A Thousand & One Details

Just to prove that we have not lost our way and become Barbarians I shot this photo.  You may know that I love blown glass.  I brought along several pieces that I carefully pack when we are driving down the road.  This colorful piece sits up near the dashboard, it adds a little color to our new home.

Now for the 1,001 details part.  Since we made the decision to be nomads for the future we had to make some hard choices.  Selling the Raft Island house, selling my beloved Grand Banks, selling the Honda CRV, disposing of furniture and appliances, all my tools and big red tool box (sob).  The list goes on and on. 

We got rid of many things when we moved from Raft Island and as of tomorrow we will move the last of our saved possessions into our 6'x10' storage locker.

Now that we are "down to fighting weight" I'll tell how we will be managing our lives in the future.  The basic subjects I'll cover are: Communications, Budget & Finance, Itinerary, Medical, Mail Service and Visitors.

Communications:
My sister Sara asked how she was going to keep in touch with us when we are on the road and in Mexico.

The answer is about the same as if we were at home in Washington.  Two Laptops, One I-Pad, a Verizon Hotspot, Two Smart Phones and a Mexican Cell Phone.  There may be times we will be out of range but with cell coverage getting better all the time we can still be in touch.  I'm enjoying writing this blog so our kids and grandkids can keep up with us.

Budget & Finance:
We have been converting all of our financial dealings to online and paperless.  With direct deposits, BofA or Santander Bank (Mexico) cash machines and auto payments set-up we are ready to go.  For the last several years we have done all our banking and bill paying online so nothing will change there.

When it comes to budget I have been driving Terri crazy the last year with my Excel spread sheets.  I have a 3 pages spreadsheet that covers it ALL.  We own the motorhome, the condo in Mazatlan and have no debt.  Our saving, retirement plan and Social Security are more than enough to give us a very comfortable life.  When Terri turns 62 in April of 2015 and her Social Security kicks in we will be "Living High on the Hog".

Itinerary:
It's simple.  We are going to follow the sun.  Winters in Mexico followed by late Spring through early Fall traveling in the motorhome.  July and August will see us back in Washington.

We will store the motorhome in the Tucson area and drive into Mazatlan around November 1st each year.  We plan to travel inside Mexico during our time there.  With a tourist visa we can only stay in Mexico for 180 days at a time.

Medical:
We are continuing our coverage with Group Health ($1060.00 per month) and will take a supplemental health care plan in Mazatlan with Sharp Hospital.  Sharp is an English speaking hospital that serves the tens of thousands of Canadian and Americans that live in Mazatlan.

Mail Service:
We have set-up a private mail box in Gig Harbor that will forward our mail to us.  We will use general delivery to any Post Office we will be near.  All we do is call or email them and they send out our mail.

Visitors:
Now for the best part.  We have two extra bedrooms and bathrooms in our Mazatlan condo.  And we love visitors.  Just call or email for your reservation at Portofino Condo.  Dial 1-800-FREE-ROOM.

I know this has been a long post but I hope it answers some of the questions you may have about those "Crazy Rangers".