leviweaver
Active member
I did it. The loan was approved, the check was cut, and despite the Worst Efforts of Greyhound, I eventually got to North Carolina and picked it up: a 2008 Winnebago View 24J.
(The link is still live as of right now, though I suspect it will be taken down soon: http://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2008-Winnebago-View-24J-110969318 )
I had never driven a MH/RV before this one, though I've driven a dually truck with a gooseneck when I was a teenager, so I was a bit nervous about my first ever drive being through the Smoky Mountains between Winston-Salem and Nashville, but everything went off without a problem.
Of course, as I expected (being a first-time buyer) there were a couple of things that escaped my pre-acceptance inspection until I was off the lot. The aux-in line to the stereo system is dead, so I can't play music from my iPhone/iPod, and the passenger's side armrest has something wrong with it - it will occasionally just fall while the passenger's arm is resting on it, but both of those seem like fixable things.
It didn't quite get the advertised "15-18 mpg" (averaged around 13), but I'm chalking that up to me still learning how to drive it, and the up & down of the mountains.
I pulled it into the back yard last night (it barely fit - we had to measure the gate to make sure, and I cleared it with about 2 inches of space on either side), and we had our first "picnic" out back this afternoon.
We'll start full-timing in February, so I have the next few months to memorize the owner's manual and learn every inch of the rig in detail. But for now, this overwhelming dream is real and it's parked in the backyard.
We need the income of my wife's job until we get on the road (where I'll be playing shows for income - I'm a musician), so I can't really post this anywhere else, but I had to write it down and be excited somewhere. We did it. We're doing it. It's been 6 years of hoping for this moment, and long weeks on the road alone, hoping it would happen someday. And someday is here. I'm in an overwhelmed state of disbelief.
(The link is still live as of right now, though I suspect it will be taken down soon: http://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2008-Winnebago-View-24J-110969318 )
I had never driven a MH/RV before this one, though I've driven a dually truck with a gooseneck when I was a teenager, so I was a bit nervous about my first ever drive being through the Smoky Mountains between Winston-Salem and Nashville, but everything went off without a problem.
Of course, as I expected (being a first-time buyer) there were a couple of things that escaped my pre-acceptance inspection until I was off the lot. The aux-in line to the stereo system is dead, so I can't play music from my iPhone/iPod, and the passenger's side armrest has something wrong with it - it will occasionally just fall while the passenger's arm is resting on it, but both of those seem like fixable things.
It didn't quite get the advertised "15-18 mpg" (averaged around 13), but I'm chalking that up to me still learning how to drive it, and the up & down of the mountains.
I pulled it into the back yard last night (it barely fit - we had to measure the gate to make sure, and I cleared it with about 2 inches of space on either side), and we had our first "picnic" out back this afternoon.
We'll start full-timing in February, so I have the next few months to memorize the owner's manual and learn every inch of the rig in detail. But for now, this overwhelming dream is real and it's parked in the backyard.
We need the income of my wife's job until we get on the road (where I'll be playing shows for income - I'm a musician), so I can't really post this anywhere else, but I had to write it down and be excited somewhere. We did it. We're doing it. It's been 6 years of hoping for this moment, and long weeks on the road alone, hoping it would happen someday. And someday is here. I'm in an overwhelmed state of disbelief.
