The story of a simple man, learning to live a simpler life, in an increasingly complicated world. My adventures in the toy hauler with my fur-babies and an old Harley. Please stay tuned..............
Now A Proud Member of Hitchitch.com
I feel like I have made the BIG TIME. My blog has been picked up byHitchitch.com. This is how I started my adventure....by reading about other full-timer RV blogs. Thanks Ron and Terry!!! Thank you, Maryanne. I am listed on her great site Frugal RV. These are great reference sources.
The title pretty much says it all. Yes, it is an incredible hassle getting everything tied-up here at the end. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I didn't expect some of the emotions and different feelings I'm am feeling. Yes, I will soon be free. Yes, I am so glad to be released from many of the burdens of home ownership. Yes, I feel my wanderlust growing. BUT, I am already nostalgic and sorta homesick. Weird, huh? I have entered into negotiations for my 5 wheel and even have a brand new 20k hitch in the back of Whitey(my truck). All is going according to plan. It's kinda hard to let go. I started this transformation about 2 years ago, so..........come on Road! Let's Ride! Thanks so much for your comments, they really help. Michael Ultra sorry about no pictures, I can't find anything...much less my camera!
Oat Willie That's about how I fell. I was reminded last night how to eat and elephant Yes, one bite at a time. I have had some bank transfer problems, but that seems to be resolved. Yes, I had some remorse issues when I realized it was my last night in a house I lived in for 25 years. Mrs Buyer has put her mark and furniture in before I vacated.(I needed some pushing). I am making progress, albeit slow, but steady!!
This is a short post about moving. Holy cow, what a pain in the butt. I have made ump-teen trips to town and Goodwill and the dumpster. I know I am trying to keep too much junk! I haven't bought a 5th wheel, yet. Soon, me and the little dog will head to Dallas to look at some I spotted on the internet. I have made a tentative deal in Michigan (long way!) and will leapfrog metropolitan areas until I find my new nest! More later..... Michael Ultra
Don't be alarmed, but we had a disaster here at my house, this morning. My buyers showed up this morning, and they started arranging the top floor of my house, which I have completely emptied. I was in my bedroom, getting ready for my move by folding laundry. Mrs. Buyer came in screaming" Get your gun, Get your gun!" I've already packed most of them up, so the only one at hand was my Sig .45. In a flash I had it cocked and ready. I followed her into my boathouse, only to be surprised by my three dogs as they are growling and pawing at a skunk. They had the poor little fella backed up in the corner, and he was mad. I assumed the position, did a double tap, and ended his and our misery.
Mrs. Buyer picked up my 13-year-old black poodle, and put her in the bathtub. I chained Blue to the tree, and gave him his first bath ever. He actually kind of enjoy it. I use dish washing liquid, and when he was thoroughly soaped-up, I took him to the waterside and dropped him in the lake. We rinsed and repeated three times. I pressured washed the room out and then sprayed it with peroxide. For some reason, little Toby didn't get sprayed. Later, Mrs. Buyer remarked that I didn't ask why get a gun, and was amazed I showed up so quickly. She doesn't know me very well, yet.
Blue and Cammie
After their bath, they seem okay. They even smell pretty good.
Other than the occasional hiccup, things are going extremely well. It sure looks like this crazy plan of mine is going to work. The paper work is done and the moo-la is transferred. Damn the torpedoes and skunks.....Full Speed Ahead!! My best to everyone, Michael Ultra
No, I'm not jumping the gun. (well, maybe just a little). This has been a very exciting and busy day here at RV0777. When I openedmy e-mail this morning, I was surprised to see all the lawyer papers, contracts, disclosures and such, in there. They were already filled out and ready to go. After lunch, my prospective buyers called me and wanted to see the furniture in the storage unit that they had bought. I think they were pleasantly surprised. If there is such a thing, I have been told I am too honest. They really did get a good deal, not only on the house, but on the furniture and household goods that are sold them. But for the sake of honesty, how much is used furniture really bring in a garage sale? The only time I have found that that kind of stuff brings a big price is when I'm buying it.
We came back to my house so Mrs. Buyer to take another look. She fell in love once again, and I am so glad. These are really wonderful people. She told me that I could bunk with them until I found my toy hauler. Can you imagine? She also said if I got sick on the road, I could come back here and she would take care of me. Can you imagine? The way things are working out, is really beyond my highest imaginings. I thought stuff like this only happened on other people's blogs.
It's been a long time coming and
I'll be a long time gone (soon)
After dinner, I was relaxing, well, trying to relax, when the phone rang. It was her with the most wonderful news. She said," Michael, your money has arrived. I decided to call you and let you know so that you can sleep well tonight." As keyed-up as I am right now, I don't know about relaxing, much less sleeping. I've been telling you that this whole deal of mine has been running on faith, and now here it is. Thank you so very much for all the well wishes and prayers and warm fuzzies that you have sent me over the last 24 months. You have helped keep me strong.
Wow, I cannot remember the week before Christmas ever being like this. My heart goes out to the victims of that horrible incident in Connecticut. I don't understand our federal government(not surprised). I don't understand the news media, sensationalizing everything from the weather report, on up. It really does look like I have sold my house. This is not an official announcement, though. I've gone through almost the same scenario five times. But you know the old saying, six times is the charm. I really do like my prospective buyers. I will be real honest, I'm running on pure faith and prayer. Speaking of old sayings, how about, it all comes to he that waits? As you long-time readers know, this is been a two-year process. I should be very well prepared, right? With that said, I don't think you ever foresee some of the problems that you encounter in a move like this. I am so anxious to cut the cord, if you will. Even though things are not always as they seem, I have been surprised by many pleasant developments. The furniture that I worried so much about, as in what the heck am I going to do with all, has taking care of itself. My prospective buyers have decided they want to purchase it all from me. What a blessing! I have read on other blogs how that has happened to other people, and I am just amazed that it's happening here. Here's a video that seems to sum it up for me.......
presence of
The Lord
I have ran on faith through this whole process. I remember a saying from my youth, that goes like this: God may not come when you want Him to, but He is always right on time! I think my dogs are even starting to get excited. I know I am! Michael Ultra.
Let me ask you a question.....what were you doing in second grade? If I remember correctly, I think I was still dropping my pencil and trying to satisfy my curiosity by catching a glimpse of knickers. I also remember being very involved with the mechanics and freedoms offered by my Schwinn bicycle. When I was in second grade (1958), the music was a different thing than it is now. I remember songs like The Purple People Eater, Tom Dooley, Beep Beep, and Witch Doctor. Television was just coming of age, and the Internet had not even been thought of yet. Why am I taking this walk down memory lane? I want you to remember what eight years old and being in second grade was like. Now, take a look at eight-year-old Quinn Sullivan, as he jams with one of my personal blues heroes, Buddy Guy.....
(quinn and buddy) Is that absolutely amazing, or what? I don't think that child/man is just a flash in the pan. Here he is with Buddy Guy and B.B. King....
(quinn and buddy and bb) Any time you can blow away two of my blues heroes, you can certainly blow me away. What a sarvant that young Quinn is. I wish him the best, because I know he has chosen a tough business to be in. All I can say is God bless you man!
segue I guess you've noticed I haven't written a lot lately. There doesn't seem to be anything to write about, and I didn't want to get on here and piss and moan about how my life is on not going the way I want it to. Nobody, including myself, want to read stuff like that. So, after much debate whether to share this or not, I have a small announcement to make. I think I've sold my house! More to follow...... Better late than never, Michael Ultra
How is everybody doing? I think in my last update, I had some people look at my house. I did in fact have two interested parties, but neither one worked out. Oh, we went through the motions, one group of interested buyers(or tire kickers, if you will) did not trust my measurements, and hired a fellow to come out and measure the house for them. Now I'm not an expert, but this guy said you didn't measure hallways, or closets, our stairwells. That kind of thinking, in my opinion is pure BS. I like to see a house do without those things. The other group wanted a complete home inspection, which they paid for. The good old house passed with flying colors as they say, not bad for an over 40-year-old house. Both parties offered about the same amount of money, and I actually did get within $20K of making a deal. So yes, there was a little excitement, but it didn't pan out, so back to the old proverbial drawing board. I'm still working with the new company on a reverse mortgage. It's the same story, not only here, but all over the Internet. We can't find comparisons to match the value of your house. Okay, I get it. This is just not my appointed time. If you had told me last year at this time, I would still be waiting to cast off on my journey, which is being a full-time RVer, I would not have believed you. It goes back to my basic core of beliefs, there is a time and a purpose for every event, under heaven. Sounds like a song, doesn't it? Speaking of songs, we had quite the musical event here in Lubbock, Texas, a couple weekends ago. Just a quick video, a little bit of Wikipedia history about my friend, and the compulsory "heck yeah, I was there", picture. Have you ever heard of Bobby Keys? Here's the WIKI link...Bobby.(click here) If you haven't taken time to read that link, here's a short list of the music that he's played on. I'm sure all of you will recognize some of these songs.
I feel really honored to be friends with what I consider rock 'n roll royalty. My gosh, he played with Buddy Holly. And the Beatles. And 40 years with the Rolling Stones. The first time I met Bobby, we were sitting in my living room, listening to the radio, and Carly Simon's hit "You're So Vain", came on. Bobby tell me that he and Mick Jagger had played on that track that he and Mick were roommates in an apartment flat in London, England. I said, "Bobby, really". I did have a rather large album collection back then, so he suggested I go look at the record. Sure enough, they were credited on the back of the album. I said I'll never doubt you again. You have to remember these were the days before the Internet you can not look that kind of stuff up. Okay, here's the promised gratuitous picture......
Nina, Bobby and Michael
I think we look a little like rock 'n roll relics, but you know, it's the mileage, and not the year model the counts. I made this rather amateurish video, with my little bitty Samsung camera. I actually think the sound turned out pretty good.(This is not the first music video I have made, but the first amateur one I have made and posted)
Joe Ely and Friends Buddy Holly I don't know about you, but I absolutely love this time of year. Here's a couple of shots I took out my backdoor, just after a surprise rainstorm a few nights ago. Pretty, huh?
Rainbow Treasures
Just one more thing, everybody be safe during your winter migrations. I may, or may not, be able to flee from my trappings of what can be considered a normal life, and join you in Quartzsite, Arizona. Time and circumstances will certainly tell. God bless everyone.(I mean that!!) Michael Ultra
We all have something we like and don't like about WalMart, right? This is the story of a man named Joe Chumley. This is the account of his run-in with the corporate giant. It was taken it from the Roswell Newspaper....
Wal-Mart protests stir Roswell arrest
Published: Sunday, January 04, 2004
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Police arrested a local businessman for protesting in front of the Wal-Mart here Saturday.
Joe Chumley's arrest capped the second day of protests at the supercenter, the Roswell Daily Record reported.
Chumley, the owner of the local Farmers Country Market, was thrown out of the store Friday for passing out $2 bills and was subsequently banned from Wal-Mart stores nationwide.
On Saturday, about 35 of Chumley's employees and customers gathered in front of the store's doors to protest the ban, said Hector Lujan, a country market employee for 26 years.
Lujan said his boss believes small-business owners are being trampled by retail giants like Wal-Mart and is concerned about small businesses' ability to compete against such large corporations.
Chumley could not be reached for comment late Saturday.
A Wal-Mart assistant manager declined to comment during Saturday's protest, referring questions to the store's corporate offices.
Chumley was charged with criminal trespassing and resisting arrest and was released on his own recognizance.
Lujan said the country market has lost about 10 percent of its business since Wal-Mart opened.
......This is my Uncle Joe and I have to say I am proud of him. Banned from Walmart..... Nationwide? For life? Cool! Way to go Unc!!!(this story made national news) I am proud to add that he doesn't have a Harley. He has three of them...at last count. Ride on Uncle Joe!!
Very clever and funny
Just a short paragraph on my progress as house seller. I'm still working with the people that had the house inspection done. How hard is it to make your mind up and jump off into your dream house? We seem to be $24k different on the price. I hope it works out. I had a realtor contact me. She had some cash buyers and I allowed her to show the house to them three times. They had a question about the square footage and hired a professional to come and measure my house. I measured the square footage from the outside of the house. This guy measured only living space, and did not include the stairwell, or the hallways, or the closets. He trimmed about 500 ft.² from my figures.The realtor asked me how I came up with my pricing, and I told her I figured the square footage at a certain dollar amount, and then I added in the location, location, location. These folks can find the house as big as mine for less, but it won't be on the waterfront. Go figure! Let me show you what I've had of my driveway during the last 30 days. I haven't bought anything, but I've sure had some stuff brought over for me to look at.....
Big ol' Bus!
This Provost makes my F350 look
like a baby!
I hadn't really made up my mind about my toy hauler, yet. In all honesty, I need the money from my house sell to be able to get to what I really want. Of course, that doesn't keep me from searching on the Internet for the perfect one. It is almost been an obsession. I will admit, I scrounge eBay almost every day. But you know, it is gonna be my only home, so I need to look at everything the market has to offer.That's about it from around here. At the end of next month (September), I have a friend who is going to receive a big honor, here in Lubbock, Texas. His name is Jesse "Guitar" Taylor. I will do a writeup all about him, later. Here's one of his music videos and a gratuitous photo....
Jesse 'Guitar' Taylor
Jesse Taylor and Michael Ultra
RIP my Brother!
I gotta say, I've missed you guys. Thanks for coming back!!Michael Ultra
How's it going? Me? I'm doing pretty good, for the shape I'm in. Doesn't that sound like a line of the song? Okay, if you know me at all, you know, I got something up my sleeve. Here's a video from a band that I know, and have even promoted a few times. Have you ever heard of Arc Angels? These guys are some more of my Austin, Texas friends. And let me tell you, they can rock 'n roll.
So Rocking!
I am ready to Live in a Dream!
The house hasn't sold yet, but I do have a deal working on it. The friends they came over and looked at it, are very interested, and I have an appointment with the inspector from their financial institution. I'm not sure if the deal is gonna work out, but I do have my hopes up high. Speaking of having one's Hopes Up High, here's a video from another friend of mine, that lives in Austin, Texas, whom I have introduced you to before, Mr. Joe Ely. Yes, he has his hopes up high.......
Riding in a Dynamite Truck
michael ultra with
my bbq mentor.
Even though I'm not on the road, yet, I am making preparations for that glorious day. As some of you may know, I have promoted many IBCA barbecue cookoffs. I've got a couple of large smokers, and really do know what I'm doing when it comes to producing barbecue. The problem is, I can't figure out how to take a big BBQ smoker on the road. From many of your blogs, I have heard the praises being sung for the Weber Q100. Go ahead and read this one from George and Suzie. Our Awesome Travels. Very descriptive and delicious sounding, don't you think? I took the plunge today. Here is the photographic evidence......
assembled
Prepared as per instructions
Virgin Flight
The Finished Product!!
I will admit, it was easy and works just like he said it would.
Billy Bob said I had too much
time on my hands. Ya think?
I appreciate y'all coming by and reading my ramblings. As I've told you many times before, it means a lot to me. Just like I told Billy Bob (click) today, I do my best to keep up with your writing, too. Here's what I found on my Blogger Dashboard. I do know they kept up with this kind of stuff. I would imagine Google, and Facebook, and who knows who else on the Internet, keeps up with everything that we do. That doesn't really bother me, because if it did, I don't think I would have a public blog.Michael Ultra
Well I'm back. All I really have to report is that it's been a very stressful month. I applied for a reverse mortgage through OneRevese Mortage. You know the one, the Fonz is their spokes-person. What an incredible waste of my time. I jumped through all their hoops, ended up sending them $300 for an appraisal, and waited several months for their rejection. Don't do any business with these people. If you really have any questions about what happened, e-mail me.
The good news about my pending sale is that I have some lookers coming it 6:30 this evening. They are friends of mine and are interested in a lakefront house. They were been out once and spent a few hours. Now they want to come out and spend some time, alone. I've been cleaning up and rearranging the last few days in anticipation of their visit. I only hope that they are trying to decide where to arrange their furniture.(fingers crossed). These are quality people and I don't think they are just wasting my time.
Instead of just waiting around, I have been proactive. Even though I sold my vinyl record collection, I have many hundreds of CDs left. I know I don't want to take multiple boxes of CDs in my fifth wheel, so I started doing research on how I would be able to reduce the collection, yet still have it accessible. I began by copying all of them to my hard drive of my main computer.
CD Command Central
boxes of cd's yet to be Loaded
I knew I wanted to put them on some kind of thumb drive, so I could play them when I wanted to. That worked out pretty well. In the meantime, I changed the head unit in my Ford F350. I went to Best Buy and found exactly what I was looking for.
It's an Alpine 124SXM. Best Buy made me a terrific deal. Not only does it have a tuner, it plays CD's, has an input for iPods and MP3 players, works with Pandora, has built-in XM Sirius radio, but the real kicker is the USB bus on the front that accepts my zip drives and plays them back in crystal-clear fashion.
Great new player with thumb drive!
I loaded a ton of music on one of my zip drives and went out that evening (after the installation), plugged it in and got an error message. What! Can't read error? What the heck? After a little research, I learned that I couldn't load the zip drive up with the CD and expect it to play, because CD files end in .cd. So I erased all that and reloaded the zip drive from my Windows Media Center files that I had saved. Well, who knew? Those files end in .wav. So, back to the computer and a little more research, to find out I have to make my files MP3's. YouTube came to the rescue and showed me exactly how to do it.
For the third time, I took my zip drive out and plugged it in to the new Alpine. Success! Now I just have about eight more boxes of CDs to load up. In the meantime, I get a wonderful kick out of outlawcountry, XM channel number 60. They seem to play my favorites all day and all night.
I'll let you know how the house selling business turns out. I still have faith that things are going exactly the way they are supposed to. I know there's a season for every purpose unto heaven.
I sure do appreciate you coming by.
Michael Ultra
My buddy Joe Ely in Italy
Heard on OutlawCountry daily!
Joe Ely and Michael Ultra
outside original
Stubb's BBQ
Can you believe it's June, already? I love the summertime, but I don't like sitting here waiting for my financial situation to improve. The lake has had all kinds of traffic, and I had all kinds of lookers on my house. I guess they're having trouble coming up with the moola. I'm had an ace that I was going to play, but it's looking a whole lot like a duece. I'm sure something will happen very, very soon. I appreciate it when you guys send me your prayers, good vibes, well wishes, warm fuzzies, and anything else positive. I'm not just saying that, I mean that. You know that feeling, don't you? That waiting for the telephone to ring? It's enough to drive me crazy. So what I do about that? I just turn it around to get crazy to drive.
on the highway
That picture was taken from the seat of the Harley. If you look real close, you can see my buddy ahead of me. It's pretty tough to take a picture on the back of a motorcycle. I will tell you this, though. I am very careful when I ride that scooter, and when I get behind the wheel of an automobile. Sort of like these guys.....
highway star
I like that one. I started driving when I was 13, how about you? At 14(7th Grade), I was allowed to take driver's ed at Wilson junior high. I already knew how to drive, but they wanted you to have the classroom and behind the wheel time. I was issued a provisional driver's license, but dad thought that was good enough and bought me in 1956 Chevy Coupe. What a fine little car that was. It had an in-line six-cylinder motor and three on the tree.(3 speed standard on the steering column). I never could talk him into a scooter or Vespa or Cushman. But it's funny, he was okay with giving an underaged kid an automobile. That was the beginning of my long addiction with the road.
highway junkie
Have you ever been stuck out in the middle of nowhere? Broke down, out of gas, flat tire, or maybe even an accident? Did you notice that when you couldn't help yourself, someone showed up to help you? Of course you did, or you would still be there, now wouldn't you? I bet each one of you could name a dozen or more times when you were either helped, or you helped someone. My dad used to tell me, what goes around-comes around. I do believe that's the truth.
highway angel
I hope everyone has the most wonderful month of June that they can even imagine. So, in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger............... "I'll Be Back!"
Hey, where you been? (Just kidding) . Thank you Long-dogs for your note. I have been lax in my blogging duties. No, I'm not being held in a South American jail, and I'm not in the hospital or the mental ward. What I've actually been trying to do is play the ace that I told you I had up my sleeve. We all know about the best laid plans of men and mice. I really do have a plan, but I'm afraid to reveal it until it looks like a reality. You know, I've learned not to talk about things that are going to happen, until they happen. I know you're wondering, where's that shot of Jack! The Jack I'm talking about is Jack White. You've never heard of him? Here's some information on him.... Click here.
jack at the whitehouse
How awesome would it be to perform a Beatles song in front of the President and Paul McCartney? I can't even imagine. Please listen to these next three videos and be sure to note who his duet partners are...
jack and jones
jack and wanda
jack and loretta
I would say that young man has an amazing future ahead of him.
Back to the matter at hand. I am still actively pursuing the RV lifestyle. I still have my mind and actions working on the problem of spring boarding into my future of being a full-time RV'er. My dear sweet Mary tells me quite often, "If you can hold it in your mind, you can hold in your hand." I think those are words to live by! I don't care what my mind tells me, my heart says I'm closer than I can even imagine to fulfilling my dream. Thank you all so much for your comments and messages and most importantly, prayers. This is going to happen, very, very soon. I believe if you pray, God hears you. I believe in asking the Father, and then leaving the results up to Him. I don't like being religious or churchie, but please read the following verse out of the Bible.
Ephesians 3:20
The Message (MSG)
20-21God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
I believe that, and I believe my dream is going to happen. It's as simple as that. Once again, thank you so much for stopping by. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it means more to me than you'll ever know.
