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RojoRed · 05-18-2011, 03:30 PM

After many years of family boating here in Nashville on Old Hickory lake we finally sold our last boat and bought a 2 foot bigger motor home. Seems like it is HUGE and will take some time getting used to it but at least there is no current to mess with. A lot of the systems are the same and then a lot are totally different. We purchased a 2004 Monaco Diplomat 40' with 4 slides that only had 13,000 miles on it from a local man. It looks brand new as it was hardly used and kept under cover the whole time he had it since new. I had looked at Tiffin Phaeton and Fleetwood but really liked this Monaco. Had the normal problems I guess of one not used often, toilet seal leaked and would not hold water. Batteries were old as were tires so we replaced all. Jacks would work sometimes and not sometimes, found a bad relay and solved that problem. Slide in bedroon curbside has acted up 3 times. Sometimes out, one time in and would not budge. Had Mr. RV come out to the house and that little slide has 2 motors, go figure. Anyway, disconected both wires from the relay box and then it will work... Not sure why but one wire won't do it. The the large slide roadside did not work last week. Mr. RV came out agin and said he messed with the ground wire and then it moved... Not sure what to expect but my mechanic loves all these little problems. Perhaps I should have bought the Phaeton..My luck, while in Florida camping at New Years eve a brand new Phaeton with all the toys parked next to me.. Well, I had to get a tour and did I, what a beautiful home to say the least. If I win the lottery, and I just know I will, that is my next purchase. Perhaps the Monaco got mad at me for looking at another home cause that is when all the problems started.
Oh well, we are going to Seven Points campground on friday for 2 weeks and will see how things go. We really love it and usually get waterfront sites so we don't miss boating at all. Have met a lot of very nice "full timers" and can only imagine doing that ourselves someday. When the kids are home from college thay love it also, expecially the samores around the campfire. Boating was great for the family and camping is going to be just as good or better for us first timers. Look forward to asking questions as I get more into this.

John & Jill Owen
Mt. Juliet, TN

skipwil · 05-18-2011, 03:55 PM

Congratulations on the New RV. I did the same thing - 42' houseboat to the Fleetwood on my profile. The NICE thing -we don't have to worry about it sinking.
I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine.
Safe Journeys...

**Petro** · 05-19-2011, 07:12 AM

John & Jill;

Welcome to iRV2. We are glad you joined us. I went through the same transition you are going through. I owned a 52' Skipperliner. I sold it and bought a motor home. My DW and I enjoy traveling the country vs the same waterway.

Post often and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Don

SVTotem · 05-19-2011, 07:29 AM

John,
Motorhomes are like boats. No matter how much you spend on the boat/motorhome there will always be something to fix. The definition of cruising still is "doing boat maintenance in exotic places". Now we just substitute motorhome for boat in the definition. It is an adventure, after all, have a ball!

Nuge · 05-19-2011, 07:42 AM

Congratulations and Welcome!!! No currents but watch those cross-winds!!!

RojoRed · 05-19-2011, 08:43 AM

Ya know it is kind of funny in a way now that I look back on it but it sure was not at the time. I took delivery on the Monaco last May on a Wednesday and thought a great way to learn about it would be to go camping. So, I booked a nice site at Cedar Creek Campground in Mt. Juliet area and away we went. Well, Thursday it started raining, Friday it rained all day and we sat inside. Saturday morning we got up and it was still raining but weather service still said it would be ending. All day and night it rained and the good news was we had no leaks. Sunday morning our site has about 4 to 6 inches of water in it and it was still raining. We thought we might take a car home and check on things and about a mile down the road our friendly neighbor in his Phaeton called and told us to get back there. We turned around and went back to find they were making everyone leave as the water was now covering the roads in the campground. I looked over at the volley ball court and the water was up to the bottom of the net some 3 feet off the ground I suspect. I quickly unhooked electric and water, put in slides and got ready to go. The friendly neighbor again helped me by walking down the middle of the road as I could not see the edges and water was up to my bay doors. I was a nervous wreck as all I could think of was the big ditch on either side of the road and the warning I got from the previous owner about tipping it over on a soft shoulder. We made it home and I had a few other neighbors parking on our street as we were land locked by closed roads in the area but I was on high ground. Finally it quit raining on Monday and the only problem I had was leaving my refrig on and not parked in a level spot. It quit, food spoiled and it cost me a couple hundred dollars to have it reset. Another lesson learned. The city of Nashville was hit hard as were both of the Corps campgrounds but all are back almost. Seven Points had all of its water sites underwater last week when I drove by. Seems like May is not a great time for camping in Tennessee. So, when I look at photos on the news and I see 30+ foot RV's floating down the river I realize just how lucky I was to have a nice neighbor in the campground who makes it back to Tennessee a couple times a year. We laugh about it now and he called me from the west coast last week on his way to Alaska as he had heard about our flooding this year also. Thanks for the posts and I look forward to asking questions for sure and meeting some of you.

John & Jill and our new dog Charlie we rescued.