Homeless no more

The adventure is rapidly approaching reality with our recent purchase of a new Itasca Impulse 30-foot motor home. The purchase was the culmination of a grueling research, testing and bargaining process, and we are thrilled with the results.

For those who want the gory details, read on; for those just wanting to see the photos, skip down a few paragraphs. Motorhomes / caravans / RVs have their own subculture, terminology and complexities, none of which we had been exposed to until a few months ago. Basically, the first decision we had to make was the type of vehicle we wanted – a trailer or fifth wheel that is towed behind (and doesn’t allow people to travel in it when you’re driving) or a motor home that allows people to move around while you’re on the road (wearing seatbelts, of course, even though not legally required). After deciding on a motor home, the next decision is Class A or Class C (class B are built on van chassis and not good for families) – Class C, which we eventually decided on is built on a pick-up truck chassis and has a bed (or other space) over the cab; Class A are built on a bus or truck chassis and the cab is more integrated into the overall unit. In the end, we liked having the bed over the cab so the kids can have their own “bedroom” without having to fold up the bed each day that we hit the road. As one of the many salespeople we ended up dealing with said, “it’s like a two bedroom.”

The next challenge was figuring out how big, what features, what brand, etc. I won’t bore folks will all the gorey details, but I’d be happy to provide advice if you’re ever going through a similar process. We decided it needed to be under 34’ so that we could fit into most of the National Parks (many people, who have larger motor homes then tow a car behind them, because the motorhomes are too big to fit in a lot of places). The most invaluable advice was from the http://www.rv.org/ “How to Buy a Motor Home” guide and ratings CD. They provided a database of all models for the last 10 years, rating them on a number of safety and other features that the manufacturers don’t tell you about. At this point, we were staying in our storage facility in Atlanta and had narrowed it down to three units that we were interested in:

1. The old rental – A 31’ Winnebago 2005 Chalet with 56k miles. We found this at a Georgia dealership, it was priced right (15% below NADA guide price), but we were concerned about the high mileage (typically RVs get 5,000 miles of use each year, so this had more than 3 times the normal use);
   
2. The high-end model – a 32’ Bigfoot 2004. This was my personal choice, a high-end brand that is consistently among the highest rated in terms of quality, but there were several problems: A) it was in Oregon, and we would have to fly out to pick it up; B) we would have to buy it pretty much sight unseen (or at least invest a few thousand in inspections and a flight out to Oregon before committing), and C) there were a few other interested buyers and I didn’t want to get into a bidding war.
   
3. The over-priced, lightly used model – a 31’ Winnebago 2007 Access with 5600 miles. This unit, located just outside Atlanta was everything we were looking for, other than the price – the dealer was asking $59k, and there were 5 other similar units for sale on RV Trader for $49k. I emailed the dealer the details on the comparable units, then spoke with him and asked what the best price was. He never called back, despite my leaving two additional voicemails.

So, it was now less than 30 days from the planned start of our adventure and we still didn’t have an RV to travel in. It was time to leave Atlanta and drive up to Vermont, having emptied out a large storage facility and shipped the 100 boxes of stuff that we still wanted to keep up north to meet the other 400 boxes of stuff that we shipped from England. At this point I was checking eBay, RV Trader and few other Web sites regularly to see what was available, and was looking for RV dealerships en route that we could stop off at. A listing popped up on eBay for a new, 2008 Itasca Impulse (which is made by Winnebago and was one of the models we were interested in) at a dealership in Fredricksburg, Virginia which we were going to pass right by the next day. We weren’t planning to buy a new unit, but the price on eBay was so good that we decided to have a look. Basically, the dealer had put a “buy it now” price of 30% off of list price, which meant they wanted to get it off their lot without any profit, there was only one bid so far, and the auction wasn’t closing for another 4 days.

We got to the dealership around 3pm, Wendy test drove the unit (she had never driven an RV like this before, while I had test driven some of the other models) and Simon lay down and fell asleep during the test drive (which we took as a good sign). I decided that we would put in a bid via eBay, but that we couldn’t go nearly as high as the price the dealer was asking (which was a great price if you wanted to buy a new RV, but we were looking for a used one).

Jerry, the salesman, who was definitely one of the best salesmen (there don’t seem to be any RV saleswomen) we had met to date asked us what price we were willing to pay to buy it then. Wendy and I quickly caucused and threw out a price that was lower than what our final bid would have been and was 15% lower than the asking price and 40% off of MSRP. That’s when the fun the began (people who know me well know how much I enjoy a good negotiation). Jerry brought in the general manager, Doug, who sat down, pulled out the file, did some quick calculations, and then explained that the unit was priced at their cost but they wanted to move it out and were considering the offer. He then said “My job here is to make money, so when it comes losing it I don’t have a lot of experience.” At this point I’m thinking, but not saying, my view of negotiations like this (I’m not happy until they’re not happy). Doug then brought in the head of sales, Scott, who again tried to explain why I should pay more and what a great deal this was and what it was really worth quoting me NADA guide price (which said the unit, used, was worth $3k more than my offer). I then explained why I wasn’t going to pay more and used the classic “there’s only two prices that matter – what I’m willing to pay and what you’re willing to sell it for” line and he then said he would take the offer to the owner of the dealership.

He called the owner, and came back saying our offer was accepted if we could go up another $50 (it seems like the owner had to add some value if he was going to be involved in the transaction) and we finalized the deal. And that’s how we ended up with our RV. We ended up spending more than we had planned, but given that it’s a new unit, with full warranty, hope to get most of it back when we re-sell at the end of the adventure (and as part of the deal we agreed to use the dealer we bought it from to sell it on consignment). Unfortunately, RVs don’t get driven off the lot the same day you buy them – there’s apparently a lot of preparation work and the dealer then has to do a multi-hour orientation course to teach us the various workings of all the devices on the motor home. So, we shook Jerry’s, and Doug’s and Scott’s hand and agreed to see them again soon.

Now, a week after agreeing the deal, I’m writing this as I’m flying down to Virginia to pick up the RV and drive it back north. I’m planning to pick up Josh from summer camp this Saturday, and we’ll then have the RV in Vermont with us for the next three weeks as we prepare for the big adventure.

For those of you who weren’t interested in the details of the negotiation, here’s the details of our new “home” for the next year:

2008 Itasca Impulse 29T Motor Home built on a Ford 450 chassis with a 6.8L V10 engine (basically, a giant Conestoga wagon with 305 horses in front). Sleeps 8 (2 in bedroom, 2 above cab, the dinette converts to a double bed and the sofa folds down to a queen). Comes with a 55 gallon gas tank and we should get 10mpg on the highway. It’s along way from my Prius in terms of gas mileage, but I’m figuring if we average the two then we’re still under an SUV given that I drove the Prius about 15000 miles.

For those that want all the details, this is the product page on the Itasca Web site.

Here are the photos:

Right side view, main door in the middle

Left side, with Dinette slide out

Simon & Josh's bed above the cab

View to the front

View to the back, from the cab

R.S.V.P.

It has been a long time since I’ve Blogged, but I’ve been busy
finishing up my job, ensuring we got out of England with all of our belongings (when you’re married to someone who is always looking for an excuse to take your favorite 20-year old t-shirts and useless plastic objects to the charity shop, constant vigilance is always required). And, getting ready to send Josh off to summer camp (dropped him on Sunday) and head off with Wendy and Simon down to Atlanta.

I’ve also been focused on getting all the gadgets ready for the trip (and am happily typing this while on-line in my car thanks to Verizon wireless Internet). And, I’ve been working on the Web site (which still needs another week of work that I’ve planned for late July to get the photos and mapping working). But today, I’m not thinking about technology. I’m thinking about the South, town planning, strip-mallization, national brand dominance and where I’m going to have breakfast.

Driving down through Virginia yesterday and North Carolina today, I’m forcibly reminded of my love/hate relationship with the South. The thoughts started flowing this morning as I ran across the Brunswick country line, just past the small town of McKinney, VA. On the line was the following sign, highlighting the county’s great contribution to the southern culinary landscape – Brunswick Stew

Here’s the text from the historical marker in case you can’t read it from the picture:
According to local tradition, while Dr. Creed Haskins and several friends were on a hunting trip in Brunswick County in 1828, his camp cook, Jimmy Matthews, hunted squirrels for a stew. Matthews simmered the squirrels with butter, onions, stale bread, and seasoning, thus creating the dish known as Brunswick stew. Recipes for Brunswick stew have changed over time as chicken has replaced squirrel and vegetables have been added, but the stew remains thick and rich. Other states have made similar claims but Virginia’s is the first.

Now, back in 2001, when we decided to move down to Atlanta, I got a lot of funny looks and stories from my family, most of whom have never lived more than 20 miles outside of New York City. My uncle told me the following joke (which I’ve repeated often) – “You know when you’re down in Georgia and see R.S.V.P on a dinner invitation, do you know what it means? Roast Squirrel Very Possilble”

Now the Atlanta area is as cosmopolitan a city as any, and we were never offered squirrel while we lived down there, but still, when we’d head up north to some of the small Appalachian towns, I got the sense that my uncle’s joke wasn’t too far off the mark. And then, here in McKinney, out for my morning jog past the tobacco field and Baptist church, the sign was bringing it all back – These people eat squirrels, and like them, and write about it on historical markers.

We got back in the car and put on Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “I am a town.” It was now 7am and we were in a hurry to leave because Wendy was getting nervous about the domestic dispute that was going on several doors down at our hotel. I didn’t mention that we had stayed for the night at a cheap and non-descript roadside motel off of US 1 that probably wasn’t much in its day and whenever that day was, it certainly hasn’t been in the past 25 years.

So we got in the car and continued heading South, deciding we’d get breakfast once we crossed into North Carolina. We were driving down US 1, which parallels I-85 because Interstates are pretty boring and you can’t really see what you’re driving through. Of course, it became pretty clear that there wasn’t much to miss on the Interstate, but we decided to stay on US 1 anyway, getting stuck behind tractors but not passing any traffic lights. I tried explaining to Simon what tobacco is (we’d driven through several fields, and yesterday had gone by the Phillip Morris world HQ on I-95, which reminded me, both architecturally and morally of the Death Star from the original Star Wars movie). Simon thought tobacco was something used in sauce, and we had a very amusing conversation about the differences between Tobacco and Tabasco (“What’s the difference dad?” asked Simon. “An S,” I replied, “and one kills people through cigarettes while the other makes food taste better”)

Anyways, we were now approaching the NC line and getting ready for breakfast, but each town we drove through had nothing resembling a diner or other local restaurant. There were lots of gas stations and convenience stores, plenty of flea markets and churches and other stores, but no restaurants. We did pass a Burger King and a couple of hamburger stands, but nothing resembling a local restaurant. It’s amazing how many Cracker Barrel, Denny’s and Waffle Hut signs we had seen off I-95 the day before but we hadn’t even passed one of them (not that we would have stopped if we had).

Finally, however, we were redeemed: Driving into the town of Henderson, we came across the Sunrise Biscuit Company – it seemed like everything we were looking for: a locally made breakfast; not a national chain; some ‘Southern’ character, etc. I had the scrambled egg & cheese platter with a biscuit and a side of grits, Simon had the pancakes (which he proclaimed bigger than his head and larger than any he had ever seen before). The perky woman behind the counter had the best southern accent ever; straight out of central casting. We probably got nicer, more friendly service in 5 minutes than all of the times we’d had breakfast in the UK over the past 6 years. The eggs and grits were good and Simon said the pancakes were almost as good as Grandpa’s.

It’s amazing how often stereotypes can come true (especially if you’re looking for them), but that’s not always a bad thing. Chalk one more tally mark on the “love” side of my love/hate relationship with the South. Of course, it helped that they didn’t have squirrel on the menu and the coffee refills were free.