It’s A Revolving Door

Tuesday was yoga day and a special day–Shirley’s birthday.  Usually on Tuesday’s yoga is practiced with the accompaniment of a DVD but our yoga teacher Julia made a surprise visit in honor of the birthday.  After yoga we feasted on brunch food–most definitely YUM! I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen  to make a breakfast casserole.  Even though the dish was good it needs something–maybe sausage??

Our friend John said it best in his comment on the last blog, “……..You guys are not the bedroll beside the car types.”  I just wanted to have fun with the previous blog to see if anyone would notice we went in the car and then boondocked.  And no, the Cowboy and I are not the bedroll beside the car kind of folks.

And yes we have another new to us RV.  That truck camper wasn’t in the driveway even two days before the Cowboy was searching Craigslist again–to be fair, he’s always searching Craigslist and what should pop up not one but two Class B RVs with a dedicated bed and in our budget.  Why a motorhome you might ask.

• We both love motorhome travel and haven’t been happy in any RV since selling our Country Coach 40 foot motorhome.
• We wanted to be small–26 feet or under–and those motorhomes are difficult to find when you have a budget and want a dedicated bed.  When friends Paul and Nina moved to France and purchased a new RV they wanted the same thing, “Plus we really didn’t want to be “making the bed” every night. Many smaller RV’s get around the whole bed issue by having lounges that convert into bedrooms at night. We just knew that would become old real quick.”      Now, you won’t find king size beds in US made Class B’s that you “don’t have to make every night” but you occasionally do find a dedicated bed.
• A dry bath.  We’ve done the wet bath thing with several campers and weren’t doing it again.
• We wanted a slide–it makes small spaces feel so much bigger.  The truck camper we just purchased has a slide and even in that small space the slide does help.
• I wanted a kitchen with some counter space–why do RV manufacturers install such HUGE sinks taking up all the counter space in tiny RVs???  And don’t get me started on the new trend–ROUND kitchen sinks!!  We boondock most of the time and conserve water–you don’t need TWO sinks!
• I drove the Country Coach but was never really comfortable.  We wanted a rig I felt comfortable driving.
• The Cowboy’s additional list:  Ford E450 chassis, Ford V10 engine, and low miles.

The Cowboy found two identical Winnebago Aspects 26A motorhomes within driving distance–sort of!  One was in Kalispell, Montana at a dealer and one was in Torrington, Wyoming–a whopping 517 miles away.  After communicating with the owner of the one in Wyoming we made the decision to drive that far to look at a motorhome.  Our original intent was to drive the jeep and tow it home but the more we thought about riding 517 miles in the jeep wrangler, the more we dreaded the trip.  So, we took  my Cadillac and drove down in comfort.  We were absolutely positive that if we didn’t like the RV we would turn around and drive back the 517 miles in the Cadillac–we dreaded the thought of having to make the round trip in the jeep if the deal did not happen.

What a pleasure to deal with honest, friendly folks!  We arrived at Rex and Mary’s home about 10:30am Sunday morning and Rex walked us through every single system of the RV to demonstrate everything worked.  The refrigerator was running with a thermometer inside so we could see how cold it ran.  The air conditioner was blowing cold air, the generator started right away.  He had a step ladder available so the Cowboy could access the roof.  It was an amazing experience!  The water tank had water, the propane tank was full as was the gas tank–Rex should go into the business of selling RVs–he knew how to do it.  And the rig was clean!!!

So, what did we buy–a 2005 Winnebago Aspect 26A with 25,000 miles on the odometer.  It drives like a dream and I am totally comfortable behind the wheel.  It has a dry bath, counter space and a dedicated bed.  It has all the items from the Cowboy’s list. The toilet and shower area of the RV is tiny but we have both taken showers in the rig and it works well.  The Cowboy has been busy making this RV ours.  He is installing a propane line from the tank so we can use the grill without hauling an extra tank.  He’s manufactured a rack to hold the grill which hangs from the larger storage bay.  More projects are in the works.

Weight is a concern to us when traveling in these smaller RVs and Wednesday I began loading the rig with essentials–dishes, silverware, towels, linens, etc.  When I was finished I had added only 111 pounds to the RV.  Much of the stuff we carried in the Country Coach is still in storage.  We’ve ordered some items to make life easier and those will arrive on Friday and Monday.

The previous owner had used this funky rope and swivel snap system to hold open the RV door–it was definitely funky.  He showed us this small aluminum rod with rubber coated ends which looked like the rod you use to pull out the awning.  Rex called it a “mini awning puller.”  Well, we joined a Facebook Winnebago Aspect owners group and I asked the question, “how do you hold the door open?”  Most RVs use one of these–

Winnebago Aspects use one of these–a mini awning puller–

Life is good!