Our First Motorhome

[punxsyjumper]

We bought this last Sept. It was a repo and I bought it from the guy that bought it from the bank. The coach is great but the guy turned out to be a real jack ***. It's a Damon (Thor) Astoria, 40', 3 slides. Being pushed by a Cummins ISB 6.7, 360HP on a Freightshaker custom chassis. Really runs great. We packed it up and left the farm in western PA in November 2016 for our first crack at snowbirding. Came down through Ohio and into Kentucky. Visited a good friend there then off to TN. Visited some friends there then down through MS and stayed in Lafayette, LA for a week. Had a good friend there we spent some time with. Then it was off to San Antonio for a spell and then to Lubbock. Spent some time with an old Army buddy of mine. Up to 4-corners then Monument Valley. Back down to Kingman AZ and then over to Pahrump NV. Spent a couple months there before heading down to Bullhead City AZ. It was there I learned about a 2 day RV Skills class being held in Chandler so I drove the toad down while the wife held down the fort. Only after I got there I learned of the convention so after the skills class I hung around for a couple more days and joined FMCA. Glad I did. Anyway, back to BHC and then to Vegas. Left Vegas and are in Cedar City UT now. Going to hang out here for a bit and then up thru CO and back east to PA.

In August we are going to tour the New England states and then back home to regroup. Going to load up and head west to Idaho and once the cold wind starts blowing we will be heading back to Pahrump for the winter. It's been a real learning curve but we are having a ball. Really glad I met up with FMCA and appreciate all the help and positive feedback. Safe journey everybody and we'll see ya on the road.

[CarlAda]

Welcome to the forum and FMCA.  Great story and nice coach!

[manholt]

Welcome to FMCA!  Nice looking rig you got.

Carl

[abyrd]

Look like you are jumping into RVing feet first and hitting the road.  Best wishes and have a safe trip.

 

Jim

[hermanmullins]

jumper,

Welcome to the Family. It looks as if you didn't just jump in feet first, it looks as if you climbed the high board and dove in head first. Good for you. I will bet you have had some real learning experiences along the way. Tell your DW (Dear Wife) to start a journal of each day on the road. One thing it will give you is a history of RV parks you stayed in and would either return to or to stay way from. If you are back in PA in June and July FMCA has another Rally coming up in Indianapolis in July. I can't look up the date just now but I will post them later. It is in the early part of July. If you are able to come there will be our FORUM Meet and Greet time. This is where the Forum members that are at the Rally sit and put faces to the names we have met there. Would love to see you'll there.

Again Welcome to the Family.

Herman

[wayne77590]

Welcome to FMCA and the forum PJ (Short for your handle).  Nice looking ride.

Herman hit it on the nail with journal.  DW keeps one but we also keep all of our information in a Calendar (Think Apple Products but any calendar will do.) It has helped me when search for old RV haunts.

Happy trails to you and the family.

[jleamont]

Looks great! keep enjoying it. If you need some campgrounds on the other side of PA, DE or MD for a getaway PM me. We live in the Southeaster part of PA.

[punxsyjumper]

Thanks all for the welcome and well wishes. After leaving last Nov we got back home last Sat and 8,000 miles later. We are her till Oct 1st and then we are heading out again and will be fulltime. We won't be back on this side of the Missouri River if we can help it. Nevada in the winter time and northern rockies in the summer. Great life.

[obedb]

Did you meet Art Bell in Pahrump?😄  Probably no snow but some chilly nights a few. The town has really grown up over the years. Sharp looking ride. Where in the Northern Rockies?

[manholt]

Quote

 

Byron.  If I read his March 23rd post correctly, they are going to Idaho for the warm months (good for them, a beautiful state) and Pahrump for Winter! 

Jumper.  Sounds like a good plan to me, and welcome to the Family Motor Coach Association!   What's the DOT year of your tires ?  Also suggest you get some covers for them to protect against UV while parked for more than a couple of days!

Good luck

Carl

[obedb]

Gotta have some trucker in him? Freightshaker chassis! I still call anything Freightliner related that way. Few on this forum( my guess ) have driven a Cabover Freightliner circa 1960s. Everything rattles. The doors were hung outside the cab structure sealed with big rubber gaskets. I drove one that was so rattle prone that I often thought that the dash board was gonna fall off. If true, he was ready for a big ride of a class A.  

[jleamont]

Obed, not much has changed, now all the plastic breaks and when it rains outside you can fill your mug on the inside 

[punxsyjumper]

On 5/6/2017 at 6:40 PM, obedb said:

Did you meet Art Bell in Pahrump?😄  Probably no snow but some chilly nights a few. The town has really grown up over the years. Sharp looking ride. Where in the Northern Rockies?

No I didn't but I will look for him if you think I should.

[punxsyjumper]

On 5/6/2017 at 6:56 PM, manholt said:

Byron.  If I read his March 23rd post correctly, they are going to Idaho for the warm months (good for them, a beautiful state) and Pahrump for Winter! 

Jumper.  Sounds like a good plan to me, and welcome to the Family Motor Coach Association!   What's the DOT year of your tires ?  Also suggest you get some covers for them to protect against UV while parked for more than a couple of days!

Good luck

Carl

Yeh, Idaho mostly. Hopefully on a pontoon boat on Priest Lake. The DOT date was 2010 on all 6. I put new ones on the front in Cedar City UT and will be swapping out the rears this summer before heading back out. I did get some covers from Camping World but they are a pain to put on. Got to be a better way. Any suggestions?

[punxsyjumper]

On 5/6/2017 at 7:44 PM, obedb said:

Gotta have some trucker in him? Freightshaker chassis! I still call anything Freightliner related that way. Few on this forum( my guess ) have driven a Cabover Freightliner circa 1960s. Everything rattles. The doors were hung outside the cab structure sealed with big rubber gaskets. I drove one that was so rattle prone that I often thought that the dash board was gonna fall off. If true, he was ready for a big ride of a class A.  

Haha, yeh it's a shaker all right. No trucker here but I did used to transport for a couple years. Mostly box trucks, chassis trucks and some motorhomes. The door on our coach does rattle so Sweetie Pie rolls up my leather gloves that I keep by the door and sticks them between the door and the hand rail.

[BALDEAGLE1949]

There is a reason truckers call them   Freight Shakers

[manholt]

They do have snap on covers.  Best I have seen was fitted to grommets in wheel well.  Snap on and let them hang.

[punxsyjumper]

On 5/9/2017 at 11:04 PM, manholt said:

They do have snap on covers.  Best I have seen was fitted to grommets in wheel well.  Snap on and let them hang.

That sounds a lot better than what I have now. Got a name or a link?

[punxsyjumper]

Back home from our first trip and we can't wait to get back out. I may be putting this in the wrong area so if somebody can let me know where it should be, I'll move it.

We call this our "2468 trip" 24 states, 6 months and 8,000 miles. Got to Cedar City UT but changed our plans. Decided to go up to Idaho. So, up through UT, into ID, then OR and WA. Spent a week in Spokane and looked at a few properties in ID. Then across the top of ID and down Rt 200 in MT. Picked up 90 in Missoula MT. Stopped at Custer's last stand, Devil's Tower and spent a few days in Rapid City SD. While there we saw the Black Hills, Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Needles Highway and the Wildlife Loop. Then east to the Badlands. In Iowa, we spent a few days in Davenport and got up to see the American Pickers store. Mike and Frank weren't there. Neither was Danni but it was still worth it.

Now we are back home, getting ready to head back out in Sept for good. We love it. 

[jleamont]

September?? You need to take a few short trips between now and then!

[kaypsmith]

That would be a dream vacation for me. I wasted my money on timeshares before motorhoming 30 years ago. With a timeshare you could not have seen that many places, and if it is parked, there is no yearly maintenance CONTRACT to pay.

[wildebill308]

1 hour ago, punxsyjumper said:

Back home from our first trip and we can't wait to get back out. I may be putting this in the wrong area so if somebody can let me know where it should be, I'll move it.

We call this our "2468 trip" 24 states, 6 months and 8,000 miles. Got to Cedar City UT but changed our plans. Decided to go up to Idaho. So, up through UT, into ID, then OR and WA. Spent a week in Spokane and looked at a few properties in ID. Then across the top of ID and down Rt 200 in MT. Picked up 90 in Missoula MT. Stopped at Custer's last stand, Devil's Tower and spent a few days in Rapid City SD. While there we saw the Black Hills, Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Needles Highway and the Wildlife Loop. Then east to the Badlands. In Iowa, we spent a few days in Davenport and got up to see the American Pickers store. Mike and Frank weren't there. Neither was Danni but it was still worth it.

Now we are back home, getting ready to head back out in Sept for good. We love it. 

That sounds like a great trip. I liked the Coeur d'Alene area and will be back that way. 

Earlier you were talking about places to spend winters. Nevada is ok but I like a greener landscape. Have you looked at the Texas Rio Grande Valley or the coast? 

Bill

[punxsyjumper]

1 hour ago, WILDEBILL308 said:

That sounds like a great trip. I liked the Coeur d'Alene area and will be back that way. 

Earlier you were talking about places to spend winters. Nevada is ok but I like a greener landscape. Have you looked at the Texas Rio Grande Valley or the coast? 

Bill

No, but I will be looking at it now. When you say the coast, you mean the gulf?

[punxsyjumper]

1 hour ago, jleamont said:

September?? You need to take a few short trips between now and then!

Yeh, it's going to be hard not too but we have a few things to sort out first. Sweetie Pie is going home to England for 3 weeks in July (new Grandson turns a year old) and in the middle of August I have a VA appt. After that we can hoist anchor and shove off.

[punxsyjumper]

1 hour ago, kaypsmith said:

That would be a dream vacation for me. I wasted my money on timeshares before motorhoming 30 years ago. With a timeshare you could not have seen that many places, and if it is parked, there is no yearly maintenance CONTRACT to pay.

Yeh, I had a timeshare back in the early 80's. Used it twice and got rid of it. This is def the way to go and we love it.