We're Ba - ack

Hi Y'all

 OK, enough hinting, teasing and innuendo. It's been quite a while since last we wrote, and many things have come to pass, but......

 WE'RE BACK!!! 

The last time you heard from us we were taking a six-week trip to Yellowstone and points around and between. What we failed to mention was that the timing of that trip was due to a very dire circumstance. 

In January, I (Paul) was diagnosed with stage 4 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Mostly HCC is due to hepatitis, cirrhosis from drinking, or in my case both, (I quit in '97). The six weeks of our trip was during the only free period in the foreseeable future without tests and doctor appointments. The trip was a kind of a bucket list thing. 

Long story short, I was placed on the transplant waiting list, God provided as always, and I had a successful and uneventful liver transplant in late September of 2018. By Spring of 2019, I was well into my recovery, so we planned an extended camping trip in the HOW II, to see if I could handle the rigors of traveling again. 

We really just toured around Illinois for a month. We learned the HOW II is nice for use at our seasonal campsite, and short trips, but really WAY too small for long term. The trip itself went well enough to show that we could travel again, but we were gonna need a different rig if we really wanted to go anywhere. 

HOW II

After many long conversations, a lot of budget modeling, some soul searching, much prayerful consideration, and seeking the wisdom of wise fellow Christ followers we decided to replace the HOW II.

What we decided was that we would replace the travel trailer with a fifth-wheel, AKA a 5er, that would serve us if we decided just to stay mostly at our seasonal campsite, but also be towable with our current 3/4 ton pickup for trips around the Midwest. As we always keep in mind that we might like to go back to being full-time RVer's, it must be able to serve that purpose as well.

Another long story shortened, we found a 10-year old, barely used, 33 foot, 5th wheel that hit most of the items on our want/ must-have list, AND it was a great deal. As long as we don't load it to its GVWR, (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating,) and stay in the flatlands, we can tow it with our existing truck. 

So now we have the HOW III, hereafter to be known simply as the HOW, (If you're new to this blog, HOW stands for House On Wheels). Unfortunately, we don't have a good picture of it, so you'll have to wait to see it.

Fast forward to Autumn. Some very close friends were selling their Park Model RV, parked on a lot in an RV resort/ park in Mission Texas. It was a one of a kind deal, so after many more long conversations, a lot more budget modeling, more soul searching, lots more prayerful consideration, and again seeking the wisdom of wise fellow Christ followers we decided to buy the park model and winter in South Texas.

Turns out, If we winter in Texas, (sshhhh... and live in the HOW the rest of the time,) it would cost about the same as living in our current house and keeping our weekend seasonal campsite in Illinois. We could go back to the original Dream we wrote about in our very first post. (If you're new to 2 P's in a Pod, open this post, and you can find out all about us.)

So! Now you know. We plan to full-time again.

We're coming back to Illinois sometime in March, and will begin the process of selling our house. Once sold, we'll live in the HOW part of the year, and stay here in Texas during the cold months, (almost everything we own is already down here with us). We'll move our domicile to Texas and once again become proud citizens of the Republic of er... ah... I mean the Great State of Texas.

We'll tell you about the area in a future post.

While you wait patiently for that...  here's some pics of the Park Model on its lot. (As always, click on a picture to view it full size)