Class of 2017

[Tumbleweed]

Congrats early graduates.

 

Your are the first to graduate in the class of 2017.

 

(Don't tell the class of 2016)

 

Dave

[NJTroy]

Congratulations! Such great news!

 

We hope to be right behind you, picking up our trailer and beginning the move-in one week from today.

[NJTroy]

And today we arrived to pick up our RV. We'll be here for a few days to iron out the kinks, then back home until year's end.

[HSVBamaBob]

Congrats early graduates.

 

Your are the first to graduate in the class of 2017.

 

(Don't tell the class of 2016)

 

Dave

LOL Mum's the word Dave

[HSVBamaBob]

And today we arrived to pick up our RV. We'll be here for a few days to iron out the kinks, then back home until year's end.

 

Awesome News NJTroy! And, you are doing it right!! We camped at our dealership for 4 days after picking up our Coach.

Test everything - even the furnace (yeah I know it's July...but you will thank yourself that you did when November rolls around

 

Another lesson learned: when you actually live in the darn thing fulltime you will discover all sorts of nit-picky things. Just keep a punch list and let your dealership know about the list and schedule a re-visit to have them fixed (this is what the first year of ownership is all about )

 

We are off to the Berkshire Diesel Division next Wednesday to have some items corrected and then on to the International FROG Rally in Goshen, IN.

[Honalee]

How exciting to have already graduated!

We pick up our 5th wheel in 6 weeks and then put the house on the market. We work full time for another 9 months .... time seems to be slowing down! We have done so much to get ready and it's pretty frightening... all the things we collected over the last 39 years are gone... we have a 10x10 climate controlled storage unit in Kansas City. That's all we have left! Actually, I haven't missed anything yet! Now we need to paint and get the house ready to sell.

I guess we will technically be full time when the house sells and we are living in the 5th wheel while we finish working! Not much longer now!

We decided to put heavy duty suspension on the 5th wheel so we could go more places. Our first adventure will be Newfoundland and Labrador!!

Kathie and Tom

[mds1]

Honalee you guys are so close, it has to be a relief. We also imagine getting a rig up to a year ahead of time. How much did you end up paying for the 10x10 climate controlled storage unit if you don't mind me asking? We have not made a decision yet but found a none-climate controlled unit in Buckner for $475 a year. For now my wife and I are planning to just keep a couple boxes in our daughter's basement. It would be nice to have a little "insurance" in case we end up not liking it on the road as unlikely as that might be. So far we think the hardest thing to give up will be our artwork that took years to find and have framed.

 

Sent you a private message begging to tour your Ambition.

 

We live north of the river.

[HSVBamaBob]

Coming back from the FROG Rally in Goshen, IN Overnighting in our favorite campground in KY - Singing Hills in Cave City, KY - FABULOUS time at the rally - now time to get the battle rhythm up and running and settle into the grind of the final year before we retire! -- ALMOST here!!

 

P.S. House is on the market - positive thoughts for us please!!

[Toddleti]

June 27th 2017, last day at work wife retired this year getting things ready. Will head out to Livingston to get things set up stay for a couple weeks then head to Lubbock to see family. Then off to Pagosa Springs for week or 2. Then to Albuquerque to see more family and then to Yuma for the winter. Dates might change a little but in that order.

[Stripe34]

Look at all you 2017'ers jumping ahead of the 2016 class that I just joined! Overachievers :-)

 

We are picking up our larger rig hopefully early October - going out to the factory to watch the build which starts indoors 9/9. So excited!! We are mostly full time but still in the process of selling the S&B house and contents. No offers on house yet, darn.

 

Either way, we are headed south in early November. We spent the worst of the last couple winters wandering around FL/GA etc, so we figured to go towards TX this time. Starting our very fluid planning :-)

 

Nice to "meet" everyone, hoping to see y'all on the road!

[Stripe34]

Oops double post sorry :-(. Getting started with this forum on iPhone.

[MilesAndSmiles]

My wife and I had agreed that we would not start actively searching for a motorhome until September 1 - TODAY! Starting today we are looking within 150 miles of NYC. If we haven't found what we are looking for by January 1 we will expand to nationwide. I've created these cards (front and back) to print up and hand out to dealers at the Hershey show in a couple of weeks. Our top top pick is the Winnebago Vista 35B, so if you know of a nice one for sale, feel free to let us know.

 

In the meantime, before I print these out, I'm eager for any comments or suggestions.

 

Ten months and counting!

 

Jeff

[ischneid]

Hi Everyone -

 

I guess I'm joining this class! My wife and I are officially retiring in June 2017. We have camped some and I rented an RV (a class c) once 24 years ago for 3 weeks in the northwest. We have been ruminating on this for a couple of years and I've been reading many, many blogs and getting all kinds information. We joined Escapees. We expect to rent a Class A a couple of times between now and June to get used to it. We're going to the Hershey show this month and we were thinking about going to the next Escapade in Tucson, but we won't have an RV by then. Is that a good idea? We've started the process of getting our house ready to sell. It will take awhile. We expect to put the house up for sale in April. Hopefully selling by the end of that month. Then purchase our RV. We expect we're going to need some storage for some belongings and family heirlooms, but not much. And we expect we'll be living in furnished apartment somewhere for a couple of months as we wait for the RV we purchase. We will both be over 65, so we'll be able to go the Medicare route. Based on what we've read, we'll probably domicile in South Dakota for mail and license and stuff. I guess we want to do that BEFORE we purchase the RV so we can take advantage of the taxes. Right now we live in Massachusetts. Depending on the house sale it may impact how much we spend on an RV. We're looking at Newmar Ventana, Tiffin Allegro Red between 33 - 39 feet. They seem to have the best reputations for Diesel pushers in that size range. Though we are also considering the Nexus Bentley, Winnebago Journey, Fleetwood Pace Arrow LXE. We hope the Hershey show helps us figure it out. We may also go do some factory visits in Indiana as well.

 

Honestly, we have absolutely no experience here. But we have the fantasy of hitting the road with no time or place boundaries. That's enough to get us started. But when I read the blogs and the many challenges and surprises that arise, it does give me a reality check!

 

Looking forward to sharing our progress with you and getting advice and guidance along the way.

 

 

[Honalee]

Welcome New Member (I didn't see a name!)

Your venture sounds like ours. We too are retiring in June 2017 (age 62). We too joined Escapees right off the bat. There sure is a lot of information here. We too just want the freedom of going where we want to go and staying as long as we want to stay. It's a romantic idea and I sure hope we love it! After working all our life... what a change it will be!! We have been through 5 factory tours and endless dealers. We are having a 5th wheel built. It will be done in 4 weeks. We bought our truck already and plan to drive to Bristol Indiana and pick up the 5th wheel. The really funny thing is, we have never pulled a trailer or 5th wheel! I'm a little nervous but I know we can learn! We also have a guy at the Dan's Hitch in Elkart Indiana who will give us a few hours of private lessons. It's all part of the adventure!!

 

We also have a 10x10 climate controlled storage unit with family heirlooms, photo books etc. We too will claim domicile in South Dakota. We have not figured all that out yet. We hope to put the house on the market in October. It keeps getting moved back... we have donated and given away LOTS of stuff but still have more to sell. There is so much more! Plus I want to paint all the rooms before we put it on the market. And we have to find insurance to cover full timing (which our insurance, State Farm, will not do!).

 

Right now it is all consuming! But some day soon we will be enjoying the open road! Good luck to you!

Kathie and Tom

[ischneid]

Hi Kathie and Tom - Sorry - I'm Ian and my wife's name is Mary - though she hasn't gotten into the participation mode yet! It sounds like we're kind of running on about the same track. Though you are purchasing yours before selling your home. That probably makes things a bit less complicated. What kind of RVing experience have you had prior to this. As I said, this is completely new territory for us. Looking forward to hearing how your plans proceed!

 

Ian

[HSVBamaBob]

Hi Ian,

 

When you go to Hershey, I encourage you to take a look at the Berkshire XLT -(which is favorably priced versus the Ventana you are considering); this is the DP we own--and we LOVE it!

 

Also I can't tell you how much a tag axel enhances your driving experience! True Story: We were on the way to the Forest River Rally in Goshen and were driving through a really nasty storm north of Bowling green, KY. I had the cruise control set on 65 and was just motoring along when a big booming noise came from the driver's side of the coach. WHAT was that I said? DW said, that was a crosswind gust - look at the trees! Sure enough, all the trees are bent over in what was probably a 40MPH cross wind! Our Coach? never even veered 6" and certainly was not blown over a lane like a lot of 2 axel coaches would have been!

 

One other advantage of a tag: we got weighted at the rally by the RVSEF. Since we went full time we really (I mean REALLY!) have our coach stuffed from stem to stern; in addition, we carry a Traeger tailgater grill, wooden corn hole boards, tools, 150PSI Air Compressor, my wife's Surger & Pfaff Sewing Machines, and a LOT of other really heavy stuff in the basement. Add to that the heated tile floors and stuffed full closet and we WRER concerned.

 

We weighed with a 1/2 full black (22 GAL), full grey (66 GAL), & fresh water (86 GAL) tanks, 30 GAL of Propane, 150 GAL of diesel and 12 GAL of DEF.

 

We were shocked at the weight findings! We are 7,000 LBS under our GVWR! Honestly, other than stacking bricks in the cabin, I don't know how we could ever be overweight! Amazing! Also, because of our weight we were able to lower the tire pressure in the rear wheels which gave us a MUCH nicer ride.

 

All our best to you and Mary. Best of luck selling your house and graduating to Full Time!

 

Bob & Anne-Marie

(Class of 2017 early graduates )

[ischneid]

Bob and Anne-Marie-

 

Thanks so much for your feedback and kind words. I WILL definitely check out the Berkshire. Hadn't really understood the value of the tag axle,so that really helps. Everything is new and unknown to us, so experienced insights are tremendously helpful.

 

Thank you,

 

Ian

[HSVBamaBob]

You are very welcome Ian!

 

Another thing about the Berkshire - I recommend just going ahead and getting all the options. The 150 GAL Diesel tank will giver you fueling options and the ultra steer tag that comes with that package is worth its weight in gold (a 15% righter turning radius is golden when you are 43 feet long )

 

Of course you will want satellite so get that package as well.

 

The heated tile floors and 10KW Generator will allow you to go completely off the grid if you so choose - the generator only sips @ 1/3 Gal of diesel per hour - not bad! While we have not had the occasion to use them, a friend of ours who has the heated floors and fireplace told us that they never used their (propane fired) furnace last winter - that is huge IMHO: use park power not your propane will save you money over the long term and will probably pay for this $2,000 option (heated floors, 10KW Genny) in a year or so given the cost of propane these days

 

We really like the L Shaped sofa and dinette table instead of the booth dinette & standard sofa. In addition, we plan on tearing out the dinette next year and building a combination computer desk/sewing machine station.

 

Hope this additional information helps in your purchase decision!

[ischneid]

SHOULD I ATTEND THE NEXT ESCAPADE? I've posed this question in a couple of replies, but it has been buried in the content and, as a result, hasn't been responded to. If you don't own (and never have) an RV, but are looking to purchase and begin a full-time lifestyle, does it make sense to attend the Escapade? We will not have an RV by then and will still be in the shopping, researching, preparation stage. The main thing I'm concerned about is being overwhelmed by the content because we have no grounding in experience. I've been reading the major RV blogs for several years and can get easily overwhelmed by all the things you need to consider before purchasing, all the things you need to do to maintain and all the extremely, important, critical gadgets and things you MUST have. A couple of things we ARE doing besides reading all the blogs: We WILL be going to the Hershey show, we plan to rent an RV a couple of times to get a feel for what we are getting into. BTW - based on our research we are looking at Newmars and Tiffins - they seem to be the best quality RV's from what we have gathered - we are looking at Diesel in the 35 - 39 foot range. It will just be my wife and I. We also plan to visit some factories in Indiana. Anyway, we live in Massachusetts and want to make sure the schlep to Tucson for a week in March would be worth the investment at this stage of our planning. Thanks for your feedback!

 

Ian

[HSVBamaBob]

Ian,

 

In a word GO!

 

You will Learn a LOT of stuff and tips, techniques, and RV knowledge that will be invaluable in your RV search and purchase!

 

When you go, make sure you tell everyone you are a newbie, have not bought a Motorhome, and are eager to learn. You may wind up being overwhelmed with info but you will also gain SO much helpful knowledge that will greatly enhance you RV and full time lifestyle choice!

 

Best of luck and keep in contact - we are all here to help each other.

[HSVBamaBob]

Ian,

 

One other thing - saw your comment on Tiffan and Newmar. They are reputable RV manufacturers. For us, however, we went with a Forest River Berkshire XLT. As good or better quality, outstanding customer service, and they stand behind their product.

 

Since you are going to be in Nappanee to tour Newmar, why not go 12 miles north to Elkhart and tour the Berkshire plant - tell Tommy Hall and Susan Seggerman that Bob & Anne-Marie Williams sent you, and to treat you right

 

BTW you may want to consider going to the Hershey RV show 14-18 Sep - I know this is short notice but this is the largest RV show in America! Here is a link to the web site: http://www.prvca.org

[NJTroy]

We're out for one last pilgrimage to the Hershey show. I've been off the forums for a bit as we moved into our new fifth wheel and got settled in.

 

Anyone interested in trying to catch up and say hi to fellow classmates? I noticed there's a few of us here.

[mostlylost]

Hi y'all!

 

Well, we've gone and done did it. We are officially class of 2017! We went to Dallas last week and picked us up a 1999 Itasca Sundancer. She's a tad bit older than we'd intended to get, but after nearly two years of looking, this rig seemed to have (most) of what we wanted.

 

Our current plan is to chuck it all and hit the road next summer. We'll live in her for a couple of years, and then probably trade up once we have a better idea of what our full time needs are (this is our first RV, so we're completely clueless) We also have somebody who is interested in the house, and it turns out his lease is up next June, which just happens to fit into the general time table.

 

I am hesitant to say we are offically 'retiring'. We'd originally intended to retire in 2022, but have come to the realization that we can get out a few years early and make up the difference by workamping. So, fair warning - if we invite you over in the next few years, we may be serving hot dogs and beans!

 

We're also going to be at the Escapees boot camp in Livingston month after next. If here is any other classmates going, holler at us. We'd love to connect up with you.

[BigTexRex]

Welcome to the class and the adventure. Remember, there are a lot of part time jobs that offer more money than work camping, it may be slightly more inconvenient, but work camping can be very low paying if you work out the numbers. Men are often doing the grunt work out doors in all types of weather.

[HSVBamaBob]

Welcome to the class of 2017 mostlylost!

 

Since you are new to the RV lifestyle, feel free to ask questions - buncha friendly folks hang around here