Wednesday, March 26, 2014

CONGRESS GARAGE FIXED OUR JEEPS CLUTCH STARTING PROBLEM FOR $5 & SOME CLASS A MOTORHOME THOUGHTS

DSC_0002

A strong Skunk odor rousted me out of my dreams this morning.  Guess that is what I get for leaving my window open.  Waited awhile before I took Pheebs out.  Glad I still have a good working nose.

DSC_0004

Our Jeep clutch switch appointment at the garage was at 9.  Thanks to MARK & MIKE'S suggestions the problem has been solved for $5.  Kelly did take the Jeep in to make sure it was the switch & not something else.  Fellow at the garage said it was common for Jeepers to by-pass the switch but he first took it out, cleaned it, & tried it again.  Yes, definitely a faulty switch.  While he had himself wedged under the dash he just rewired the wires & charged Kelly $5.  Now if it had been me there he might have charged me $10.  Always best to have the right gender go to get the best job done:))  And thanks to Mike for offering to fix that problem for us as well.

DSC_0001

A few more things loaded into the rig today & the calendar finally came out to have us a look at a departure date.  Our 180 days away is up on Saturday April 19th so we are using that as a target date to be home.  Still figuring on wandering up through North-Eastern Arizona across Northern New Mexico into South-East Colorado & out onto the Kansas Plains.  Long range weather forecasts for my 10 weather check points along the route between Congress Arizona & Bayfield Ontario are so far looking favorable.  Chances are good we may roll out of here around April 10th. (or sooner)  As much as we wanna get goin….we don’t wanna get goin.

DSC_0003

Our neighbors Shirley & Lou from around the corner are going to keep an eye on our place this summer.  It is their yard where I sometimes get those nice cactus garden & spring daisy photos.  Nice folks & they have a little dog named Pebbles.  I’m in the habit of calling her Pickles.  Shirley & Lou live right next door to Dally.  We stopped & gave Dally some big scruffles Tuesday morning.  She’s looking good & being given more attention by her owners.  

DSC_1218 DSC_0001-003 

NEIGHBOR LOU CUTTING HIS GRASS LAST WEEK & LITTLE PICKLES…ERRR, PEBBLES

Reason we were down to Surprise 2 days in row was to look at a 2008 37’ Winnebago Destination Limited Edition Class A Motorhome we really liked.  It was different than anything else we had seen & that was precisely what caught our attention.   I drove it & it was the quietest smooth driving coach I’ve ever driven.  Course I’ve only ever driven two, our Damon & this one.  Liked the fact it had the bigger tires normally found on Diesel coaches.  Had the most beautiful hardwood floor we’ve ever seen in a rig.  It was a rear engine gas Chevy Workhorse on a Peterbuilt frame.  Had a lot of extras on it & had been ordered new by someone on the 06 Colorado Ski Team.  Definitely one of a kind………… Had we been able to work out a trade-in deal with our Class C on this coach we might have……well, who knows.

DSC_0005-003

DSC_0013-001 DSC_0016-001

DSC_0021 DSC_0008-001

DSC_0004-003

IMG_1408

It was during our boondocking venture over in Arizona’s Kofa mountains nearly 2 months ago that we had to accept the fact ‘the writing was on the wall’ about our 26’ Class C Winnebago.  As nice a coach as it is with it’s many pros we just could not adjust to it’s smaller size, try as we did.  There was just no getting away from it, we have been increasingly missing that big Class A living space ever since downsizing over a year ago.  Not so much the storage space as the living space.
DSC_3120

We found ourselves cutting our boondocking trips short this winter for several reasons.  Smaller fresh water & holding tanks for one thing.  We used to get about 2 weeks out of our Damon tanks before we had to consider dumping or taking on fresh water.  Our Class C has smaller tanks.  But the biggest reason was simply by the end of one crowded (for us) week we were already uncomfortable enough & just wanted to head home.  How unlike our other 6 years when we would spend the entire winter boondocking in our 33’ Class A Damon Challenger & got along just fine.

DSC_3106

With an added piece of memory foam I found the overhead bunk in our Class C comfortable.  What I hadn’t figured on was the getting up & down from the bunk though.  I just assumed I would be able to skitter up & down the ladder from there with no problem.  Somewhere over the years I’m afraid my skitter has up & skattered.  The clumsy tumble from my bunk one morning made that very clear to me.

DSC_0012

Ever since renovating our Class A Damon in 09 we have never had a proper easy to use dining room table.  You know the kind where you can just walk up, pull out a chair & simply sit down.  Supper time has always been some kind of food balancing act for us with plates resting precariously on laps or laptops & food clinging to shirt sleeves & pants pockets.  I’m tired of trying to wring soup out of my socks.  We do have an easy to set up small table in the Winnie Wagon but found it kind of awkward after a bit & stopped using it.  I did try to get used to sitting in the half turned driver’s seat to do my blog stuff at night but it turned out to just be too uncomfortable after awhile as well.  I really think our Winnie Wagon would be the Cat’s Meow for a single person.
DSC_3093

Two people together in a small space for any prolonged period of time has it’s own problems.  Not only do people need their individual space but there has to be enough room for each person to call their own.  And I guess this is where we have become spoiled over time.  Both in Bayfield & here in Congress Kelly & I both have our own coveted space.  And as we have found out, that space is of prime importance to us & if we are going to continue to travel as we plan to do we just have to bite the bullet & accept the fact we have to go back to a Class A Motorhome.  If we are able to set out across Western Canada next September on our way south we realize we not only want but need the room to be comfortable.  Maybe that comfort thing has a little something to do with aging.  I gotta remember I’m 69 & not 29 anymore.DSC_0010

We have poured over hundreds of rigs on-line these past couple months checking floor plans, makes & models, manufacture’s pros & cons, gas vs diesel again, what size would be too big for us & what size would be too small.  Cheaper entry level coach or something better with some quality to it.  Chevy or Ford engine.  Newer as opposed to older.  We wrote out a list of needs, wants, & ‘no ways’ early on.  Drove down to Phoenix about 6 weeks ago looking at rigs.  Checked out some friends Class A’s & had a look at a nice Itasca Suncruiser in Camp Verde about a month ago.  Stopped & looked at others wherever we saw a ‘For Sale’ sign.DSC_0006

The question in some reader’s minds may be, ‘why not wait until your back in Canada until you think about changing rigs”?  Good question & of course much easier to buy a coach in Canada & basically that is what we have finally decided to do.  We have been in touch with our good friend Ron from FOUR SEASONS PERFORMANCE all along & he has been helping us with suggestions & advice about the pros & cons of different rigs & manufacturers.   We will be talking to Ron further when we get home………………….

DSC_0021

GROANER’S CORNER:((  An elderly man went to his doctor and said, "Doc, I think I'm getting senile. Several times lately, I have forgotten to zip up."
"That's not senility," replied the doctor. "Senility is when you forget to zip down." 

24 comments:

  1. That's one fancy looking motorhome guys!!

    ReplyDelete

  2. I hear you even a 30 ft motor home with no slides gets pretty small after a few months when you have two people and three dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have a 2008 37' Itasca Latitude....it could be the twin to the MH you looked at. The thing that caught our eye from the very beginning was the beautiful cabinets. We have made several remods....the biggest being new kitchen counters and moving the TV to make a pantry. We love our home!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks like a winner to me!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've always liked the look of the Destination and it's cousin, the Latitude. That is, with the possible exception of the front end. Just a bit too angular. Or something. I'm pretty sure I could get used to it.
    And it's built on a "Peterbuilt" frame? Hm. You sure about that? Did somebody "misspeak"?
    But hey, could be.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't know if my comments posted so I'm re-doing.

    The 2008 MH is beautiful...It would be wonderfull to travel in.

    How can I view your older posts? I use to be able to click on "view older posts" which was located at the end of your post but I don't find this anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Now that coach looks like a winner, you will surely have enough space there.

    ReplyDelete
  8. the two of you will figure things out..sometimes it just takes a while to get things 'right'!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just remember why you sold the class A in the first place. Happy shopping!

    ReplyDelete
  10. We are very happy and content in our 37 footer and really couldn't see living fulltime in anything less than a 35 footer... good luck in finding a gem...

    ReplyDelete
  11. I see I'm not the only one who always has an eye out for the "next" motorhome.

    I think someone's (the salesman?) pulling your leg on a Peterbuilt frame. I'm pretty sure that MH is built on a Workhorse UFO chassis, and that's a good platform.

    Good luck in your search, it's often exhausting, but lots of fun, too!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Has the new owner of your old class A even taken it out of the storage lot. If I remember right, she bought it before learning to RV. Might just be waiting for you.

    No room to talk here, I still have and like my 94 Winn Adventurer. Plan to get some use out of it again next Winter.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nothing wrong with deciding to make yet another change. We love the space and layout of our 40" Class A and certainly use it. I can't see us downsizing as comfort is everything for us.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Beautiful flowers, Al! Love all the color.
    ~Cheryl Ann~

    ReplyDelete
  15. Boy that is a beautiful coach. I've never seen anything I liked even as well as my Winnona but from your pictures, that one might be it and Kelly looks just right sitting in it. Really too bad you couldn't make a deal. What size is a real question. I can't imagine living full time in anything smaller than our 35' but for a month or 6 weeks, probably. 26', I'm not sure. Flowergirl makes a good point that I know you have put into your considerations. Sometimes you have to try things out to know that they won't work. Your experience is a good teacher for us all. Good luck finding what you want when you get home.

    ReplyDelete
  16. After some thought and looking at the pics, it dawned on me. This rig needs a 450hp Diesel hooked to an Allison transmission to be adequately powered. Seems someone ordered too much coach for the engine and regretted it. Might very well be why it is for sale.
    Would make a mighty fine cabin on Ghost town Road though.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Three months in our 26 footer and we are still friends. LOL but, the boondocking thing gets a bit tight as you said with our smaller tanks. We are happy to get 3 to 5 nights boondocking and then we do something else. Still, for us, we love being able to get in small spaces more than we want the extra space and storage. Always always a trade off. What I most envy about a class C is that gorgeous front window view. Enjoy your trip home dreaming of your up coming class A life.

    ReplyDelete
  18. oops, I meant a Class A of course

    ReplyDelete
  19. It's funny, when you downsized, and then modified a little, I sorta thought that you would find the Class C too small.
    I like my 29 foot Class C, but only because my son sleeps in the upper bunk. I won't even try to get up there myself. Just too much of a strain on my poor joints!
    I think part of your concern about getting the smaller rig was gas mileage. Try to keep that in mind when you are shopping.
    Gas prices don't seem to be going down anytime soon.

    Do love the rig in the photos though, sure is a mighty fine looking machine!

    Karyn

    ReplyDelete
  20. I knew it! When you made several trips towards Phoenix I figured you were looking at Class A coaches.

    We have 45' Renegade with 2 slides--Mercedes Benz 450 HP diesel engine built on a Freightliner Heavy Duty truck chassis. 12 speed automatic--LOVE IT!

    Travel with 4 dogs so wouldn't mind another slide, but we've managed to install an electric loveseat recliner, a desk with office chair, keep the dinette, and still fit in dog crates for 3 of the 4 dogs (and they are all 60-70 pound dogs).

    We even have a 200 gallon (yes, you read that right!) fresh water tank.

    Go for more room! It's the only way you'll be able to truly enjoy the best of boondocking AND sleep in a real bed without breaking your neck.

    And by the way, I do all the driving and tow our Jeep Rubicon behind us--my husband is legally blind and one of the dogs is his Guide Dog.

    Have fun!


    ReplyDelete
  21. Good luck with your search. I love the one you looked at, but there are many perfect ones out there.

    ReplyDelete
  22. While I am certainly no wizard on motorhomes, I do know that MacGyver would never get a gas engine..He prefers the diesel pusher and we also have a diesel in our GMC truck..what a great workhorse it is!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. shame you will just miss the RV show in Kitchener this weekend...

    ReplyDelete