We are getting ready to make the move to a motor home. We've lived on a 200 sq foot houseboat before - but since then we've aquired lots of stuff.
When my husband took early retirement (after being laid off) friends offered to sell us a double wide mobile home on their farm in North Dakota at a "bargain" price. Well we loved the winter here, it was beautiful and we enjoyed almost every moment of it.
Spring is here, the mobile is setteling - if the Pomeranian jumps of the couch the whole place shakes. There are sink holes where they dug to set the gas, water, and septic lines. There is no easy way to solve those issues. There's still new siding, completing the skirting, a new roof (freakin' wind), and 2 bathrooms and a kitchen to gut and redo. There's only one usable door, so we need, at the least, steps to the front door which is about 6 feet off the ground.
We've spent the last 6 weeks (less the 19 days we were on vacation to CA) picking ticks off the dogs and cat (they are frontlined - but the ticks ride in on them to jump on us). There are just too many issues here - plus we are far far away from friends and family and our lifestyle.
I'm a wanna be personal chef - there's no market for it here. We do love the fact that organic and natural food is readily available here for less than California - but the lack of variety just drives me nuts - and fresh leafy stuff can mean any wilted mess that has not started to totally decompose on display.
The crux of all this whining is that we are trying to figure out the hows and and in's and out's of this. DH has a possible job offer back in CA - but we don't want to rent a house (meaning moving a 26' Penske and a 10' trailer load of stuff back across country). We're thinking the MH will allow us to own our home, be mobile, and when and if the job ends our options are un-ending.
I'm sure we can find a lot of our answers here, and become active and contributing members of the forum as we endeavor to figure this all out.
NorCal Dan said
11:07 AM May 29, 2010
Sounds like a good plan to me. Being mobile has it's good and bad points, but we think the good out weighs the bad or we wouldn't continue the lifestyle. There are plenty of folks here to help answer questions so don't hesitate to ask...
Fanciesmom said
12:16 PM May 29, 2010
Thanks so much. I'm sure we'll have plenty of questions.
The friends who sold us the mobile home on the farm think we're nuts. Family (at least West Coast) thinks its a great idea. I tend to agree with family.
By the way - love your weather forcast! It's blowing 25 steady with some wild gusts, probably close to 90 outside, 85 inside, with at least 54% humidity. Yuck!
-- Edited by Fanciesmom on Saturday 29th of May 2010 12:19:22 PM
Terry and Jo said
04:32 PM May 29, 2010
Sharon,
Welcome to the RV Dreams forum. You will find a lot of knowledgeable people here that are willing to help. So let me try to begin.
Leave your options open as much as you can. A number of people will tell you that if you are in a situation where you will be moving frequently (possibly every few days to a week), then a motorhome may be best. The motorhomes are great in that they would be quicker to "unhook" from an RV site and begin to move. However, a TT or fifth wheel may give you a better arrangement within the unit. so a TT (travel trailer) or fifth wheel may be more convenient.
By contrast, it may be that the TT or fifth wheel will work better for you for long-term stays in RV parks or mobile home parks.
Also, with a MH (motorhome), you may find an absolute need to have a second vehicle, which is usually referred to as a toad or a dinghy. (Toad is a play on "towed" vehicle and dinghy is a lifeboat for a bigger boat.) Should it be that both of you would need a vehicle, then it would require you to have either a second vehicle or one of you drive the MH around town. We have a fifth wheel, so we have a pickup to pull the fifth wheel (detachable from the fiver to use as a vehicle to drive around), and we have a Ford Explorer.
I advise going to dealers that have all three kinds and take a good long look. Consider storage of stuff. However, keep in mind that in any RV that you go with, you are going to have to get rid of stuff. Each type of RV has weight factors that you don't want to exceed.
Personally, I have never owned a motorhome, although we did consider them when choosing our "ultimate" Dream RV. I believe that there are a number of members here who have lived in both types. Also, check out the "Buying an RV" thread topic on the forums and you should find several places where the options have been discussed.
Good luck in your planning and researching.
Terry
Fanciesmom said
05:03 PM May 29, 2010
Thanks for the info. it will be a lot of help in making our decisions.
I think we've pretty well decided on the MH. We'll be traveling with 4 dogs and a cat so we'd have to get a club or king cab truck. Right now we've got a mini van that will work as a TOAD and DH will really need a van if he gets his job back, a truck just won't work. He's also the only driver.
I spent 8 years managing a Marina/RV park so we got to know a lot of full timers and "most of the timers" and got to check out all their different setups. There are so many advantages to each of them, and drawbacks. We just don't want to have to buy a truck too so that limits us. We'll be sure to check out the "Buying" section.
The hardest part is going to be figuring out what to do with the mobile home and all of our "stuff". Although we love North Dakota I'm not sure we want to keep the mobile as a "home base".
When my husband took early retirement (after being laid off) friends offered to sell us a double wide mobile home on their farm in North Dakota at a "bargain" price. Well we loved the winter here, it was beautiful and we enjoyed almost every moment of it.
Spring is here, the mobile is setteling - if the Pomeranian jumps of the couch the whole place shakes. There are sink holes where they dug to set the gas, water, and septic lines. There is no easy way to solve those issues. There's still new siding, completing the skirting, a new roof (freakin' wind), and 2 bathrooms and a kitchen to gut and redo. There's only one usable door, so we need, at the least, steps to the front door which is about 6 feet off the ground.
We've spent the last 6 weeks (less the 19 days we were on vacation to CA) picking ticks off the dogs and cat (they are frontlined - but the ticks ride in on them to jump on us). There are just too many issues here - plus we are far far away from friends and family and our lifestyle.
I'm a wanna be personal chef - there's no market for it here. We do love the fact that organic and natural food is readily available here for less than California - but the lack of variety just drives me nuts - and fresh leafy stuff can mean any wilted mess that has not started to totally decompose on display.
The crux of all this whining is that we are trying to figure out the hows and and in's and out's of this. DH has a possible job offer back in CA - but we don't want to rent a house (meaning moving a 26' Penske and a 10' trailer load of stuff back across country). We're thinking the MH will allow us to own our home, be mobile, and when and if the job ends our options are un-ending.
I'm sure we can find a lot of our answers here, and become active and contributing members of the forum as we endeavor to figure this all out.
The friends who sold us the mobile home on the farm think we're nuts. Family (at least West Coast) thinks its a great idea. I tend to agree with family.
By the way - love your weather forcast! It's blowing 25 steady with some wild gusts, probably close to 90 outside, 85 inside, with at least 54% humidity. Yuck!
-- Edited by Fanciesmom on Saturday 29th of May 2010 12:19:22 PM
Welcome to the RV Dreams forum. You will find a lot of knowledgeable people here that are willing to help. So let me try to begin.
Leave your options open as much as you can. A number of people will tell you that if you are in a situation where you will be moving frequently (possibly every few days to a week), then a motorhome may be best. The motorhomes are great in that they would be quicker to "unhook" from an RV site and begin to move. However, a TT or fifth wheel may give you a better arrangement within the unit. so a TT (travel trailer) or fifth wheel may be more convenient.
By contrast, it may be that the TT or fifth wheel will work better for you for long-term stays in RV parks or mobile home parks.
Also, with a MH (motorhome), you may find an absolute need to have a second vehicle, which is usually referred to as a toad or a dinghy. (Toad is a play on "towed" vehicle and dinghy is a lifeboat for a bigger boat.) Should it be that both of you would need a vehicle, then it would require you to have either a second vehicle or one of you drive the MH around town. We have a fifth wheel, so we have a pickup to pull the fifth wheel (detachable from the fiver to use as a vehicle to drive around), and we have a Ford Explorer.
I advise going to dealers that have all three kinds and take a good long look. Consider storage of stuff. However, keep in mind that in any RV that you go with, you are going to have to get rid of stuff. Each type of RV has weight factors that you don't want to exceed.
Personally, I have never owned a motorhome, although we did consider them when choosing our "ultimate" Dream RV. I believe that there are a number of members here who have lived in both types. Also, check out the "Buying an RV" thread topic on the forums and you should find several places where the options have been discussed.
Good luck in your planning and researching.
Terry
I think we've pretty well decided on the MH. We'll be traveling with 4 dogs and a cat so we'd have to get a club or king cab truck. Right now we've got a mini van that will work as a TOAD and DH will really need a van if he gets his job back, a truck just won't work. He's also the only driver.
I spent 8 years managing a Marina/RV park so we got to know a lot of full timers and "most of the timers" and got to check out all their different setups. There are so many advantages to each of them, and drawbacks. We just don't want to have to buy a truck too so that limits us. We'll be sure to check out the "Buying" section.
The hardest part is going to be figuring out what to do with the mobile home and all of our "stuff". Although we love North Dakota I'm not sure we want to keep the mobile as a "home base".
Thanks again, and have a great weekend!