Lets talk cars and trucks!

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
No, SWOT. I do not want a newer one. I think what you got is just perfect. If I could find one like that, but 10' shorter I would jump on it. Honestly. I don't want to spend more then 10k. So, I don't think I could get one that is younger than 2000. Where I live they are not cheap. A 25' one that is complete, even from the 1980's would be 5k. When things calm down for us, we will begin to drive around and scout one out. There are people here that just park them.

M does not understand why I want one so bad.

I want to chill. I want to be with him and my animals, without pressure or responsibility. I want to feel like I am doing something really, really special. Maybe I am kidding myself, and it is an illusion. But I want to get an rv.
 
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Copabanana

Well-Known Member
I am afraid to drive on highways. And I am afraid to drive with M. And M is afraid to drive with me. So he thinks this whole thing is a series of hysterical fights waiting to happen.

Me? I tell myself I will lay in the bed in the back of the RV and if need be, take a Xanex. (Although since I learned they and Benadryl and Ambien cause dementia and confusion, I have quit all of them (except a couple times a month.) Oh. And I forgot. I am going to go to hypnosis, partly to deal with my driving fear. I go Wednesday.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Copa the way you put tbe driving dilemma was funny.

I would not drive. Since my accident I only drive close to my house. I am afraid to drive in small cars. The large, strong truck plus wearing my seatbelt saved my life. I do trust my hub as a driver. I know i would never drive in new territory.

Maybe I can join you in the back of the RV lol.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Oh you're talking RV's! I want one SO BAD. I have always been able to imagine myself living in an RV or a camper or a van (down by the river - LOL! SNL anyone?) Really, when I was young and childless my favorite fantasy was to just sell everything I owned, get my paycheck, default on all my bills and buy a camper or van and just GO! Drive until I was out of money and gas and get some crappy waitress job and start over. Maybe even use a new name. LOL...

I grew up of course and have no desire to be so poor I HAVE to live in a van...and I have Jabber and a kid that I at least get a text from once in a blue moon. Plus, it's way harder to change your name and disappear now. :p

Still, I love the idea of living in an RV...even full time! Jabber and I will both have retirement income after all, so if we didn't have BILLS like in a house - I could be quite happy I think. :)


My RV is a Damon Intruder, 36'.

We are towing a Trailblazer we just bought.

My goodness that's going to be a LONG vehicle! Has your husband driven it that way yet? I can't imagine anything that long, although some of those big Class A's are AMAZING. Jabber and I are always looking at them. We've wasted more salesmen's time than you can imagine. lol - Last place we looked at these Class A's that cost more than our HOUSE! They were nicer inside than my house too!

But we've decided that a C is probably our best bet - the kind with the cab-over? We'd just use that part for storage, since we'd want the queen bed in the back. I love the B's - the Camper Van's? But they're just too small. Would be great for one person, but the bathrooms so small you can't close the door in is a deal-breaker for us. We'd like about 22 -25 feet and tow a LITTLE car - like a smart car or Fiat or something. MAYBE a very, very small SUV, like a Jeep. That would actually be best for mountains.

If not a C then an actual camper trailer - still doesn't have to be big, just enough to have a decent bed and bathroom. We've seen some really, really nice ones. All things considered, given we own a truck that won't be paid off any time soon, if we were to do it sooner rather than later, that's what we'd really get, the trailer.

I am afraid to drive on highways. And I am afraid to drive with M. And M is afraid to drive with me.

I foresee travel difficulties. :) But really, if it's JUST highways, you could have a LOT of fun taking the scenic routes, there's always some way to get from point A to point B off the big interstates and there's lots of stuff to see that way.

I'm a nervous passenger. Makes Jabber crazy. I'm FINE driving. I enjoy driving actually, though I'm not great in his truck, especially when heavily loaded...and I think I'd have an issue with trailers. But really, that's just lack of practice. I prefer to be in control of the vehicles in general. What's bad is I trust him more than I do any other person ever and I still have to just close my eyes in bad traffic and bite my tongue. I don't bite hard enough - I'm sure he'd be happier if I were zonked out in the back seat. :laugh:

I could see myself a full-time RV'er. Jabber insists we need a "home base" but I could be quite happy putting stuff in storage and not having a house at all for quite some time. :)
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
My hub can drive it easily. He used to drive big trucks for one job.

Im a better passenger than a driver.

We just bought a Trailblazer to tow with us this winter. We are going to have a home base and take road trips in the truck. I am very excited but due to my family I will only travel three months tops.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Wow! I looked at the Intruder SWOT...that is beautiful! I could definitely do that one full-time. What a great lay-out!
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
Lil. You got positively giddy in your post about the rv. I hope very much you get one.

We have two compact old but serviceable pickup trucks. One is extra. Sometime back I saw that people (probably very young and agile ones) are turning compact short bed trucks into campers by putting in a sleeping platform with drawers for storage underneath and a pull out kitchen in a drawer.

I can think of all kinds of problems with this, beginning with claustrophobia, to insulation, heat, cold, place for the pets, place for a porta potty. And that is just to start. But somebody did say that he put a porta potty, kitchen and dining table in a small pull trailer on the back, no bigger than the ones that cost a couple hundred dollars on craigslist, that the landscapers use. The more I type, the more jazzed I get.

But the thing is...the basic, fundamental thing...is that people have RVS to be comfortable. I am unsure how much of an upgrade this concept is, from sleeping in a tent. I guess the idea is that you do not have to set anything up.

I will put aside the nagging doubt that I could even climb in and out of such a contraption. But like SWOTS husband, M is handy. I just asked him if he could make us a bigger camper, as in diy. He said no.

However, M says we can try the camper shell concept. We have a camper shell in the side yard so it would cost virtually nothing to get started. I will try to put aside the reality that my head will be about 2 inches from the top of the camper shell. I am remembering that I get claustrophobia when I get a c t scan and mri and need drugs first. This is not computing well with the reality I have stopped the xanex because it causes dementia.

I do not know what his problem is. M. There is the money for an older RV. People also convert gmc safari type vancs to camp. Even without raised ceilings. I have been researching this for years and years. Sad.
 

Jabberwockey

Well-Known Member
I will try to put aside the reality that my head will be about 2 inches from the top of the camper shell. I am remembering that I get claustrophobia when I get a c t scan and mri and need drugs first.

Uuuuuummmmmm, NO! First off, how in the hell would you roll over?!?! I'm not claustrophobic myself and could fall asleep like that but can see a VERY bad reaction when I wake in the middle of the night to pee and try to sit up. Tack onto that the fact that Lil IS very claustrophobic and would NEVER be able to go to sleep in that.

So has M said no to the possibility of the RV Copa? I must have missed that comment.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Uuuuuummmmmm, NO! First off, how in the hell would you roll over?!?! I'm not claustrophobic myself and could fall asleep like that but can see a VERY bad reaction when I wake in the middle of the night to pee and try to sit up. Tack onto that the fact that Lil IS very claustrophobic and would NEVER be able to go to sleep in that.

I actually think she meant standing up...didn't you Copa?

I'm not 100% claustrophobic! I don't like MRI's but that's more the fear of being stuck. It touches me all around at the upper arms and makes me feel trapped. I'm less claustrophobic when I'm thinner. I'm less phobic of falling when I'm thinner too...my balance is better. (I don't have a fear of heights, I have a fear of falling...could be just walking a smooth road downhill. It's a weird phobia.) Anyway, if I know I can get out anytime I want, I'm fine, and it has to be really tight to trigger it. For instance, I'm fine in an elevator and I'd be fine stuck in an elevator for a while I think...unless there was a big press of people. Or I had to pee. :p

I don't actually think I could sleep in the cab-over little beds they have in class C's. Well, maybe...until I fell out. I did climb up in one once and it was...okay. But all things consider, I need more space than that. Jabber and I take up a considerable amount of room. One of our "deal breaker" tests on campers is the shower test. Unless Jabber can get in, close the door and move enough to shower, it's a no.

Home base doesn't have to be a house, just someplace to park that has hookups that we own.

So...a nice lake lot with hookups? That would do. :) We'll go someplace warmer in winter and when you want snow, we'll go to mountains. Works for me.
 

Jabberwockey

Well-Known Member
Unless Jabber can get in, close the door and move enough to shower, it's a no.

Yeah, most of them I cant turn around in. One had a flexible shower door and standing sideways, my shoulders pushed the door out past the shower a good 4 or 6 inches.

So...a nice lake lot with hookups? That would do. :)

As long as there is enough acreage attached so I can hunt, sure.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
I think m's unspoken reticence is this: not one more project or thing to be responsible for. For now.

I think if everything that is in the works is handled (mainly the remodels of the properties) and he did not have to do a lot of restoration/repair work on the vehicle he would not block me.

Lil. What age range are you considering? New. Nearly new. Middle aged or older?

I do not want to sleep in the cabinet either. I like the queen bed in the back, preferably with access each side.

Class C's that are 24 plus do generally have the corner bed. But I like a class c for safety.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Lil. What age range are you considering? New. Nearly new. Middle aged or older?

I do not want to sleep in the cabinet either. I like the queen bed in the back, preferably with access each side.

Class C's that are 24 plus do generally have the corner bed. But I like a class c for safety.

Age isn't important. Running well is...we're not mechanically inclined.

Access on each side of the bed is very important too. That's one reason we started thinking of trailers. We've seen a number of those made that way, plus, we go where we want, unhook, and we drive off to explore. I suppose that's no easier than unhooking the smaller vehicle though. But we already own a truck. :p

It's more a dream...for after real retirement in a few more years.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I wanted a big one that is comfortable. Ours in no more than a 2003 but many people dont put that many miles on an RV and the mileage, my mechanic husbands biggest concern, was only about 26,000. Now mechanic hub thinks 100,000 miles is very low. Our new used truck has 103,000 miles on it and he considers that nothing, especially for an SUV.

Our old truck had 250,000 miles on it before we bought a new old truck and it still runs. We have never had a vehicle stop running. And we always bought old cars.

I do adore having a mechanic husband. He can really fix anything, not just cars. He has done washers, dryers, vacuums, cell phines, even computers. He does plumbing too. My first husband had no mechanical skills so we had to hire everything out and he didnt like parting with his money for repairs.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
mechanic hub thinks 100,000 miles is very low.

This is how M thinks. He says the same thing, that they are like trucks that can easy get 200k even 300k miles.

The thing with an RV is that the living space is the most vulnerable to wear. Leaks are the main culprit. So, it all depends upon how they were cared for, stored, and if they were used. They say sitting there outside, without use, is the worst. LIke I am an expert.

SWOT. You hit the sweet spot. Low miles, in very good shape, and relatively new. They say that the problems with the bodies increase after 20 years, so that would be 1997 and before. There is no reason whatsoever that I can see (again, big expert) that this vehicle will not last as long as you do, which I pray is a very long time.

I think you were smart all the way around. Husband is an expert driver. And you have all the space you need to be comfortable, and to include as many family as you choose. A 35' could sleep maybe 8 people or more, I am thinking. And people do live long term in these, that size, for sure. I am so excited for you. Have you guys used it already?

I wish you could take pictures.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Thank you Copa.. No we have to have it checked out. And we are busy moving from one place to another so that has been oir focus riight now..

Im so tired from movi g today! And not close to done.
 
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