Happy New Year!

The best laid plans of mice and men...I fully intended to blog about my trip to Texas however for "whatever" reason known to only God and computer tech people my wireless was not able to connect to my friend's wireless.

Oh I know I could have used theirs but the set up just wasn't right and well I was on vacation & fun got in the way.

And now its New Years Eve.

And I really do love the celebration of a new year. New beginnings, new hope for the coming year. Too many including myself, 2008 was a difficult year. But the new year looms ahead with possibilities and hope. And I am believing that 2009 is going to be my year!

2009 is the year I will sell my house
2009 is the year I get on the "open road" full time RVing, exploring the most beautiful country in the world.
2009 is the year that these goals, dreams will come true!

2009 is going to be your year too!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (Roud # 6294). It is well known in many English-speaking countries and is often sung to celebrate the start of the new year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day.
The song's (Scots) title may be translated into English literally as "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago"[1] or "days gone by".

Auld Lang Syne

Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne,

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne

We twa hae run aboot the braes

And pou'd the gowans fine; we've wander'd mony

a weary footSin' auld lang syne
We two hae paidled i' the burn,Frae mornin' sun till dine;

But seas between us braid hae roar'd Sin' auld lang syne
And here's a hand, my trusty friend,

And gie's a hand o' thine;

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne,

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne

Sign of the Times Bigfoot RV Industries Closes its Doors

When I first started this blog is was mostly an commentary on a lot of subjects. One of the subjects was RVs (rigs). My plans for retirement included selling my home and buying a rig and doing full time traveling. I wanted not only to travel and explore this amazingly beautiful country of mine but also to determine just where I wanted to "hang my hat" permanently.

So I did what I do, which is a lot of research to educate myself on RVs. The first thing that needs to be determined is what kind of camping you want to do. Will you be mostly staying in camps and hooked up to electricity and water or do you mostly want to "boondock". Boondocking is not being in camp or hooked up and using either a generator or solar or a combination of both for your power. Boondockers usually want to be off the grid so they can be in more remote spots.

I wanted to mostly boondock so I knew I wanted a smaller rig that could get back into the more secluded places.

But what kind? A Class C, a fifth wheel or a travel trailer?

I went to an RV Conference in Bowling Green, KY to get some answers. Life on Wheels a popular educational series for RV enthusiasts held each year at college campuses across the United States which unfortunately has been discontinued after 14 successful years.

I also attended an Escapees Escapade in Van Wirt, OH. Escapees is the largest RV Association and the Escapade is a get together of RVers from all over the country and they also hold educational Seminars.

I joined several RV Forums, like iRV2.com and Escapees Forum and asked lots of questions also.

So I started out with thinking a small Class C and choose a LazyDaze because of their reputation and quality. However, I kept coming back to having to unplug the Class C if I was in camp before I could go anywhere.
And I knew I didn't want a toad (a toad is any vehicle you tow behind your rig)

So I started re-thinking and came back to what an RV tech said at Life on Wheels, "Complexity Kills". Travel trailer are the least complex of all RVs so you are less likely to have problems. Plus having a truck and trailer eliminates having to unplug at camp to go anywhere or having a toad.

So back to the drawing board. After researching out travel trailers I decided on a Bigfoot. Bigfoot is a Canadian company making high end quality molded fiberglass RVs. The shell of a Bigfoot is made by molds and then seemed together. The fiberglass makes the Bigfoot lighter but is also strong. The Bigfoot is also a "4 season" camper as it has extra insulation, heated enclosed holding tanks, and Thermal-pane windows. Perfect!

So I joined FiberglassRv.com a RV forum for other Fiberglass enthusiasts to learn AND look for a used 21ft Bigfoot rig. My dream rig!

Put my house up for sale and began planning.

Then the waiting,and then the housing bubble, then the recession, then a Marxist wins the election...then Bigfoot closes its doors.

Bigfoot a company who has been in business for thirty-one years.

What happened?

According to Beau Durkee, Sales Representative for Bigfoot Industries.

TCM: What happened at Bigfoot this morning?

Beau: The major crediting bank for Bigfoot shut the company down. The bank’s decision came as a surprise to Bigfoot. We were willing to ride out this economic storm and absorb some losses, but the bank was not.

TCM: Is the Bigfoot closure permanent?

Beau: Yes. This is a permanent shut down and closure. If the company ever does restart, it would be something completely new.

Another victim of the Democrat engineered economic meltdown.

What this means is that used Bigfoots, never easy to come by, will become even harder to find now as most people will hold on to theirs. Dealers will lower their prices however a new 21ft Bigfoot can run almost $45,000!

The only manufactures of molded fiberglass rigs now are the Escape a Canadian company, Oliver made in Tennessee and the Michigan made Egg Camper. All are high end, quality but newer manufacturers so used rigs are almost non-existent. New ones run from $17,000 for the Egg Camper, which is not intended in my opinion for full timing as the Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) is small and so are the holding tanks. To the more expensive Escape, BASE price of $23,900 for a 19ft and $26,900 for a fifth wheel and the Oliver, BASE price for 17ft around $30,000.

So my dream rig, my Bigfoot is gone, just like my dream of retirement travel, full timing across America.

Well maybe not gone, put on hold. But for how long? Its a question looking for an answer.

Seems like all the news nowadays is only bad *sigh*

These are times that try men's souls...Thomas Paine

But what can you do but press on and fix your eyes on Jesus?

Hebrews 12:2-3 (NIV)

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart