In Search of Harold
The Hunt Begins
Long before we made the decision to sell our house and do full-time RV’ing, we had already begun our homework. It was Lois who, in 2020, first breathed life into this quest, not long after Covid became a big ugly thing. As the pandemic noose tightened, and as normal rhythms of life were replaced with new realities of 6 foot distancing, social bubbles and mandated shutdowns, dreaming and hoping became a partial remedy for the grim realities of Covid. Scheming about RVs, monumental trips, and seeing old friends was a thing we did. And so, as the pandemic progressed, we often binge watched hours upon hours of YouTube. There was a ton of information to take in — Class A and C motorhomes, travel trailers and 5th wheelers, best brands and models, top places to visit, keys to successful full-time living, and so on and so forth. As time marched on, the seed of hope planted by Lois grew and flourished.
Fast forwarding to the start of this year… Lois and I slowly snuck up on a decision to buy a motorhome, not a trailer, and pull a small car behind it. As for the particulars, things important to us included:
Buy a short one, not a long one — Keeping the length under 30’ guarantees camping inside most National Parks.
Choose a couples RV — Fewer beds means more living space.
Pick a brand that can withstand 24x7 RV’ing — Winnebago, Newmar and a few others are up for the challenge.
Make sure the RV has ample space — With only 300 sq. feet in the living area, lots of basement storage is essential..
So what did we opt for? The RV that Lois got so excited about the first time she saw one, she nearly leapt out of her skin! We chose a 2024 Winnebago Vista National Park Foundation motorhome. Here’s a short YouTube video you can watch if you want to learn more about it.
Where Do We Go From Here?
With our sights locked on the exact year, make and model of the RV we wanted, next came the “fun” stuff 🙄. For me, negotiating a price with auto dealers (like moving house) is on my hate list. I loved my CarMax experience from a couple of years ago. Pick the car, and the price is what it is, take it or leave it. But in the case of buying an RV, there was no CarMax-like short-cut. Dang!
As this harsh reality sank in, things suddenly got unexpectedly complicated. If I want to buy a Ford Mustang, I can either go to the nearby dealer or choose any of a dozen others within 50 miles of our house. Somewhere in that mess, there’s probably a dealer who is decent enough to work with and who is willing to sell me the exact trim level and color I want for a fair price. My normal in that case is take a deep breath, grin and bear it, and get the dirty deed done.
But how many Winnebago dealers are there within 50 miles of where we live near Sacramento? Exactly one, and when we visited it we were not impressed. Next choice: there is a dealer in Reno that gets awesome reviews and won Winnebago’s coveted “Flying W” award of excellence, but they didn’t have the motorhome we wanted. So the search broadened. I remember telling Lois “Hey, there is a highly rated dealer in Virginia. They have exactly what we want for a great price, and they will pay us $500 dollars to fly there!” Yah, right. Are we up for fighting our way through airports and flying cross-country, only to “speed” home over the next 10 days while racking-up more than 3000 non-camping miles on our shiny new RV? No bueno… depressing.
In the meantime, the march to putting our house on the market was progressing. Much of our stuff had already been moved to storage, and what was left was nearly down to the bare essentials for living in our house and later moving into the motorhome. And at the same time, we were slowly, but surely, purchasing a small mountain of additional must-haves for the RV. Together, what remained was surely clogging up our go-to-market plans. We urgently needed that RV in order to finish clearing out the house!
Fortunately, a plan emerged. I found 3 potential 2024 Winnebago Vista NPF motorhomes north of us, one in Oregon, and two in Washington. Time for a road trip! First stop, Eugene. We prayed and hoped for a quick deal in Oregon so we could cut the trip short and get the beast home. The Oregon dealership did, indeed turn out to be “the one”. But, unfortunately, a second trip to Eugene was required before we could take possession. During this delay, they completed a thorough inspection of the rig and proactively repaired a few things.
Bottom line: What an awesome sales experience we had. Here’s an excerpt from the Google review I wrote:
“Buying from the RV Corral is different in the best ways from the stereotypical auto/RV sales experience… We were met with genuine, sincere care and support. As a team, they listened to our needs and took care of our concerns throughout the purchase process. The team was truly committed to helping us realize our RV goals and dreams.”
And so our hopes and prayers were answered. We thank the Lord for His wonderful blessing and provision.
In Need of a Name
Pets get names, and I guess RV’s do, too. I’m not into naming my cars, but I do remember just now that when I was a kid, my folks owned an aptly named family jalopy called “The Blue Bomber”. Silly me. I should have seen this coming when Lois inevitably asked one day “So what are we going to name it?”
“Name what?”
“The RV!” 🙄
My mind raced. What is the most audacious, ridiculous, silly name I can come up with… something good for a quick laugh, but nothing to take seriously. I spontaneously blurted out “Harold!”.
Then, much to my horror, after a brief contemplative moment, Lois shouted with glee “How cute! That’s it. It’s perfect ❤️.”
And so that’s the moment Harold came into being. A new baby RV was born — our 40 year dream had come true!
Safe Trip Home
Just as soon as Harold was ready for pick-up, we buzzed back to Eugene and took possession of our very first RV. After an uneventful trip home, we began unclogging the house, shifting our stuff into the RV. Not much later, Harold was ready for use.
In our next blog, I’ll tell you about “Harold’s Shakedown Trips” (and just maybe, if you look closely at our pictures, you’ll catch a glimpse of Harold-the-Figurine photo bombing our pictures).
Alan and Lois with Leon Carlson Jr. at “The RV Corral” in Eugene, Oregon — the Best!
