What was your first RV and what year did you buy it?

[SKP073615]

After several years of backpacking and tent camping, in 1980 we bought a VW Westfalia camper.  in the mid '90s we rented an 18' tow trailer, and based on that experience we bought a used 24' trailer.  In 2001 with retirement on our minds, we ordered a new Lazy Daze class C motorhome which we took delivery of in February of 2002.  We traveled in the Lazy Daze for 13 years and 140,000 miles, usually towing a Jeep Wrangler.  In 2015 we sold our house and went full time.  We ordered our current Tiffin Allegro Bus and took delivery of that in September 2015.

[Friz]

1988 Winnebago Le Sharo. Bought it when I returned from Desert Storm in 1991. It had a Renault turbo charged 4 banger diesel with 4 on the floor. Could pull our pontoon at 55 mph. Great intro to RVing. Eventually sold it to a Brit who bought American RVs and shipped them to England for resale.   

 

 

ph. 

Edited October 16, 2019 by Friz

[Joyce wildasin]

Pace arrow class a in 1981

[Bill w/bus]

StarCraft tent trailer in 1970. Traded that an 70 Ford station wagon for 10.5 ft slide camper and IH pickup. Both campers were used but vehicles were new. USNavy transfer from Idaho to Virginia caused the change to the slide in camper. The unit had a side door entry that was only about a foot to the ground. Excellent for two young children and two dogs. Built an insulted boot for access to cab from the camper. We we're flexible, then.

Bill

[LARRYBUSS36]

MY WIFE I AND 3 KIDS STARTED WITH A 16' VACATION TRAILER IN MAY 1961,WENT TO YOSEMITE NP.

CHILDREN WERE 5, 3 & 1 YEARS OLD HAD BALL,BEEN RVING EVER SINCE 5 MH, 1 5TH WHEEL ,AND NOW BACK IN WINNE CLASS A 27N.

SOON BE 84 [BOTH OF US] STILL GOING, NOT AS FAR OR AS OFTEN.

LARRY

[MeanderMan]

We started RVing in 1974 with a new 18' Wilderness single axle trailer that I pulled with a '72 Bronco.  With the short wheelbase and single axle trailer I drove with one hand on the wheel and one on the trailer brake to keep the damn thing straight.  Since then we've had a slide-in, 4 fifth wheels, and two motorhomes.  We've been full timing for 14 years in our motorhome and don't have an end in sight.

[Ray,IN]

A 1976, 32' Allegro class A MH on a Dodge chassis with a 413 V8. I asked a Dodge dealer about the unusual engine size, I was told it was only put in MDT trucks???.  Took my family from Indiana to Aneheim CA in 1986, only problem I encountered was engine would backfire and blow an exhaust gasket. I carried my toolbox, good thing, I replaced 3 gaskets that trip.

My retired uncle(mechanic & filling station owner) told me how to rectify  that with a can of Gumout, I did as he instructed and it eliminated the backfiring. Exhaust valves were carboned up.

Edited October 21, 2019 by Ray,IN

[jamtracy]

In 1991 we bought a 1978 Field and Stream Class C. That thing was awesome. It was great for the 5 of us. It even had a generator.

The next one was a 27' 1984 Allegro Class A. Another GEM.

[Ray,IN]

26 minutes ago, jamtracy said:

In 1991 we bought a 1978 Field and Stream Class C. That thing was awesome. It was great for the 5 of us. It even had a generator.

The next one was a 27' 1984 Allegro Class A. Another GEM.

You made me think that perhaps mine was shorter than I remember.

[k4rs]

I grew up camping in tents, travel trailers, slide in campers, and a van camper.  In the late 70's Toni and I purchased our first trailer, a 13 foot Scotty.  We used it for a number of years but then it seemed that I could not get time off from work, so we sold it.  A short time later my supervisor noted that I had too much leave accumulated, so we took a four week, cross county trip in a tent.  When we finished that trip, Toni said "If you say the word tent one more time, I'll slit your throat from ear to ear".  Needless to say we soon purchased another travel trailer and we have had one continuously ever since.

Safe Travels...

[TXiceman]

I grew up camping under the trees on a cot and no tent.  After getting married, we camped in a borrowed tent and finally bought our own tent.  In 1984 we bought our FIRST RV.  A small Starcraft pop up camper.  No A/C, no heat, and ice box, hand pump water tank and we were at the top of the mountain in our eyes.  

A lot has changed and several RVs later, we are full time in our 40 foot 5th wheel.  I cannot imagine life with out an RV.

Ken

[jnslprd]

  My wife and I tent camped in the past and went to Pennsylvania last year with our friends who were in a pop up. The first night the temperature was 38 degrees and i had never been so cold in my life. The next night it rained so hard when we came back to our site after hanging out with our neighbors in their trailer, our tent had knee high water in it with all of our stuff floating. We stayed in my friends pop up that night and were warm and dry. When we returned home we decided that we should get a pop up. After months of looking it became clear that my wife was not going tobe happy in anything used regardless the condition. the next week we started shopping for a new pop up and were shocked to see how expensive a new pop up was and decided we might as well get a trailer instead. fast forward to the next year and we looked at hundreds of trailers and finally purchased a 2019 Arctic Fox 25W and have just completed our first season RVing and we are totally hooked. I wish I could spend every weekend of the year camping unfortunately our schedules don't allow for this. It pains me to be winterizing the trailer this weekend and I feel like a little kid having to go back to school after summer break.

[Kirk W]

8 hours ago, jnslprd said:

I feel like a little kid having to go back to school after summer break.

Very well put!

[jnslprd]

16 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Very well put!

It's killing me Kirk. I am looking for any excuse to take off from work and get that last trip in.

[rockylarson]

2004 Tiffin Allegro 30DA. Fall of 2003 ordered from Red Bay.  104,000 miles.  Heading west again this summer so  should go over 110,000.

[RayJay]

Went from tent camping when the kids were little, buying sa used 2014 Entegra Anthem 42RBQ this year! Just retired, waiting for DW to do same in less than 2 years. We have spent the last 10 years researching what exactly we wanted to full-time in. Will use it for vacations, etc. to get to know everything and be ready for the day.

[Mr. Camper]

After many years of tent camping we finally purchased our first RV, a 1994 Dutchman Classic TT.  A few years later we traded it in for a slightly larger Prowler Regal AX6.  Tropical Storm Debbie wiped out that one and we have our third and last TT, an Open Range Light.  I say our last because we aren't sure how much longer we'll be able to use it as we like.

[Rover]

We started out tent camping with the kids and then bought a VERY used Starcraft popup 1972 (I think) in 87 or 88 for $400. It didn’t even have the crank up top. You had to lift the top and slide metal arms to hold up the roof. The canvas was just barely usable but we managed to tow that popup with a mini-van on a 2 week trip out west that included Corn Palace, Devils Tower, Mount Rushmore, Painted Desert, Crazy Horse, Grand Canyon, and Disneyland. How we crammed that all in two weeks, I don’t know. But we had a great time!
 

After that, we bought a newer popup then a 24’ Fleetwood TT from a friend that was like new. They had never used the bathroom in it and still had the protective plastic on the carpet. After a few years with it, we bought an 85 Pace Arrow MH (no slides) around 97-98. Then 2004 we bought a new Winnebago Minnie C that we kept for 12 years until we got our current retirement fifth wheel rig. 
 

Once we started camping, we have never been without some type of means to camp. The funny thing is I had to talk Mark into camping in the first place. He never did as a kid and said he gets enough of camping in the military. I kept telling him it wasn’t the same thing as camping with the military. Took me over a year to convince him to try it. 
 

Vicki