Warmth and Sunshine

Thursday, April 21st   Tampa, FL   90* and sunny.

It is so nice to feel the warmth of the sun. I arrived in Tampa and picked up a rental car.  The RV is not ready for me.

I originally told the salesman I would pick it up around the 3rd week of May, then last week I told him I wanted to pick it up this week.  They started work on it, but discovered they needed some parts from Winnebago, they received the parts and are still working on it. They are hoping it will be ready by Monday.

Today they asked if I wanted to add some striping to the outside, it is solid white, very plain. I told him no -  I hope to do a wrap of photos on the outside at some time in the future.

I originally planned to leave Tampa on Monday, but can stay a few more days and still have about 6 days to drive home, before my scheduled trip to Colorado with my Dad. We have driven this route in a car in two days, but I wanted to take my time and not rush.

They are also working on the larger dinette to make it into a permanent twin bed. I asked them for some measurements and asked them how the table was attached, I told them I wanted to get a piece of plywood to put across the seats so I could add a real mattress, they said they would do it, so that everything matches.  If I did it myself, I would have to find a Home Depot nearby to cut the wood to size and may need a trim piece to cover up where the table was mounted to the wall. I only packed a few tools in my suitcase, so I was very happy that they said they could do this. Most dinettes have a fold down table, but this RV was built as a mobile office not for sleeping.

I have been very happy so far with this company, the delay is partly my fault for rushing to get here, but before I left home they said they were on schedule to finish on time. I know that things can happen to delay a project.

Now I can visit with my friend, Sophia, have Easter dinner at her house, and I can be a tourist for a few days.

I am still very anxious to get into the RV and to drive it around, but I am taking a deep breath and relaxing and enjoying my time in the SUNSHINE.

I bought a power cord and can plug in my netbook and catch up on your blogs, but today the Sprint WI-FI won't turn on, I have plugged it into several outlets in the hotel room, but the lites do not come on.  I will have to find a Sprint store tomorrow. Of course, the hotel has wi-fi, but I wanted my own secure connection with my own password.

Several readers asked about sleeping on a train, I have been traveling on trains for many years.  The tracks between Chicago and Denver (The California Zephyr) are in bad shape, so sometimes it is difficult to sleep good, too much rocking and rolling and bouncing around.  I enjoy the ride between Chicago and Albuquerque, on the Southwest Chief, better than the California Zephyr.

The train ride this week from Chicago to Washington D.C. was wonderful, no problem sleeping. The tracks are in better shape, and it is a very scenic route through mountains and past several rivers.

I could not arrange a sleeper for the 2nd part of the trip from D.C. to Orlando (on such short notice and just days before a holiday), so I had to sleep in a reclining seat, not as comfortable but it is still a good way to travel. 

Have a good day, Teri

What kind of RV????

Officially, its not mine yet. But I feel like I own it, still have to do the paperwork and all that fun stuff.

I decided to go with the RV that has an unusual floorplan.

It's a 2008 Winnebago Aspect 23D, 23'8" long. It was custom built as a mobile office. It looks like it has some extra outlets, easier to plug in computers and stuff without cords all over the place. It has less than 8,000 miles. It has a backup camera. I asked for the VIN and ran a carfax report on it. Carfax lists it as a 2007 Ford E450 Super Duty Cutaway  6.8L V10 FI.



I like the neutral colors, no ugly print fabrics.

Because of the unusual floorplan, the price is a lot less than the NADA value (I like to look at this guide when pricing things - http://www.nadaguides.com/). 

If I paid more or bought something newer, I would be less likely to make changes. This way I can customize it to my needs. The thing is, I liked this RV from the minute I saw it and called about it right away (even with the price they had on the internet, which was ridiculously high).  I think they do that on purpose, and let you negotiate a lower price, so you think you are getting a bargain.  I imagine I will be needing to buy tires within the year. I keep reading about old tires drying out even if they don't have a lot of wear.

I have been bugging the salesman with questions, so he keeps making little videos and emailing them to me. I have asked him to measure some things for me, also.

When I went over my lists of wants and needs, the #1 item that I kept going back to was a decent size bath. Everything else I could work around.

My RV has the rear bath and kitchen in the middle, except the kitchen does not have a sink or cooktop. When I was looking at RV's, I would think to myself, it would be nice to get one without the cooktop. It did not have the shower installed, but they are putting it in for me. I asked for the shower before we came up with a price, and its included in the price. There was a cabinet where the shower should be. It does have the ceiling vents/fans. It has a small fridge and a microwave/convection oven. It has 2 dinettes, I will eventually change out one or both of the dinettes.

I also like that it has a tile floor, the only carpet is in the cab area.

I like that it does not have tall cabinets along both sides, which gives the feeling of a hallway, the only tall cabinet is on the back wall by the bath. All of the other cabinets are around the top or they are counter height.

I will make up one of the dinettes as a daybed/couch - for lounging and sleeping. I will wait until I take several trips in it before I make any major changes.  

It's plain on the outside, but I have always considered doing a "wrap" of my husband's photography. http://www.wrapvehicles.com/

I wish I didn't have to wait 6 weeks, but I have some things to finish up around here. I was spending a lot of time each day looking for an RV, now I can use that time to get ready to travel and get the house sold. My friend lives in Bradenton, FL and I will be able to visit with her when I pick up the RV.

another RV Dealership

Today I had a tax appointment at a senior community out in the boonies, on the way home I drove past an RV dealer, so decided to stop in. I get nervous, but feel better once I actually walk in the door. They didn't have any small units, but he said they sometimes get them in on trade, and he would email me if something comes in.

Courage

Don't be too timid or squemish

about your actions

All life is an experiment

The more experiments you make

the better

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

RV Shopping

Well, I did it. I went to look at some RV's today.

It was cold and overcast and the weather kept trying to convince me to stay inside.
I left the house at 11am, and drove about an hour. The first RV dealer I went to was gone, vacant, a for sale sign on the fence. Last night I printed pictures of RV's for sale from their website, and wrote down the address. Oh, well. I was going to call the number on the printout, but didn't.

I stopped at an antique store to look around, I am looking for 50's style melamine dishes for the RV. I don't need anything else because I am in the process of cleaning out my house. I did buy 2 books, and a small twin size quilt. I can use the quilt in the RV, it is handquilted and very soft, not like the imported ones for sale in department stores.

Then I went to Camping World, the salesman asked basic questions and told me to be "totally honest" with him when I went inside the RV's. I looked at four: 1 Class B Van, and 3-Class B+.  I was surprised at how dirty they were inside and told him this. When I would go to a car dealer to buy a used car, they always detailed the used cars to have them looking there best.  I was going to take pics with my cell phone, but I forgot. All of the RV's are on their website, so I can look at the pics when I compare these different models.

The Class B Roadtrek Van is tooooooo small. I won't be getting one of those, I had to bend over to go in the side door, not enough head room.  The Class B+ are wider, but are small and cozy and this is what I want. A small little cocoon to stay in while I travel. Many of you have bigger rigs, but I am not ready to commit to a bigger RV at this time, I just need to really get away, and small and simple is what I want.  These are what I looked at:

2005 R Vision Trail Lite 235S with a slide for the couch/bed

The quality of the shower surround is poor, and would need to be replaced, previous owners added wood floors, but did not go under the dinette seats. I would want to put a desk in place of the dinette, so I would have to redo the entire floor. This one has a Chevy engine, I prefer Chevy over Ford.  RV.org states that the entire quality of this brand is poor.

2007 Coachman Concord 235SS with a longer slide for the couch/bed and the closet. Across from the sofa are 2 swivel chairs with footstools - there is a fake narrow cabinet with a ledge behind these and it had a terrible looking caulking around the edges. And someone added a cabinet in the bathroom, that would cause you to bang your head anytime you were in there. It does not match the original cabinets in the RV.  RV.org states that this model is unsafe and they would stay away from it. Maybe its overloaded - to heavy???? It is bigger and wider, but has same engine as the smaller Phoenix Cruiser.

2001 Phoenix Cruiser Model 2100, this is small, just like I want, no slides. (it's like a Chinook) It has tile floor, which is good and I would replace the dinette with a desk. There is an outside door for storage under the sofa, and this is a good size, would be good for lawn chairs, etc.  I looked around the other outside compartments, and the propane tank looks very rusty - what else is rusty under there???  I doubt that the dealer would do anything about it. I asked the salesman and he said they might do some things, the salesmen is supposed to get more info on these models and email them to me. I like the size and the floorplan of this one, but the rust concerns me, it would have to be worked on and I'm not sure that I want to take the time and money to do that. I may be better off spending more up front on a newer model that does not need the work done.

I'm glad I went, even though it never got over 40 degrees, and was very windy, we didn't spend a lot of time outdoors, all of these RV's were parked in the same row. I am now looking for another group of RV dealers to go to next weekend. I may have to head into Indiana or Michigan.