Why are we doing this?

Great Question!

• It is compelling and the idea won't go away
• It excites us--energizes us
• We want to spend time on the more meaningful things of life
• At this stage of our life it is another great adventure together we can share.
• We want to spend more time with each other
• We think we have figured out a way to afford it
• It like the idea it forces us to downsize, get rid of stuff and live frugally
• We keep talking about simplifying our lives--this will help us do it
• There is no time like the present
• We are getting older. Waiting a few years won't make it easier
• We want to get more healthy and get outdoors
• We want to see friends, make friends and more of this great country
• This gives us new opportunities of volunteer: Habitat for Humanity, Youth Camps
• We love to camp, always have
• We love meeting people
• We can't figure out where we want to live...this way we can live a lot of places
  
• Most that are doing this say, "We wished we had done this sooner"

RV Shows and what we do at them

We have been to three RV shows in the last couple of months. One was in Chantilly, VA (5 minutes from our house); one was in

Richmond, VA (about 90 minutes away) and the most recent one was near Baltimore (little more than an hour away.)

We were planning on seeing the show near Reading PA this weekend but didn't want to risk traveling in the snow and ice since we are having storms.

We found the RV shows to be very similar:
- they were held in a large building or set of 2-3 buildings (Expo Center, Fairgrounds buildings)
- they had all kinds of RVs (Class A, Class C, 5th wheels, travel trailers, pop-up campers, etc)
- there were three basic kinds of displays (rigs, accessories and supplies, and RV campground info)
- we were able to meet very very friendly people who were wannabes (like us) or had a lot of RV/camping experience

We decided on a gameplan for the show. I researched what dealers and companies were going to be there. I looked up any information I could find about what type of RV the dealer had (Class A, 5th wheel) etc. I compared the 5th wheel models to my 'RV Comparison Guide' . Then I highlighted the dealers we wanted to talk to and noted the 5th wheels we wanted to see.

One of the fun things is to find an RV we are interested in and spend some time talking with the sales person about it.
We were able to do that with the Rupars from Four Seasons RV near Hagerstown MD. We are interested in the Carriage Carri-Lite.

They were great! They spend 30 minutes just talking to us and sharing their experience. We learned more from them than we could in a week of research. Very nice couple.

We also talked with another gentleman about RV storage and how few people in our area know it that if you park/store an RV in Prince William county, you don't have to pay property tax. This is significant because the tax comes up every year and can be thousands of dollars on a $150K RV!
We also spent time and learned about generators. A good option may be to buy two smaller 13v generators and link them together to make a 30v generator instead of buying one larger, less mobile 150lb 26v generator.

We enjoy going to the RV shows and talking with folks. We are learning a lot. We are finding now we are becoming a little more knowledgeable in a number of areas, so now we are getting dangerous... :)

The plan is shaping up for us to buy after we sell our home. We intend to start trying to do that in about a year. Plenty of time for more RV shows.

Downsizing -- first thing is the books...

One of the tough things in this has been deciding to get rid of most of my personal library. I have taken pride in accumulating hundreds and hundreds of books. But there is not much space for a bunch of books in an RV. So it boils down to, "Do these things own me, or do I own them?"
My process has been to move a group at a time from their place on the bookshelf to the floor. After that, I stare at them for a few days, then I eventually put them into boxes and finally dispose of them.

I have given some to friends and some to my weekly men's group. I have donated some to the 'Mud House' which is a coffee shop for soldiers in Iraq. I have donated some to charity. I have sent boxes to my brother, some to a sister-in-law.

There is more to go but we are getting there. The bookshelves are spoken for so they will have a new home too.

More than you would think

We don't know a lot of people who have sold their home and hit the road. As we read more and more about the RV full time life style, we find that there are a lot of people that live that way.

Recently, Time magazine published an article on the subject: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1682288,00.html
Interesting article but it has a few inaccuracies:

• It starts out with a picture of a National RV Dolphin and says RVs have Jacuzzis.
• The Dolphin is a nice gas motorhome, but it does not have a Jacuzzi.
• It says Howard and Linda Payne sold their 5-bedroom house and bought a 400 sq ft motor home. They bought a fifthwheel.
• It says Country Coach is increasing sales of their luxury motorhomes. Last month Country Coach laid off several hundred workers due to declining sales.
• It says RVers are turning to upscale parks that offer country club-like amenities for $50 a night. Resorts like that start at $100 a night and go way up.

Still it makes the point that there are a lot of people out there in RV land...

Maybe a Fifth Wheel

We decided we need to look at fifth wheels. We want to make good choices and incorporate some objectivity in our decision about our next home if we possibly can. Both the Class A and the fifth wheel RVs are going to depreciate significantly so we need to learn all we can about them and go through 'what if' scenarios to see if we'd be at peace with a fifth wheel.

A fifth wheel is about 1/2 the cost of a Class A motorhome. We could get a very good 'fiver' for about $75k. We figure could get a used Ford 350 diesel for about $25K-30K. We are looking at 2 year old diesel pusher Class A's for about $150K.

Research, research research. I start by looking at large dealers on the internet and poring over the different brands and models. Most sites almost always have a group of photos that show the interior and exterior along with some stats on the length and square footage.

Cost is not the only consideration in the pending Great Adventure, but we need at least to satisfy ourselves that we did our due diligence.
The layout of fifth wheels are quite different than Class A's.
Another item is the notion of having a big diesel pick up as our car. With the Class A we could tow our Pathfinder.
There are a whole lot of other differences that we are finding out.

We will be talking extensively about fifth wheels at the next RV show or dealer we visit.

RV Center in Knoxville

Over Thanksgiving we spent time in Knoxville and took the opportunity to check out some nearby RV dealers. Buddy Gregg's RV center is in Knoxville and we spent a couple of hours there. We actually went in on a Friday and came back on Saturday with the family.

We looked at the Monaco Diplomats and Knights that have a front kitchen. They were impressive. We have seen the Knight model before and still really like it.

While we were there we were interested in learning about the dealership and what services they offer and what kind of support they offer after the sale. They have one of the larger garages with 10-12 services bays. They also have an RV park that folks can use to check out their RV after they buy it.

Often people like to go through a shakedown near the dealer for a couple of days so they can make sure all items in the RV work properly. Another advantage is that the new owner can learn a lot about how to operate everything while they are nearby the dealer where they can get things explained.

We left with a very favorable impression of the RV center and will keep it on the list for consideration when we get ready to buy.

Our Thanksgiving Trip

We are enjoying the preparation for the holidays. This is one of my favorite times of the year because the mid - Nov time is almost the end of the year. That means a lot of time off and Thanksgiving and Christmas. I look forward to getting ready for the new year by planning and reflection. Usually this is the time of the year I think about finishing goals and setting new ones. Plus everyone seems to be in a holiday spirit and more congenial than usual.

A lot is going on with us and the kids so this year will be a little different for us. Our eldest returned from Korea for a few days. He is teaching ESL and traveling. Our youngest is in graduate school pursuing her passion - interior design. To have everyone together for a few days is a blessing. We will all be heading to Tennessee in a few days to see relatives for Thanksgiving. We are all looking forward to it.

Before we head out to Knoxville, we are going to be in Virginia Beach for a few days. While there we intend to test drive a Holiday Rambler and a Damon Tuscany. Both are 38' diesels. Right now I think the Holiday Rambler is the more likely one we will buy. So we are planning our trip to VA Beach to play some golf and take some time off and also to learn more about RVs.

Our data gathering continues. While in the area, we intend to visit Dodds RV and test drive both models. We will also be visiting some RV campgrounds in the area. We hope to talk to some people who are into RV ing full time. We have had a few conversations with RVers and they are always educational.

After VA Beach, we will head to Knoxville TN and see relatives. While there, we will also put together a couple of visits to local RV dealers to look at their inventories and see what else we can learn. Hopefully, the kids will be able to be with us so we can answer their questions and also see what they think of their folks 'hitting the road full time' in a few years.

Adding Pictures

So I want to learn how to make my blog better. The next step is to learn how to add pictures, links and other items.

So here goes.... Pam and I are at a Great Falls on the Potomac.

What do you think?

Active Pursuit: RVing Full Time

We got started on this process by talking about where we would go when our two kids were finished with high school. We have always liked camping and campgrounds. We have tent camped since the 1970's. We went to an RV show years ago. Even before that, in the early 1980's, we bought a Volkswagon campervan. It worked fine as we traveled in Europe and later throughout the southern states.

After we reached 50, we began thinking about 'where we wanted to end up'. The kids have both finished college--- and we still haven't answered the question of where we want to end up.. One thought was trying to anticipate where our kids would live and be near them. But could not get away from the fact that as soon as we moved, there was always a chance they would move out of the area. So that did not appeal to us.

We also thought was being near warm country where we could play golf. Other considerations included the beach, but we also like the mountains. We have spent time on the Gulf Coast (Texas and Florida)and in Myrtle Beach and Virginia Beach. We have thought seriously about Albuquerque, Orlando and other places. But can't decide where to relocate. As the years roll by, we are no closer to making a decision.

As we discuss and plan our future, we recently decided to go to an RV dealer again. We want to see if we could warm up to the idea of buying an RV and travelling. We went to a few in the region and spent some time at each place. That hooked us on the idea. Here are three locations we have recently visited:
http://endlesssummerrv.com/body.html - off Rt 15 near Thurmont MD
http://www.doddrv.com/
http://www.mcgeorgerv.com/ in Ashland VA off I-95

Wow! Actually spending some time with each dealer and checking out floorplans and all the other considerations--- it has been an eye-opener. We have gotten more and more comfortable with the idea. Now the adventure has began in earnest!

The idea of moving out of our 2100 sq ft home and into a 400 sq ft home on wheels is a big decision. We don't want to go through this whole transition and find out we made a big mistake. We want to ask ourselves all the questions we can think of and find out as much information as we can before we commit to this.

At this point we are seriously pursuing it. This idea enthralls us. It seems more and more right as we find out more information. It gives us an exciting goal to shoot for and give has many side benefits for a relatively young retirement age couple. We are both in our mid 50's. Maybe after we travel a bit we can see an area that appeals to us and find the location of where we want to settle down.

I will save that for another time.

RV Service Questions

What do we do if the RV breaks down somewhere? How do we get it fixed? What coach gives us the best option to handle repairs or service maintenance needs?

Currently that is one of the questions we are researching. We have narrowed our search to two different Diesel Class A motor homes. One seems like a very good value; the other seems a little ($50,000) higher priced.

More than likely it will be a question of 'when' and not 'if' we will need to get the RV into the shop. So the question we are asking now is, "Which of the two companies is set up the best to take care of us regardless of where we are in the country?

Damon (owned by Thor) seems like it has the best value. It seems like we get a lot more options included in the base price. We also like the floorplan a little better. If we run into a problem on the road we would call an 1-800 number and our AAA (or other RV insurance) and figure out where to get it fixed. The Damon is built on a Freight liner chassis with a Cummins or a Caterpillar engine. If we have a chassis issue, we will need to get it to a Freight liner shop. If their is an engine problem, we take it to a Cummins or Caterpillar repair place.

Another one we like is Holiday Rambler which is built by Monaco. Monaco will handle all our maintenance needs - everything. They maintain every aspect of the coach at Monaco Service facilities. They have service facilities in CA, IN and in FL. Seems like they may a better approach. Regardless of the issue, all we need to do is get the coach to a Monaco service center and they handle everything bumper to bumper.

So - these are some of the trade offs we need to decide on as we make our final decisions on the coach-- who is best suited to help us. We are finding pros and cons with each approach. But that is part of the fun in learning about all this.