In 2007 when my aerospace electronics work went overseas we started RVing with a 19' travel trailer pulled by a 1/4 ton Ford Ranger. I also used it as a Toad when I delivered new Class C motorhomes and specialty trucks in an attempt to keep afloat financially. When our passive solar house in the mountains of Colorado finally sold in Oct of 2008, we bought a 2001 28' 5er. We tried to buy a bunch of HDT's, but only the darned Chevy dealer would finance us with a new 1 ton single cab 6.6L dually truck w/11' flatbed. A year later we upgraded to a new 35' 5er & eventually upgraded from a gooseneck adapter to a 5W hitch. In Aug - December 2011 on our 3rd warranty visit to the factory service center for our ailing new 5er, we spent a frigid fall in NW KS waiting to get emergency repairs. A day after leaving the factory service center we had a 10" crack in our outside slide corner wall from a misadjusted slide that the factory overlooked. We took our 5er to a friend to be repaired & adjusted, then sold it on consignment. After four years of workamping we found it difficult to work & make frequent factory visits at the same time. We traded trucks (more financing) & bought a Lance truck camper in which we tow a jeep rubicon. We spent the next year touring FL (winter) & the GPAA gold fields of WY (summer) having the time of our lives. After being told that Retama Village didn't want our kind (redneck motorhome/truck camper trash) we bought a park model in Fort Myers, FL which we have been remodeling on our days off while workamping this winter. We have decided to eventually rent out our park model & return to more full-timing roles. Although our Lance truck camper with super slide will go to the smallest remote campgrounds and boondocking sites near the GPAA gold claims, we find that living in 90 sf is a bit cramped while workamping. We've been watching NH the past few years and know that we will buy a NH 5er when we get a chance to finally upgrade our truck to a class 7 or 8. We still want to gold pan on some of the GPAA gold claims, and found many places that would let us park a large 5er nearby if we bring our jeep & gold panning tools with us. We also play with ham radio, do day trading, & a few other hobbies that workamping has hindered lately. I'd like to find the right combo of large 40-45' 5er with subdivided office pulled by a HDT that carries a rotating array of Smart car, ATV or side by side, etc. Can we have my cake & eat it too? We think so, it has been our dream for a while & glad we had a chance to refine our dream while we were out having fun rather than just workamping our way across the US. We have 14 years yet before we get a pension so have to find smarter ways to abundance than waiting for a ship to come in, LOL.
Dave & Sheila Knapp