In February 2015, my husband Joey and I made a huge decision to purchase and live full-time in an RV, specifically a fifth wheel. The timing in our lives was perfect and due in large part to my status as an Active Duty Soldier. When we were slated to make another Army move, we made the plunge. We had only been in Dahlonega, GA tucked cozily in a small cottage at the legendary Camp Frank Merrill in the southern-most Appalachian mountains for two weeks, before we went “RV hunting.” I literally knew nothing about RV’s; in fact, I had never stepped foot in one. I honestly was not too keen on the idea as I envisioned the redneck Rivera of run down mobile home parks or retired couples living out their final days on the road arguing over the temperature in the cabin. I did not envision a young couple like us making this transition and really fitting into the community. I could not have been more wrong. The people I have met over the last three plus years have been from all walks of life, and I am so happy I got to fellowship with them.
My husband had dreamed of RV life for several years as he had witnessed family members and friends RV for short, and sometimes, long durations. He had also seen the practicality and fun that came with the lifestyle. My husband and I are from differing experiences, so I had a poor concept of what this life would entail, and I may have thought we were “too good” for RV life as owning a house has become a symbol of status in American culture; regardless, I placed my faith and confidence in him and watched him become more and more excited-like a kid in a candy shop- as he talked non-stop about how cool and pragmatic it would be for us. While I was at work the next day, he enthusiastically set out on his own to see what RVs he could find in the local economy.
Winter is the prime season to go RV hunting, especially after most people have spent way too much on Christmas presents, or maybe the vacation season is over and kids are back in school, thus not too many people are looking to purchase an RV around that time, thus driving down their costs. My husband found himself at RV World of Georgia of Atlanta, and when I came home, I could hardly pull off my uniform before he was pulling me out the door to go check out what he had found. I had to take a deep breath because I had so much going on at work, and I really wasn’t in the mood to go out and look at campers. (We were only the first female Soldiers involved with the historic integration of women into Ranger School, to arrive at Camp Merrill, and we were not popular, but that is a whole other story.)
RV World of Georgia had a large selection, and I found out that there are several different categories of RVs, campers, or travel trailers, whatever you wish to call them. There are bumper-pulls, motorhomes in three different classifications, toy-haulers, and fifth wheels. Popular brands are Montana, Keystone, Jayco, Winnebago, Coachmen, Airstream, and Grand Design to name a few. But with the first one I entered, a Grand Design Solitude, I fell instantly in love with it. The camper had stainless steel appliances, tile back-splashes, grey rustic wood vinyl floors, a kitchen island, two-door refrigerators, and two-stone encased fireplaces that you instantly saw as you walked through the door. I had set my expectations way too low. Not only were the design elements of this camper amazing, but it also featured two bathrooms and two separate bedrooms! I could not believe the amount of space! In fact, the camper was actually larger than the small studio apartment we had rented at our last duty station in Waynesville, MO at Fort Leonard Wood, or better know by troops as Fort Lost-In-The-Woods.
The back bedroom had two foldout full beds that we knew would be a perfect place where our two boys could sleep, watch or play games on the built-in TV above their own fireplace; they also had their own bathroom-all tucked away behind a convenient pocket door. There were two separate closets and drawers in which to store their personal items as well. The master bedroom had tons of storage for my clothes, and the bed even folded up revealing more storage space. Underneath the camper was tons more storage for outdoor items. There were many other details to the camper, which I will go over in another post.
The cost of the camper was listed at $92,000! It was a brand-new 42 foot, 5 hydraulic slide-out, two electric retracting awnings, “winterized,” self-leveling monster, but I wasn’t about to just run off and buy this thing on a whim! This would be my largest purchase in my life up until that point. I was the type of girl that had driven the same 4-door 2000 Honda Accord that I got when I was 16 until I was 28 years old and only after four years on the job and a deployment to Afghanistan did I decided to reward myself with a new car! Needless to say, I was conservative when it came to spending. After several conversations about how rent was throwing away money, the lack of availability of housing where we currently were, and the fact we had already purchased a 2500 GMC diesel truck to pull this bad boy, I began to warm to the idea.
Joey and I wanted to be sure we were getting a good deal and getting exactly what we wanted, so we found a local RV show that brought in all types and brands of RVs. We must have walked into a hundred trailers in one day. There were trailers with outside kitchnettes to those with elevated screened-in porches. Some had full walk-in closets with tubs and sit-down vanities. The toy-haulers all featured little garages with ramps with bunk beds for whenever the “toys” (AKA four-wheelers, dirty bikes, etc) were pulled out. Alas, I found it ironic, but I was still in love with the first camper, the Grand Design Solitude 365DEN. I wondered to myself if I were just hooked like a young teenager with a bad case of puppy-love. I later learned that most people found our camper amazing. Maybe, they were and still are just being nice; but then again, they were over at our camper all the time.
Looking back, I feel really sorry for the salesmen at RV World in Georgia whose name I have forgotten. I usually do not feel sorry for salesmen as I have a feeling they are trying to take advantage of people. Joey walked away from the particular salesmen, so many times and gave him the run around with his Deep South way of talking that we ended up purchasing the camper for roughly $68,000. We required about $4,000 of upgrades to the truck to install a “slider,” which is a convenient hitch that sits in the back of the tailgate. You can take it in and out, but it is a 200 pounder and not easy to remove, so we leave it in there more than take it out. Also, a major cost reduction for us, that I still think was a good decision, was not to purchase the RV washer and dryer. Many people do not buy those as they are very small and can only wash a few outfits at a time and maybe two towels; they are not worth their high cost. Plus, many of the places we have camped offer laundry mats including some national and state parks.
Finally, after the two to four hour class that RV World gives to new RV owners on how to setup and generally work the specifics of the camper, we were ready to setup our delivery date. I was unable to attend these class myself, but my husband and I highly recommend it for new RVers if your dealership offers it. The class teaches you the basics of leveling the camper, setting up all the hookups with water and electricity, etc. Once we completed the class, we were off to our next major step in the process . . . where to setup camp!
~Lesley
