I finally drove the Winnebago Journey! Much easier to drive than I thought, but big, lumbering, and even needed a jump to get started.
I also drove a Fleetwood Pulse. (A diesel class C on the Sprinter chassis). That was one hot little thing, but too pricey for me.
I am going to take your advice, once again, and chill out and think about it.
I’ll write a longer, more thoughtful, response tomorrow.
(You guys took up my whole analysis session, so I am wiped out!)
17 Comments
Glad you finally got to drive one. Do you think you could be comfortable driving it full time? Did you back it up at any time?
Doesn’t it bite that a decent class C costs as much as a class A?
Four about 12 years we owned a sailboat….I really think sailing prepared us for driving a big ass Class A diesel pusher around the country. When you sail, you cannot be in a hurry to get anywhere. You learn that the journey is to be cherished, and enjoyed. We brought that mentality to RVing…..that is why we rarely drive faster than 60mph….sometimes slower….the journey is the experience. You see more when you drive more slowly, and you end up feeling more relaxed in the process. Think of the Class A as a big land yacht…..in fact, one of our new friends acquired through ownership of our Newell calls his Class A the “Praries Schooner”….he also owned a sailboat for many, many years. Another influence on our RVing mentality is Tioga George. He owns a Class C Fleetwood Tioga, and has been fulltiming since 2003. If you haven’t, check out his blog (http://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net/). He gets about 50,000 hits a month, and has had an impact on a lot of people. His blog also provides an immense amount of knowledge he has acquired about fulltiming over the past 6 years. You are right to slow down, and think about it, spend time sitting in them. The more you drive a Class A the smaller, and more responsive it begins to feel.
Speaking of the Pulse, what kind of “Nightmare on Elm Street” paint job is that, anyway? Was there an explosion at the Monochrome Paint Company?
It’s not even whimsical. It looks like a sullen attempt to be cool, by people who wouldn’t know cool if it was handed to them. It’s desperate looking, like graffiti on the Berlin Wall . Hard to believe someone went to a lot of trouble and expense to make it look like that.
To be fair, it’s not just the Pulse. Most of the manufacturers seem to have hired the same doodling 12-year-old-with-a-hangover to design their paint and decal schemes.
The interior upholstery is not much better. See the white piping on that purple couch? I guess it’s not as ugly as the burnt orange and yellow tweedy horror we used to find on dinette cushions back in the 70s. That would cross your eyes.
Remember lime green refrigerators? Gag. Enough, already.
Bob
Congratulations on continuing to do your “homework” before entering the RV lifestyle. There is SO much to take into consideration isn’t there? For people who do not have RVing experience may think that its simple – just purchase your home on wheels and away you go. But its far more complicated than that. You’re on the right track. Just take your time and don’t make any rash decisions. Have fun with the planning stages and don’t stress about it! Stressing defeats the purpose of this dramatic lifestyle change.
Were you able to finish the audio book we talked about earlier? It will help guide you in the right direction. <3
Jen, I really wasn’t going to post today to let you get your rest and head cleared.
Right now the most important activity for you to engage in is rest and not think about RV’s.
Or you can post about your past life or school or how you don’t need your mind played with anymore, because you finally figured out that we all are crazy!
But stay away from that darn RV thing.
But I gave in and wrote the following!
Jen,
Post a question on RV.net as to the pros and cons of each different types of units. ie. Class A,B,C and 5ths.
My thoughts:
Class A with toad.
Big and heavy has good living space.
Upside: You never have to get out to go the the bathroom,to eat, and to sleep. You can drive the toad while MH is hooked up, to go the store, and sightsee.
5th
Really big, long and heavy. Really nice living space.
Down side: Driving the huge truck while the sth is hooked up. A 5th wheel is harder and more tiring to drive than the MH.
B&C
Smaller, easier to drive not much living space. Can’t drive to store or sightseeing without unhooking. Where will you put your stair master?
There are millions of A out there for sale. Prices are great now.
Since you are going to do this thing full time remember you will stay in each campground for quite a while, and be on the road only a short time.
One of the things I have noticed is that miles traveled drop substantially after the first year for new full timers. In the second and third year one tends to stay in one place much longer.
Please look at Escapees.com, they have all kinds of resources and have been doing this a long time.
James
James:
“5th
Really big, long and heavy. Really nice living space.
Down side: Driving the huge truck while the sth is hooked up. A 5th wheel is harder and more tiring to drive than the MH.”
James, this statement is just not true to my experience.
I have pulled a 27 foot fifth wheel weighing 7000 lbs. over 70,000 miles, and it is by far easier to deal with than either a large motorhome or a regular trailer of similar size.
A modern 3/4 ton truck is not a “huge truck”. It is a passenger vehicle, and drives like a large car, with the driver a bit higher and able to see more. It will pull my trailer, at least, like it’s not even back there. With the proviso that you look out for low overhead and really tight turns, you can drive with confidence that the trailer will follow neatly behind wherever you can take the truck.
A truck and fifth wheel is much much easier to maneuver in tight places than a motorhome of similar length. I think you would be amazed at some of the places I have taken it. I can, and sometimes do, make a U turn in a two lane road. Or once even a one lane dirt forest track, by backing the ass end back over the abyss and using a bit of the cliffside shoulder.
A fifth wheel trailer can be turned in its own length. No motor home can do that.
Bob
I’m totally with Bob on this one about the 5th wheel – from experience.
Different strokes for different folks, Bob. I have pulled a trailer, and driven a Class A….the Class A is, IMHO, must easier to drive, and more relaxing….plus, as others have said, you don’t have to get out of the truck, and open up the trailer to go to the bathroom, or make a snack, or take a nap. If it is raining, you don’t have to get out to get in the trailer, or do any leveling. I make it a point to avoid getting into spots where I have to make a U-turn
All that being said, if you stay in one place for long periods of time, the 5th wheel is definitely the better option. Both my son and I switched from 5th wheels for precisely the reasons stated above.
James wrote:
“Since you are going to do this thing full time remember you will stay in each campground for quite a while, and be on the road only a short time.
One of the things I have noticed is that miles traveled drop substantially after the first year for new full timers. In the second and third year one tends to stay in one place much longer.”
Yep …. we call the above the 3-Year-Rule:
1st year use it a lot.
2nd year use it less.
3rd year, hey the whole year went by and we didn’t use it.
Winter of the 3rd year, time to start dreaming about a new toy or vacation… boat, snowmobile, motorcycle, ATV, Jet Ski, Dirt Bike, RV or a trip to Australia, Europe, etc.
That’s why I’d never-ever be a Full Timer and sell my house. I know after a year or two, I regret it and want to move on to something else. And I’d be left with a depreciated asset ‘RV’ and wouldn’t have my appreciating asset ‘house’
We’ve been RVing on and off for 30+ years. What works best for us ‘now’ is to have a small RV (21ft Class B+ sized Touring Coach). That we can drive most anywhere. Plan a trip to a general destination. Mix it up while out on the road between cities and country. Stay a few nights in Hotels, Bed and Breakfast or Resorts. Never stay in a commercial campground. Camp only on BLM lands or the occasional National Forest or Park and State Campgrounds. We’re experts at finding a back-roads out of the way place to spend a night or two. If we find something we like, stay there longer. If we never reach our destination that’s OK. After 3 to 4 weeks we had enough and head home.
Or better yet invoke another rule:
The 2 week rule:
After a few weeks everything tends to get boring. So stop doing it before that happens and you’ll be left with the desire to do it again.
As James wrote, “after the second or third year one tends to stay in one place much longer” reaffirms to me, that Full-Timers for whatever reason tend to lose the wanderlust gypsy spirit.
So Jennifer, don’t read the above as condemning the Full-Timer RV lifestyle, it’s just what works for us. After 30+ years of RVing we’ve seen most of North America. Also traveled the World on dirt bikes, bicycles, hiking and first class accommodations. All while owning a house, raising a family, only debt was a home mortgage and having a Full-Timer lifestyle too, AKA job
Clark wrote:
“Different strokes for different folks, Bob. I have pulled a trailer, and driven a Class A….the Class A is, IMHO, must easier to drive, and more relaxing….plus, as others have said, you don’t have to get out of the truck, and open up the trailer to go to the bathroom, or make a snack, or take a nap. If it is raining, you don’t have to get out to get in the trailer, or do any leveling. I make it a point to avoid getting into spots where I have to make a U-turn”
For the benefit of Jennifer.
but but but …you have to tow a toad, which can be as troublesome or even more so that trailer.
Class As’s work best by setting up a base camp usually at a commercial campground, you know the place where snootie Trailer Park Trash hang out. Spend half a day setting it up for extended stays and then use the toad like a normal car.
So in other words Jennifer, think of a Class A as big trailer with a motor and with complicated creature comfort systems that break down a lot, that you move to different commercial campgrounds a few times a year and then use the Toad to go do laundry and shopping.
When you get back with your toad to your cement pad, the highlight of your day will be to let the Old-Timers know about the wonderfully deal Walmart is running on Grand-pers, (Pampers for Grandma and Grandpa)
Clarke, I don’t dispute that motorhomes have the advantage that you are already in them when it starts to rain or you want to eat or use the bathroom. Although those advantages are more apparent for passengers than for the driver.
I do dispute that they are ” easier to drive, and more relaxing”, unless you find a motorhome easier to drive then a pickup truck.
Fivers are undeniably more maneuverable. Take a look of this video of a guy heading down a dead end street with what looks to be a 40 foot or so fiver. Sorry about the music, just concentrate on the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ldUGtcOB1I
It is not good for your tires to do this. They are twisting and being dragged instead of rolling. But it beats backing up a mile or three when you find you’ve taken the wrong “short cut” or the road runs out.
That has happened to me more often than I’d like to admit.
Bob
Bob wrote:
“It is not good for your tires to do this. They are twisting and being dragged instead of rolling. But it beats backing up a mile or three when you find you’ve taken the wrong “short cut” or the road runs out”
Now it’s Bob’s turn.
The Big Rigs are about creature comforts and hauling a diminutive representation of your former life. Whether they’re Large Trailers, 5th Wheels or Class A or Super Class C they all have maneuverability problems. They can argue back and forth about which works best but the simple fact remains they’re all huge.
So Jennifer, what’s ya thunkin about these big Rigs?
Maybe make a list of the pros and cons of each type of RV and a plan after your Arctic circle trip.
Bob wrote:
“Speaking of the Pulse, what kind of “Nightmare on Elm Street” paint job is that, anyway? Was there an explosion at the Monochrome Paint Company?”
Who are the ‘these’ people that are attracted to these goofy graphics. I chuckle to myself when at the so called serious fishermen, in their sparkling-glittering Bass Boats. Are these people maybe just Nouveau riche that haven’t yet developed elegant chic?
“a plan after your Arctic circle trip”
Plan? Wot’s to plan? She don’t need no steenken plan!
Try this: Point north. Drive. Take pictures. Blog. Sleep like the innocent.
Repeat as needed.
)
Bob
Bob X two!!!!!!!
When you are on the road, you cannot get lost, even if you don’t know where you are or where the road is going!
I can’t be lost because over the next hill or around the next curve I will meet friends I haven’t met before, and find warmth I haven’t felt before and be welcomed.
And boy will you ever be able to tell tales,sitting around the fire! and they will love you and they will know you.
There is no veneer necessary in this family!
Love
James
What a fantastic group of friends you have!
Ah let the boys argue, it is still up to your comfort level and based on your needs.
Besides who needs a stairmaster when you can run along the beach or hike in the woods every day??
I had fun reading this boys, looks like the forum (RV.net) for me!
Take a break, let your brain rest and just do some slow research on what you want/like and think you can handle.