The visit with Dave and Joy at their campsite on Camel Lake,
near Bristol, FL, got Anne and me thinking, “What if we looked into
getting an RV for ourselves?” The three week stay in the Class B Europa had
helped us definitely decide that we didn’t want a coach of that small size.
When we returned to Medford we began filtering through web
pages and driving to local RV dealers to try to start eliminating styles and
sizes we didn’t wish to have. That still left a zillion options for units which
seemed ok. This was getting us nowhere in making a decision.
Anne called her cousin, Christine, in Eugene, to beg a stay
at their home for the weekend of the RV show at the Lane County Fair Grounds.
Chris, and her husband, David, live just two blocks from the fairgrounds; a
perfect place to stay.
Saturday morning came and over breakfast I decided that
instead of visiting the many different dealers and their new units at the
fairgrounds, I would prefer to drive to Junction City and look over the new and
used RVs at Guaranty RV. Guaranty is the
largest RV dealer in the northwest, and they have a very good reputation for
products and service. That is what we did.
Guaranty RV has a large lot for each genre of recreational
vehicle. They have a lot for motor homes of all classes. They have a lot for 5th
wheel units of all lengths and features. And they have a lot for trailers of
all variety. At this time, Anne and I had pretty much decided we would have a
Class A motor home or a 5th wheel. We didn’t cotton to the idea of towing
a trailer.
The first lot we came to was the motor home village for
Guaranty. The representative we linked up with, Chris Vaughn, showed us several
beautiful used motor homes. Anne was very specific in her need for the RV to
have ample facility for her to do her sewing craft work once we tied down at a
campsite. The floor plans were quite varied. We toured one used Winnebago
Horizon that met Anne’s tough interior standards. Plus, it seemed very clean and livable. Chris
suggested I take it for a test drive. Oh boy.
The Winnebago has 43,000 miles on it and it came to Guaranty
as a bank repro. The thought of motoring this 40 foot behemoth onto the city’s
streets brought me a bit of anxiety. My only experience with large vehicles was
driving Christopher’s 40 foot motor home conversion bus when we visited them
last time in Savannah. His bus seemed to have a mind of its own and it didn’t
want to stay cleanly in its own lane. That was a tough drive.
The Winnebago handled and rode like a dream: no wandering,
no leaning, smooth automatic shifting through its six speeds and it seemed to
want to go faster than I anticipated. There was no feeling that I had a huge
thing following behind me. This was motoring nirvana. Wow, this was going to be
hard to beat with a 5th wheel.
We thanked Chris Vaughn and drove to the 5th
wheel lot. There we met Clay, an award winning sales veteran for Guaranty. In
Clay’s office we outlined what Anne and I were looking for in a 5th
wheel unit. Clay hit on an idea right away. His suggestion was the Road
Warrior.
The Road Warrior is manufactured by Heartland, which meant
nothing to either of us. But the beauty of the units is the design. This is a 5th
wheel with well appointed expandable bedroom and living room and it has a
separated 8’ wide by 10’ long section at the rear which is an open floor
garage. Not any garage. This one has its own side entrance and a fold down end
that serves either as a ramp or a deck. When the ATV or golf cart has been off
loaded two queen size beds can be lowered from the ceiling to form queen-over-queen
bunks.
We aren’t interested in toting along an ATV, but the 8’ x
10’ space could be turned into a wonderful craft room. The lower of the two
beds will fold up into long dinette like seats and there is a six person table
which plugs into the floor between the seats. This would serve both our
entertainment and crafting needs.
The next step, when considering a 5th wheel, is
to look into what you are going to tow it with. One of Guaranty’s lots was
packed with used diesel pickups of all sizes. I was firm in the belief that a
large 5th wheel was going to be pulled most comfortably with a truck
fitted with dual rear wheels. Clay had a 2007 Ford F-450 on the lot which was
in like new condition. We took it for a test drive and it seemed to handle ok.
As I put the Ford through its paces on a back road to
nowhere, I remembered the feel of the small 5th wheel we owned many
years ago. I could feel the 5th wheel trying to continue to go
straight as I made the gentle left turn. I could remember the frustration as I
repeatedly tried to coax it into a narrow campsite at Lake of the Woods. Flash
backs came of the process of disconnecting from the pickup and setting up the
RV in its new temporary home site. We had a 25 foot Coachmen 5th
wheel. It wasn’t near the size and potential temperament the 36 foot Road
Warrior was going to be.
The price tag for the truck and 5th wheel came to
a push compared to the motor home we liked. We drove back to the first lot to
have a second look. Yes, it still suited our initial needs but it would need to
have a small car towed along to allow us to comfortably sightsee and perform
replenishment shopping tasks. However, with a Class A motor home the horse was
before the cart. The 30 plus thousand pound Freightliner chassis and Winnebago
coach combination, with its 350 hp Cummins turbo diesel engine, were not going
to notice a small 3,000 pound puppy at its rear. With a 5th wheel,
the tail is always wagging the dog. The decision was made. We were going to own
a used Class A motor home. Yippee!
We met with Elaine at the Guaranty business office and the completed
necessary paperwork. The Winnebago would take a few days to detail to our
expectations and it would be ready to pick up next weekend.
Next Friday soon came and we drove back to Eugene to once
again partake of the hospitality of Cousin Chris and David. The next day was going to be busy and we
needed a good round of pinochle to help stave off the dread of having to accept
a new toy. David and I soundly tromped the ladies. Sorry about that.
At Guaranty we were introduced to Bob. Bob is a lead man in
the service department. His job today was to walk us through our new investment
and to answer our questions. Bob started at the front door. Approximately four
hours later we had covered everything and had been shown how to operate all of
the Winnebago’s many onboard systems. Whew, that was exhausting.
We made a last stop at the business office to sign off on
some insurance papers, said goodbyes to Elaine and Clay and drove back to
collect the Horizon. Anne wanted to stop at a nearby sewing machine store so we
agreed to meet back at Chris and David’s.
I had planned the return route to the house carefully to
avoid too many narrow right or left turns, all worked fine.
The next morning we left right after breakfast. My first
stop was to be in Creswell to top the fuel tank. Guaranty had provided more
than a half tank of diesel and a full tank of propane. I wanted to begin full
so I could meter the mpg. It took 35 gallons to fill it up.
The bus cruised very kindly at 60 mph. The trip from Eugene
to Medford was a good test for how it could be expected to perform up and down
hills and around sharp freeway bends.
The RV is factory equipped with four walkie-talkies stored in
a recharging bay on the dash. We checked our channels and with the radios Anne
and I could talk as she followed behind. At Canyonville she exited. This is
where Three Feathers Casino is located. It was time for her to take a slot
machine break. I drove on home.
Jim met me at the rear of the house to help guide me onto
the back parking pad. The RV has a rear mounted camera and that helped me aim
the back of the rig through the opened railing. The rail was designed to swing
open to permit a rig to extend over the edge of the pad. This helps put the
whole 40 foot bus on level ground for its parking.
The Winnebago Horizon Itasca has found its new home. Now, we
need to get it outfitted for Bob and Anne’s first big road adventure.
I just discovered something. With the RV parked on the pad, I can easily drain the oil - maybe not.
