I’m still not done back-filling the older posts. But I have a (better) excuse than my usual “too lazy”. Instead, I’ve been purchasing a new (used) motorhome!
This motorhome popped up on the LifeWithALazyDaze Yahoo group on the 14th. It met all the criteria I had mentally set for a new motorhome plus it had most of the improvements I would have wanted to make. All for a great price. I hesitated for a day, paralyzed at the thought of making a major purchase. Especially since Ken wasn’t highly enthusiastic.
The next day I took a walk around the neighborhood and did some thinking. The result of that thinking was the conclusion that this was something *I* wanted, I could afford it, and I would be foolish to pass on it when it so perfectly fit my criteria. This struck me as one of those “I wish I would have…” decisions that would be regretted later if I didn’t do it.
When I got back from my walk, I sent Ed (the seller) an email asking if the motorhome was still available. (I knew there was at least one other person who was interested.) It was. So I scrambled to get the money together, get insurance in place, and make the arrangements to go pick it up.
Ken and I left here Monday morning and drove to Santa Fe to stay that night. That’s about halfway between our home in Mesa AZ and Ed’s home in Longmont CO. Tuesday we were in the storage lot and I got my first sight of my new motorhome. Ed showed more things than I can now remember, we signed the various paperwork, and I headed south toward the Castle Rock Wal-Mart where we would spend the night. I had originally planned to stay the night at the nearby fairgrounds, but Ken agitated to get south of Denver in order to miss the morning rush hour. I acceded and thus had the joy of hitting the Denver evening rush hour. The joys of driving a new to me motorhome in the dark during rush hour cannot be described.
We did make it down there, went to Chili’s for supper, and paid for our parking spot by shopping for breakfast and lunch fixin’s. It was a cold night but we made it through with the help of the furnace and headed on our way south the next morning. At the lunch stop, Ken decided he would head for home at his preferred speed while I came on behind at my preferred speed. He made it home by 8 that evening. I made it home around 1pm the following day (Thursday). It was another cold night for me in Milan NM, but not as bad the the previous one (39* in the morning) and the furnace was better able to handle it.
A little more excitement was had when I got home. I almost took the corner of the garage roof off when I was angling in toward the gate. That disaster was averted by our wonderful neighbor, Javier, who stopped me in time. Next Ken stopped me from scraping the side of the nose cap on the gate wall. The gate wall opening is 10’ and my motorhome body (not counting the mirrors) is 8’3”. So there is not a lot of room to spare. I can see where home parking will always be an exciting time especially since we don’t have a straight shot at the gate. But we did it. And we’ll do it again.
Note: I did not feel a need to fly up there and inspect the motorhome first because I felt I already was familiar with it and the care Ed & Carol (the owners) gave it. I had been reading their blog (The travels of Ed, Carol and Gopher the dog) for nearly a year. A quick skim of the posts since their purchase of it showed no untoward problems and lots of loving care. I think I got an excellent deal and Ed’s a honest person.
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