scottydl
Site Team
So here?s my story, folks. We are now proud owners of a 1994 Thor Residency, 35? Class A motorhome. Traveling from Illinois to New York to pick it up was quite an experience, best shared by detailing each day of our trip. And who better to share the story with than all of you! I?ll post ?chapters? here as I am able to type them up. Comments welcome?
CHAPTER ONE / DAY ONE ? The Drive & Pickup
We left central Illinois at about 6:15am, planning on losing an hour due to the time zone change and wanting to arrive in northwestern New York with plenty of daylight remaining. We drove east through Indianapolis, Columbus, up toward Cleveland, over to Erie, and continuing past Buffalo. It was a long 10-hour trip, anticipation building as we traveled. We were actually going to buy a motorhome! I could hardly believe it. Right around Erie, I called the seller to give him a travel update and verify the meeting place. I was a little worried (for him) when he said our meeting was still on schedule, but he had been having chest pains for about 12 hours and his wife was driving him to the hospital as soon as we picked up the motorhome. Yikes!
We arrived in the planned grocery store parking lot a couple hours later, and my wife went in to use the restroom while I watched the back of the lot eagerly. Sure enough, in came rolling the ?94 Thor Residency looking just as beautiful as I had imagined. We drove over to meet them and check out the RV. Everything looked great, or acceptable at the very least. In hindsight I now realize my rose-tinted glasses were definitely on (as the saying goes), but even if I would have noticed every flaw it wouldn?t have changed our decision to purchase. The seller was very thorough although a little scattered with the walk-through. He really covered a lot of the components and was quite helpful, but being a newbie and a little overwhelmed I couldn?t quite take it all in. I remember hearing him say something about how ?house batteries never last too long? as he was showing me inside that particular exterior storage compartment.
When all was said and done, we handed over the check and he handed over the keys to our new-to-us Thor motorhome. What a feeling to drive that puppy out onto the road! The campground where we stayed our first night was just a couple minutes down the road, so we pulled in and I paid my half-price Passport America rate ($19 at that place).
Finding a spot and backing in was not too hard, but those hydraulic jacks gave me a run for my money. I thought it would take 5 minutes tops. How about 90! I am not kidding. Every time I?d get the rear jacks as high as they needed to be, I?d feel a mighty shift and the whole rig would fall backward off the jacks and roll a couple feet. The jacks would retract and we?d have to start over. We finally got it mostly level with a couple 2x4?s as jack stabilizers, but even then jacks were sitting slightly crooked as if they were about to retract. Any tips on leveling would be much appreciated? I have needed or tried to used the jacks again since that night.
After the leveling fiasco was solved, we headed back to the grocery store to pick up supplies and stock the fridge. Came back to the campground (only sparsely populated, it was a Sunday night after all), took hot showers in the rig, and headed for bed. Some of the ?iffy? cosmetic features of the rig showed up that first night, when the shoddily constructed futon bedframe fell apart before we even laid down on it. That?s okay, the mattress fit fine (and was just as comfortable) on the floor. I?ll rebuild the frame later on. And so ended our first day as RV?ers.
CHAPTER 2 COMING SOON
CHAPTER ONE / DAY ONE ? The Drive & Pickup
We left central Illinois at about 6:15am, planning on losing an hour due to the time zone change and wanting to arrive in northwestern New York with plenty of daylight remaining. We drove east through Indianapolis, Columbus, up toward Cleveland, over to Erie, and continuing past Buffalo. It was a long 10-hour trip, anticipation building as we traveled. We were actually going to buy a motorhome! I could hardly believe it. Right around Erie, I called the seller to give him a travel update and verify the meeting place. I was a little worried (for him) when he said our meeting was still on schedule, but he had been having chest pains for about 12 hours and his wife was driving him to the hospital as soon as we picked up the motorhome. Yikes!
We arrived in the planned grocery store parking lot a couple hours later, and my wife went in to use the restroom while I watched the back of the lot eagerly. Sure enough, in came rolling the ?94 Thor Residency looking just as beautiful as I had imagined. We drove over to meet them and check out the RV. Everything looked great, or acceptable at the very least. In hindsight I now realize my rose-tinted glasses were definitely on (as the saying goes), but even if I would have noticed every flaw it wouldn?t have changed our decision to purchase. The seller was very thorough although a little scattered with the walk-through. He really covered a lot of the components and was quite helpful, but being a newbie and a little overwhelmed I couldn?t quite take it all in. I remember hearing him say something about how ?house batteries never last too long? as he was showing me inside that particular exterior storage compartment.
When all was said and done, we handed over the check and he handed over the keys to our new-to-us Thor motorhome. What a feeling to drive that puppy out onto the road! The campground where we stayed our first night was just a couple minutes down the road, so we pulled in and I paid my half-price Passport America rate ($19 at that place).
Finding a spot and backing in was not too hard, but those hydraulic jacks gave me a run for my money. I thought it would take 5 minutes tops. How about 90! I am not kidding. Every time I?d get the rear jacks as high as they needed to be, I?d feel a mighty shift and the whole rig would fall backward off the jacks and roll a couple feet. The jacks would retract and we?d have to start over. We finally got it mostly level with a couple 2x4?s as jack stabilizers, but even then jacks were sitting slightly crooked as if they were about to retract. Any tips on leveling would be much appreciated? I have needed or tried to used the jacks again since that night.After the leveling fiasco was solved, we headed back to the grocery store to pick up supplies and stock the fridge. Came back to the campground (only sparsely populated, it was a Sunday night after all), took hot showers in the rig, and headed for bed. Some of the ?iffy? cosmetic features of the rig showed up that first night, when the shoddily constructed futon bedframe fell apart before we even laid down on it. That?s okay, the mattress fit fine (and was just as comfortable) on the floor. I?ll rebuild the frame later on. And so ended our first day as RV?ers.
CHAPTER 2 COMING SOON
