It's one thing to dream about RVing and rent a couple of times, I took much of the summer of 2014 to take some concrete steps.
I gave six months' notice at work. I searched the web and visited RV dealers to get a sense of what's available. I gave up on the elegant little "Class B" RVs (van conversions) as too small to live in. I agonized over selling my Redlands house, gardens and fruit trees. I decided that a "Class A" -- large, and built on a bus chassis -- was too big; many state parks have length restrictions. I weighed Ford gasoline power versus the more efficient (and expensive!) Mercedes Sprinter platforms. I decided against the standard "Class C" style that we had been renting because the over-cab bed is not suitable for 70-year-olds who have to stumble to the bathroom more than once a night.
While this was a good learning experience, it generated conflicts: a small nimble RV versus one that's big enough to live in year-round. Keeping the house and garden, but leaving it unoccupied for months at a time? Getting a new, sleek RV or trying a couple years in a (much cheaper!) used Road Bear unit. It's really hard to walk away from fresh oranges six months of the year and bumper crops of peaches and apricots.
In August I joined the "Escapees" ("SKPs") RV club and started reading about it. SKP helped start 11 Coop RV parks across the country. You buy a membership that entitles you to use a lot until you die or sell it back to the Coop. You work a few hours a week on maintenance or committees. I found the most appealing SKP Coop was just 50 miles south of Redlands in Aguanga -- just east of Temecula.
Karin flew out in October and we toured the Jojoba Hills RV Resort (http://www.jojobahills.com/) and I immediately put down a deposit to become #17 on the waiting list. Later that week we met in Chicago and toured Phoenix Cruiser in Elkhart Indiana. I put down a deposit on a small RV, not the larger one I had been contemplating.
Mine is a 2351 model, corner bed, dinette, Ford gas truck chassis. Ready winter 2015.
It's less that 25 feet long. Lots of insulation, heated tanks for winter camping, solar battery charger, etc etc. Not quite as many "swoosh" graphics as the one pictured here.
Why such a small RV? Signing up for Jojoba Hills was an epiphany: Each 50 X 70 foot lot has a small storage shed, so I don't have to take all my belongings with me on the road. I can plant oranges and peaches on my lot, or harvest from the community orchard.
Jojoba Hills also has a storage area for travel RVs. Huh, storage areas? Looking at Google Earth, it dawned on me that at least 100 of the 280 Jojoba members had a second -- larger -- RV on their lot to provide elbow room and save wear and tear on the road unit. This seemed extravagant until I checked prices of "Travel Trailers", the category of RVs you tow with a regular pickup truck. Quite affordable. More on this later!
So after a trip to Elkhart's RV Hall of Fame and Museum we drove back to Chicago for a nice weekend with classmate Tex Hull and his wife Susan. Visits to the Art Institute and the Field Museum barely scratched the surface of the city's attractions; we'll be back!
I gave six months' notice at work. I searched the web and visited RV dealers to get a sense of what's available. I gave up on the elegant little "Class B" RVs (van conversions) as too small to live in. I agonized over selling my Redlands house, gardens and fruit trees. I decided that a "Class A" -- large, and built on a bus chassis -- was too big; many state parks have length restrictions. I weighed Ford gasoline power versus the more efficient (and expensive!) Mercedes Sprinter platforms. I decided against the standard "Class C" style that we had been renting because the over-cab bed is not suitable for 70-year-olds who have to stumble to the bathroom more than once a night.
While this was a good learning experience, it generated conflicts: a small nimble RV versus one that's big enough to live in year-round. Keeping the house and garden, but leaving it unoccupied for months at a time? Getting a new, sleek RV or trying a couple years in a (much cheaper!) used Road Bear unit. It's really hard to walk away from fresh oranges six months of the year and bumper crops of peaches and apricots.
Karin flew out in October and we toured the Jojoba Hills RV Resort (http://www.jojobahills.com/) and I immediately put down a deposit to become #17 on the waiting list. Later that week we met in Chicago and toured Phoenix Cruiser in Elkhart Indiana. I put down a deposit on a small RV, not the larger one I had been contemplating.
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| http://www.phoenixusarv.com/2351.html |
It's less that 25 feet long. Lots of insulation, heated tanks for winter camping, solar battery charger, etc etc. Not quite as many "swoosh" graphics as the one pictured here.
Why such a small RV? Signing up for Jojoba Hills was an epiphany: Each 50 X 70 foot lot has a small storage shed, so I don't have to take all my belongings with me on the road. I can plant oranges and peaches on my lot, or harvest from the community orchard.
Jojoba Hills also has a storage area for travel RVs. Huh, storage areas? Looking at Google Earth, it dawned on me that at least 100 of the 280 Jojoba members had a second -- larger -- RV on their lot to provide elbow room and save wear and tear on the road unit. This seemed extravagant until I checked prices of "Travel Trailers", the category of RVs you tow with a regular pickup truck. Quite affordable. More on this later!
So after a trip to Elkhart's RV Hall of Fame and Museum we drove back to Chicago for a nice weekend with classmate Tex Hull and his wife Susan. Visits to the Art Institute and the Field Museum barely scratched the surface of the city's attractions; we'll be back!
 |
| Fun Museum. 85% of the RVs in the country are built in Elkhart County. Phoenix Cruiser is a boutique manufacturer; we met the gentleman who has wired every rig they've built since they were founded in the mid-90s. |
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