Last few days at Lake Minden Feb 28, 2014

We are finishing up our last few days here at this Thousand Trails preserve, Lake Minden. It has been a good stay. The weather has been great. We played a round of golf the other day. I shot a 51 and Donna a 55.

When we leave here Sunday, we are heading north to Oroville, CA to visit 2 of Donna's brothers for a few days. After that, we are thinking of going West to Highway 101, The Redwood Highway, and slowly work our way toward Washington.

I guess the California drought is coming to an end. Lots of rain yesterday and today.

This gives us lots of 'inside' time. Donna is working hard since her sewing machine is broke and in the shop.

I got caught up on various web page updates. Both on www.washingtonstategoodsams.com, www.thefergs.com and our blog. I also am trying to add more pictures of Donna and I in the blog.

I did another update on the 'Statistics and Budget' section of www.thefergs.com. It seems our monthly budget is always changing. Our health insurance has increased (more on this later), Dish Network has raised their price, and I was notified that my truck insurance is going up too. I made provisions for once a year vehicle registrations and Costco membership too.

February has been a good month. We have saved quite a bit by staying in a TT park and not doing a lot of driving. It made up for buying a new Blue Boy, new SD license tabs for our rigs, and some stocking up on food from Costco. 

I also keep track of our camping totals. Where we stay each month and how much we pay. Always trying to get our money's worth out of our 'memberships'.

Here are the 'average cost per night' of camping since we hit the road the first part of September 2013. It is amazing!

September 2013  -  $14.55

October 2013 - $11.23

November 2013 - $11.38

December 2013 - $11.13

January 2014 - $7.09

And February 2014 - a big whopping $0.71!!!

This gives us the opportunity to build up our 'Emergency/Unexpected Expenses' fund. For those broken truck/foot times.

Our clubs/memberships are - Thousand Trails, KM, RPI, Escapees, Elks, Passport America, Good Sam, and Enjoy America. We ARE getting our money's worth. They are only a good deal...if you use them!

Insurance update - Kyle Henson (www.rverhealthinsurance.com ) got a hold of me and has been helping me through the health insurance headaches. He helped me get an insurance policy after I was cancelled by Sanford Insurance out of South Dakota. He also verified that RVers that are insured through Avera of South Dakota can use the PHCS National Network of providers. Donna had to change her policy in order for me to get insured. Now we are both with Avera. We have the Avera MyPlan $2500/$6350 PPO Silver plan. After the government subsidy, we only have to pay #317.37. Now this is doable.

Thanks to Kyle for helping us sort this out.

Allen & Donna Ferguson