How we Found our Perfect RV, on a Whim!
I was eating my lunch in the teacher’s room when my husband came in and stuck his phone in my face.
We have been looking for RVs for about a year now. He would scour the web any chance he got and would show me options that were WAY out of my day dream price point. Until that Wednesday in the teacher’s room.
My mom and I always wanted to do a cross country tour. We had it all planned out. Rent an RV, leave as soon as summer would allow us, and hit as many landmarks as possible sprinkled with family visits here and there. The only issue, to rent an RV for three months would cost us around $9,000 without all the extras. So this dream never became a reality.
Until 2016.
I looked up from my lunch and saw a decent RV clothed in classic Golden Girl decor. It wasn’t much but it was the closest we have found near our price point all year. We called the seller and shot them a low number expecting a back and forth of prices to ensue. Instead, we got a lower number asking if we could get the RV that weekend so they could close out the month.
Easy yes! Except for one thing. This RV was in the middle of the country and we were on the east coast. It was also the last Wednesday of the month. Meaning we had two and a half days to get the RV off their lot. There was a lot we had to figure out by Friday and to keep a long story entertaining we will skip and sum up by saying, never burn a bridge and thank your friends.
We left right after school Friday, grabbed the rental, and drove through the night. Knocked on my sisters door in Michigan (well after midnight) and went to bed. Early the next morning, we woke up with a few more hours to go before even seeing this RV - which we said we would buy sight unseen…two days earlier.
We reached the dealer, General RV Saturday afternoon and were greeted with smiles. The gracious salesmen handed us “VIP” tags and escorted us into the dealership. I was not expecting to be treated like a queen and I thought to myself, “thanks for making a big deal out of this experience but what’s the fuss all about…?” That’s when they took us into the back to see our RV. I went from queen to peasant in a single breath. Not by the sales team, managers, or mechanics. No, in fact Gerenal RV makes sure each customer is well cared for each step of the way! I found myself standing before row after row of HUGE, BEAUTIFUL, and EXPENSIVE vehicles. I stood in awe and the only thought that entered my mind as I crossed the threshold from RV show room to RV shop was: “you break it you buy it.” Thanks mom.
I shoved my hands in my pockets as our salesman carried on conversation like I wasn’t just downgraded by my life’s decisions. RV after shiny RV…all different models and sizes…all WAY out of my price point were lined up ready to meet their new owners. We walked further into the RV shop when finally a little, dull, dirty white RV emerged. Our RV. As the other perfect RVs loomed over us we were given a detailed tour of our new home. During this tour I realized, this is us. We have no plan, just go with the flow. We don’t have things in perfect order, but we get a lot accomplished. We certainly don’t have the money for a 3 room/5 tv/2 fireplace RV, but we have enough to fill our travels with laughter & adventure. This RV was, PERFECT!
There wan’t much time to wrap things up before the books closed for the month, and not to mention the fact that we had to get back to the East Coast for work Monday MORNING!
We wrapped things up, thanked out salesman as we shook hands ending the purchase, and stopped at their store to make sure we had the essentials…RV toilet paper.
As luck had it I was the first one to drive as my husband was in charge of returning the rental. We were off Saturday evening rushing to the airport to return the car before we turned and burned for the East Coast. Off we went headed east in our “new” RV. As the sun set that Saturday night we talked about all the future trips this RV would see. We also talked about the previous owners and wanting to thank them for taking such care of the RV. Until we hit the Appalachian Mountains. Then we realized why they upgraded.
We were chuggin’ along for about 6 hours learning all the new sounds and quirks to a home on wheels. My husband was driving now and usually we love seeing the mountains on the horizon. Well, we did this time too until we hit the third uphill.
Instead of taking the Appalachians on head first and conquering them. Our RV drove slower and slower with each passing hill. We had the peddle all the way to the floor only reaching 25mph. We learned to hug behind tractor trailers (sorry!) to cruise at 40mph as they parted the wind for us. We celebrated the downhills - would try to gain as much speed as we could - and we prayed on the uphills.
Needless to say the rest of our trip was wondering 1) what was wrong with the RV 2) how much was this going to cost 3) did we just make a huge mistake? And not to mention that this made our Saturday into Sunday a long night. At least we had a bed and bathroom with us along the way now!
We arrived home Sunday late morning. Just in time to pull into the church parking lot for worship service, with a new RV and a new story. (My family does this weird thing, I hope I am not alone, where we name our vehicles. So we, of course, needed to name this RV!) We decided to name our RV, Walt. Why? Because we wanted to stop day dreaming about doing things and go DO THEM! Still don’t understand the name? Order the original Secret Life of Walter Mitty (so you can say you have seen the original) and then order the newer version. You will not be disappointed.
Once we got back into the groove of life it was time to research and call the mechanic. Apparently the computer wasn’t reading the levels correctly and the O2 sensor and fuel injection were not running correctly. Search me, I can change my oil and tires.
That trip home from Michigan should have been a foreshadowing for our first summer’s adventure but we were too excited to pay attention to that. After all we thought we fixed, what we now call, the Appalachian Problem. We were in the clear, right? We got it fixed, right? We learned our first lesson, right? More like learned the first of MANY.
Lesson 1…don’t drive half (or ALL) of America until you do a few shorter trips to work out the quirks…stay close to home. Explore the sites around your home state and your “go to” mechanic. Even if the place you bought it from was amazing and did a once over for you. Oh and check out different road side assistance options!
We should have listened to ourselves…if you bought a “new” RV like us please pay attention to Lesson 1. We didn’t. The first trip for us is right up there to a National Lampoon style vacation.
Check out the next “Through Cramer’s Lens” RV blog for how we were able to buy Walt on a whim and not go into debt! Our dream list vs our real life list and other planning that you can use to help purchase the “PERFECT” RV for you!
Not to ruin all the future stories ahead but Walt is still going strong and doesn’t owe us a dime!
