THE TOADS OF TOWED HAUL
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Spring Thoughts

19/2/2020

2 Comments

 
It's been a while, gentle reader, but as I've just renewed my subscription to this website, I thought it an opportune moment to put down a few lines.

It still being February, Towed Haul is languishing in a snow covered field about 60 miles away. Camping in Ontario in the winter is a fools game, so we put the old girl into hibernation and she probably won't be waking up for a few months yet. It does get a wee bit galling reading about people running around the southern United States, enjoying the sun and sand, while me and Mrs Toad work our pretty little butts off to pay the bills. Retirement can't come soon enough, but more of that later.

The thing is, camping this year may never happen (yes, yes, you can put away your tiny violins). We are waiting on a new addition to the Toad household, mid-June, and we're expecting the patter of tiny feet to be a serious limiter to our camping expectations this summer. Before any of you get too carried away, I should mention that the nipper is a grand-baby, a first for us and a first Mrs T's youngest. The newest tadpole will be living with us and, I suspect, we'll be more mother and father to him than most Grandparents. Still, even without the camping, it's all good; the new baby will be as welcome as he will be loved.

That leads on to another issue; we had contemplated selling Towed Haul prior to finding out about the new arrival. We have barely camped this past few years and we thought maybe should liquidate the (paid for) asset. Well, the little one will probably enjoy camping with his old Grandpeople, so we decided to hang onto our little aluminum palace. It'll mean replacing the Toadmobile at some point as it's getting a little long in the tooth now, but while we're still working, that should be OK.

Then comes the retirement plans. We're both fed up with the daily grind of work; Mrs T getting ever less relevant to her students and me wondering why I put in so much work for so little salary. Current plans will have us both joining the old age jamboree in June 2021 and we're both hoping that nothing happens between now and then to change that date, or least move it further away. Camping here we come!

So, new family, new life and old Airstream; things are looking rosy.

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2 Comments
Jim Flower
22/2/2020 20:28:50

Hi Steve,
I really enjoy your musings so it was nice to see an update. Big changes in the works but they all seem to work nicely in your family. I retired in April of 16 so now have a bit of experience at big time leisure. The Airstream is used more now than before since we spend a lot of time near Fort Lauderdale where one of my sons lives. We are thrilled with the independence that it provides. We take it to Fort Lauderdale in early November before the roads get nasty, stay a while, come home and then return in December for an 8 weeks stay, 5 days in my sons yard and then to a park next to the Everglades for the remainder. We came back last week for some appointments and will go back to Florida for another 8 weeks. We leave the Airstream there and drive back and forth since it is still a lot cheaper and less of a hassle than flying. We have found that entering retirement debt free is the secret to comfort so if the Toadmobile has to be replaced, you still have some time. I don't replace vehicles until they have about 500,000 k on them and then I just give them to my sons, my Fort Lauderdale son has my 2008 Jeep that he uses as his daily grocery getter.
Looking forward to hear how much fun it is having a kinder around again and I agree that things look pretty rosy for the Toads.
Jim

Reply
Steve
24/2/2020 20:56:22

Hi Jim, always good to hear from you. I hope that you're both well, especially now you're part of the great retirement plan. I suspect that Towed Haul will get significantly more use once we're out of the salary trap. You're right about getting debt free, something we've almost achieved and will have come next year. We're saving like crazy right now so that we have enough for Toadmobile II and won't have big payments to cover with our pensions. I spoke briefly with Andy Thompson and he said that the Toyota is easily good for 300K, but we do need to renew while we have the resources. I had contemplated giving the Sienna to Deb's son, but with insurance at 300 a month, and him still at University, that's something we can't afford! You may not be surprised to know, though, that the new TV will be another minivan.

I'll make sure to keep this blog alive this year, and keep you up to date with news of the ankle-biter. That's if I can keep my eyes open after a day of looking after school buses and their drivers!

Steve

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