The last time I wrote (in October 2011), I did not figure that I would write again until we were either traveling down to or had already arrived in Florida this coming June. Then the unexpected happened.
The story really starts two summers ago when we were camping in our Carriage Carri-Lite fifth-wheel tailer in Door County and noticed that one of the back windows seemed to be leaking. After removing the window and resetting it with waterproof tape and adhesive twice, we were still plagued with a very slow leak during hard rains. We took the camper into Janesville RV to have it fixed and put it up for sale. Not a nibble.
It has been on the market for almost 18 months, and in that time we have watched it depreciate every month that it sat idle. We moved it from Janesville RV last year to Burlington RV in the hopes that they would have better luck in selling it. They looked at the window, determined the roof was cut short and that is where the leak really originated, and they made all repairs. We put ads out into every online site that we could think of, and Burlington also did a great job of putting up pictures and advertising it in various spots.
Unfortunately, then the economy went to hell, and no one was looking at any high-end trailers. We watched our hopefully $40,000 profit dwindle until we were offering it for wholesale price. By December of this year, we were looking at the option of just keeping it and paying $1600 to put it back up in Door County. Since we now have Gladys, that was not a terribly appealing option. Since the trailer did not sell during the time in the fall (September and October) when new Snowbirds look for trailers, Burlington put it in back to hunker down for the winter. Strangely enough, we have not been hit with the predicted terrible cold and snow. We have had a very mild winter both snow-wise and temperature-wise.
Not one person had inquired about the trailer in all that time. Then, miraculously, in late December we received an e-mail from Jim and Barbara Cash, asking if the trailer was still available. They had friends who owned a Carri-Lite, and they were willing to drive up from Arkansas to see the trailer if they could negotiate a price within their budget. To make a long story short, on January 3 of this year -- our 36th wedding anniversary-- we took a terrible price beating, but we sold the trailer. Our cut, after Burlington takes their share, will be about half of what we originally wanted (and $30,000 less than wholesale), but it is the best we can do in these economic times.
We now will have a little money with which we can continue to remodel Gladys. We want to finish moving the wall in the master suite so that we have more room in the master bath. We need to put in a new sink, new plumbing (no more leaky pipes), and a new shower in the master bath. With luck, Rick and I will be able to build a small bathroom cabinet in the newly-found space next to the toilet so we can store towels, shampoo, toilet tissue, and a few other odds and ends. With the exception of the shower, the labor will be ours.
We need to replace windows. Although we will not have enough money for them all, we know from a book Rick bought me for Christmas on the history of Dunedin that the majority of major storms (note I avoid the "H" word?) come from the southwest, generally traveling up the coast. For that reason, we want to replace both bathroom windows (which face south), the master bedroom windows, and the kitchen windows. Both the bedroom and kitchen windows are at the front of the house which faces west.
We also need to replace both back doors this year, and if money permits, we can perhaps put in a new front door with sidelights also. (The front door also faces west.)
Neighbors using our yard as a dumping ground has prompted us also to look at replacing the fence that we took down last summer. The old fence needed to go; it was rotten, full of nails, and a safety hazard. We would like to replace the fence to keep our backyard a little more "off limits" and secure. Rick wants to put up a maintenance-free white plastic fence. I am not sold on that look; I like the white but not the plastic. We have few other options, and I must admit that the plastic seems to stand straighter than the wooden fences that lean like drunken sailors walking against the wind.
After all of that, if we have any money left over, we can order kitchen cabinets. I could actually end the summer with a place to store my dishes, and perhaps even have a new dishwasher in which to wash them. If you remember, right now our kitchen has no cupboards, a sink held up by a cheap countertop from Home Depot, and a metal rack for dishes. At least we have a new stove, and old microwave, and an even older refrigerator that we pray can make it through a couple more summer sessions.
I don't know what we will run out of first... time or money. We have a tremendous amount of work to do this summer, and again, we must do it all within about a two month time span. Oh, yes, and then there are the trees that need taking down in the back yard, and perhaps a couple of bathroom fans that will require yet another sweaty trip to the now fluffy, insulated attic.
I have been saving what little I make teaching part-time this year, and we also have been trying to save a little each month for Gladys if other bills do not crop up. (I won't bore you with the story of the Lexus' 90,000 mile "routine" service that cost a fortune.) We will never be rich, but we are slowly making some headway.
We certainly will not finish Gladys this summer, but we hope to make some real advances toward a more livable home. If Rick can stand working one more year to keep us in full-time insurance, and I can continue to make a little money teaching adjunct and working for Cengage Learning, then perhaps we can save enough for remodeling in the following WINTER when we could finally become true snowbirds.
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