About twelve years ago, my wife and I started the RV journey with the purchase of a “small” travel trailer.  We enjoyed being outdoors, but tenting carried very little appeal for us.  On the other hand, bringing the “essentials” along behind our truck sounded like an interesting proposition.  Go outside, have a great time, and when you’ve had enough – leave the outside, “outside.”

From those very first experiences kindled a desire to explore the entire US by RV.  We had “conquered” the RV learning curve, and transitioned through three fifth wheels after that travel trailer (and bought a “trusty horse” diesel truck to pull them all).  As the arrival of two children grew our family to four (and grew the size of our trailers as well), instead of reaching out to far off places, we settled into a pattern of visiting our favorites year after year – the Virginia mountains in the summer, and Florida beaches in the fall – with a number of closer-to-home destinations throughout the year.

Then about a year ago, thinking about college in the far future, I had an epiphany.  Our children were approaching 5 and 8 years old … the future is not that far at all.  I realized that the legacy with which I wanted to bless our children – before they leave for a college education – was the education of seeing our country for themselves.  I recalled family trips from when I was a child, and how experiences away from home shaped my thinking and aspirations for my own future.  I wished to give to my children this same gift my parents were able to give to me, and what better form than what we already knew – travel by RV.

As much as we enjoyed our truck and fifth wheel combination, for a number of reasons it wasn’t the best for long distance driving and hopping around between destinations.  Over a few months I researched and decided that a motorhome (if we could afford it) would suit us much better for this task.  Not entirely sure how we could afford such a step up, I left that to prayer and faith, and began research on what the best motorhome would be for us.  I knew that if this desire of my heart was from the Lord, He would provide the means.

Psalm 37:4 New King James Version (NKJV)

4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

We trekked through countless motorhomes at RV shows and dealers, as I spent hours upon hours reading forum posts ad nauseum.  Deciding between Class A vs. Class C, researching what years bunkhouses came on the market in motorhomes, the reputation of each manufacturer, floorplan differences, all the differences in specifications … dizzying to say the least.  Having owned trailers for 10+ years, I’ve kept an eye on the market for who was making what and anything new that popped up.  But I never considered motorhomes and was way behind on my knowledge!

This research is a story all on it’s own, but after months of deliberation I whittled everything down to a top three list, deciding on a Class A motorhome:

• 3rd choice (tie): 2008 Forest River Georgetown 350DS or Thor Hurricane 34B.  There are key differences between the two but generally speaking these were the most affordable units out there.  Having owned Forest River and Thor products I wasn’t exactly ecstatic about buying from them again – but I knew all RV manufacturers have their issues.
• 2nd choice: 2008 Winnebago Sightseer 35J (or Itasca Sunova 35J).  We came very close to deciding for one of these.  I felt that Winnebago made a slightly better coach than our 3rd choice(s), and the online availability of parts lists and systems diagrams was a huge plus for me, being a DIY guy.  Although the floorplan came out in 2007, there were some changes to 2008 that had me starting at that year.  There were a number of downsides to the Winnie/Itasca bunkhouse floorplan vs our 3rd choice(s) so it could have gone the other way, but what I understood about quality and the online support made the difference.
• 1st choice: 2008 Tiffin Allegro Open Road 35QBA.  For me, this was the one to have.  The quad slide floorplan looked like a dream, having owned a three slide fifth wheel.  This was the only plan with a true queen (not a short mattress) and being 6’3″ that is significant.  A number of differences here and there to the other models, what I came to learn about the Tiffin reputation for quality, and the very active Tiffin RV forum all added up to put this one at the top of my list.
• The ultimate – late 2010 or 2011+ Tiffin Allegro Open Road 35QBA.  Even better – on the Workhorse chassis to get the 8.1L Chevy engine and the 6 speed Allison transmission.  While I liked what I saw in this model from the first year on, a number of improvements throughout the years made it clear to me that this would be THE coach for us.  In 2009 they made the ceiling height taller (great idea for tall guys like me).  Later in 2010 the interior got a makeover, and then for some 2010 models and all later years, they switched to a “pass through”-type storage underneath.  I thought this would be THE one to have – but slim to no chance we could afford something so new.

I should not have been surprised to learn that many other people had come to similar conclusions about the Tiffin coach.  For months, I watched units from all the other brands languish on Craigslist or RV Trader while any Tiffin within a reasonable drive would sell in days.  Dealers are not ignorant to these facts (nor a number of private sellers) and I saw that many of these appeared to sell at a premium vs. NADA book values.  My experience led to frustration, and given our budget, I resigned to searching for my second or third choice of RV.  I refused to pay a premium above reasonable selling prices, especially given the fact that some of the prices I saw were getting within spitting distance of new!

About this time I was thinking hard about making offers on a number of Winnebago motorhomes, and two things happened to us – first, a financial windfall came to our family and second, a Tiffin RV forum member contacted me about their RV for sale.

What did they happen to have for sale?

Nothing other than a 2011 Tiffin Allegro Open Road 35QBA.  On a Workhorse chassis.  Stored inside by the original owner, maintained and kept “like new” – with a number of aftermarket add-ons I was planning already to do myself to any prospective coach.  For a very, very reasonable price.

This sent us into some serious hard thinking and prayer.  My experience in life has taught me that my wants can often cloud my thinking.  I’ve made financial mistakes in the past, and I was determined not to do it again with this windfall.  We took a long hard look at the situation, and realized we could honor all of the things on the “responsible” side of the equation (savings, college, giving, eliminating debt) and still be able to reasonably afford this motorhome.

So off we went, setting things in motion to meet the owner and buy our “new” motorhome.  We started talking to the seller (who I will refer to as Art) around the beginning of November and we made the purchase at the end of the year.  Literally at the end of the year – on December 31st we were celebrating New Year’s Eve in our new motorhome (although – to be honest – we went to bed early and slept through it all!).

Over those two months I learned that Art was an engineer like me – with an attention to detail that had me very impressed.  I asked for pictures of the coach and received over 100 photos detailing the inside and out.  Full maintenance records and details on follow-up work by the Tiffin factory were provided.   The more I talked to Art, the more I knew this was the coach for us.

We had our share of preparation issues – we were buying in Florida but residents of South Carolina and there were some sales tax questions (related to getting a temporary FL tag for transport) but these were resolved.  We did end up financing part of the purchase through Good Sam Financial and the experience had it’s ups and downs.  Then there was the simple issue of distance and finding time in our busy schedule to make a multi-day trip for the purchase.  Thankfully Art was very flexible, and we were able to agree on the last day of the year to meet.

Tossing everyone into the family car at 4:30am the day before, we drove down in one day and stayed in a local hotel for the night.  The next morning we met Art and his wife at the storage facility to see the coach, and we went through a systems checklist together before finalizing the transaction.  I’ll never forget their friendliness and the welcome of a box of donuts from a local shop – this was like the smell of freshly baked cookies during a home showing!

We are very much into the “locavore” scene and that was a nice touch.

It took us about an hour to get through my systems checklist and to no surprise, everything checked out perfect.  While we were going to purchase the coach “sight unseen” I had no doubt that everything was going to be just fine.

After signing all the paperwork, stopping by the bank and then the local tax office (for a Florida temporary tag), Art and his wife graciously offered to take us to lunch at Pollo Tropical (it was delicious!)

I’ll never forget the experience of table fellowship and how Art blessed our meal, praying also over our future adventures as a family.  I was beside myself the whole day, watching my answered prayer unfold before my very eyes.

After lunch, Art rode along with me as I drove to our campground for the next few nights, Sonrise Palms.  He gave me good pointers as I piloted the big rig – at first I was a little nervous, but I think I got the hang of it quick, having pulled trailers for many years.  I’ll also credit Art for sending me a two YouTube videos to watch beforehand about how to drive such a big rig.  I found these very useful – New RV Driver’s Confidence Video and RV Geeks: Off-tracking and rear overhang.  Although in all the videos I found out there, I didn’t find mentioned one technique which I use often which I would call “side view mirror driving.”  In other words, when towing a trailer I use my side view mirrors to keep an eye on the wheels / sides of the trailer with respect to the lane stripe to keep myself centered; the same works for me when driving a motorhome.

Once we arrived at the campground, Art helped me through the back-in process to our site (my first thought is that it’s much easier than a truck plus a trailer) and all the setup required (to which I similarly thought that it’s simpler as well).  I really appreciated the time Art took to make sure I knew how all the systems worked and the ins and outs of the coach.  There are many similarities across the RV spectrum, but each one is different – and to have a prior owner willing to exchange his years of experience was a true blessing.  I was able to skip much of the learning curve I would have experienced after buying at a dealer (“here’s the keys now get out the door”) and instead jump right into enjoying the coach.

We had a few hours of sunlight left and took a dip in the pool before dark (well – at least the kids did – the water wasn’t that warm!)  What a super way to celebrate New Year’s Eve – in the sunny warm Florida’s Space Coast with our new home on wheels!

What else did we do while we were there?  Visit the Kennedy Space Center of course!