My wife and I will be retiring in about a year and want to purchase a motorhome for day trips taking maybe 4 additional passengers, and mostly traveling, the two of us, on 2-5 day stays at a national or state parks and for annual trips to explore the US and Canada, that last a month or more. We also are not adverse to spending the occasional night in a motel if we have been on the road a long time.
Concerns about the Pleasure-Way: would we be uncomfortable with the compact size on long trips, if it would be hard to find diesel, and any difficulties getting it serviced.
Concerns about the Born Free: what would be the gas milage and would we be comfortable sleeping on a fold down couch (we want the model with a fold down couch and dinette set).
Any feedback on these models or advice on others that would easily navigate in parks, shopping centers, fit in my 29' driveway, be comfortable on long trips and get reasonable fuel economy?
We started RVing almost 40 years ago and began with really small units, two VW poptop campers. I wouldn't recommend them for long trips, but I've seen others do it - usually a lot younger than us!
That's a lot more "roughing it" than I'd want to do at retirement age. Our first "real" motorhome was an 18-foot Class C El Dorado and our first trip in it was a summer circumnavigating the U.S. Plenty of room and very comfortable for two with all our "stuff." Later moved up to a 22-foot Class C Lazy Daze and took several extended trips in it, also around the U.S., to Alaska, to Canada, to La Paz, Mexico, and the like. Also very comfortable. The 30-foot Class C Lazy Daze was even more comfortable! You see where I'm going with this don't you? We get spoiled as we add length and goodies. Whatever you get, it should be something you LIKE. Can you cook in the galley? Is the shower large enough? Is the bed size adequate? Does it have room for your computer if you intend to take one with you (we each take our own when traveling - five months last summer).
But comfort is relative. If one of you has trouble climbing a ladder and the Class C has an over-the-cab bed, then that might be more of a problem than anticipated. You mention fold-down coaches. Personally I wouldn't like that because I don't think they're that comfortable, especially for two people because they're usually 2/3rd of a full size bed. Also, how tall are you? I've seen some that wouldn't fit me and I'm only 5'7" tall. Most of us think of the fold-out sofa bed as a "back-up" for short-term guests and want the "real" bed (rear or overhead) for ourselves because we use it for longer periods of time. By the way, if you're using the fold-out bed, what are you going to do with the "primary" bed? Will it be a waste of space 95 percent of the time? Most of us retirees choose our sleeping accomodations with us being the primary concern, and additional passengers get what's left. Crudely put perhaps, but apt. In fact, many large motorhomes only have sleeping for two people because a lot of folks have raised their families and now this is their time to get out and go - alone.
Also, why are you even thinking of staying in motels???? When you have a suitable RV you have your own bed, bath, food, etc. Would you really want to lug all your junk into a motel? Remember, you're not going to have suitcases to carry it all in and out. Now this may cause some comments because I know there are a few people in the group who do this, but I like my own "house" thank you. I want to use MY toilet, MY bed, MY food, etc. When my mother lived in an apartment and wanted us to stay with her on visits it took numerous trips to haul everything inside and up to her fifth floor apartment. And, by the end of the week, it took forever to take it all back down to the RV and put it away! One of the beauties of RV travel is that you don't have to do that anymore!! Never once in all our years of RVing have we gone to a motel. There's simply no need to do that in the normal course of events (the exception might be if you're having work done on the rig and have to vacate it). And, since we got the 18-footer that had its own bathroom we've never used campground showers. Again, we don't need to do that anymore.
With regard to the dinette vs. chairs, we had a dinette once (the 18-footer) and have preferred chairs since then. Most dinettes are not all that comfortable to us - the backs are too straight and you can't sit in them for any length of time. Maybe you want a dinette for extra sleeping and that's a valid reason. Just make sure it's comfortable for both of you because you're the ones who will be using it daily. You didn't say who else would be traveling with you. If it's kids who are smaller they can fit in smaller accomodations, but adults might be another matter entirely.
Parking in your driveway might be limited by your local CC&Rs. After being hassled in California, a high priority when we moved was a place where we could have an RV garage - no neighbors to complain, no CC&R violations, no exhorbitant fees to park it in a lot, no more weather deterioration, etc. I'm not trying to scare you here, but many communities are causing RVers a lot of problems by writing new regulations that restrict where, when, and how we can park our RVs and you should be aware of any such movements in your community. Some states are worse than others. We actually were once told to leave a new housing development parking lot because "you can't park that thing here; we don't allow RVs on the property."
Don't worry about getting fuel. There are plenty of stations for both diesel and gas. As for MPG, we've usually gotten anywhere from 7 to 10 MPG. It depends on many factors including head winds vs. tail winds, how fast you drive, whether you're in mountains, how much weight you're carrying, whether you tow, etc. I don't believe most of us consider MPG a deciding factor when choosing an RV. It's layout, ease of use, comfort, and all those other relative things are much more important.
Navigating in parks and parking lots also depends on a lot of factors. National parks more frequently (Yosemite and Grand Canyon are examples) require the use of shuttles to get to their attractions. Keep in mind that many were built many years ago, long before RVs, and therefore have limited parking, especially during busy seasons. You sometimes can park smaller RVs in viewpoint or trailhead parking lots, but not always. And the larger the rig, the more difficulty you can expect. Shopping center parking lots are usually accessible, but you may have to park at the outer edges and hike farther to shop. You just look before you enter and if it looks too crowded or has narrow aisles with tight turns, you drive around and find a more suitable place on a side street. We've seldom had to go on because we couldn't find a way to park. Sometimes one of us will get out to go in the store and the other will stay with the RV if we feel we might need to move it.
You solicited opionions and I would like to add another. One of the benefits of retirement is that you finally have the time to see and do things you didn't have time to do when you were working. When reading your note, I first wondered why you appear to be limiting yourselves to short visits and short trips. It's easy to spend an entire month in the Four Corners area (where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona adjoin one another if you're not familiar with it) and just barely start to see what it has to offer. It's easy to take trips that last several months and you're retired, so why not. You didn't mention where you live, but you can spend several weeks just getting to your destination. We've talked with people from other countries who think they can see the U.S. in a month and our answer is you'll just barely get started because there's so much to see and do.
I'll get off my soapbox now and just say I hope you find a motorhome you love and enjoy our wonderful lifestyle. By the way, Lazy Daze makes small Class Cs of good quality so they're another alternative.
ArdraF
