In my earlier post today, I mentioned that we wanted to go look at a class C. Well, the owner was not home. So, perhaps during next week.
RV sales appear to be slow here. There are some sales all right, but on eBay so many auctions ended up below seller's reserves. The ones that got sold have been usually below blue book values. The only ones that got sold FAST and ABOVE blue book are Rialtas. I observed this phenomenon on eBay, RVTrader, and Oodle.
My DW would NEVER live in a rig full time and the jury is still out on how long she could live in it at any one time. If you are married, YOU MUST HASH THIS OUT IN GREAT DETAIL WITH YOUR SPOUSE!
Yes, I know that I need to get my wife to "buy into" this. I always have her with me when out looking at RVs. I also have been telling her about gray/black tanks
, the need to conserve resources when boondocking, etc... One thing we share is the love of travel, and if I am doing all the driving and wrestling with the drain hose, she will come along. I need my sweetheart with me.
And she would be afraid I might pick up a companion along the trek.
Same as yours, my wife would not want to be an RV full-timer. That's OK, because I do not either.
NW, if I were you, I would go rent a Class C for several days or a week to see how you like the experience.
Please see my answer below.
An excellent idea! If possible, spend a couple of weeks with it. We owned a Class C motorhome in the 80s and really enjoyed it. It was fairly easy to get around even in heavier traffic. It's nice to be able to pull over and use the bathroom or get a snack without stepping outside. It was a pain to unhook everything at a campground to go exploring, but that issue would be solved with a "toad".
Yes. I am thinking the same.
A BIG reason I like our 26 foot LD is that we can get into the out of the way forest service campgrounds and the like that Class A's can't. I'm not a big fan of RV resorts and only stay there once in a blue moon. I much prefer staying in pristine backcountry with hiking, fishing and like opportunities away from civilization. I get enough of that in the stick house setting.
We went out to look at small TTs and agreed that we like something bigger for long treks. Larger TTs may stress my SUV. I definitely would not buy a big truck just for a tow vehicle. That leaves the class C as most appealing, and the price of used ones is so reasonable I wonder what I am missing.
Class Bs have the allure of simplicity, i.e. no toad. However, there are cons. They command higher prices. There are fewer used ones to choose from. They are geared towards 2 persons, and my children might want to join us sometimes.
About renting to try out, I have read that one needs a longer time than a weekend to see if it would work. Now, we have gone to CruiseAmerica to look at their class Cs. The rental fee is not cheap! For a month's rental, I figure I can buy a used one, and if it does not work out, sell it and suffer a smaller loss than the rental fee for a month. Of course that is from a novice's viewpoint because selling one may not be all that easy.
We have spent a bit of time inside several class Cs and "know" that we will like it. I am really torn between a longer one of 28ft or shorter ones of 23-25 ft. I am quite familiar with the general floorplans now. The difference is the longer ones have room for a sofa, while the shorter ones have to settle for an easy chair. There are some slight variations between makers, but not a whole lot; one cannot make room out of nothing. For me, a sofa is important. I like to read, and read while laying down. Will I be happy giving that up? Why not just get the long class C? The debate is on inside my head because the shorter one can be kept at my city home, while the long one must be kept up in my boonies home. My cheapskate nature does not like to pay for RV storage.
So, by researching, studying, reading blogs, visiting dealerships, I slowly learn what would work for us. Mistakes might still be made, but at least I am making attempts to avoid them.
Our travel style is such that we must have a toad. Here's an example. The last time we were in Seattle, which was the 6th or 7th vacation we had been there, we drove to Snoqualmie Falls and took a hike to the bottom of the fall. We spent time to walk along Green Lake and did a bit of people watching. We went to Discovery Park for a walk, and happened to observe a Pow Wow at the Indian Center inside the park. As described earlier, we have plenty of "nature" at our boonies home and do not avoid humanity when we travel. We will need a toad to get around.
Future travel will be different in that we will return to our "home on wheel" at the end of the day, instead of a hotel room. And I certainly hope travel by RV will be cheaper, which allows us to go for longer trips than in the past.
Many pleasures in life are free. However, it costs money to get to and to stay there. An RV should help.
No way would I ever use a dolly! It's an extra piece that you gotta store while camping. I'd say hassle factor would be really high.
This is the argument I read time and time again against a dolly. I wonder why. Is a tow dolly that burdensome? Or is it because it can be stolen? I thought it is neat to be able to tow any front-wheel-drive car with the same dolly. Flat-towing should be simple, I thought, but then Andy had a bit of trouble with his setup. Have you looked at his blog?
Hankster, thanks for the link on RV towing. I did not realize the towing brake can fail and cause much grief. Also, it appears that the use/non-use of braking system on the toad has been a source of contention among RV'ers. Gee! I hate to think what would happen if they start to talk politics. Oops. We used to talk politics here too.
If I ever make it to Newfoundland I'm gonna go the extra ten miles and visit France.
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
That's neat. Here's another oddity. Look on the map for Point Roberts, Washington State, 98281.