Community Forums

Pilot2Driver · 05-19-2018, 01:14 AM

Greetings. I have been an unregistered lurker for some time and look forward to continuing to learn from the members and reveling in the camaraderie that they share.

My wife, Pam, grew up camping with her family in tents and pop-up trailers. The in-laws graduated to ever larger fifth wheels that they enjoyed into their eighties, traveling throughout North America. Relaxed pace. Low stress. Good times.

As an airline family, Pam and I raised our kids traveling all over the world. Almost every day off or vacation started with a run to the airport and a flight to who-knows-where. With family and friends scattered across the globe, "who-knows-where" was often thousands of miles away. Hectic pace. High stress. But good times, and our now-adult children are comfortable in any culture or location.

A dozen years ago, Pam talked me into renting a toy hauler for a month to vacation comfortably with our motorcycles. What an eye opener for me! All the joys that iRV2 members know so well and love. (And a few on-the-road repairs that we managed ourselves, as iRV2 members also know so well.)

When retirement approached, Pam suggested that we become semi-full timers. Sell our Denver home, keep our Orlando home, and spend six to eight months each year on the road in a Class A diesel pusher with a runabout and my motorcycle in tow (she sold hers).

Retirement was postponed a few years when my airline offered me a senior management position after mandatory pilot retirement age. I used that time to research RVs. Now, I have "re-retired." The Denver house is up for sale. The RV will be purchased after the house sells, and then we will hit the road.

Vic & Pam & the four-legged furry children

momdoc · 05-19-2018, 04:20 AM

Welcome to the forum. Lots of good folks and good info here. It sounds like you have a great plan in place. We left the Denver area (Conifer) 12 years ago for the Caribbean and over the last two years have slit our time between the Dominican Republic and touring the US in our Motorhome (3-4 months at a time in each place)

Enjoy the adventure.

beamisl · 05-19-2018, 05:25 AM

Welcome to the Forum!

You are in for a very beautiful and fun way of life.

Finance · 05-19-2018, 06:13 AM

Congrats on the do over! Best wishes for your times on the road.

**TonyDi** · 05-19-2018, 08:04 AM

Hi Vic & Pam

Glad to have you here in the forum with us. You're gonna like it here.

Congrats on the re-retirement. Good luck in the search for the perfect RV for you. Let us know if we can help you.

Happy Trails!!!

MSHappyCampers · 05-19-2018, 10:21 AM

Hi Vic & Pam!

Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

saddlesore · 05-19-2018, 10:30 AM

Keep in mind..
Your 1st coach is a learning tool..
BUY USED! & buy one with everything you "think" you want and will need..
As You will make mistakes and have booboo's We all have.....(sometimes more than twice..)
Within a year or two you will discover..about the RV

What you love about the RV...
What you can kinda-sorta tolerate with the RV..
And what you absolutely hate about that !@#$%^%$#@! RV.
Then you can go get what you should have gotten in the first place..
Happy Hunting

Remember..Every day you put off retiring..is just one less Day of being retired

Stever53 · 05-19-2018, 12:28 PM

Hi Vic & Pam

this place is great

Safe travels

wa8yxm · 05-19-2018, 04:20 PM

Just remember. Boing 747 Go fast
Concord, Go Faster
F-14 Faster still
The CIA has one that is truley impressive (Mach 3 Plus)
RV. Not so fast

Mr_D · 05-19-2018, 04:26 PM

from WA State.

I also grew up camping from 10 and I'm 71 now.

DebbieMH · 06-06-2018, 03:17 PM

Welcome and sounds like a great plan. We retired in April 2016 and hit the road in our motorhome ... what an adventure! We spent 5 months touring some of the most beautiful country and national parks. Last summer we went off for only about 2 months due to some medical issues ... this year, we are about to embark again ... plan on being gone for about 4 months this time. It's a wonderful life, take it slow and smell the roses. IRV2 folks will be happy to help you out if you run into any trouble. Safe travels ... Lynn

Pilot2Driver · 09-24-2018, 12:17 AM

After extensive research, we went "all in" and purchased a brand new Newmar Essex.

Pam and I thank the iRV2.com members who offered sage counsel to assist us in our search.

Our research had involved two years of reading iRV2.com and other industry sites, visiting dealerships around the the country (the benefit of an airline career), communicating with others, and test driving several models and variations of each brand. We leased a motorhome this summer for two months to visit campgrounds across the country to speak with RV owners, RV mechanics, and campground owners/managers to confirm others' experiences.

We toured the Newmar factory in Nappanee (three times) and the Entegra Coach factory in Middlebury.

After consulting our financial advisors to compare the costs/benefits of acquiring a new versus a well-maintained used coach, we determined that a new motorhome worked better for us IF we could get exactly what we wanted at a good price point, understanding that these are depreciating assets that take constant (and possibly costly) care.

We found images on the Internet of a brand new Newmar Essex that exactly matched "this is what we want in our dream coach - floor plan, materials, cabinetry, and options." The dealer who had it agreed to a selling price that we felt was fair to them and attractive to us.

We took delivery on 27 August, spent eight days near the dealership to learn the coach and identity possible issues, including taking a five hundred mile round trip drive.

Now we are on a seven-week, four thousand mile initial trip from our home in Orlando up to eastern Canada and back for our initial shake-down.