November 26th, 2016 ~ Southern California
We are so excited to move on to phase two of our travel adventures – RVing!
I can see us parking our small RV right HERE! (photo courtesy of Naturally Earth Friendly)
The open road is calling and we are ready to respond.
For the past couple of years we have done a half-hearted effort to find a decent used RV that would give us the comfort and freedom to further explore the USA and Canada. We knew that we wanted the smaller class C, diesel, on a Sprinter body. The shorter length of 24-25 feet was a must as we wanted to be able to enter and explore all of the National Parks.
Another reason the shorter, easy to maneuver length was a prerequisite was due to my proclivity for seeing a vista that is screaming out to me to take a picture and hollering at Tim to stop. The condensed version will allow us to stop on a dime or make a quick u-turn to go back to, and capture, the scene.
We finally gave up trying to find a decent used version, and decided to bite the bullet, step up to the plate, take a leap of faith, (insert your own metaphor here), and get a brand new unit. So, two weeks ago our search started in earnest to find what we wanted. After scoping out the internet, and visiting several RV lots, we narrowed the field down to the Prism 2200 LE model by Coachmen.
2200 LE Floor plan – we selected the version with the u-dinette
We seem to have worked out most of the details, did a bit of negotiating, and put down a deposit. Now we just have to go pick it up! Hoping to be sending pictures of us with our new RV very soon.
PLEASE NOTE: For our friends, family and loyal readers, please don’t think we have given up on International trips abroad. We have not. They will still be sprinkled in here and there as the deals/opportunities present themselves or the mood hits us to grab those passports and take off once again. We appreciate your loyalty and hope you will enjoy following our adventures around the USA and Canada as well.
*Top heading photo “Open Road in Iceland” is courtesy of wallpoper.com
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful that we have finally figured out what we want, were able to locate one in-state that is configured the way we like and the right color scheme. Now all that is left is going to go get it – hopefully within the next few days!
A Note From Abroad 
congrtulations, we have friends (a couple we met in Iceland ) who have just done the same type of morph and we visited w them, saw their RV ( I think it is a tiger?) anyway, they are quite delighted – you will be also, a home on wheels sounds terrific… we have discussed it more than once ourselves…… so now maybe you will get to the east coast someday and visit us?? consider yourselves invited…
>
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Thanks for the invite Anne! We are so excited to give this a whirl and will definitely give you fair warning if we head anywhere close to you guys. It would be wonderful to see you again.
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CONGRATULATIONS – you are going to LOVE, LOVE traveling this way..
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Vivian, I think we are going to have so much fun. Can’t wait!
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Congratulations, I am excited for you. I look forward to hear about your travels. 🙂
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Thank you very much. And we look forward to sharing 😀
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We did this for five years and even though we now have a small house we are still doing lots of RVing. Happy trails! I wish you all the best and enjoy reading about your adventures.
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I’m betting you have lots of words of wisdom about the RV life after 5 years. Got any favorite posts to point us in the right direction?
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Don’t rush, stay off the freeways as much as you can. Follow blogs of the area you are in for tips. A great one for your area is https://seizethedayrvadventure.com if you haven’t already found her. I just love her blog and she is all over your region.
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Just checked it out and will be spending several fun hours over the next few days reading in much more depth. This site appears to be a goldmine of information. Thanks so much for sharing it with us RV newbies!
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I don’t want to overwhelm you but here is my absolute favourite site for finding campgrounds. I have reviewed many places too. (I use a pseudonom.) http://www.rvparkreviews.com
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Safe travelling where you may wander
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Wishing you all the best on your new adventure. It will be amazing! I’m looking forward to seeing pictures of the new van! Safe and happy travels.
Alison
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Congratulations. Look forward to reading about your new adventures.
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And we look forward to having them so we can share 🙂
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Great news! Congratulations on your new RV – it looks fabulous!
Btw – if you ever fancy trying some RVing (we call it motorhoming) out in Europe drop me a line – we could do an RV swap! We’re currently touring 7 months into touring Europe (Southern Spain at the moment) and are starting to think about how we could do a tour of the USA and Canada…
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Hello Rob. We have not given any thought into swapping RV’s yet, since we haven’t even driven it off the lot, but will keep this suggestion in the back of our mind when/if we decide to do some “motorhoming” in your neck of the woods. Intriguing idea to consider.
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Welcome to the RV lifestyle, a great way to explore! We were RV newbies 7 months ago and love the freedom. Good luck with your travels, cant wait to see your adventures. For some good tips on RVing nothing beats talking with other RVers, and the best way we found was boondockerswelcome.com. You get to stay for free at their property and you meet amazing people.
Good luck with “stop on a dime or make a quick u-turn to go back to, and capture, the scene.” A 24′ class C still takes a bit of stopping from 60. But the ladder to the roof is handy to help capture the vistas.
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HaHa, you are right, about stoping going 60 MPH. Guess we will just have to putt along 🙂 Oh, I had not even thought about climbing on top of the RV to take pictures. Thank you for opening up that window! I will be taking a look at boondockerswelcome.com shortly. Sure appreciate your input.
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Congratulations, I look forward to following along during your RV travels 😊
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Thanks so much. We look forward to having you tag along!
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Sounds great! It will be easier to handle meals. I’m not one for long car trips, but that would be the way to go! I am always fascinated by the organization in those vehicles!!!! Can’t wait to see the photos! 💜
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Trish, it is tiny, but we think functional and well laid out for our needs. And yes, it will be much easier to control what Tim gets in the way of food. Thankfully Tim and I enjoy being together – even 24/7 so looking forward to this next phase.
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Here’s another site that I found interesting when I was entertaining the idea of giving it all up and going RV’ing :). They have some entertaining videos and lots of interesting information on their site, very illuminating for a person who knew very little about the RV world
Gone with the Wynns: http://www.gonewiththewynns.com/
Looking forward to your new adventures.
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Asif, I will give this a look this evening. I have seen that name, and not sure if I simply ran across it when looking at random blogging sites about the RV life, or if someone else mentioned it before. Are you still contemplating getting an RV?
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RV plans are tabled for now, still trying to figure out my work vs retirement plans! I would like to do it though at some point in the future.
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Thanks for visiting my blog and congratulations on your new RV. My sister and brother-in-law have a fifth wheel and love it. They are currently in Palm Springs and we were with them over Thanksgiving. I look forward to following you on this new adventure.
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My sister and brother-in-law also went the 5th wheel route, but we decided that the motorhome was our choice. We have never had either, so this will be an adventure and probably come with a bit of a learning curve. Hope you enjoyed your time in Palm Springs!
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Congratulations on you new RV! It looks like a nice layout and with that size you will find you will be able to get a site in many of our beautiful national and state parks. If one of you is 62 or older be sure to get a National Senior Park Pass for free entry to the parks and discount camping fees at federal parks. Some of our favorite places to camp are Corps of Engineers parks. And thanks for following my blog! Wishing you safe travels and happy trails!
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Yep, we already have our senior pass. Best $10 investment there is! Thanks for the heads up regarding the Corps of Engineers parks.
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Congratulations! Sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun adventures. I would love to travel the US and Canada. Maybe one day. Until then, I’ll live vicariously through you.
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Well our RV is pretty tiny, but we LOVE having you come along for the ride!
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Congratulations! Look forward to reading your RV travel stories. Come and visit Canada 🙂
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Why would I stop following you? You’re still traveling. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Crazy Pasta Child.
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Penny, thank you for sharing. Always appreciated!
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I will be curious to see how you like RVing! My husband and I ha e been retired for 3-1/2 years and have done a fair amount of travel. We intended to do more international travel (we’ve been to Paris, England, Scotland and Ireland) but we’ve found we love road trips here in the U.S. We have a number of friends who love RVing, and have urged us to give it a try, but I just can’t see myself in a RV (even though I’ve never even set foot in one!) I think we might have to just rent one sometime and give it a shot!
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Well, it is a little too soon to know, but I think we are going to love it! I’ll be writing more soon about our first experiences. We too love road trips and this will give us even more freedom. Very happy and excited!
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Enjoy the next phase of your travelling adventures!
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Thank you. I’m betting we are going to LOVE it…
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How exciting!! You have so many adventures ahead. Where was the picture taken? It is breathtaking.
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The picture of the open road was taken in Iceland.
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Congratulations. I think you will love it. Like everything, having an RV has both positives and negatives – but mostly positives. We had an RV for five years before circumstances required us to stay close to home for a couple years; then we decided to try our road trips without it and find that works for us now. But everytime we see an RV on the road, we get a little tug at our hearts. The RV will take you places where there are no motels, to places where you otherwise would not visit and will allow you to stay longer to really get the feel of the places. And you will meet wonderful people in campgrounds, not just pass them at breakfast as you would in a motel or hotel.
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Thank you for your encouragement. We are looking forward to getting out there. Do you have any favorite sources for finding good campgrounds?
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Welcome to RVing. We hopeful for your new adventure moving about in an RV. As for you, our need primarily was ease of use during traveling and enough space and comfort during stays. Our FR3 is very user friendly in traffic. My wife can drive it and she loves that. It can make a u-turn as normal vehicles can do. While Parker on a RV site it is very comfortable. My wife has purchased a ceramic electric skillet and uses that more than the stove. We are eating good and sleeping good. We wish the same for you. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. We have been Camp Hosts for three months and have learned quite a bit in RVing.
-Vic
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Thank you so much Vic for your kind offer of help. Our biggest question at the moment is how to find good places to stay. Especially concerned about needing reservations during the summer as we love to travel without a set intinerary.
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Love that you are leaping that huge leap of faith! Good luck and thanks for liking http://writingthewild.com !! I hope you have many happy miles in your new home!!
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Thank you Julianne.
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Hey new best friends, thanks for stopping by to check out The Beginning. . .Not The End. I do hope you buy the book with three stories about folks just like us with a twist. From your picture, you could be on the cover of my next book. Again, thanks for visiting. Enjoy your amazing journey at this phase in your lives. Love from Charmaine. Happy New Year and good health!
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Charmaine, delighted to know you! Got me more than curious to check out your book. Being a published author, now that is an accomplishment!
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Looks lovely! I hope you have very many wonderful holidays with the rv. We will follow you with interest. It’s something we are thinking about for when we retire in a few years time. All the best. Karen
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Karen, we are heading out in the morning to explore in our new RV. Stay tuned!
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Good luck. How exciting!. Enjoy xxx
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So exciting that you are exploring the world on four wheels. We look forward to reading about and seeing the pics of your travels.
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Thank you. We enjoy sharing our travels. Happy to have you follow along!
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