I am looking at the message title I just wrote and am having a hard time believing it. Here is our long story.
DW and I have been talking off and on in recent months that we seem to have lost our enthusiasm for the long trips we have taken. We've enjoyed them and have great memories of places we've seen. But, we just seem to keep talking ourselves out of that next long trip....unable to decide where we want to go.
Some of it is due to my DW's continued battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis and the spinal fusion she had three years ago. Now she has an elbow that the orthro guy says needs replacement to give her any relief. She will go wherever I say I want to go but I know she is not feeling well enough to do the long trips.
We came to one of our favorite places, Myrtle Beach, SC to spend some time enjoying the ocean. We've always liked it here so decided to look at small beach homes on leased lots in two of the large RV parks here. Bottom line, they want a lot of $$ for the land lease and those we'd have are on pilings (a good thing near the ocean) which require climbing a lot of steps. Some have little elevators but those are the most expensive.
Where we landed was to buy a new Grand Designs Solitude 5th wheel that we will store at the RV park (Ocean Lakes). They take care of everything. You pay a quarterly storage fee (which is less per year than the annual cost of my current motorhome storage). When you make a reservation to come, they put the unit on your site and put it back in storage when you leave. For an extra $50, they will set up your rig...level it, connect electric, water, sewer, set the HVAC, start your fridge.
We live about 5 hrs away so we plan to come in the shoulder seasons...fall, mid winter, early spring.
We were negotiating on the new 5th wheel and the dealer asked if we wanted to trade. I said no, my coach is worth more than the 5th wheel so we will just buy the trailer and I will sell my coach in the spring I guess. They insisted we tell them about the coach so we did, showed them some photos (it was at the RV park). They got on the phone to the general manager of their mothership in NC. Thirty minutes later they made an offer we decided we would not refuse. They would give us the new 5th wheel and a check that in total came within, IMO, $5 to $6k of what I could realistically get for the Alllure. No question we would have more money in our pocket if we did a private sale but considering the hassle of selling, dealing with tire kickers, etc, we decided it was a good low stress deal for us. The offer was contingent upon a full inspection of our coach by two of their techs, certainly reasonable.
The techs were scheduled to come to the RV park today to do the inspection at 0900. Around 0730 while DW and I were having breakfast, I heard the generator start. Went outside to check pedestal and breaker had not tripped. Neighbor's AC was running so power was on. Looked at my TRC surge protector and it was tripped and flashing. Cycled breaker at pedestal and every time the surge protector delay ended, it immediately tripped off. RV park guys came, checked pedestal, all checked OK but he replaced the breaker anyway. Did not satisfy the surge guard. I checked all connections and everything was tight. Even opened the cord reel enclosure in closet and checked there but all was well.
Figured my TRC surge guard had just given up so zoomed to nearby CW and got a new one, $300. Quickly removed the old one and installed the new one and it worked perfectly. Just as I was tightening the last screw, the two techs showed up (they were a bit late). The gave the coach a good full finger exam....spend about 1 1/2 hours..under side, engine bay, generator, run slides in/out, checked roof, ran all AC's, Aqua Hot, AV equipment, etc. They noted the broken door lock cylinder and the missing OTA antenna head. Bottom line, dealer called back and said deal was good to go.
So we go tomorrow for a PDI/demo of the 5th wheel, finalize paperwork and get our check! Back on Friday AM with the coach to move everything into the new rig. They will then tow the 5th wheel back to the RV park for us.
DW asked what would we do if we get the itch to hit the road again. I said we would either get a F350 to tow the 5th wheel or maybe find a nice used smaller class C. I think we will stay put but who knows??
Not sure what we will miss most. The 5th wheel is 41' and has more living space than the Allure. It is nicely appointed with residential fridge, nice furniture, electric fireplace, big shower (DW will like that), just a very nice coach made for full time living. I think I will miss the heated tile floors and I know DW will miss the Aqua Hot's unlimited hot water when she takes one of those long showers.
I plan not to be a stranger to this forum. While I will participate in the Grand Designs Owners forum, I will check in here whenever I think I can help someone. I hope there will be no regrets. I do know that someone will get a very nice coach when they get his one....even with a few warts it is a very nice rig.
My best to all of you.
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