Retire Military/Fed Gov Civilian and my AWESOME Wife just trading spaces.

[Nemo]

Hello, I'm Nemo (Mike) and my wife KZ are about to embark on the next phase of our lives. I recently retired from the Federal Government and we're beginning a life long dream of mine (I got from my grandparents that sold the farm and traveled full-time) to travel full-time. We've sold the house and are parting ways with the vast majority of our "stuff", I've purchased a 2021 Ford F-450 King Ranch and ordered a Momentum 376THS-R (upgrading just about everything we could), which fingers crossed will be here late Sept. I'm an avid motorcycle rider (2019 HD Road Glide Ultra).

I've been ghosting on this forum since we ordered our rig in April, I'm amazed at the fountain of knowledge represented here, and look forward to learning from many of you. I must say, I'm becoming a bit overwhelmed by the things I feel I need to do within the first few days after delivery of my rig. Our plan for the most part is to always have power and water, but I'm not so naïve to think that will always be the case. I think I understand the first day needs to make the rig work, but wow, battery upgrades, fresh water filters, getting DC power to the bedroom for CPAP, mobile internet, etc. all is a bit overwhelming (which isn't an easy thing to do to a career Intelligence Officer).

I'm certain I will have many questions and very little input, but I hope to get to know this new group of GD owners and maybe see you on the road.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Welcome to the forum Nemo!
Keep reading the forum and you will never be short of 'projects' for your new rig.
From your past career, I'm sure you have a handle on prioritizing 'must do soon' & 'it can wait' jobs.

[Nemo]

Welcome to the forum Nemo!
Keep reading the forum and you will never be short of 'projects' for your new rig.
From your past career, I'm sure you have a handle on prioritizing 'must do soon' & 'it can wait' jobs.

Thank you, no it's no a hard thing to prioritize, but I also have a curse, I want it all and I want it now...lol

[CaptJaC]

Welcome, I too have be following this forum in the back ground until we took delivery of our 5er. Like you Im also an avid bike rider -2014 Ultra Limited.

JaC

[subsurfcpo]

Welcome to the group - retired Navy here. If you haven't found it yet...here is a link to military campgrounds. I have used it and stayed at 3 bases so far. Decent reviews, some seem to think that these are 5-star resorts and the $15 - $25/day grants them that level of service. Still it is a good resource for getting out there. We have met many full-time RV's during our stays.

[Second Chance]

Thank you, no it's no a hard thing to prioritize, but I also have a curse, I want it all and I want it now...lol

Reminds me of the lyrics of a song from 30 years ago. Part of the song went, "God give me patience - I want it NOW!"

Rob

[howson]

Thank you, no it's no a hard thing to prioritize, but I also have a curse, I want it all and I want it now...lol

Keep in perspective that a lot of us here have quite the head start on modifying our trailers. Though I've been at it now for almost 4(?) years, I still have a long list of mods the DW wants done.

An RV is like a house--always something that needs fixing, something that needs to be serviced, and something that needs an upgrade/refresh.

Welcome to RV'ing! (Why am I thinking of you right now, Vivian? Beachcamper )

Oh--and then there's the list of mods you'll want to do on the F-450.

Howard

[Beachcamper]

howson, because I am always working on something in my RV

Congratulations Nemo and KZ on your next phase of life. The things you will see and the people you will meet it’s truly wonderful to be traveling fulltime. This forum has been very helpful to me because I have had some big issues to fix on my Reflection 303rls and having such knowledgeable and helpful people to ask has made things so much better for me.

At the beginning of our fulltime life I also tried to make minimal upgrades to enhance our daily needs. For us, water purification, boosting cellular service, covers for the vents, better shower experience was our minimal start as well as getting the truck upgrades necessary to start traveling. We knew we needed to do more but wanted to see what was a need vs a want. You can pour tons of dollars into these rigs which deprecate at very rapid rates so being smart about upgrades will keep cash in your pocket.

This was 4 years ago and we have come to realize a few things that should have been priorities. Upgrades to suspension including tires and adding disc brakes, adding a second battery with the ability to monitor is minimum. We might boondock for a couple of days so our system is sufficient as we mostly are hooked up to power. But if not, consider adding solar and inverters they are worth the money if you plan to skip on hookup sites.

One big reason we do not boondock as much is because we feel our Reflection is not going to do well on unimproved roads. GD does not even recommend traveling with full holding tanks. Maybe your Momentum is better built and it won’t be an issue. We plan on getting another RV better suited to traveling backroads in a couple of years. But this is something that only experience will teach you. Glad we did not dish out the money on a full solar build or even the IS suspension upgrade.

[ThePowells]

Nemo KZ & Mike, Welcome to the family and the forum!