Ready for the Next Phase

Five and a half years ago, we retired and began what we call phase 2 of our life together.  Phase 1 involved working for almost 35 years and raising 3 wonderful children.  We enjoyed phase 1 immensely and were lucky enough to have long careers at Eastman Kodak and Kodak Alaris before retiring in our mid-50’s.  Our three kids happy and successful and adulting just fine, or so it seems anyway.  Yes, phase 1 was a big success.

Phase 2 is what one might call our nomad phase.  If you’ve been a reader of this blog, then you know all about phase 2.  This is when we sold the house we spent most of phase 1 in, sold most of what was inside it and bought a big 5th wheel and a F-350 dually to tow it. Then, we set out to see the country on our own terms.  Phase 2 was to be no less than 2 years and was also supposed to serve as a means for us to determine where we might want to settle for the remainder of our time, our forever home, or as we’re calling it in this blog, phase 3.

After spending the summer of 2022 out of our RV and living in a tent while hiking the Appalachian Trail, things back in the RV just weren’t the same.  We both decided that our time in phase 2 was done and we were anxious for phase 3.  After investigating North Carolina in the fall of 2022, we determined that what we wanted would be too expensive there.  We then set our sights on Tennessee.  While working and attending the Escapade rally last March, a fellow RVer suggested we check out Crossville, TN.  When one searches for homes in Crossville, TN you come across a large number in a place called Fairfield Glade.  It turns out Fairfield Glade is a resort community targeting, but not exclusive to, active retirees.  The community was founded in the 1980s and is well established with almost 5,000 homes.  It has 5 championship golf courses, miles of hiking trails, an active pickle ball community, and much, much more.  It seemed too good to be true.

When we left Arizona last April (the last time we posted a blog), we headed for Crossville to see what we could find.  Most of the existing homes were in the older neighborhoods with houses not exactly what we wanted for our forever home.  Our realtor then took us into the developer’s newest neighborhood with several lots still available for purchase.  Once we saw how these newer neighborhoods looked, we both knew building a home was what we needed to do.  We quickly picked out a lot from those available, determined it would support a walkout basement for a rec room and wood shop and took the leap. 

We have since met several of our neighbors, all of whom are new to the area as well, and we couldn’t be happier with the decision we’ve made.  Once we made that commitment and got the ball rolling, we spent the summer in Maine at Dan’s sister’s place like we did a couple summers ago.  We returned to Crossville in the fall to finish the house plans and close on the lot.  We stayed in the area as long as we could before it was time for our last winter on the road.  When we left in mid-November, the foundation was almost done.  A lot would happen while we were gone, but many neighbors would keep us posted on progress.

Farewell tour

We decided (for the most part) to use this final trip to Texas to revisit some of our favorite places one more time.  We spent Thanksgiving with Amy’s folks once again, something we’ve done several times during phase 2.  When we left there, we stopped at Magnolia Branch Wildlife Reserve, a favorite from our first year on the road that we had not returned to until now.  We were quickly reminded why we had liked this location so much.  If you’re in this part of the country, it is well worth a few nights stay.

From there we spent a couple nights at Tickfaw State Park and then onto Sam Houston Jones State Park, our two favorite state parks in Louisiana.  After leaving Sam Houston Jones and our regular stop at the KOA in Conroe, TX (we do this to avoid Houston), we made our way to Jim Hogg COE campground in Georgetown, TX.  This was our 4th stop at Jim Hogg but our first without our friends, Rob and Laura, joining us.  We decided to come here to meet up with a fellow thru hiker that we met while hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2022.  Tim and his wife, Karrie, have taken up the RVing lifestyle and were wintering in the Austin area.  We left Jim Hogg and made our way to South Padre Island with an overnight stop at Choke Canyon State Park.  We would spend the holidays and all of January in South Padre Island with several RVing couples that we have met over the years. 

We had 4 couples celebrating Christmas together and that would grow to 6 couples for New Years.  On New Year’s Eve, the group rented a couple of 6 seater golf carts to help us get around the island for evening activities.  After a short happy hour visit at one of the local bars, we made our way to the very crowded coastal area where the fireworks show would take place.  It was nice to be lying on the grass in relatively warm weather enjoying a fireworks show on New Year’s Eve.   It was good to spend this time with our RVing community, in fact, this was the 3rd Christmas in a row that we’ve celebrated with some of these folks.  It is this community that we will miss the most as we exit the full-time RVing lifestyle.

Sadly, during our time on South Padre Island, we lost a very dear soul as our niece, Julia Hall, lost her battle with cancer.  With help from Rob and Laura getting to and from the small regional airport, we flew to Maine for a celebration of life and to help Dan’s sister and family as much as we could during this most difficult time.  Luckily, nationwide weather cooperated and we were able to make the trip to Maine and back without incident.  We heard of Julia’s diagnosis while we were hiking in 2022.  One of Dan’s best memories of his hike is the time spent in Harper’s Ferry with Julia and Becky, especially Julia insisting on driving him 90 minutes each way to get new boots. Truly a remarkable individual who will be missed by many.

We said goodbye to our friends and South Padre Island at the end of January and traveled a little further west to spend 10 days with Jim and Corinne at their new house in Las Cruces, NM.  Amy got a taste of what it is going to be like when she gets her own sewing room as she spent most of her spare time sewing with Corinne in hers.  Dan got to play in Jim’s woodshop and get ideas on how he will eventually build out his woodshed in our new home.  Speaking of new home, it was time to work our way to Tennessee and see its progress in person.

Going Home

Having spent a month last spring and several weeks last fall in the Crossville area, we already feel as though the place is home and both had that feeling as we arrived at the end of February.  We have since been able to obtain a long term site at Deer Run RV Resort, our favorite RV park in the area.  This was a big win for us because now we know we have a place to keep the RV until we move into the house once it is complete.  We’ve been here less than a week but we’ve already obtained our Tennessee driver’s licenses and have Tennessee plates on the truck.  We’ve been up to the house a few times and Dan has already played a round of golf with guys from the neighborhood.

As for details on the house and its location, the address will be 137 Chestnut Ridge Ln, Crossville, TN 38558 and we can already receive mail at that address.  We are building a slightly modified version of the River Birch model built by Fairfield Homes.   The modifications are to allow for a walkout basement recreation room with an unfinished workshop next to it.  Its location is such that we will not have visible neighbors behind us but the neighbors on either side will be quite close, which is the standard for this community.  Our lot is 80′ wide and 250′ feet deep.  Just beyond the back property line, you can reach one of the major hiking trails of the community.  From that trail point behind the property you can do a loop hike of 2, 4, or 6 miles, based on choices you make at various trail intersections.  We are looking forward to morning hikes on maintained trails simply by walking through our wooded back yard.

After the house is finished and we are moved in, all are welcome to come and visit and stay for a bit.  We will be an hour from Knoxville, 90 minutes from Chattanooga and just under 2 hours to Nashville.  If the great outdoors is to your liking, we will be about 90 minutes to Great Smokey Mountain National Park.