Buying Our First RV

The search for the perfect camper

Theresa and I have often joked about our dream of someday getting an RV and traveling the country like we see all of the old retirees doing. That “someday” was far off in retirement as far as we knew. But we loved traveling together and have always made it a priority in our lives. I personally have travelled quite a bit for work in almost every job I’ve had, but work trips don’t count. They are just previews so I can note whether Theresa would want to come back and visit, someday.

Then along comes the Covid19 pandemic in 2020 and the world stood still. Not me, I figured this was a great opportunity to get on my motorcycle and go ride the backroads of Ohio hours from where we live in Cincinnati. I already worked remotely before the pandemic and had flexibility in my schedule. I took 3 day weekends out to southeast Ohio where we have a family cabin and went exploring. At first Theresa thought I was nuts but then realized it was doable since she was now forced to work remotely. As the creative director for a package design agency, she could do her calls from the car as we headed east for the weekend on a Friday. We packed up the dog and lots of hand sanitizer and masks and tried to make only gas stops to avoid the virus. Suddenly we were at the cabin every weekend, whereas in years past we’d be lucky to get there six times a year. Afterall, we could social distance at home or at our summer house. Probably better out in the country where people have been socially distant forever. We relaxed on the deck and hiked in the woods and started talking about life goals. Travel was once again at the top of our list. We dreamed again of RV living. As have many during the pandemic.

We also talked about what was important in life such as family, experiences, love and happiness and how none of that can be found in material things. We had a lot of material things and started thinking about trying to downsize a little and striving for a more minimalist mindset. About this same time, we were finally cutting the cord on cable television and moving to internet streaming services like YouTubeTV, Netflix, Hulu, and good old YouTube. On YouTube we started browsing and discovering a lot of content on #VanLife and RVs, campervans, and tiny home living. Minimalism at its best! (yet, more stuff, sigh). It would help get us closer to a goal of more travel in our lives and shared experiences. Suddenly we were face guzzling content on Airstream trailers, Class C motorhomes and even some van tours of tiny campervans.

The Importance Of A Good Bathroom

Bathrooms in RVs are not usually very large. Some smaller class B camper vans don’t even have a potty in them! While I’d be fine with small toilets, Theresa was putting her foot down in terms of the bathroom arrangement. Whatever RV we settled on needed to have a nice bathroom. And preferably, one where the toilet is separate from the shower (known as a dry bath) or at least a very large wet bath that didn’t require you to sit on the toilet to shower. These were important requirements along with a gas stovetop, nice kitchen layout with plenty of countertop and storage space and a queen size bed or larger. It is now clear that we had lived in a “sticks and bricks” home for so long that our base level of needs was out of touch with a minimal mindset. So we began looking at various models online, in magazines and even trolling some of the local camper retail lots to see what was out there, and what kind of potties they had available.

We found that most bathrooms were not big enough. After searching the web, it was obvious that class B camper vans were just too small. (Not for me, mind you. I loved the look and styling of some of the custom class B vans, but this was not really about me.) And the big class A bus style campers were so big that we didn’t feel like we could afford to travel like this. So we focused in on class C motorhomes, where many models had queen beds and full size bathrooms and kitchens. We even found a few models where the toilet had its own throne room separate from the shower and sink. Awesome! But with the pandemic and attributed shortages, we could find very few available to tour. We could find pull behind campers but Class B & C campers were not on dealer lots for hundreds of miles.

Testing The Waters

The elephant in the room was that Theresa hated camping. Miserable experiences as a child in the girl scouts had soured her idea of camping. She hated peeing in the woods. It didn’t help when I took her camping many years ago at the Red River Gorge in springtime (because she lost a bet) and we froze our asses off. She was now firmly in the no camping camp. But I was determined to get her out Glamping, now that 15 years or more had passed since that fateful cold camping trip. She was much more outdoor oriented now from years spent at our country cabin in the woods, where we enjoyed hiking and relaxing in nature. So maybe this plastic cabin, this mobile home, this glamping device could get her out in nature without having to pee in the woods.

But there was a second elephant in the room and it was a stinker. Theresa had never camped in an RV. And here we were talking about it, shopping and nailing down the features we wanted. I had used the online rental app OutDoorsy.com in the past to rent toy haulers for motorcycle trips and had extensive towing experience. But now I needed to focus on what Theresa would want and need. I proposed a short weekend trip where we’d rent one to make sure she liked it before we invested big money in one for ourselves. As we browsed the local offerings, it was clear that there were no Class C units available to rent like we wanted. So we pivoted to looking at a decent pull behind camper to at least experience glamping in general. I had a Ford F150 truck which was ready for the job.

The prices per day plus fees was not a cheap proposition in many cases, at least for nice rigs. Theresa was browsing over my shoulder and started compromising and picking cheaper smaller rigs, older, crappier. The frugal German side of her family coming out. But I had flashbacks to that cold springtime camping trip to the Red River Gorge many years ago and how it ruined her on tent camping. There was no way I was going to go cheap on this rental and mess up the chances of her ever getting out in an RV in the future. We were going big this time! All the amenities and damn the cost. I found a 1 year old Forest River RV for rent about 30 minutes away that looked super clean, had a fireplace, queen bed, bunk beds, full kitchen, dining area slide outs and a bathroom as big as our guest bath at our house. This was the right way to experience her first glamping trip.

We talked her sister and their family into renting an RV on Outdoorsy.com too and joining us for a weekend at a nearby Kentucky state campground, Carters Caves. They found a smaller pull behind camper that they could tow with their Mercedes ML350 and we booked the campsites. We caravanned out to North East Kentucky and mistakenly let Google take us down some tiny little country roads which were too small for big pull behinds. But we made it with some stressful driving and got setup. Nice little campground with some good hiking trails. But the caves themselves and pool were closed due to Covid. So we made the most of exploring the area and hanging out, drinking and cooking. And just relaxing on vacation (Vajaxing!). It was interesting for sure, to see how people vacationed in their campers, RVs, vans and even large busses! We walked the campgrounds and considered which styles we liked. Theresa really enjoyed it overall but we also realized that a big pull behind was indeed, not right for us. As we were leaving, we saw a Winnebago Revel campervan in the welcome center lot and were instantly drawn to its rugged good looks and small nimble foot print. Tim had seen a REVEL in Santa Cruz CA in February 2020 just prior to the pandemic explosion in the USA. But Theresa had poo poo’d it as too small. But this was indeed some foreshadowing.

In the end, Theresa shocked me by saying she really enjoyed it (thank God I didn’t cheap out on the RV rental) and was onboard for buying an RV. But not a pull behind camper, but rather, one that you drive. Pulling the very long and heavy camper with our Ford F150 was a little stressful. And they don’t seem as well made as a campervan or Class C. While don’t have this kind money laying around, we’d juggle some things and cancel some online accounts and make monthly payments work. If we could find the right vehicle. And during the pandemic, there were none on the dealer lots! How long would this process take? We were about to find out, the hard way.

Thanks for reading Part 1 of this blog post. Read Part 2 Here and see why buying an RV during a Pandemic is not for sissies. Also, consider following us on Facebook and Instagram or YouTube to see more photos and exclusive content!