The trek to Georgia…

Yesterdays travel was 238 miles after leave early afternoon the day before but the next day was the 419 mile Trek to Georgia… After leaving the Southern Living RV (no web site) park just east of Shreveport (which was perfect for a one night stay with wifi, laundry room and a bath house despite its bad reviews) we headed east through the state of Mississippi where we stayed at Avalon RV park just inside the border of Alabama which was only slightly better than boondocking but worked as an overnight stay and is a Passport America park.

This was the longest haul I hope we ever do in an RV but the goal was to get to Athens in time for the first pitch of the softball tournament at the University of Georgia. So this left us a more manageable 275 mile drive to Athens the next day. We will try to stay around a maximum of 250 miles per day in the future.

The last days drive began early in the day so we would miss the morning rush hour of Birmingham, Alabama and after timing this nearly perfectly it could only be more of the same when we went through Atlanta – Right??? Wrrrrooonnnng!!! After 50 non-stop miles of six lane traffic through congested lanes and construction I was ready to swear on a large stack of bibles that I would never – ever – ever, drive an RV through Atlanta again. The most bizarre event was when the GPS told me to get off the highway onto a narrow single laned tightly turning cloverleaf that basically put back on the highway going the opposite direction. Before going off it was verified by Microsoft Streets and Trips 2011. There has got to be a better way to get to the next turn it was taking me too…

So after driving through the town square of Crocket Texas, through downtown Atlanta, around the cloverleaf, and sandwiched between semi-trucks on a six lane highway I now proclaim myself as a novice RV driver having graduated from rookie status…

That calls for a glass of wine…

ps. as soon as I find the camera I will include some pictures

Getting to know her…

Today was a beautiful day considering how crappy the last few frigid days have been… we were dying to get out to the new rig (to us) and get to know her better.  We know there is so much to learn.

So we packed up the car with all the items we thought might be too big to store in the motorhome along with some items we knew we had to have but that were more seasonal in nature, such as flippers and snorkel gear, floats, fishing gear etc… Stuff we knew were not going to need in the next three weeks.

We also packed all the cleaning stuff such as a vacuum cleaner, a carpet shampooer, cleaning supplies and the likes… to get her looking real spiffy for her first date. After 6 hours she was ready for the prom… As a lot of people have been asking to see some inside photos but we had wanted to wait till she got a good cleaning which she did so enjoy the pictures of the interior.

I present to you our girl… yet to be named because she needs to earn it and we haven’t even gotten to really know her yet. Today I spent a lot of time getting to know her a bit while I was cleaning… I played with every switch I could. However, with the cold weather my friends barn lost his plumbing so we couldn't turn on water to see how well she wintered the storm. We were however able to tinker around a bit and feel more comfortable with her controls…

Our time will come when we go out on a date and really get to know each other better… I just hope the weather will cooperate so it can happen before we hit the road for good! I will continue to edit my punch list blog to show our progress in the coming weeks…

Her place for now…

Well yesterday I decided that with the cold weather moving in it was time to move her again to a temporary place at a very good friend of ours. But… that meant I had to face the cul de sac… YIKES!

Well as bad luck would have it there were still two cars parked on the out side edge of the cul de sac and so I started her up and up the hill I went.  I went further past around the first car than I felt comfortable and turned hard right until I passed the car – so far so good.  Then a sharp left making sure the ass-end wouldn’t hit the car I passed as I eased up a driveway about 10 feet and stopped and then pushed “R” and I eased back turning as I went.  One car in front of me I pushed “D” and a hard left turned cleared the car and I had made a successful three point turn around in the cul de sac WOOOHOOO!! So back to the house (but now pointed in the right direction) till my bride can help me move her to her temporary place for about a week.

The lovely lady in my life calls and follows me as I drive the RV to her new spot.  The drive there was uneventful till we got to the barn she was to park beside. Down this narrow road there was a sharp right hand turn between two fence posts not very far apart. To complicate matters the road between the posts crossed a gully with ditches on each side… YIKES again!

Well with good directions from the bride and our good friend we eased our way in and parked beside our friends barn.  Our friend use to be our daughters' 14 and under fast pitch softball coach and we have stayed connected with him all these years and here we are now parked beside his barn… Thanks David!

We will use this opportunity to get to know her now that she is on level ground and has all her slides out… too bad it is about to get real cold here soon… time to learn about winterizing!

The first drive in the Tiffin…

So I inserted the key and turned on the ignition and rev’ed her up (I am pretty sure it is a she). Merikay asked if I test drove her before and the answer is no I didn’t but we did start her up and check her out pretty thoroughly. Since she has a 5 speed Allison I pushed the D button and gave her a bit of diesel and off we went… and first obstacle was  a large low hanging tree near the exit. Easily circumvented it was down the narrow road to my first ever right turn.

I let the front end go a lot further than I did in my old truck to turn right and I had a successful first right turn… one more and we were on the state highway a short bit till we got to the restaurant where we were going to eat lunch.  After hearing my driving looked pretty good for a rookie from my partner I had a great chicken fried steak and then it was time to get on down the road.

So we are driving and I am seemingly staying between the lines and noticing how ever so close the guard rails seem to get on the right side of the road (never noticed it before – wonder why?). So we drive on through Johnson City (a bit scary), on through Dripping Springs (a bit scary) and then we started approaching Oak Hill near Austin where the traffic started to become quite congested.  I was feeling pretty comfortable when we got here so I stayed in the middle lane of the three lane road (thinking I was big and they would steer around me). And then it happened…

An approaching light was turning yellow and I had to decide if I was going to stop or go for it.  I decided I needed to feel the motorhome stop on short notice so I hit the breaks firmly. Stopped at the light and when I did the passenger side curtain (which was apparently not secured) slid forward completely blocking off my right side mirror and part of the right side of the windshield. Traffic started moving and I thought “CRAP” so I stayed in the middle lane and hoped the next light turned red… it did and I hopped out of my seat and secured the curtain. Whew!!!

Driving though the congested south side of Austin with somewhat white knuckles I made it to Bastrop where my partner pulled into a convenience store for a potty break.  When I got to the entrance I scouted the place out and saw where I could pull out easily on the other side but when I looked up at the entrance there were three cars lined up to leave and I had to turn right into that entrance and hopefully miss them and the ditch on the right side of the entrance. Several YIKES later I was parked and talked with my buddy who said I was doing great.

With my confidence growing the last seventy miles would be a breeze right? Wrong! Sixty nine of those miles were easy but then I had to park the rig in my neighborhood alongside the curb in a cul de sac – YIKES!!! But with my wife assisting me getting close to the curb I was able to get her home after 3.5 hours of tense driving… I am now an experienced class A RV driver!

… now I have to get her turned around in a few days at the end of our cul de sac.. YIKES!

Our new (to us) home…

Well as crazy as it may seem to a lot of our friends we now own a motorhome and will be living in very, very soon. Upon making the deal with the previous owner a couple of weekends ago we started to get our minds into this whole “we are going to buy a HUGE motorhome” thing… My deal with the seller was that we would meet at a bank on the southeast side of Austin, TX.  My reason to meet here was to shorten my drive by about 80 miles each way and so I wouldn’t have to drive the motorhome through the Friday afternoon Austin traffic, which can be brutal in a car!!!

So as all plans go this one too went awry… the owner called and said he had to get some minor surgery the day before we were to meet and the doctor advised him not to drive the motorhome.  YIKES! Now I have to drive it the full 180 miles through Austin. YIKES!

So a buddy of  mine and I drove over to Austin where we met with the owner and concluded the banking transaction. He gave me a bill of sale and the bank gave me receipts from the transaction. We followed the owner into the Texas hill country between Johnson City and Fredricksburg where our future home was sitting.

The owner gave us the run through of the controls one more time and then it was all mine to drive. I must mention here I never – EVER – drove a motorhome before (my advice to you would be to do so). So I crank the engine and off I went.  We were only going to go about a mile to a restaurant we saw on the way in so my partner could tell me how I was doing and we could grab a bite and give me time to absorb all that was taking place.

… to be continued!

the motorhome has landed…

YIKES…

YIKES…

YIKES…

YIKES…

YIKES…

YIKES…

I just drove a motorhome for the first time in my life 179 miles through Austin Texas traffic… and it is parked in my front yard with no damage… Amazing…

Are you kidding me… this is for real… more pictures (and stories) coming soon!

Insuring a motorhome…

Insuring a motorhome… is not an easy task! I have contacted at least six different insurance companies and have gotten each to give me quotes that are as comparable as I can get.  I still have a few more to get as well.  I have laid them all out upon a spreadsheet for comparison purposes and there seems to be two groups that are similarly priced.

For the motorhome we hope to purchase the insurance is running from about $125 per month to $155 per month depending on who we choose. This is full timer insurance. Now obviously cost is a major factor for us but it is not going to be the only one in our decision since the main reason we have insurance is so that the claim process goes smooth and easy. So although We know which insurance company I am leaning towards We will ultimately decide after reading more forums and blogs of those who have had to make claims.

And yes I know I am running out of time as the fellow who I hope to buy our future home from wants to meet on Friday and complete the transaction…

… I better get busy…

Guess who put earnest money down on a motorhome?

Can’t say anymore about it because I don’t want to jinx it…. but wish us the best!!!

 

more to come later…

Rigs everywhere…

We wanted to leave our town early on Saturday morning but as all good plans have happen… Caca Occurs! We got a call from a realtor who said that someone wanted to see our house on Saturday at 1:00 pm.  So we decided to perk up the house before we left for Houston and as a result we didn’t leave our home till after 11:00 am. This pretty much meant we would only be visiting one dealer in Houston, PPL.

We pulled into the PPL lot about 1:00 pm and man was there a lot of motorhomes and 5er’s crammed into this lot.  We had a list of 6 to 7 that we wanted to look over pretty closely as we have been narrowing down what we are wanting in our “perfect rig.”

My last blog apparently stirred up quite a few comments. Some suggested we use the RV Consumer Group evaluations – which we have been doing, thanks! Many wished us luck and reminded us we may have to make concessions as to which I agree.  We are still five months from full timing so we are being patient (maybe overly patient) in trying to find a rig that meets most of our needs. Yet others reminded us of things not to overlook for full timers such as larger holding capacities for grey/black water tanks or making sure we are protected from the winter via basement heaters or double paned windows.

We learned a lot about motorhome that day and we learned a lot about how little storage there really is in a motorhome (especially for large pots/pans and cookie sheets etc).  We also know now that the range of 35-37 feet will meet all of our needs.  We loved the Tiffin’s and the WInnie Adventurers but a few older models caught our attention such as the Rexhall’s. The comment by Margie in my last blog hit the nail on the head when she said “This is such an exciting time.”…

she is right – but it is both exciting and scary :)

Searching for that “perfect rig”…

This weekend will begin our true quest for finding our future home… we have done all the research we need to do.  So now it is time to actively and aggressively pursue finding the “perfect” rig for us.  It begins this weekend as we travel to Houston, Texas down to a large RV consigner called PPL.

NO

YES

Currently there are five rigs at PPL that require closer scrutiny.  Up to now we have been narrowing our choices based upon quality for the buck, convenience, preferences, and wants… Now it is time for us to go visit the RV’s on our short list and immerse ourselves in each one of them.  The instructions are simple for our task…

NO

YES

• closely look over the outside of the rig for anything that may bother us (imperfections, bubbles, etc)
• scrutinize the storage and envision putting our items in the bays (will the chairs fit? what can put in each one…)
• evaluate each space inside the rig for the “feel of home”
• visualize ourselves in each space (what would I be doing here in the morning, afternoon, night etc.)
• what expensive modifications would have to be done for it to meet our needs
• lastly, does the rig have the “it factor”

As you can see we have our work cut out for us… We hope to have a rig by Christmas if not sooner… wish us luck!

In search of the perfect RV…

After studying RV floor plans, visiting RV dealers, and having numerous discussions with my partner in crime – my wife :) I have begin to wonder if there really is such a thing as the perfect RV out there somewhere for us. I come to this conclusion simply because the more we look and talk the more the whole process morphs into an entity of its own.

So, what is important to us in an RV?  This list takes a life of its own as time passes slowly by on this road to retirement.  The items that continue to pop up in this search is my quest to find the perfect RV that is small enough to get into the more out of way places while at the same time wanting it to feel like home and be within our budget.  It is becoming increasingly clear that for this to happen we need a larger budget and unfortunately that is not going to happen unless we keep w$rking. And THAT is not going to happen!

So that leaves us looking at used RV’s and not new ones that we can custom order exactly how we want one.  So we are focusing on other smaller items that we believe will affect our quality of life.  Such as no booth dinettes, the need for a small computer desk for the spouse, adequate kitchen counter space and cabinets, large enough refrigerator etc…  Now we are beginning to balance these factors with the wisdom on the net that suggests we may actually end up loving one of the options we didn't think we would like at all such as a booth dinette.

So we will continue our quest by scanning the web, stopping by RV dealers and looking over their rigs, and start asking those who own an RV similar to what we think we want about their RV experiences and eventually we will find our future home… after all time is still on our side… yes it is…

So if you own an RV maybe we will cross paths someday, somewhere in a campground or parking lot or gas station. All I ask is that you educate these poor RV rookies step by step along the way so they may too reach their goal of owning the perfect RV…

Believe me we need all the help we can get and we look forward to learning from many of you out there!

The list redone...

After the Houston RV trade show we narrowed our list to the following in order of preference in brands:
1- Tiffin
2- Winnebago
3- Newmar
4- Monarch


This has now changed some as Tiffin is now in the number two spot and Winnebago has moved up to the number one spot. Although there is no doubt in my mind that the Tiffin's are very well made it just seems that the more that we go into Tiffin's and Winnies that we almost always feel more "at home" in the Winnies so we will focus on them for now.

Also we stated in the past that we hoped to target RV's at 32 feet on the minimum side and that we thought they were not too small and we still feel this way but are more focused now on the 33-35 foot range.  This has more to do with floor plans than with length since we just haven't found a 32 footer that wows us yet.

So now we are looking at:

1- Winnebago
2- Tiffin
3- Newmar
4- Monarch

Coaches we saw at the RV show that we liked were:
Newmar BayStar 3202
Monaco Monarch 33 SFS
Tiffin Allegro 35 TSA

Coaches we have seen since then that we like:

Winnebago Adventurer
Winnebago Sightseer 33C

Features we still hope to include in our rig are:
-as large as a Fridge as we can get without sacrificing the pantry
- a pedestal dining table instead of a booth
- we really like the euro chairs :)
- no carpet in the living area
- lighter colored finishes
- no more than 2 slides
- we prefer the open bathrooms

We still have plenty of time to find our home but I am not sure we have plenty of patience... we are both ready to get on with the show now and get it over with... but as life goes on (we are under a year now to starting out new lives) we will eventually find our new home...

I still have much to learn about the motors, chassis, breaking systems etc... and heck I don't even know how to drive one yet :)

The Last of the 50 things my RV could have...

I said there would probably be more and there is...

28. I want an electric Awning over main entrance
29. I prefer awnings over the windows
30. I want slide covers
31. I prefer a sliding storage tray in basement
32. I want electric storage tank dump valves
33. I want an automatic leveling system
34. I prefer one bedroom, separate from main living area
35. I prefer the slides be opposing in main living area
36. I prefer Washer and dryer space for stack-able units
37. I want additional batteries for extended boon docking
38. I want a generator
39. I want an inverter for converting DC to AC power
40. I want  solar panels for converting sunlight to DC power
41. I want a water heater that operates on AC power and propane
42. I prefer a heated basement compartments for freeze protection

43. I want a counter top extension in the kitchen
44. I prefer a separate A/C control for the bedroom and living areas
45. I want a large screen TV in living area and a small TV in the bedroom
46. I want a satellite system
47. I prefer diesel over gas but due to cost may get gas powered
48. I prefer a semi-monocoque over frame rail but cost may not allow that
49. I prefer to buy higher quality used than newer and lower quality
50. and lastly it must be suitable for fulltimers

Although this list is not exhaustive, and it is my no means complete, it will provide me guidance as I continue to seek out our future home on wheels...

The ABC's of RV's...

There are two major types of RV's - motorized and non-motorized.  The only non-motorized RV's one can consider as a full timer is the the fifth wheel or fiver and the towable trailer. Both of these require heavy duty trucks to tow them so both of these are not a consideration for us if we were to full time in an RV.

Motorized RV'S are generally the preferred choice of many full timers in the USA. They weigh from 15,000 to 35,000 pounds and can be as long as 40 plus feet in length. The biggest are the Class A units which have all the comforts you would expect in a "stick" home without the grass to mow. They are usually on a 3-10 ton truck chassis and will typically have many slideouts. Class A motorhomes range in price from $100,000 to $500,000 an d can be even much higher.

Class B motorhomes or van conversions are the smallest RV's. Constructed on a van chassis they generally weigh less than 8,000 pounds and are usually less than 19 feet in length.  These are generally considered too small for full timing in.

Class C homes are kind of like mini-class A's since they are simply scaled-down versions of them. They weigh from 10,000 to 13,000 pounds and are from 20 feet to 31 feet long. These are mostly on a larger van chassis which explains why the driver area is like that of a van. Class C motorhomes range in price from $50,000 to around $150,000.

Class A motorhomes are too expensive and too large for us.  Class B's are too small.  We really don't want to have to buy a huge truck so that really only leaves us with a Class C.  This will call for further research!