence quotes in, we've decided that the fence for the back yard will have to wait for a while - we'll just keep walking Tinker on his leash.

Wednesday we went shopping in Vero Beach at Home Depot, Lowe's, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Goods (our first time in that store) and Sam's Club and had lunch at Olive Garden.

On our way out of Sam's Club, we passed by a large hybrid (infrared, gas & charcoal) barbecue grill that was marked down from $259 to $99. The tag on the grill said there was a knob missing and the grill was dented. Long story short - we bought it (all the knobs were there). It was such a good deal on the grill that we couldn't pass it up!

Thursday morning Mike and our neighbor Bruce went down to Sam's Club in Bruce's truck and picked up the grill. Then that afternoon our friends Christine, Carol and Nancy

Trip to Orlando for Sarah & Mike's Wedding

Today was my niece's wedding in Orlando. Since we weren't going to be back home until this evening, we took Tinker with us. We packed up his bowls, food, water and a couple of toys for today's trip.

We left the house this morning about 11:00 and decided to stop at McDonald's here in Sebastian for an early lunch before getting on I-95. After a quick lunch we were driving north on I-95 when we realized we had forgotten to bring Tinker's leash! We knew there was a Petco just off of Exit 176 at West Melbourne, so we stopped there and I went into Petco while Mike & Tinker stayed in the car.

Then it was back on to I-95 north to Exit 205 and then west on SR-528 (a toll road) to Universal Blvd in Orlando and then to Lakehurst Drive. We arrived at the wedding site about 1:15 - at trip of 98 miles. We left Tinker in the car with the A/C running while we were at the wedding.

We met my brother and family there and visited until it was time for the wedding to begin at 2:00. Sarah & Mike were having their wedding ceremony outside and the weather today was perfect for it.

From Sarah & Mike's Wedding

My brother Cyril gave away the bride and he looked terrrific

Whole House Filter Installed

The last few days we've been getting settled in here at the house and have been moving our stuff out of the RV and into the house. We are fortunate that our bedroom closets have a modular closet system and a lot of shelves for our clothes since we don't have any bedroom furniture yet other than our bed.

Today we had Affordable Water in Sebastian come out and install our whole house filter that Mike had ordered from Vitasalus.com. Our electrician Kelly has been very helpful in recommending local companies and he had recommended Affordable Water.

The whole house filter is supposed to last for 7 years or 700,000 gallons. We bought the whole house filter because we have well water for everything. Several years ago the City of Sebastian put in city water lines on our street, but our house is not connected to city water.

The crew from Affordable Water got here at 11:00 and it took a couple of hours for them to install the whole house filter. They tested our well water and we were happy to learn that we had very little iron in the water. The well water runs through the water softener and then through the whole house filter.

Tomorrow we are driving over to Orlando for my niece's wedding and will visit for a bit with my brother and family.

Our first night in our house

Yesterday we had Kelly from R & R Electrical Services in Vero Beach install our 50 amp electric box at the house. He was recommended by our friends Christine and Carol. It took several hours to run the electric wiring and Mike helped with running the wiring through the walls and into the attic.

This morning we got the RV ready for the move to our house. We had an early lunch and then Mike drove the motorhome to our house while I drove the Vue. Mike parked the RV on the driveway and connected the RV to the 50 amp electric box we had installed on the house yesterday. We leveled the RV and then put the slides out.

This afternoon we drove over to the Indian River County DMV office here in Sebastian to update the address on our driver's licenses - $62.50 fee for both of us.

Then we returned to the house and started moving our stuff out of the RV and into the house.

Tonight will be the first night we spend in our new house.

New appliances

Home owner's insurance in Florida has been a learning experience for us - especially the high cost. Thursday morning we met a home safety inspector from our home insurance carrier at the house and he checked the plumbing in the kitchen and all of the bathrooms and checked the exterior of the house and took photos. He told us that we would get a report of his findings in a few days.

Then on Thursday afternoon h.h.gregg delivered our new LG washer and dryer and Samsung TV. We bought the pedestals for the washer and dryer and it will be so nice not to have to bend down to load the machines. We did get a washer and dryer that is large enough to handle a king size comforter.

There was a washer and dryer in the house when we bought it, but they were smaller and older and actually looked like they had been sitting outside at one time (h.h.gregg hauled both of them away).

There are a couple of climbing roses on an arbor in the back yard and here is our first rose from them.

From Sebastian

Tinker has been having a great time running through the house and there is

Picking up our furniture at the consignment shops

This morning our friend Ron met us at the house and we drove down to the Budget truck rental and picked up the truck Mike had reserved on-line for today. Mike and Ron rode in the truck and followed me to our first stop of the day - Kaleidoscope Consignments. The owner of the shop was there and he helped Mike and Ron load the leather sofa and love seat on the truck. We also picked up a coffee table, end table and dining room table and chairs that we had bought there.

Our next stop was at our friend's Christine's house to pick up our Sleep Number bed that she has so nicely stored in her garage for the last month. Carol was also there so we had a short visit while Mike and Ron loaded the bed (it was in several boxes).

Then it was on to Badcock Furniture where we picked up the 2 swivel recliners and ottomans we had bought there. Our last stop was at

Breakfast at JP Matty's, House and Carpet Cleaners

Sunday morning our friends, Christine and Carol, came up from Vero and met us at the house. After showing them our new house we drove over to JP Matty's for a late breakfast and to catch up on each other's news.

From Sebastian

Yesterday we met Irena and the cleaning crew from Teddy's Cleaning & Janitorial at the house. Irena went over with the crew everything we wanted done in each room including cleaning the windows on the inside. The cleaning crew spent about 4 hours and did an excellent job. Irena came by just as the ladies had finished to inspect the work and make sure we were happy with the work - which we were.

We got up earlier than usual this morning since we were meeting the carpet cleaners at 8:00 at the house. Since we had no furniture that needed moving, Father & Sons Carpet sent 1 man to do the carpet cleaning. He arrived right on time and we showed him through the house to see the kind of carpets we had. He showed us the carpet in one of the rooms  where he had

Another Successful Day of Consignment Shopping

Last night I realized that we hadn't taken any photos of our campsite here at Sunshine Travel, so Mike took a couple of photos this morning.

From Sebastian

I also forgot to mention yesterday that we called Father & Sons Carpet in Vero Beach and they will be at the house Tuesday morning to clean the carpets in the house.

This morning I drove over to Fantastic Finds and bought the pair of table lamps that we saw there yesterday. There were several people in the shop yesterday and it would just be my luck that someone would see the lamps and buy them, so I was relieved to see they were still there.

I also stopped at a laundromat on U.S. 1 to wash our 2 comforters - the laundry machines at the campground aren't large enough for the comforters and the washing machine at the house isn't either.

We had lunch after I got back from my shopping and the laundromat and then we drove back down to Vero Beach.

We stopped at Target and Lowe's to do some shopping before driving

Consignment Shopping in Vero Beach

Thursday afternoon we met with Irena from Teddy's Cleaning & Janitorial Service at the house and discussed what all we wanted cleaned at the house, how long it would take and the cost. We made an appointment with Irena for the cleaning team to come Monday morning.

This morning we met with the Culligan technician and after he inspected the water softener, he told us that the circuit board hadn't been connected to the electric service. That explains why all of the sinks in the house have so much buildup from the hard water! We had him check out the reverse osmosis system in the kitchen. He said it was a very old system, but that it still was working fine. He told us the price to install a new RO system and we said we'll just use this one until it quits.

After the Culligan technician left, we drove down to Vero Beach. On our way down we stopped at Fantastic Finds consignment shop and saw a