Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Beginning of Our RV Experience

My Goal

I hope to use this as a record of our rv adventures. Knowing myself in that I normally start slow and then taper off, we will see if there is enough self discipline to continue over time.

The Purchase

Volumes could be written about this, but a few lines will suffice, I hope.  It all occurred on a whim and result of a discussion about how to travel with the dogs being a problem to consider.  They could not be left with the children for various, good reasons and a kennel was out of the question.  What to do?  Obviously, the dogs needed to come with us and buying them a large doghouse with wheels seemed like a good idea at the time.  We started small by looking at a Class C, went through several iterations, and ended up buying a 2010 31 foot Class A.

We encountered wonderful salespeople, some good advice, and some not so good advice.  We ended up being sold on the full, undivided windshield of a Class A, bunks, and a leather couch.  Yes, those were the key ingredients for our expensive dog house!

We had much fun looking and traveling to the various rv stores and shows to learn.  The more we went, the more we learned.  I would advise anyone to not take less than a hundred hours of looking, talking to salesmen, talking to your spouse/family/whatever, and downright soul searching about what is really important to you when purchasing.  We would have made a dreadful mistake had we not done this.  We also have devised an exit strategy should rving not work out for us - one that will not break the bank.

The major obstacle for our purchase came very late in the process.  We had settled on buying a Class A, but had never driven one.  Although I had had some experience with large vehicles some forty years ago, the meandering of the rv and size was a lot of work to drive - no fun at all.  At one point, I was ready to give it up altogether, but eventually with the coaching of a salesperson was convinced that it could be done safely and without high levels of tension.  That proved to be the case after three trips.  More later about this.

The first night was interesting.  Stay tuned for the next post.


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