It’s been almost two months since I’ve written a blog post.  I’ve been in Florida for the past 4 months in a stay put mode enjoying the warm weather.  There hasn’t been any travel or RV related things to write about.  But I have been busy, so I figured I’d write about some of the things I’ve been doing over the past 2-3 months.

Bought a Florida Home

Spending 4 months parked in my small 26 ft motorhome started to become an issue for my wife.  Anne’s not an RVer and she tolerated the last 4 winter seasons staying in the small motorhome.  But this year, it started to wear on her.  Fort Myers Beach is now become our winter home and she wanted more space to live in.  I was also beginning to feel cramped in the motorhome.

We talked about getting a 30-32 ft travel trailer to use just for our winter stay.  Many of the folks in the RV park have trailers or 5th wheels and leave them stored in Florida during the summer months.  We looked into that and even got a larger site in the RV park to accommodate a bigger rig.

One day, I was talking to a friend down at the beach who had recently moved from the RV park to a nearby manufactured home community.  He was very happy with his new place and had nothing but good things to say about the community.  So a few days later, Anne and I decided to check the place out.

It’s essentially a large mobile home / RV park for 55+ people.  It’s made up of mostly new manufactured homes with a few open sites for RV’s.  We had a sales agent show us around and looked at several pre-owned houses. I wasn’t expected to buy anything, but we toured a new lakeside home and fell in love with it.  It was turnkey, already furnished, on a lake, and on sale.  The house was perfect and the community was also just what we wanted – an active community with lots of amenities and activities.

We moved in on Feb 4th and my wife has not stopped smiling.  We’ve spent the last few weeks  outfitting it with typical house hold items, getting engaged in our new community, and enjoying our new home.

I didn’t sell the RV.  I just put it in storage for the winter

Became a Volunteer

Last year, I did some volunteer work at my church on a couple of occasions. I planted some palms trees and helped out in the office.

This year, I offered to help out in the office on a regular basis. The office manage was eager for any help she could get.  So I’ve been using my computer skills and working in the office one morning each week.

I’ve done some data entry, printing and binding, designed new birthday and anniversary cards, helped with the newsletter, and helped update the website.  I’ve gotten to know more people at the church and it felt good to be able to use my skills to help give back to the church.  I hope to do this again next year.

Made it to 65

I don’t make a big deal about birthdays, but this one was sort of noteworthy in that I now qualify for Medicare!  I’ve been anxious for this because it means my cost for health insurance is going to take a big drop.   I’ve been paying for an individual health policy for me and my wife ever since I retired (11 yrs ago) .  It’s pricey at over $1,500 per month and it’s my biggest expense.

In advance of my birthday, I’ve spent time applying for Medicare and researching supplement, advantage, and prescription drug plans.   Applying for Medicare was the easy part.  The SSA has a website and you can do this on-line.  Researching the other stuff was time-consuming.

I attended a Medicare seminar to learn more about all the Medicare options.  I also researched the different supplement plans, advantage plans, and drug plans.  There are a lot of options and it can overwhelming.

I decided to go with a supplement plan as well a prescription drug plan from the same carrier.  The key factor for me is that I travel and spend the winter in Florida.  I want to be able to see any  doctor with out being limited to an in state network or needing a referral from a PCP.  The Advantage Plans (Medicare Part C) are attractive but they work much like my current insurance.  They limit me to a network of in-state doctors and hospitals.  I would also need referrals from a PCP to see any specialist.

So we’ll see how this goes.  I’m going to save about $400 per month and that will increase to $800 per month when my wife turns 65.  It’s a nice pay raise.

Continued to Play

I’ve continued to play pickleball, play cornhole, and ride my bike.  Although we were busy with the new house, I still made time for them and stayed active.

It’s one of the things I like about wintering in Florida and living in an active community.  I get to be outdoors and active.  One of my pickleball friends told me it keep us healthy and helps us live longer.  I think she might be right.  If I was back in New England during the winter, I’d be shoveling snow, spending too much time sitting, and looking out the window.

So that’s what the Dawg has been up to this winter.  Some new things and doing things I enjoy.  Wintering is Florida is a blessing.  We enjoy the weather and all our snowbird friends.

In two weeks, I will take the RV will out of storage then we say goodbye to Florida for about 7 months.