We Did It

Late last fall, after returning from our trip to Alaska, we realized we would need a new RV in the next couple of years.  We decided to check out what was available, visiting dealers and attending RV shows.  With that input, we knew we would need a 1-ton truck because everything we liked weighed more than our current 2009 Montana.  We decided to buy a new truck in 2013 and wait till next year to buy a new trailer.

In May we bought the truck.  And it now seems we aren't very good at postponing gratification.  Today we put a down payment on a 2014 Mobile Suites that will be custom built to meet our needs.  It will probably be a couple of months before we will be able to take possession.

Each of our previous 3 5th-wheel trailers we have bought almost on the spur of the moment.  Two we bought right off the lot.  Our current RV was built after we made our selection, only because the model on the dealer's lot had already been sold.  We ended up with the next one of that model delivered.

While shopping last fall, we discovered that Mobile Suites allows buyers to make any number of choices, deleting some items, replacing them with others.  With Montana, you just take the furniture they include.  With this unit, we could take what is stock, delete all the furniture, or make substitutions.  We are adding a window and some electrical outlets, for instance.

The purchase has been complicated by the fact there are no Mobile Suites dealers in Colorado.  We researched online in the Suites Owners forum, we emailed a rep at the factory and we sought quotes from dealers in Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee.  Now, 45 to 50 emails later and hours of research on the computer and looking over quotes, we have finally placed the order.

Now we will spend 2 months waiting.  Every time I open a cupboard or put something away, I wonder where those items will be in the new trailer.  At least, the waiting won't take as much  effort as all the planning has.

A Mini-Vacation

We spent five nights in Big Bend National Park—with no cell phone signal and only minimal internet when we walked up to the Rio Grande Village store. It has been ages since we were in this situation. No blog reading. We couldn’t look something up on Google. I couldn’t check the bank accounts. Or do any other business. No youtube videos.

We were ready to move on and get back our connection to the outside world. But the enforced isolation made this into a mini vacation. That meant we did more exercise. We did more reading. We looked out the window and then went to take pictures of what we saw. We slowed down.

In our early years of RVing, before we had broadband cards for internet and before most RV parks offered free wi-fi, going on a trip meant leaving the outside world behind. Back then, we often didn’t have TV either. At Big Bend, our satellite TV worked great. So we were only sort-of cut off.

How many of you remember going to the campground office to download email from their fax line or plugging a phone cord into the side of a pay telephone? And you needed a calling card to make phone calls. Broadband, wi-fi and cell phones have changed all that and made it much easier to live full-time on the road. But once in a while it is good to take a vacation from all that connection and just relax.