About ten years ago Nancy and I began dreaming of selling our house, buying a motorhome, and getting to know our homeland better. By the time we had the house ready to sell, the public wasn't ready to buy, and the economy was in the toilet. But we kept attending RV shows all over California. The salesmen came to know our faces. It was a little embarrassing.
One day it occurred to us that we were approaching the autumn of our years, and if we were ever going to have this adventure, it had better be soon. So we rented our main house rather than trying to sell it, and got serious about selecting a motorhome. About six months ago I came across a new design called the Thor Challenger 37KT. It had a unique floor plan and an elegant dark wood interior, and both of us felt that this, finally, was the one for us. We test drove one in Southern California at a big dealership but decided to order exactly what we wanted from a dealer closer to home.
Our new baby arrived at the dealership in Fresno about two weeks ago. We drove up, inspected it, gave our approval, and they started work on the extras we had ordered - a DirecTV dish that automatically finds the satellites, a satellite radio antenna, and a tow hitch and brake for our tow vehicle (a Mazda truck).
On Tuesday, August 23, 2011, we drove our Mazda pickup back to Fresno, and while they worked on the towing mechanism, we underwent a four hour session of instructions, during which I realized that I didn't know much about how to operate a modern motorhome. But I was not disheartened.
We took delivery on Wednesday, late in the day, which made it nighttime when we arrived back in Santa Cruz County. The prospect of driving the motorhome up our country road, let alone getting it through the narrow gate on our driveway, in the dark of night, was not appealing, so we stayed overnight at the RV lot at the Santa Cruz Elks' Lodge, of which I am a proud member. The next morning I drove the motorhome up the steep climb past our driveway to a spot that allows large vehicles to turn around. With Nancy down the road, waving to stop oncoming traffic, if any, I made it onto our driveway. We rotated the mirrors to reduce our width and with the help of friends got through the gate with inches to spare.
I'm happy to report that our dogs Tammy Faye and Sophia seemed to like their new digs.
Saturday evening was party time to introduce our new motorhome to friends and neighbors. It was wonderful to see everybody, show off the new toy, drink a little, eat a little, and collect ideas for what to see in America.
Since the party, we've been running like gazelles to get everything ready for takeoff on Saturday morning. So many decisions and shall we say a few disagreements over what to take and what to leave behind. We're both exhausted and nervous about what lies ahead. But so excited. Wish us luck.
Our circuit will take us up into the wine countries of Oregon and Washington, then over to Montana and Glacier National Park, down into Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, across to the Great Lakes area and into Pennsylvania, where we'll visit with Nancy's family before heading up to Maine to follow the leaf changes down through New England. We'll travel along the East Coast to Asheville, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina, then across to New Orleans, through Austin and San Antonio, then Albuquerque, New Mexico, and back to California.
As we move about the country, I'll update this blog frequently and tell you about the mini-adventures we have - the interesting trailer park folk, the mechanical breakdowns, the scenic beauties, the regional food, the bizarre points of interest. We'll do our best to post some pictures. I'll try not to bore you with stories of how wonderful our dogs are.
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