How we made our adventure - Part 2

 

Handing over the keys to our new Roadtrek

 

 Part two: How we purchased a Roadtrek 210P

We spent some time doing research. Years, actually.  We eventually rented a Class B.  For a blog post on that, go to this link:

Class B Rental

Shortly after our rental experience, as luck would have it, in late November 2013 I saw an internet ad for a new Roadtrek 210P at a good price in Ohio.  I emailed the sales manager and said, among other things "What is your 'drive it off the lot' price?"  He responded and so I called him. After the conversation  G and I discussed and I called him back and made a verbal commitment.  We were planning a short trip to the east coast for Thanksgiving, so  we decided to combine this with that family visit. We packed a fresh turkey in ice and drove via automobile to Ohio en- route to family for the  holiday. Upon arrival at the dealer we looked the vehicle over, drove it a little, discussed the financial details and gave a sizable deposit.  We then continued east in our car for Turkey dinner. 

We actually drove with the ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner about 1,000 miles to the east coast. We carried a fresh Ho-Ka turkey from Waterman,  IL, acorn squash, freshly made cranberry sauce, etc. On the morning of November 28, on schedule, we arrived in CT, but there was no one home to meet us. LOL. I carried all of it up to the door and stacked it as we waited for the family to arrive and let us in.

An hour later I was preparing the turkey, giblets and so on for the dressing, etc. 

After a pleasant stay we departed NY and CT on December 2 and returned to the dealer in Ohio.  We completed the purchase and G remarked "This will transform our lives".  I asked G to snap a photo as the keys were turned over to me. 

G drove the car and I drove the Roadtrek back home to a nearby storage facility and then we began planning our first adventure.  

Next: Part 3 - Our Shakedown Trek

Original material http://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

Dealing with Google issues - How we made our adventure - Part One

 

Google has "lost" my last long post; I reconstructed it twice. They lost if both times.  Perhaps it is time to move to a new platform.

 

Winter Lily Pad

Inside the Winter Lily Pad

This is a multi-part story of how we got where we have arrived, as of December 2020.

We've been  preparing for full-time RVing for several years. Once we got into "action" we accomplished our goal over a span of about 5 years and 40,000 miles in our Roadtrek 210P. The major pieces took about 3-1/2 years, and for the next 3 years we "tweaked" and made improvements. 

This post is part one of a series on journey, literally and figuratively into the world of RVing. It is written as we prepare for a 1,800 mile trek in our 210P to our winter location. In this series I'll look into the finances.

We have traveled 40,000+ miles in our Roadtrek 210P.  We have lived in it for short treks and long ones. The longest was for nearly 110 continuous days. We use it to hop from lily-pad to lily-pad. Using our treks and explorations we have established two "bases", one in the southwest and another in the Midwest. We live in RVs about 11 months of the year. This is a story about that. We will be full timers,

We began RVing in October 2013. We rented a class B from Campervan North America out of Las Vegas. We used a 19 ft. Sprinter based camper to visit National Parks in Utah. We camped with nighttime lows of about 25F to 40F. It was an all-electric experience, complete with solar panels and 30A maximum shore power. We wanted that experience to determine the comfort limits in a small RV. 

That was a very positive experience. After that first trek we made a specific list of what we wanted in a Class B. That is to say, what worked, what didn't, what we would change and what we would really require in a RV if we purchased. This blog has an extensive post about that.

We began by discussing our future and decided that we would not live for the remainder of our lives in a condominium.  We would become full timers for a few years, health permitting. We also decided that the State of Illinois was so poorly managed that we could not live here "forever". So we began to plan our gradual escape to better locations.   Let me be clear about this.  Like many we can live just about anywhere we choose as long as we are willing to pay the taxes, deal with the weather, stomach the politics and so on.  However, this is a big country.  There are lots of fine communities.  We decided to visit a few.  We also knew that we preferred moderate temperatures, but a true Spring and Fall season is quite enjoyable.  Neither of us enjoy 90% humidity and we prefer to keep away from pesky mosquitoes. etc. I don't like the density of the East Coast, nor the issues of the West Coast. However, an occasional, short visit to these places is acceptable.  That is, it was prior to covid-19.

By the time 2013 came around I'd been doing a lot of research for several years and G  and I had many many discussions. We had also taken short duration driving trips all over the U.S.  It wasn't too difficult to prepare a list of possible RVs. We had visited a number of dealers and shows. We had  looked at a variety of Class B and C RVs. We had considered the pros and cons of a truck-camper. We were pretty clear about what we wanted if we were to purchase. I've posted about that earlier, but here were the primary goals and "wants":

1. Something well made and that would retain value, have reasonable operating costs, be reasonable to maintain and could provide good service for at least 10 years. (15 MPG gasoline, domestic engine & transmission; serviceable at 1,000s of locations and non-proprietary coach technology).
2. Something that met our budget (about $90k new, lower if used).
3. Something we could enjoy living in during 3-season trekking (short periods down to 5F). 
4. Something comfortable we could take just about anywhere the roads are paved.
5. Something we could use to find our retirement lily-pads and travel in National Parks, etc. (About 21 ft length).
6. Something we could live in for weeks if we desired, or if necessary. (A wider coach, but not as wide as a Class C and slightly longer than 20 ft. It should have complete accessories including a gasoline generator, dual propane-electric coach, etc.). 

 Next: Part two: Purchasing  the Roadtrek and setting up the lily pads.