February 17, 2002
Well, several changes since last posting: Mom's been elevated to hospice care, a new vehicle has joined us, and we've put the truck and trailer up for sale. Details of the rig can be seen at Rig Details. The new vehicle is:
And let me be quick to say, it's mostly the fault of Dean & Bettye, Frank & Susie, Alan & Judy, but mostly Ray and Kay. These are all RVing friends who have Jeeps and have either given us rides in them, talked to us about them, or in the case of Ray, let Barb drive them! I began the lengthy and for me fun, project of listing all the SUV's in the Jeep's category to do a detailed comparison. Barb, on the other hand, reminded me that the Saturn and the Jeep are the most popular Toads (a towed vehicle) in RVville, so why would I look any further? Hummmmm. It's a 1999 Grand Cherokee with 48,000 miles on it that we got from a Credit Union sales lot in Sacramento. Sure is easier to run back and forth (80 mile minimum) to visit mom in the Jeep than in Moby Dick.
We're selling the rig for a couple of reasons. We figured that "someday" we'd make the transition to a motorhome from the 5th wheel as we grew older because a motorhome is easier to set up and has no interior steps like the 5th wheel has. Dave's arthritis in becoming an issue earlier that we thought, so physical comfort is becoming increasingly important, and there's no point in delaying the transition.. We love the trailer's spacious room, its storage, and its living comfort. We love the way the truck hauls it, the security its power provides, and the fact that the truck can also be used for most poking around, shopping, etc. We're not selling because of dissatisfaction with the rig.
In order to stay in the same price range and get near the quality and comfort we're currently enjoying, we're in the market for a used motorhome. Not sure which one, as our research won' t start in earnest until we either sell the rig or mom's condition stabilizes such that weekly visits rather than almost daily are appropriate. At the moment, we like Newmar products, and are also impressed with some of the Monaco's we've seen. We secretly lust after a bus conversion, but who knows where that trail will lead. Some years ago (early '80s) when we had a motorhome, we looked briefly at a Blue Bird conversion called the Wanderlodge. We've never forgotten it. Since then we've poked our heads into the Prevost and Wanderlodges that we've seen at RV shows. Of course, they're all way beyond our reach. But while in Quartzsite we looked at some older busses that had been converted (thanks, Frank and Susie) and our eyes were really opened. We don't think this will be a quick sale/purchase, but are ready if it is.