freestoneangler

My wife and I are retiring in spring 2016 and, while we're pretty sure about our plans to build a home in southwest MT and winter south in a motorhome, I often find myself thinking about other options for where to have a home. We don't think full time RV living is in our genes, but have done plenty of camper travels during our 30 years of marriage to feel confident in seasonal travel... in fact that part sounds really fun. We're partial to the western states as we love the Rocky Mountains and our families are all in CA (which is absolutely not an option...lived there, done that). We've lived in WA (south of Seattle) for the last 30 years and we no longer want to live in the wet. Eastern WA has popped in/out of our options list... decisions, decisions. I often look at the forums members avatar info and what rigs they have and where they call home... though quite a few do not. I'd be interested in hearing about folks who, like us, contemplated places to retire, where you finally ended up and how you like it (or not). Thanks

Hello, This is my first post on the forum. My wife and I are looking at a 2001 Beaver Monterey Trinidad, Magnum Chassis, CAT 330 w/Allison. I would love to hear from any Beaver owners (or prior Beaver owners) and what their experience has been. We like the "liveable slide" concept in that the coach floor plan is fully functional w/o having to squeeze your way around. If you want to just stop and rest, or wait until the morning to open slides and set-up, it affords that option. Also, we simply feel a bit more comfortable with a bit shorter coach and pulling our CR-V. Looking forward to tapping into the vast experience of the forums seasoned members. Thanks, Bill

That's a great looking rig!

Thanks Brett. I have read about the tradeoff with shorter length DP's... like most everything, life is just a series of compromises. Our neighbor has a 42' older Monaco Dynasty and it is loaded with everything...gorgeous rig. But DW and I really don't want anything that large...just does not fit us. I notice you have a Safari... I'm starting a tally to see what if anything I can draw from those of you who have likely plowed the same fields a time or two. We have another neighbor who has the National SeaBreeze 8311 LX.... one of the better apportioned gas coaches on the size we're targeting. It has a similar floor plan to the Beavers and Safari's. One salesman I spoke with about one of these units seemed to be steering me away from National because of concerns about being able to get exterior parts if needed... seems this would be an issue on most any of the older, used coaches... thoughts? PPL is one of my bookmark RV search sites... they are indeed one of the better ones.

Thanks Herman. Like many I'm sure, my wife and I have done circles making the which set-up is best for us --we've been looking and researching for 5+ years now. For the longest time, we were sure a 5th wheel was the one, but since we travel with a Y-lab and my wife's back/hip can tend to give her issues when sitting for long periods, we have switched to Class A...allowing her and the pooch some freedom to move about as needed while on the road. I will be retiring in spring 2016 and we plan to part time RV travel and likely snowbird in winter. We owned a Class C years ago and in recent years just use my slide in camper for short trips...so RV travel is nothing new and we seem to do OK together in small space. We don't want a monster unit -- trying to target 30-34'. Now it's more about gas vs. DP and what make/models are available in the used market for our price point. If you or the other forum members have suggestions on certain models and years to focus on (or stay clear of), I would love to hear the feedback. Maybe the best way to develop that list is to scan the forums member signatures, showing which rigs they own... could be a trend in there somewhere?

We really like the floor plans of several model older Beaver and Safari coaches. Any reason not to consider these manufacturers due to issues getting parts or service? We're hoping to find a well maintained, quality DP for $50k or less. Thanks.

Wow, I though narrowing the field of which class A was challenging enough... now we're looking to replace our 1998 Ford Explorer and I want to make sure whatever we get can be safely flat-towed. Getting into all this has me considering going back to our original plan... a 5Ver! I have found the Motorhome website that lists the 2013 vehicles they say are flat tow safe... but see tons of info on this subject that would suggest those are not the only vehicles OK to tow. Also found REMCO which has a nice search site, but some of the results they show are a bit contradictory. And, don't even bother asking sales personnel... talk about double speak. After looking at and researching some other makes/models, we keep coming back to the Explorer as fitting our needs best. I found the thread from "SergentMajor" and his experience getting a 2003 fitting & re-programmed for the neutral tow option...sounded like that worked out. Does anyone else on the forum flat tow a Ford Explorer? If you can share any info about what you had to do to make it work, that would be appreciated. Thanks, Bill