28 February 2007 Organising things

Because we are away for so long we have to organise with our next door neighbour to make sure that the house stays safe, the post is collected, bills paid, lights are switched on and off (Morrison’s are selling mains timers for 2 for £4.00), curtains moved around occasionally (she is also our cleaner). We also have to make sure that the garden is kept reasonable so this has needed negotiation with our gardener. Both cars have had a service ready for their MOT when we come back. We have had to buy and pre-post birthday cards and presents, as well as Easter presents. We have had to get new cases (that deserves a G.O.M. posting on its own). The list seems almost endless.

27 February 2007 Preparing the Wheelchair

We are now getting down to making sure that all the bits and pieces are ready.
Sally is taking her Electric Power wheelchair. This is a complete project on its own.
The last time we flew the wheelchair was mishandled and dropped, thus writing it off!
I have spent this evening making day glow labels to show where the brake release levers are, and how to operate them. I have also been practising disconnecting the batteries (deep inside the wheelchair). Which have to be special gel type? We are also taking the ramps, which need to be strapped together. Hopefully it will not be damaged this time.

24 February 2007 Still trying to work out cars and Travel Trailers

I have looked at hundreds of cars and Travel Trailers on the Internet. Slowly I am becoming clearer about what we want, what we need and what we can afford. The really nice TT are not necessarily expensive (a new 28 ft TT with all mod. cons. may be bought for about $15000 - that is about £8000), but they are heavy. Many of them are over 5000lbs, plus liquid carried on board, plus all the optional extras, which can easily put the weight up to 7500lbs to 8000lbs (nearly 3 1/2 tons). There are a number of vehicles that will tow that sort of weight, but for one of several reasons they are not suitable for us. A pick up is no good - we need to carry Sally's wheelchair. Ford make an Econoline van, the Excursion, and more recently the Expedition, Chevrolet make the Suburban, the Tahoe and GMC the Yukon. The problem is that the bigger engines also have stronger chassis and beefier suspension, so they tend to cost more. Also fewer are sold, so they keep their value in the second hand market. To buy a 'one ton' vehicle in reasonable condition will probably put $5000 on the cost of the car. If we could get away with a standard sort of vehicle it would be cheaper.
Example the Ford Econoline passenger van (minibus) comes as a standard 'half ton' configuration, with a 5.4l V8 engine. These are used by the hundred as rental vehicles which means that one and two year old vans can be bought quite cheaply. But the tow limit for these is 6900lbs, so putting out of reach the most popular TT's.
Would you believe that there is no easily obtainable list of TT weights? So I set myself the task of compiling a list of all the TT's available with a Gross Weight Limit of less than 7000lbs. Easy, until you realise that there are about 30 different companies, each with several ranges of TT, each range with a number of layouts, each with a number of options which affects the weight. Nevertheless I spent several days trawling the manufacturer’s websites finding models which are below the weight limit. I have found 69. There area couple of dozen that have all the acceptable features (we don't want bunks).
So we have now come down to a basic specification for the rig that we want to buy:
A 2-3 year old Ford Econoline E150 passenger van, a 4- 6 year old Ford Excursion, a 4-6 year old Chevrolet Suburban 1500, a Chevrolet Express passenger van, a GMC Savannah 1500, a GMC Yukon, or a Dodge Ram 1500 (although if we find a bigger truck we will be very pleased to consider it).
An ultralite Travel Trailer, preferably new, 26 ft long with a walk round double bed, a sofa, a dining area, awning, microwave, air conditioning. With either a gross weight of 6500lbs or a weight when empty of 4000lbs or less and a hitch weight of less than 700lbs.
All we have to do is go and find them when we get to Florida.
Which do we look for first? I will tell you when we get there.

22 February 2007 Finance

Because we are away for such a long period we have got to make sure that we have sufficient funds to keep us going. This is where I hope that online banking and credit cards will be very helpful. I have spent some time this afternoon checking with various credit card companies to make sure that when they start getting bills from Florida that they don't stop the card to prevent fraud. We must also bear in mind that we will probably pay for the car and TT using a credit card, which may be a rather large lump of money and we would like it to happen smoothly.

08 February 2007 A new laptop!

 We intend to keep in touch with the world using a laptop, so we have paid out to buy a new one (only the second totally new computer I have bought for Sally and I).
Although it may be cheaper to buy in the States by buying it here I can preload software and information about our holiday.
I hope that we can find cheap/free wifi networks in the states.
We have bought an Acer 5633 Intel duo core 2, with 120 GB HDD and 1024mb ram, 15.4" Screen. I am ashamed to say that we have also paid for a 3 year warrantee, as it includes accident insurance which is valid worldwide with courier collect and return. (Even in the U.S.).

Hiring a car in Florida

We have now booked a hire car, which we will pick up at Orlando Airport.
We have chosen a minivan, as that should be able to take Sally's electric wheelchair.
We have booked through Airnet.co.uk as they appear to be the cheapest.
It appears to be cheaper to book a hire car in the UK than locally in Orlando!
The cost for 2 weeks is £325.00
we have booked it for 2 weeks as we hope to buy our own car reasonable quickly, however, it is possible to book it for a further week if necessary.

06 February 2007 Phoning for the price of a Travel Trailer

Finding how much a Travel Trailer (TT) will cost is quite difficult.
There are many different makes of TT; I think about 30, each with their own range of model, each with variations based on size.
There are also many sites on the internet who sell TT’s; however prices seem to differ widely. I fear that Florida may be one of the more expensive places to buy a TT.
RV sales companies seem to base their prices on the Manufacturers recommended Retail Price, and then some knock 20-40% off, while others add all sorts of charges on. But which one is the con, which one is selling a rubbish TT and which one is just cutting the margin to get custom?
Often second hand prices are higher than new prices! Mind you caravanners in the UK have an over inflated opinion of the value of their caravans when they come to sell them. Basing the price of a private sale on the part-ex value offered by a caravan shop, so perhaps when one actually views them a reality check needs to be provided.
So, tonight I bit the bullet and actually phoned one of the cut price companies in the US RV-Direct.
I enquired about a new Jayco Jay Flight TT, 25RKS - basic price $17927, $20744 with all the extras, then on the phone I was offered it at $14750 as a towaway price!
I suppose I should now phone some in Florida and see if they do the same.
Sally suggests that it may be clearer when we actually get there and see them. I am not sure; salesmen have ways of making a simple price into a complicated profit.
Still we will see.

02 February 2007 Filling in the Blanks

Once the commitment to go has been taken the next part is to put together some sort of plan of travel.
After browsing the internet it becomes clears that the popular, and expensive, spot is the Florida Keys. (Camping is over $100 a night in many places). It is high on our list of priorities, so we have to make a firm commitment to being there. John Pennekamp State Park has camping sites at $30 per night. However the reservation facility shows that the only availability is well into April, and we have to be back in Orlando for May 1st ish. What I have now learned, and can share with you, is that reservations can be made up to 11 months in advance and popular places do get booked up quickly.
So we have booked our first campsite, for 5 nights, and we don't even have a Travel Trailer (TT) to camp with!!!
From the sky its looks more like a piece of waste ground, but I am assured by my niece’s manager that it is a reasonable site.