Well, we did it. We actually went out a PURCHASED A BIG HONKIN' RV!! It has been quite a process since Thursday...
By Wednesday we had our choices narrowed down to two, both available at a small dealership in Flint, Michigan, about 2 hours north of us. They were both really well priced and looked like they were in great condition, so we decided we'd go up on Friday and probably buy one of the two. Thursday night I was so nervous/excited that I didn't sleep at all, except for about 30 minutes around 6:30am, which let me in a daze and almost hallucinating. We took the kids over to my folks' house and headed north. All the way up I was so excited I could hardly stand it.
We looked at the older, less expensive model first. Right away we knew it wasn't for us...more wear than we expected and just generally not a good feeling. Then we looked at the newer, more expensive model. Of course that was the one we loved! We took it for a test drive and the whole time I felt like I was going to spew. The enormity of the purchase was starting to sink in and I was freaking out. I had run all the numbers but since we are so conservative with our money, I wasn't sure. We had to go to the bank to get the bulk of the cash for it, so I figured we could talk it over on the way. Our GPS unit, Gustav (yes everything has a name), led us to the address but alas, no bank. After asking at a gas station, we tried a second location but nope, no bank (it no longer existed). I was really freaking out now! I thought God was trying to tell us something here. Finally, on the third try we found our bank, went over the numbers again and realized that our payments were actually going to be less than I had figured. Hallelujah! All systems go!!
We headed back to the dealer, laid down the dough, got the grand tour of all the onboard systems, including the pooper (which is my biggest concern on the whole thing!), and away we went. We had actually rented a car to drive up there so we could ride back in the big rig together, and I'm so glad we did...worth every penny.
The thing is definitely a behemoth...31 feet long and 17,000 pounds. We managed to squeeze it in our driveway and behind our fence. I'm actually writing this from inside the party bus...we are camping out in our backyard tonight. The girls were so excited about it that we just had to try it out. It's so cool - we can put into our home electric and water, so we can run our TV, laptops, fans, etc. I know what you are thinking...that's not camping! And you're right, it's not. It's RVing!
I will post pictures later on, but for now you can check out the dealer's photos here.
Thanks for sharing our joy!! :-)
By Wednesday we had our choices narrowed down to two, both available at a small dealership in Flint, Michigan, about 2 hours north of us. They were both really well priced and looked like they were in great condition, so we decided we'd go up on Friday and probably buy one of the two. Thursday night I was so nervous/excited that I didn't sleep at all, except for about 30 minutes around 6:30am, which let me in a daze and almost hallucinating. We took the kids over to my folks' house and headed north. All the way up I was so excited I could hardly stand it.
We looked at the older, less expensive model first. Right away we knew it wasn't for us...more wear than we expected and just generally not a good feeling. Then we looked at the newer, more expensive model. Of course that was the one we loved! We took it for a test drive and the whole time I felt like I was going to spew. The enormity of the purchase was starting to sink in and I was freaking out. I had run all the numbers but since we are so conservative with our money, I wasn't sure. We had to go to the bank to get the bulk of the cash for it, so I figured we could talk it over on the way. Our GPS unit, Gustav (yes everything has a name), led us to the address but alas, no bank. After asking at a gas station, we tried a second location but nope, no bank (it no longer existed). I was really freaking out now! I thought God was trying to tell us something here. Finally, on the third try we found our bank, went over the numbers again and realized that our payments were actually going to be less than I had figured. Hallelujah! All systems go!!
We headed back to the dealer, laid down the dough, got the grand tour of all the onboard systems, including the pooper (which is my biggest concern on the whole thing!), and away we went. We had actually rented a car to drive up there so we could ride back in the big rig together, and I'm so glad we did...worth every penny.
The thing is definitely a behemoth...31 feet long and 17,000 pounds. We managed to squeeze it in our driveway and behind our fence. I'm actually writing this from inside the party bus...we are camping out in our backyard tonight. The girls were so excited about it that we just had to try it out. It's so cool - we can put into our home electric and water, so we can run our TV, laptops, fans, etc. I know what you are thinking...that's not camping! And you're right, it's not. It's RVing!
I will post pictures later on, but for now you can check out the dealer's photos here.
Thanks for sharing our joy!! :-)
