First Class A Motorhome?

Archeological find in warehouse #14 at Pioneers Village

Maybe this archeological find isn't a mastodon, but it is a pretty cool old homemade RV circa 1950.

I spent several hours going through Pioneers Village (it is an exhausting place) and had I not been blogging on rv52.com I wouldn't even have noticed the old beast. It was in warehouse #14 - Pioneer Village calls them "warehouse".

About Pioneers Village in Minden Nebraska

Pioneer Village is located in Minden Nebraska. It is about midway between Omaha and Denver on Interstate 80 and about 20 miles south of the Interstate. It was founded by a wealthy Cornhusker named Harold Warp who invented Plexiglas. In Pioneer Village, they have amassed an incredible amount of STUFF. Just one example (other than the first RV) was that they have the second ever Cadillac ever built. How cool is that? I'm attaching a picture just so you can get an idea of how big the warehouses are and how full they are. Note : many warehouses contain TWO stories...

Pioneer Village - Cadillac after Cadillac

Notes and Writings about the First Class A Motorhome or RV

I have a youtube video which shows you the insides of the RV which I'll embed at the bottom of this post in which you can get a really good look at the inside of the RV.

Interesting notes :

• The stove was a normal home heating stove. Reminded me of my mothers original home.
• I bet there were not too many dump stations OR standardized connectors in 1953 (the first use).
• I got a kick out of the regular home windows.
• I really liked the lap siding.
• When this thing was running, gas was cheap and plentiful and there were not enough cars to make much pollution. I'm thinking gas must have been around $0.25 a gallon.
• I wonder if there are any examples of EARLIER RV's.
• I'm not going to count the Conestoga wagons!

Take a look at the pictures, and where the picture is of the museum placard, I also have typed that up in regular text for you.

First Class A Motorhome RV - Looking at the front

First Class A Motorhome RV - Looking at rear back porch

First Class A Motorhome RV - Drivers side looking from rear to front

First Class A Motorhome RV - Passenger side looking towards front

First Class A Motorhome RV - Letter to Pioneer Village

I'll transcribe Mrs. Wendell's letter to Mr. Warp here :

Oakland, Iowa

May 29, 1976

Mr. Harold Warp
Chicago Ill.

Dear Friend:
What possessed my husband to build this motor home? He had bought the truck new in 1939 when he was in the trucking business. After using the truck for 11 years in the trucking business- he sold the business and the truck was quite old then and he felt he would not get out of it what it was worth and he and I had always like to travel- so he decided to build us a "Home On Wheels". He had no pattern as there was nothing like it on the road or around. He stripped it all down and built it piece by piece--on the fram and 4 wheels. Some people laughted at him and told him that he would not use it to travel in when he finished it. They were surely wrong.

Listed below are the years and places visited in it:
[ content removed for space ]

Wendell and I lived in this house every year from 1960 to 1976 while he attended his steam engine above in Mt Pleasant IA- for eight days.

We estimated we have traveled 100,000 miles in it.

There were no other motor homes on the road when we started out. I believe it was 9 or 10 years before we saw any-- but this is a guess.

In Alaska we pulled off the road south of Fairbanks- to eat some lunch. Some people pulled up in a pickup and smiled and asked us if we were homesteading. We laughed and said "no" we were just having lunch.

At Bryce Canyon Ntl. Park- my husband was taking some people through to see it and was explaining where the motor was and this lady piped up and said "Oh do you mean to tell me these things have motors?" (We figured she must have thought she was in a trailer.)

We were always getting our picture taken. One lady asked us if she could take our picture as the people back home would not believe her if she just told them about it.

It took my husband one year to build it and there are 11 gross of screws in it. The beds in the bed room are 2 full size beds with innerspring mattresses and they are double decked. This whole unit was put on rollers so the beds were easier to make as the whole unit can be pulled out and 1 person get get over behind.

Yours sincerely,

[ Signed Mrs. Edna M. Turner, Oakland, Iowa ]

First Class A Motorhome RV - Pioneer Village Placard

Here is the text of the Pioneer Village placard transcribed :

Wendell Turner Motor Home

The original truck chassis on which the home was built was a 1939 White. The weight of the motor home is 16,000 lbs. The original White engine was located directly below the kitchen table. The engine has since been changed to the present "390" Ford Police special below the rear of the table.

The fuel capacity is 80 gal. of gas. The water capacity is a 30 gal. tank located under the back porch. A 50 gal. septic tank is located under the rest room. Propane gas capacity was 95 lbs., which was used to operate the refrigerator, fireplace heater, and gas burners located no the top of the fireplace. A 5 gal. propane gas hot water heater was used to heat the water.

Here is a video embedded of the first Motorhome :

The Right RV for the Job can MAKE you MONEY!

Went to a car show at the Travis County Expo Center near Austin recently. It was more of a swap meet for car people than a car show and it attracted every type of vendor and patron imaginable.

While we were there, I snapped a few pictures of a Toy Hauler RV ( this was a Keystone Toy Hauler ) which was being used as a real business tool. I've no real opinion on the business that the toy hauler supported, but the concept makes a great deal of sense.

First, having an RV lets you follow the "show" circuit, attending different events and making sure you are there, present, and making sales where the people are. The idea that you don't have to commute back and forth or worry about hotels seems smart to me.

A toy hauler can haul anywhere from 2000-5000 pounds of payload depending upon the unit. So if you can fit your inventory neatly in the garage (which comes in all sizes), now you can take your inventory with you and even have stock shelves if you wanted. Since the garage can be air conditioned, you could use the area for foods - not really for COLD or FREEZER storage, but "keep in a dry cool place" type things.

Since the RV has a really large awning, you can make a nice 'front area' for your customers and yourself where you can conduct business. Keep in mind, toy haulers have outside TV's and speakers so that you can integrate multimedia into your sales concepts.

Since the toy hauler is a fifth wheel, you'll also conveniently have a vehicle (the truck) available for you to run errands or other trips.

What caught my eye about this toy hauler was the paint job (or wrap). This really finalizes the work package and makes this Toy Hauler a lean mean selling machine.

And at night when it is all said and done, you can make your inventory safe, get a good nights rest right on the site, and be there the next morning without any commute.

Drivers side view of a business use RV

Passenger side view of Toy Hauler used for Business

Super HOT Wheels for RV Parks...

Check out this article on tricked out golf carts in Florida...

"The cart-friendly design stretches far beyond this hub. Trails lead directly from the Villages to big chains like Target, Staples, and Starbucks, which line the nearby highways. Instead of parking lots crammed with minivans or SUVs, I see fleets of golf carts, often parked two or three to a spot."

Hypothetically speaking... what if our cities become denser and more compact - the roads optimized to smaller commuter cars while trucks have truck-only routes and then intercity, interstate transport becomes something else altogether.

You can't discount the whole tiny house (and I think RV's are part of that) concept and not start thinking about transportation. If everything shrinks down - completely different cars make a bunch of sense. Speeds change. Concepts around safety change.

Maybe these retirees aren't just being odd - maybe they are completely in front of something brand new?

RV Cool - This makes me want to live in a garbage truck

One of the neater home-spun RV's I've seen. I like the 'stealth' concept (sneaks up like a garbage truck). All of the appliances and furnishings look to be first class.




If you like a link instead : Living in a garbage truck

52 things I would like to get for my RV, big or small

I thought it would be fun to think about all the things I would like to get for my RV, or have with my RV that I don't currently have. These are NOT rank ordered. But maybe they are in the order I think of them so they ARE rank ordered! Some of these may not even be invented yet...

1. LED light replacement for the wedge style lights over the beds.
2. Convert my 42 inch LCD TV to a touchscreen that works with my Macmini.
3. Make the RV control panel an iPad/iPod app OR even have it have alerts that would pop up on the TV (that I have my MacMini connected)
4. Some really cool outdoor rope lights.
5. Some really cool outdoor decorator lights that go on the awning.
6. Some really cool outdoor statue light (like the palm trees people have).
7. A REALLY REALLY good grass turf mat that lasts a long time (we have found these)
8. A roll down screen in front of the entry door so the entry door could be left open (we have the glass in door style that Open Range uses copiously).
9. Over/Under washer dryer.
10. An LP gas status that has an indoor reader so we don't have to go outside to read the lp tanks.
11. An energy meter that tells us how much electric we're using so we can monitor.
12. A solar panel to charge the battery - and something so that we would keep the electric AC from having to be used as long as the batteries were charged.
13. An extra battery (or two or three).
14. A generator. Maybe Santa would bring a Honda 6500. I could live with a 3000 though.
15.  A bigger refrigerator.
16. Good Clear reception so I can stop using cable modems.
17. A good set of tools. I don't have many tools. You often need to fix things.
18. Ceiling fans (i need to write an article on radiant heating). Our Open Range does not have ceiling fans.
19. Outdoor security cameras so I can see the RV on our computer. Just little ones.
20. A weather station.
21. A remote temperature gauge for the underbelly.
22. A tire air pump that can handle the pressures needed for RV tires.
23. An ice maker
24. LED replacement lights for our little halogen accent lights.
25. A better thermostat than we have currently for the Air V Carrier system we have.
26. Convert ALL of our books to ebooks and get an ereader (not an RV thing, but space matters).
27. An Apple TV so we can watch TV in our bedroom.
28. An outdoor AC plug (we don't have that right now) - Puma has one, but Open Range doesn't.
29. An over-the-toilet organizer for the bathroom.
30. An outdoor grill. We want the little one that is really portable. A weber camping grill.
31. Wheel chocks. We still use 2x4's and bricks. It is embarrassing. Actually, we have some, we just need more.
32. A better surround sound AV system. In particular, one that has direct optical feed from the Mac and has a small footprint. Our Open Range has a cheap Chinese made audio system that leaves a great deal to be desired. It has a DVD player too and we use the MacMini for that too.
33. The long accordion style window shades that are on the windows, except for the front door. For some reason Open Range used standard levelor style blinds but those are not a good choice for a door.
34. Better sealing from the weather. The Open Range is a little drafty. I think with some foam and an afternoon I could seal it up. I don't expect OR to be perfect so I would say this is something most RV's probably need to have after-purchase love added.
35. More plug-ins. Ok. Probably will never happen. But we are a 3 computer and much much more family.
36. A black tank sensor that really works. It appears that no RV has a good 'stock' black tank sensor.
37. A light dimmer for mood lighting.
38. A temperature based - wall mounted thermostat for our electric fireplace. We absolutely love the electric fireplace. They sound corny, but once you have one, you will love it. They have a dial that is a thermostat, but setting it makes no sense. It sort of kind of somewhat works but that is about it.
39. A doorbell. 
40. A Ford F350 Dually - Like a King Ranch version. I know I said you don't need a truck, but once you drive a dually turbo diesel - I promise you - you will be hooked. It is truly a man's machine.
41. Small paired storage ottomans. Really handy, but they don't waste space.
42. A small cheap pantry - you can get these from Target and they give just enough extra space for storage of canned goods.
43. Indoor gray tank valve controls. A really nice convenience. I get tired of going out to open the darned thing.
44. A LCD TV mounting bracket for the RV basement.
45. Hot water heater that automatically switched between gas and electric and picked the best method to save energy based on what type of energy was available. We keep on electric to have water hot all the time, but put on gas when we know we want it extra hot, or we'll be taking several showers in a row.
46. An extra built-in vacuum cleaner duct in the back. The hose just has to reach too far. I met a guy at a home and garden expo that said doing that is very easy. Our current one is a dirt devil central vacuum. I will tell you they are amazing.
47. Little LED puck lights for several nooks and crannies (under bed storage, in several cabinets).
48. Water purifier on the kitchen drinking faucet. We currently use a Pur pitcher, but if we had it on our incoming water it would save space. There is space underneath the sink for it - I just have to install it. I think purifying the whole RV sounds very wasteful - like a complete reverse osmosis system, but maybe it wouldn't be a bad deal. By the way, you can get Pur pitcher refills here.
49. Power strips. These are super handy. We need a couple more.
50. Plastic bag organizer. We have one, but we need another one for the bathroom. You put the plastic shopping bags in from the top, then you pull them out the side. You can mount them on a wall or place where they do not take up space. Very handy.
51. Better mattresses for the kids rooms. We'll get this sooner rather than later. We'll probably get some really good memory foam. RV mattresses just aren't that good.
52. 5 acres so we can build our outdoor house!

Hope this gives you some ideas. It sure has me. Time to go out buying.

Neat RV Project for homelessness : Austin Texas

This article describes a project from mobile loaves and fish to help people who are chronically homeless. I think this is a really, really neat project. Now you can couple this with those FEMA trailers and really do some fantastic good for some people who need a good turn. What a neat project.

I think it is a great example that shows that NEW thinking can solve OLD problems. Using an RV instead of a 'stick' home can be a very economical solution. Furthermore, the simplicity of an RV might be EXACTLY what someone getting a new start would need.

RV Basics : More on RV Buying OR your mini-RV buying guide

Sheri and I have bought a new RV. I thought it might be useful to look at some things we have done and learn both from our victories and well as our mistakes.

First, I'm going to list a few points that at least tell you how Sheri and I think and I don't think anything has dissuaded us from our beliefs. But with these beliefs you can probably plan out your buying a little bit better.

• Do not pay list. Do not even pay close to list. It surprises me how many people won't get very much off of the list price (evidenced by anecdotal info found on craigslist and other sources).
• Even after you buy, expect to stay in unit nearby the dealer, then turn back in for another week or two of warranty work. You must build this into your buying plans.
• An RV on the lot SHOULD (I found a dealer in Louisiana who did not want to try to deal) command a lower price than one to be ordered. Why? Because of tied-up capital. Because it won't be 100% what you want.

Our expectation is that your ceiling price is 25% of MSRP of the unit with the equipment you want to purchase. Most important question is : what is list? Also, I think 25% off in a $130K unit is easier than in a $45K unit. What do YOU think? Post your ideas.

Now, I'll list the ordered list for the buying sequence we used.

1. Determine the type of unit you want to buy and why (we needed a bunkhouse fifth wheel).
2. Know your financial limits (our budget precluded a class A, size needed precluded travel trailer, etc.)
3. Know what you believe are to be the BRANDS you want to use to narrow your search further. Typically, factories will employ a quality standard across their models, so going with brand saves time. It isn't a guarantee, but it gives you something to go upon.
4. Know the options you truly want/need. We went round and round on double pane windows in an RV. The dealer was convinced that they were not important, but our RV neighbor was - so we got them. If they would save us $20/month for 6 months per year, and perhaps extended the life of our air conditioner by 3-4 years AND reduced the overall noise in the RV by running the air 25% less often, then they are probably worth it. So we went with them.
5. Narrow down to the units you want. It is very time consuming to get good pricing, so if you have more than 2, this is going to get hard.
6. Call dealers, near and far. Wherever possible, see if you can get the manufacturers list price sheet. That is a HUGE help in selecting options and negotiating. If you call dealers near the manufacturer you can calculate the freight charges.
7. Try to get a dealer close to where you will be most of the time. We went 3.5 hours away, so that is a little bit far from Austin, but I think it will be fine.
8. While at a dealer - when you are close to the end - absolutely be willing to leave and go to lunch and take a break. Buy on YOUR terms. Stretch it into two days if you want. Take your time. Stay in your game plan.
9. If you are equipped with excellent purchase knowledge, do not be afraid to say "we will buy at this price with these options today." Again, it is ok if you get flak to go for a Starbucks break. 
10. Buy the RV. Arrange for a nearby try-out after purchase.
11. Live in the RV for at least 2-3 days (this is the step we are at now).
12. Find as many warranty things as you possibly can. Get RV back into dealer repair bay ASAP.
13. After warranty fixes, then you can take it home.
14. We have an RV so we will need to transfer items from old to new.
15. Sell the old RV.

How did we do in buying our RV?

We did get a list price sheet, and we believe we got our fifth wheel at 30% off of list so we would consider that a victory. I cross checked that with a guy in our RV park who had a unit from the same manufacturer. He got his for about $3K less (and was proud of his deal), but his was 1 foot shorter, and had two less slides so that would account for quite a bit of difference. 

On the bad side, we switched brands AT THE DEALER which I would consider to be an RV buying mistake. However, when we went into the brand we originally intended to purchase, we were shocked at the visible feel of low quality - for example - the floors bowed when we walked on them. Still, I was uncomfortable getting out of our game. A post "buyers remorse" web-check and call to another dealer indicated that we did truly get a substantially better unit with incredible positive feedback on the web AND that we were within our 25% off metric. Also the research/learning we expended on the intended unit was absolutely useful with the new brand as well. The unit was also already on the dealers lot and honestly, bunkhouses probably aren't 'hot sellers' with the general RV crowd.

Miscellaneous notes on RV buying:

I have a friend who corroborates this story - told to me by the RV sales person. Both believe that selling outright is better than trading in. The advice we got was to use NADA guides - find the base price for your model (less options), pick the lower price (you get two, high/low) and then add a couple thousand dollars and put on craigslist and it will sell within a week. A week - really? My friend listed his ad 3x (a week per listing) and on the third time, it sold within 24 hours of listing. Anyway, that is our plan. I'll update everyone on how that goes.

When we were looking for helpful information, we decided to purchase a buyers guide on RV's. The reason is that there are so many brands - how can you compare - and the second reason is that MOST people - love the RV they have - that is not a perfect rule, but certainly one I've noticed. We purchased a buyers guide from JR Consumer and it seemed very well done.

When you are selling your RV, you can consult several sites, but I think that the NADA Guides site has a certain 'air' of authority that other sites, like rvt.com, might not. We are using it to sell our Puma.

I hope this help. Post your buying stories on comments. I'd love to hear.

RV Finance : A tale of two banks

For reasons that are not needed to complete this story, when I first met Sheri, her Puma trailer was not actually in her name. It was in her step mothers name.

Since we wanted a CLEAN transfer and we are not experts, we thought we would simply finance the RV via Bank of America who does do RV loans. What is good to know about BOA is that they actually have a dedicated RV department. Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but when you call them, they really know what they are talking about. By the way, if you remember, I wrote that Geico has its own RV insurance department, once you got hold of their actual RV insurance department.

True to form, we worked with the bank and they really came through with lots of forms and legal protections that we would not known how to do.

We bought the RV in May. It is October 4 2010 today. So if you must know, ONLY TODAY is the title clearly in our names.

Here is why : All of the paperwork is completely finished. When BOA sent it to TXDOT (where titles get processed in the state of Texas), TXDOT had a simple request of the other bank (the original lienholder) and the request was to simply fax a business card showing that the signatory on the the banks paperwork (Bank of the West) was truly a BoW employee. BoW would not do it. They thumbed their nose at the state of Texas and because of this we could not get our trailer titled in our names.

Keep in mind, this might have been a problem if we didn't use a bank and their paperwork engine. But because of this, I do think we had our i's dotted and t's crossed and we were able to work with TXDOT and BOA to get our title and get our trailer paid off finally.

So, if you are financing an RV, you might consider Bank of America because they have an RV department, you can get to know them, and even though BOA is huge, the department provides a very personal touch. The TXDOT people were impressed with how BOA treated Sheri and I as customers.

If you are financing an RV, you might consider AVOIDING Bank of the West - based solely in the information that I've provided in this article. This is all I know and quite frankly, it is enough. Apparently, once they have your money, you can go jump off a cliff.

I hope this helps you if you are thinking about selecting a bank for the purchase of your RV. Good luck everyone!

RV Interest : Motorhome Fire on Video

Honestly, I don't have a great deal to add to this video, and it is 3 years old, but as I was watching this I had an invention idea (or 2).

I noticed in this video that the TOAD (the car that is being towed) really burned needlessly.

Also, since I HAVE TO ASSUME, but actually don't have any data, that most fires occur due to the engine.

So my invention idea would be something that allows you with an emergency lever or something so simply push the engine out and away from the rest of the RV. Yes, there are lots of connections and maybe it is impossible, but an ejector would potentially save the RV and you'd only have to replace the engine.

Same thing for the toad, maybe a simple ejector concept?

What do you guys think?

Art in Rural Nebraska

In a very remote and rural part of Nebraska, in a very small town called Mason City there is a yard that has some really neat art. The art looks to be welded metal and painted - the metal coming from ordinary objects - in this case with a farming focus. Very much a bird theme, perhaps a Phoenix theme, and a little bit of a war theme. I can't tell and don't know what any of the deeper meanings themes and intentions of the artist actually are, but I thought this was neat and I thought all of you might enjoy this.

RV Lifestyle : Frontier Harley Davidson Lincoln Nebraska

One neat thing about vacation (a common theme with RV) is that you get a chance to step back from the ordinary, the day-to-day, and take a look around at things that you might not ordinarily have time to explore.

During our 2010 summer vacation to Nebraska I had the chance to visit the Lincoln Nebraska Harley Davidson and look around. I'm not a motorcycle person, so if you are like me you'll be amazed at these big dealers.

Here are my notes, then I'll post a little video so you get get an idea of what the place is like...

* A new Harley can be had for less than $7K!!!! Isn't that amazing?
* This dealer had a small 'Harley museum'. I saw Harley's from the 30's!
* I don't understand all of the different models of Harley's and I doubt I ever will. They are very subtle to a non-motorcyle person.

Why is this in an RV blog? Well, I think RV'ers are always looking for interesting things to go do and see. Sometimes it can be natural wonders. Sometimes it can be in fancy cities. But sometimes, maybe you are passing through an area and you wonder if there is anything you could swing by and just see. I think the Harley dealer in Lincoln is worth a couple of hours if you are close by.

RV Odd News : Lucy the Chicken Herding Dog

Recently, Sheri and I took a trip with the kids. We went to Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and visited several sites. We opted NOT to utilize Puma our RV since for almost 1/2 of the trip, we would be able to stay with family.

On the trip, we visited a tiny little town in Nebraska called Miller. In that town we met a fellow who has a dog that had no purpose in life and was a bit of a trouble-causer. Then he bought some chickens and it turns out the dog then found a purpose. It (actually she) loves to her chickens and will do it all day.

I got a short video of it. I put music on the video, but this fellow will actually say to the dog "Lucy, get the birds." and the Lucy will go chase chickens. She does it all day every day and simply nudges them with her nose and has never hurt a chicken.

Where can an RV park be located and be successful?

As Sheri and I spend some time in Nebraska in a very remote location (at family so we are not pulling Puma) I wonder if an RV park could be located in some of these remote locations and be successful. Of course successful might have to be somewhat relative - the expectation of 100's of RV's in a park would be unrealistic.

But I wonder - could I put put in a little RV park that has 8 sites and have those sites utilized at say 50% on a regular basis?

Other questions : what do small remote little places have to offer to vacationers? I expect that there would be locals who might simply full-time in the park, but could you get people to come and spend some time?

For reference (and you can google this, I'll use Miller Nebraska as my town, but any other could work). You can google this and get an idea.

I know that parks can be successful if they are located :

• next to a river or lake
• next to the coast
• next to a tourist attraction (Disney, Six Flags)
• next to an 'event' location
• in a climate that is attractive for some reason (like Phx or south Texas)
• next to a work location 

When I think about this little Nebraska town I wonder if the following things are marketable?

• Peace and quiet
• Isolation from the real world
• Pheasant hunting country
• Quail/Grouse/Prairie Chicken country
• Deer hunting country
• No traffic
• No planes
• Moderate spring/summer/fall weather
• Under capacity schools (along with kids able to participate in lots of activities)
• Family safe areas - kids can bike rides all day

Again, I'm thinking about people who are not locals that are full timers but the folks who might be looking for something different and maybe are vacationers or full timers that look for locales where they can stay for a long time as they tour the country.

RV Mini News : Geico Amazes

You might find this list of RV insurance companies useful when you are looking for insurance. Perhaps you might already have insurance with one of them and its nice to know you can simply add your rig to your policy.

I wrote earlier and mentioned that we insure Puma the RV with our Geico insurance. But I thought I would regale you with a little tiny story about Geico...

When I tried to DROP Mr Big from our Geico insurance policy recently I could not do it from the web. The buttons simply would not work. I tried it from Firefox and Safari. Frustrated  I called in and made the adjustment. As a footnote to the call I mentioned that the website was not working and they should look at it. More or less simply venting.

Well, about 2 business days later I received a phone call from Geico explaining that because there is an RV on the policy, it has to go through a manual quotation process and that the web doesn't work because of that. They apologized for the problem, said they understand what is going on, and that they have plans to automate the quotation process soon.

I was pretty impressed. Geico listened and called back. Kudos to the little gal in their Dallas call center who took the initiative. I hope Geico is nice to her.

RV Lifestyle : Full Timing it in La Hacienda Austin Texas

I've been full timing with Sheri for over a week now at the La Hacienda RV Park. I've noticed a few things about full timing and living in an RV park that  I believe need mention or are just interesting to note.

• I'm a midwestern boy. I have the midwestern work ethic, although I would say that I'm not a workaholic. Why is this interesting? It ISN'T. What IS though, is that every day in the RV at the RV park feels like I'm on vacation. Yes, even after working a whole day, coming home to the RV feels like I'm on vacation. Combine that with the midwestern part and you get : GUILT. I can't explain why, but guilt is this odd sensation I'm getting lately. Oh, it will pass, but isn't that odd?
• RV TIP : Park the RV in the shade. It makes a huge difference. I was monitoring the temperature between outside and inside the RV, and when it is in the shade, the RV (so far @ 85 degrees F) will only be about 2-3 degrees warmer than outside. The RV is always warmer inside regardless of the outside which is another temperature observation I have made. 
• People like to say, "Oh we're full timers." It is almost like a badge of honor.
• No matter what, when they say they are full-timers, they almost always have a place to return to, like a house. A handful don't, but a fixed, on the ground structure, (no cemetery joke intended) seems to be the terminal destination of most humans.
• Last week of April 2010 in La Hacienda - a club of 55 (fifty five) Prevost RV's called diamonds arrived at La Hacienda. I had never heard of a Prevost and even after the discussion I'm not 100% clear. They are the makers of busses and then someone buys them and refinishes them as near as I can tell. The starting price for a Prevost is $1,000,000. It is up from there. I never really spoke with anyone from the club though. 
• We did meet two Prevost owners who are from Austin Texas. They were really nice folks. I never got one person's story, but he parks his Prevost at the La Hacienda. I think it might be his 'Man Zone'. The other fellow had some stock in the go-go days of high tech in and around the year 2000 and made his money. I really liked him and he seemed really honest, real, and self-effacing. I have many more stories about the people we've met. We're finding that the RV community is a very people-oriented bunch.

All for now. M

Superb Lifestyle Article

This is MAJORLY cool link. Trust me and put your mouse over this as this is a link to a nice MSNBC article.

Most people might find this wierd but how FREEING this is. 'Stuff' just holds us back. These people are all about experiencing each other and their family is growing tighter.

You have to FREE your mind to get away from the 'house' 'apartment' mentality. Why is that any BETTER than this? I think it is different. Just different. Not better. Not worse.

Why should you have a mortgage? Is that good? Or a LEASE? Is that good? Why do we need all that space? I think we have to QUESTION ourselves - daily.

But anyway, love to hear from people on this kind of living.

Outdoor House for the RV : Tying it all Together

Earlier, Sheri and I wrote about our outdoor house idea where the RV is a central part of a much greener and much more integrated with the outdoors house.

In the next picture, we envision the house on a property with a loop shaped drive so we could carefully pull the RV into one end of the outdoor house. Probably the HARDEST thing about the outdoor house is orienting it thoughtfully so that the entertainment corner is located smartly to account for morning and evening sun.

In our prior posts, we've shown concepts for the kitchen, living room, bathroom, the kids area, the storage room, and our original post on the idea. You can click on those links to learn more.

When Sheri and I try to explain our RV Outdoor house, many people really have trouble imagining what we are talking about. In the picture below, we try to show, in a simple way, just using power point the idea. We want it to be fancier than what is shown, for example, we'd like to have roll-down doors and many half or 2/3 or 3/4 walls around the outdoor house. We'd also like evaporative coolers in the rafters, ceiling fans and many pleasantries like that.

Finally, to get a sense of what we're thinking for our RV outdoor house you have to think about what it might look like from a layout point of view. We were able to use power point again to help with the general idea and put in little pictures of couches and such found on the internet. We've found the 3D programs very, very hard AND time consuming to use so we will probably find an architect and give them our rough concepts and see if they can fix them up.

Please feel free to comment and critique, discuss, and help us make this even better.

RV Summer Trip : Starting to Plan

When speaking with people about rv52.com and our interest in a simple lifestyle, personified by the RV, Sheri and I invariably hear the phrase" :

"Of all the family vacations I remember with my parents the most, I remember the time when we took our [ camper, trailer, RV, pop camper ] as a family and visited [ Texas, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, Colorado, etc ]."

When I heard this, it wasn't until it was repeated to me about the third time until the gravity of these statements became clear to me.

There is something about sharing an adventure together, where long periods of time together, solving problems (maps, hookups, cooking, setting up, etc.) create lasting memories that are remembered and cherished well into adulthood.

My children as of this writing (Feb 2010) are 12 yrs and 8 yrs old. I realize that I have just 6 or 7 more bites at that apple with my oldest.

Sheri and I are thinking that a trip that goes in a big CLOCKWISE loop from Texas to New Mexico, to Colorado, to Nebraska (visit my Mom), to near Kansas City, to the Ozarks, to the Texas Piney Woods and finally home would be a whole lot of fun for all of us. We think we can do this in about a month which is the amount of time that I would have for paid vacation. I guess we would just circle Oklahoma. No reason to avoid it, but...

This isn't exactly throwing caution to the wind as we would plan it out to about a 70% level, but we do have to be back in a month. We're thinking the month of July.

Comments? Opinions? Gotchas?

RV Lifestyle Article : Seattle Area Family RV's the USA!

I really liked this article. Yes, I know it is a press release and they probably paid for it but I think it is cool. They took off a year and travelled the USA as a family. Truthfully, most families get a one shot deal at this and then the kids will be too old and/or grown up. Then it is gone. You might get to meet somewhere when they are older on your journeys, but I would be afraid that the time comes and goes. Our little girl is 12 and our boy is 8, and if we don't do something like this soon, it will slip past us! We can shoot for a whole summer. That would work for me.

Anyway, check it out. They are selling their big rig. I also thought it was interesting that they saved up for six years for the journey.

Read the article here.

Outdoor House : Childrens Rooms

When Sheri and I think of our RV ( recreational vehicle ) based outdoor house, we have to consider where our two children might sleep or have their own space.

One idea we had is that we could little teardrop campers and the kids could simply have their own space. They could decorate it anyway they want. How cool and how fun would that be!? I mean really, if I was a kid and I had my own little camper to sleep in that would be so super cool.

Here is a link to a typical little ultra light trailer. To save you from having to click on the link to see what we're talking about, I've added a picture.

We wouldn't need one with anything but a little clothes, sleeping, and studying space. They could use the bathroom in the house for bathing and other necessities.

And then when they grow up, they can either have the ultra lite or we could sell it.