RV Owners!

It has been a busy winter.  Not with travel, but with our pursuit of an RV.  We've done copious research, have rented RV's (as evidenced by our previous blogs).  We know we like the RV experience (at least for the road and an occasional overnight).  We know that we like the Mercedes Sprinter chassis for the handling and the technology.  We know we like a dry-bath.  We know that we like a little bigger version than the straight van model.  We know we like the best quality and rarer vehicle.

All of this lead us to looking at the Leisure Travel Van Serenity.  We were planning on renting a 2015 version through Outdoorsy.com, but the price per night (and the deposit) was cost prohibitive.  Plus, the thought of driving to the East Bay to pick up and drop off wasn't appealing.  By the way, why would an owner charge a $3,000 deposit?  There is insurance!!

At any rate, we decided to start looking for our own Serenity.  The problem we found with the 2017, is the table.  It is not removable.  Granted, it moves in many directions and can be moved out of the way to get from the front to the back, but it is always there.  We only use the table one (or maybe two) times per day.  Having it always there was an issue.  They solved this in the 2018 model.  A removable table!!

We found that getting one is harder to come by than we thought.  There were only a handful of 2018 models throughout the country.  We found that they don't make a ton of them (which is a good thing).  Also - we found that the re-sale value holds very well.  Go to RV Trader or RVT websites and look at the pricing for used models.  We found a new 2017 in Davis CA for the same price as a new 2018.  I think the reason is the low supply and the fact that some do not want to wait 9 to 10 months to order one.

We know that we want new.  If we are seeing $140k for a used one and can get a new one (customized to us) for about the same price (or even $5k more) we are doing the latter.

We have one dealer near us.  La Mesa RV in Davis, CA.  Not impressed with our interactions.  In fact, on one occasion I stopped by to look at the Serenity referenced above.  Nobody greeted me.  I walked into the showroom, walked around, sat down and played with my phone.  Still nobody noticed or paid any attention to me.

So - we looked at other dealers.  The closest are near Portland OR, or Las Vegas (plus some in So Cal).  I found a 2018 on the Wagon Trail RV site in Las Vegas.  It was perfect.  But - apparently they have multiple dealerships across the US and this unit was in St. Louis.  We started looking at the logistics of flying there and driving the nearly 2,000 miles home.  But, alas, it was sold.

But - they had 2 on order that would be coming to Las Vegas (a much more manageable drive).  And - we can customize it how ever we wanted as it wasn't built yet.  We get the advantage of a custom order without the longer wait.  We chose one that is due in late March.

We customized it and put a $2,500 deposit to make it ours.

Now - we wait.  Well, actually we finalize the payment/financing/etc.

More to come in March.  Here are some stock photos that represent what we are getting.

October 2017 - RV Trip

RV Trip Through Oregon - October 2017

In April, we decided we like using an RV.  The one we rented then was too big and unwieldy.  So - we went a little more upscale and rented a B-Class RV (RV Van) built on a Mercedes Sprinter.  So, basically, we were driving a Mercedes Van that was converted into an RV.  I'll review the RV later.  First - the trip.

Day 1 Thursday 10/5- pick up RV

We had booked the RV for Thursday 10/5/17.  We booked through Outdoorsy.co (which became Outdoorsy.com while we were on our trip) and happened to pick the RV that was rented by one of the founders of the rental website.  I'll review the rental website later.

The website had the pickup/drop-off in Mill Valley.  However, when we finally were able to speak with the owner the day before, it was changed to San Francisco....downtown San Francisco....around noon.  This was 104 miles from our home, which is about the same distance as Mill Valley, but with much, much more traffic.  The drive in took more than 2 hours and the drive home took 3 hours.

We arrived home and cleaned the RV that evening (more on that in the review).

Day 2 Friday 10/6 - Drive to Myers Flat

We had booked an RV park in Myers Flat California as our first stop.  See my review of Giant Redwoods RV Camp on Tripadvisor.  We stayed the night in the small RV and it wasn't too bad.  Definitely at least as comfortable as the previous one.

But - the drive was a night-and-day difference.  The Mercedes (2017) chassis was a dream to drive.  It handled like a nice truck, had lane-assist and all the bells and whistles.  We had cut the drive times down considerable but probably didn't need to.  We decided right then to only consider the Mercedes Chassis.

This was basically just a stop over until we got to Oregon.  Decent place, but not much to see.

Day 3 Saturday 10/7 - Drive to Reedsport, Oregon

From Myers Flat, we were along the coast the entire way to Reedsport.  The coast drive was beautiful.  The weather was clear and sunny.  The drive took a little longer than expected due to at least 6 times we had one-lane traffic due to construction/repair of bridges along the route.  No matter - the driving was easy and the scenery divine.

That night we had our one night out for dinner.  After checking into the Best Western Salbasgeon Inn & Suites of Reedsport (see our review on Tripadvisor), we were given a tip about a restaurant nearby, Harbor Light Family Restaurant.  It was great (see review on Tripadvisor).  We had decided that since we gained 5 pounds on our last trips in April and May, we would eat sensibly - which entailed bringing our own food for the majority of our meals.  Holly prepared our sandwiches in the RV just like at home.  And she brought our Home Chef meals for dinners (minus one, which was when we ate out tonight).  We did have Subway for lunch twice too, but still ate sensibly...and...no weight gain!!

Day 4 Sunday 10/8 - Drive to Vancouver, Washington

We departed Reedsport and the coastal area of Oregon and headed toward I5.  We began through the Umpqua River Valley and as we drove we both uttered "Wow" at nearly the same time.  It was a beautiful area of river, rolling hills and valleys, mist on the hill tops, Elk grazing.  This is they type of area we are looking for - lush, green, interesting.

Once on I5, the drive allowed us to see the central area of Oregon.  We stopped in Eugene, drove through Salem and Portland, and landed in Vancouver.  We stayed at the Double Tree for the night.

Day 5 Monday 10/9 - Drive to Bend

We left Vancouver early, went on Highway 26 through the mountains into the high-desert area of Oregon.  Before getting to Bend we drove to Prineville to look around.  We then headed to the Bend/Sister Garden RV Park (see review on Tripadvisor).  We loved this place (had a RV spot and a fully-furnished cottage adjacent where we had a real kitchen to cook our meal).

Day 6 Tuesday 10/10 - Drive to Medford

We left Sisters, OR and drove down 97 toward Klamath Falls.  We took a detour and went to Crater lake (added about 90 minutes to the drive - at least, as we drove around the east rim.  Very beautiful.  We stopped in Klamath Falls for lunch and headed across 140 to Medford.  We detoured near Medford to look at some areas we had seen with property for sale.  We finally arrived at the Comfort Inn & Suites for the night.

Incidentally - it was at this time that I learned of the fires in Northern California (Santa Rosa and close to my work town - Fairfield, CA).  It was a terrible time back near work.

Day 7 Wednesday 10/11 - Drive Home

We left Medford and began the drive home.  We took 99 through Chico to avoid the fires on I5 (weren't sure but had heard that parts of I5 were involved.  We found out later that this was erroneous information).  We stopped in Chico for lunch and made it home in the early afternoon.  We emptied out the RV and cleaned it.

Day 8 Thursday 10/12 - Return RV

On Thursday we arranged to return the RV in San Francisco.  We went to the gym in Vacaville to work out (by the way - we were able to get a work out most days on our trip utilizing each hotel's gym - minus the Myers Flat and Bend//Sisters RV parks).  We spent 2.5 hours driving into San Francisco (caravan with RV and Prius) and 3 hours driving home.  The smoke in the bay area made it look apocalyptic - very surreal as the smoke blew south from the Santa Rosa area.

Overall Impression of Oregon

We had seen much of Oregon on this trip (except for the extreme East and North-East corner (Joseph - which is more for an Idaho or Washington trip).

We loved the areas just off the coast, in the river valleys.  We did not like the high-desert areas of Bend and Klamath Falls - reminded us of High-Desert in Arizona.  Our next trip will narrow down the search of a place to live (if we decide Oregon is for our retirement).  But who knows - there is still Washington to survey.

RV Rental

Rental website - Outdoorsy.co(m)

After our last rental in April (see our blog), we found Outdoorsy.com.  The website is very well done, showing private RV rentals similar to AirBnB.  We had been looking at the B-class Mercedes models online and found one in Mill Valley.  The booking was very easy.  When we booked, it included insurance (liability) as well as roadside assistance.  Very turn-key experience.

The RV - 2017 Mercedes Coachmen Galleria.

We really liked the driving experience of the Mercedes Chassis.  The only thing that took away from this was the actual RV part of is.  The drawers in the galley would not stay shut.  The first good turn I took, a drawer slammed open and broke my cocktail glass.  Later in the trip I stopped by Walmart and bought some suction cups and bungee ties to secure the drawers.  Also - the lav doors would rattle if you didn't shut them just right.  The bed was a twin in the back with boards to put down with cushions to make a full-size.  It was an awkward setup with the boards down (one was broken and taped).  We definitely found we don't like the bathroom in the mid-area and we don't like a marine bathroom.  This means we will have to look at the B+ models with a dry bath.  We also found that the sliding door was not to our liking.  If you didn't open all the way and catch, it would come sliding closed on you.

At least 10 days prior to the pickup, we began to IM the owner through the Outdoorsy website.  No response until literally the day before our rental.  We were trying to plan when we would pick it up (and where).  When it was changed to SF, that was a big let-down due to the traffic we knew would be there for us.  Also - we had to meet in the parking lot of the Best Buy as there was little room elsewhere to pickup the RV.  Not a pleasant area.  Finally, the RV was 45 minutes late getting there.  Apparently, on the last renting there was an issue so they took it to the shop to have it gone through.  Understandable but annoying.

As I drove it home, I could smell the refrigerator (that unplugged, moldy smell).  When I got home, I realized there was mold in the refrigerator.  I had to take out all the railings and holders to wash, then thoroughly clean the entire RV (it was dusty, dirty all throughout).  We took all of there "extras" out (bedding, dinner ware, etc) and used our own.  After this cleaning, careful use, and another thorough cleaning afterward, the RV was definitely better when we returned it.

2017 - Houston Space Center

In May, Holly had an ICU nursing conference in Houston, Texas (NTI for her CCRN certification).  We took the opportunity to visit with my parents just outside of Houston.  We had a wonderful visit, seeing their new home in Fulshear.

After our visit, we checked into our hotel downtown (Hilton Americas) and Holly commenced with her conference.  We were, however, able to squeeze in a visit to the Houston Space Center.  We booked a VIP tour and my parents were able to join us for the tour.

We stumbled onto the VIP tour by accident, but couldn't have been more pleased.  Rather than joining the masses (including lots and lots of school children) and piling into a crowded, open-air tram - we were part of a group of 9 people that had a nice, air-conditioned coach and a private guide for nearly five hours.

The tour started in a hanger in which a full-size Apollo Rocket was on display.  After this we traveled off-property to the underwater training facility.  Interestingly, there were two astronauts training in the water while we were there!  It was a great experience.

Next we went to the current day Mission Control, where the were monitoring the space station.  We were told that one of the astronauts had just completed an unplanned space walk to fix a faulty device outside the station.  We then went to the historic, 1960's Mission Control area, replete with the exact equipment used in the 60's to monitor and control the Apollo missions.

Finally, we were treated to a rare chance to visit the Shuttle Simulator.  It was an actual-size, fully functional Shuttle in a hanger.  If it had wheels, it could fly.  We were told that every astronaut had to train on this device prior to going into space.  Also, when a shuttle was in space this simulator had a crew operating the entire time, mimicking the actions and trying solutions prior to the actual shuttle in space trying them.  We were able to sit in the cockpit and see all the controls used to fly the shuttle!

I was born in Houston.  I have visited my parents many, many times.  This is the first time we had visited the Space Center.  A great trip!!

Here is a slideshow I made of our trip, including footage of the Apollo missions from the 60's to start it off.......

2017 - Desert RV Trip

2017 - Desert Trip

As we are now both officially in our 50's, we have been contemplating whether we are "RV" people  Our neighbor has a large RV and uses it prolifically (sometimes for 6 months out of the year).  To avoid the mistake of buying an RV only to find out we made a mistake, we decided we would rent to see if we like it.  At the end of this blog I will write about our adventures in finding a rental RV.

We also wanted to visit my mother in Arizona so we decided to make a road trip with the RV through the deserts of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.  Holly has always wanted to visit New Mexico to hunt for turquoise and liquid silver jewelry.  After reserving the RV and some hotels along the route - our trip began on our 9th anniversary (and Holly's birthday).

As you will read near the end, we rented a Class C from Cruise America.  We picked up the 30' RV that sleeps 7.  Probably over-kill (definitely over-kill), but it gave us an idea of the concept of RV-ing.

Overview of Route

Day 1 - Thursday April 13, 2017

Today was one of two, very long driving legs of the trip.  We drove from our home in Roseville to Henderson, NV.  The route was 575 miles and drive time was slated for 8 hours 16 minutes.  Coming into Nevada we encountered our first experience with wind and a high-profile vehicle.  The RV's steering had a little play and for the last 2 hours of the trip I was white-knuckled keeping the RV from being blown into the adjacent lane or shoulder.

We left at around 8am and arrived about 10 hours later to the hotel (Hampton Inn & Suites).  We encountered the first challenge of our trip - where to park this beast in a hotel parking lot.  After talking to the front desk staff, we took four parking spots, unloaded all of our gear (we weren't sure about the safety of the RV overnight and didn't want to risk losing anything valuable), got some dinner (PKWY Tavern), slept, worked out, and hit the road for our second day.

Here is a 360 look at having coffee in the hotel room with the poodles (click and drag on video to look around):

Day 2 - Friday April 14, 2017

After gassing up, we headed to Arizona.  Our first stop would be the Hoover Dam.  Taking the RV along the winding roads was challenging and the Dam was very (extremely) busy.  We are thinking spring break crowds but aren't sure.  We did not stop.  Once we made it across the Dam and back we had seen enough and could check off this location in our "been there" book.

We continued through the wind toward Williams Arizona to visit my parents.

Day 3 - Saturday April 15, 2017

We had a great visit, just hanging around the house and chatting.  I was able to float the drone up in the back yard and get some great video of there place.  We had lunch downtown at a nice pizza place on Route 66.

Drone footage:

360 Videos out back with poodles (click and drag on video to look around):

Day 4 - Sunday April 16, 2017 (Easter Sunday)

We set out relatively early to head east to New Mexico.  We gassed up in Flagstaff and braved the windy desert freeway for 6 hours.  When we arrived in Albuquerque, our hotel was near the airport.  In fact, you had to actually enter the airport property to get to the hotel.  When we checked in we asked where to put the RV (as it takes a lot of space).  I was surprised when they told me to park it up front under the check-in awning for safety.  I asked if I should be concerned and was told that they had an attempted break-in involving a moving trailer and a sign at the desk mentioned the same issue.  We were a little road weary and didn't have interest in trying to shop around Albuquerque.  We found that a pizza place would deliver and we took advantage.

Day 5 - Monday April 17, 2017

We took the relatively short drive to Santa Fe, taking the back road on the "Turquoise Trail".  Our hope was to see something worth stopping for along the route to perhaps find some jewelry.  Unfortunately, we didn't see anything that didn't look like a tourist trap and continued to Santa Fe.  Our hotel was about 15 minutes north of Santa Fe at the Buffalo Thunder Casino property (Homewood Suites).  We had lunch waiting for our room to be ready, settled in, left the dogs in the room, and headed to downtown Santa Fe.  Two things became painfully clear.  First, there was little to no parking downtown for a large RV.  We had a few tight spots in which I had to learn quickly how to maneuver a 30' RV in tight spots.  Second - we found that on Monday (the day we planned to shop) the main attraction we sought was closed (Palace of the Governors).  We decided to find parking for the next day and do our shopping then.  But - parking was the problem.  We would later find that perhaps we could park at the cathedral, but the convention center had nothing but a parking garage much too small for us.  We returned to the hotel property in low spirits.  We then found that the hotel had a shuttle going downtown!!  Problem solved.  We had a nice dinner at the casino, Holly won about $60 on a slot machine and we packed it in for the night.

Day 6 - Tuesday April 18, 2017

We caught the shuttle to the downtown area.  We were a little early and shops didn't open for an hour (10am).  We walked around window shopping and getting a lay of the land.  When shops were open we perused the jewelry offerings and other shopping opportunities.  We came away empty handed but were able to at least see what was available.  Instead of waiting for the shuttle, we used Uber to get back to our hotel.  We checked out and started on our next leg of the trip - heading to Monument Valley, Utah.

We took the scenic route through North West New Mexico, passing over a small dam.  We had the option of seeing the Four Corners monument but decided not to stop but power through.  The last 100 miles was tough.  That little leg on the map that goes straight north was painful.  It was about 96 miles in high winds on a 2-lane highway in disrepair.  After watching me white-knuckled, trying to keep the RV on the road in the wind, Holly mentioned I should have driving gloves.  As luck would have it, one of the jackets I brought had finger-less work gloves.  I put them on and didn't have to wipe the sweat from my palms anymore.  We arrived in the dark to the Goulding's RV park in Monument Valley, Utah.  This was our first, true RV experience.  We checked in, pulled into our spot, hooked up to power, and settled in for the night.  In the morning, I dumped the black water and we hit the road for our next destination.

Day 7 - Wednesday April 19, 2017

We saw the most unique and beautiful mountain scenery as we drove through the middle of Utah.  We saw all the monuments, arches, and formations despite the windy mountain passes (the gloves made all the difference).  We stopped in Moab for lunch and continued on through endless mountains, still capped with snow.  We finally arrived in Salt Lake City during 5 o'clock traffic.  We made our way to our hotel and settled down for the final night on our trip.

Day 8 - Thursday April 20, 2017

We loaded up early and hit the road.  It was our longest leg (618 miles) of the entire trip.  We fought through the wind all the way through Nevada.  Once past Reno, the wind was gone and we enjoyed going through our home-state mountains with which we were very familiar.  There was still lots of snow on the mountains and the relief with pulling into Roseville was palpable.  We unloaded and went straight to our much-missed bed.  The next day we cleaned up the RV, gassed it, emptied the tanks, and returned it.

RV the life for us?

We found very early on in the trip that we REALLY like this.  Not this particular RV (too big, unwieldy) but rather the concept of being self-contained.  Having a toilet on the road and a place to sit and eat or stretch out for a few minutes made the long drives more tolerable.  No longer did we have to stop to use the bathroom (even when we had to fuel).  There were stretches in which I drove for nearly three hours without stopping.  Plus - the poodles had room to stretch out.

We are still in the evaluation stage of which RV is for us.  We know that the larger Class A are too big.  The Class C are probably not for us either (don't really need the overhang sleeping area).  Next trip we will rent a Class B and try the Mercedes chassis to see how the handling compares to the Ford chassis we rented (we suspect the results will be obvious).

Then will come the decision to rent or buy.  A good, recent used Mercedes model runs about $85k.  We would have to RV at least 3 times a year to make buying better than renting.  Then there is storage.  If we can't park it at home, the costs go even higher.  More to come after our next trip to the Oregon Coast this fall.

Renting an RV

When we decided to rent we researched our options.  There seem to be only two nationwide companies that rent RVs:  El Monte and Cruise America.  While they have some actual company locations, most seem to be similar to U-Haul in which they franchise to local businesses that have other operations (such as a service station).  In the greater Sacramento area there was one El Monte franchise and two Cruise America franchises.  Let's start with the El Monte franchise.

El Monte

The location was in the southern industrial area of Sacramento.  We knew from the address it was going to be interesting.  We stopped by on a Saturday a while back to check it out.  It was in an industrial park as part of an antique car business.  I entered the facility and Holly stayed in the car as we had groceries and the area was a little sketchy.  I was greeted by an older lady and could see a man attending to a young family who was renting an RV.  She showed me the antique cars while I waited and then took me out to look at some RVs.  When the man was finished, Holly joined me.  We looked over the RVs and had no issues.  One problem we did have was the non-refundable rental deposit of $150.  No matter what, if we cancelled we lost the deposit (more of a rental fee than a deposit).  The larger problem was regarding which model year we would get when the time came to pickup the rental.  Their fleet has some older models and our research showed that some reviews stated that at the time of rental the reviewer was presented with an old model with no recourse.  With this in mind, we asked if we could reserve a newer model (3 years old or newer).  We were told that we would have to reserve it.  Then we could call to see which model was assigned and see if we could get a newer one.  What??  Why should we have to do the leg work???  We moved on to Cruise America.

Cruise America

There were two locations, one of which was much closer than the El Monte, located in Citrus Heights at Pastor's service shop.  We stopped by and the owner was manning the counter.  He showed us the 30' and smaller model.  For the price we had decided that the 30' would be a better value.  There was a deposit that was refundable (yea!).  The attitude of the proprietor wasn't that great however.  Even though their fleet was newer overall (3 years old or newer, Holly asked if we could reserve a newer model.  He flat-out said "we don't do that" and continued to state that even customers renting for long periods and long miles (i.e. more money for them) he didn't do that.  When we said it was a reasonable question he retorted "and I gave you a reasonable answer".  Despite getting off on the wrong foot, we had little choice but to rent from him.  We did get a little satisfaction, however.  I asked if we could rent online or directly from him.  He said that either is possible but if we rent directly from him they get a better commission.  We rented online.

We had a wonderful trip.  It was a grueling 2600 miles and 43 hours of driving through mountains and high winds but we were able to see the desert regions in all of its glory.

One last video clip of the late Robin Williams and the trials of using a rental RV