Observations Based on Online Encounters with Some RV Owners

It is important - in my opinion - that if one is looking at making an investment in an RV or Travel Trailer whether new or pre-owned, that one do a good deal of research on RVs/Travel Trailers in general and then when shopping and purchasing learn as much as possible about that RV/TT about that particular RV/TT. And then when making the purchase, don't leave the seller - whether it is a private owner or a dealer - without being given a detailed tour and orientation about everything inside and outside what they are buying.

I am online a lot and spend a great deal of that time either in RV forums or RV Facebook Groups (discussion groups) - and not just those specific to Roadtrek. You can learn a lot about RVs in general that apply to all RVs on some of these groups and forums. Those relating just to Roadtreks are a wealth of information and understanding about Roadtreks - both new and old. But this is not an article about forums.

Last night I was on an RV Facebook Group for new RV owners. There was a member of the group asking for help, and since it was late at night there was no one responding to her. I decided to try to help her. She has a "Camper Van" (in her words) and has had no power for the past four days. She was asking if there are circuit breakers in camper vans. She also said that she was not plugged in and was on batteries when things went off. A Camper Van is another term for Class B RV - whether professionally manufactured or home-built. I started with a response to her to explain that the 110 volt electric system in a Class B (camper van) is generally on circuit breakers and that the 12 volt electric system is on fuses. She came back in a couple of minutes asking where to find the fuse box. I told her where mine is - which certainly would be no help to her if she did not have the same RV - but offered this as an example of places to look including other likely spots around the inside of her van. I also told her that it really depended on the make, model, and year of her Class B - and could she share that with us in a response. What she answered was a 26 year old make and model of a GMC van - she gave the specific make and model of this van, but it was only the name of the van - not any company name of who manufactured the camper van - and this told me that likely this was a camper van that someone put together themselves - which is fine - but my next response was asking her if that was so - and if so, it was anyone's guess where the builder put the fuse/circuit breaker panel/box. In the course of the discussion, I asked her if the Battery Switch was ON. Her answer - "do I have a battery switch?" I then proceeded to explain what a battery switch is - and was not certain that an RV conversion would not have a battery switch. She had been out several days when the power went out and I said to her that my guess is that her batteries need to be charged and using them drained them out. She told me that she had run the engine for a "little while" and that did not help. Well, as I explained, running the engine for a little while is not going to anything - and the van would need to be driven at highway speeds for several hours to bring the batteries up to full charge.

So what is the point of this story? Here is a new RV owner who has purchased a "camper van" that is 26 years old that she knows nothing about. It is very evident that whoever she bought it from did not show her where everything is - nor, likely, did she know to ask to be shown that. She does not understand how the systems in her RV work and while she gets a big plus for trying to get help from fellow RVers on this group, she does not know enough detail about her RV to provide information to get a good response.

This is just one example of many instances where new owners of RVs have no idea about what they own, what it can do, what it can't do, and how it does anything that it does.  If any of you are buying an RV or Travel Trailer do not leave the seller without the seller completely detailing everything to you. RV dealers will do this. Some better than others. They will take you through your new or new to you RV and show you where everything is and how everything works. Hopefully, they will know what they are talking about. When we took delivery of our Roadtrek - and I have told this story in an article here before - we met the new salesman who took over for our salesman who had left the dealership for the first time. He was the one who gave us our "demonstration" of our new Roadtrek. He was very enthusiastic and friendly, but he did not know a thing about our Roadtrek. I prepared for the delivery of our Roadtrek for weeks in advance. I learned everything that I could on a Class B forum - I don't think that the Roadtrek groups on Facebook existed then. I asked on the forum about where things were and what to ask about at delivery. I was ready to be shown it all on the day of delivery and knew what I needed to ask about and to ask how to do everything. The only problem was that the salesman knew less than I did. I have since referred to him as the "plumb dumb salesman" and when we got home - after a night in the Roadtrek trying to make sense out of some of the nonsense that he told us, I let the dealership owner know about his new salesman and our delivery. During this "walk through" or "demo", he was telling us where things are and at one point a service tech walked by shaking his head "no". I stopped him and asked and he came over and corrected what the salesman was telling us at that moment. But the salesman ventured on. He turned on a switch in the back of the cargo area of our 190 near the floor - looking in with the cargo doors open. He told me it controlled something with a name so far out that I can't even remember now what he said. He left that switch on. That night when we were at the campground - always stay near the dealership if the dealer is any distance from your home at a campground that first night after delivery in case you need to go back after finding something wrong - we got into bed and turned off the lights. We were both nervous about this very new to both of us experience. A few minutes later, , Meryl said to me, "Something is glowing back here. There is a light on." I asked where - she said "Under the bed." Yes, there was. There was light coming up from behind the bed - which is right up against the cargo doors. No one ever said that there were lights under the bed back there. Well, that was the switch the guy pushed that afternoon - and they had been on ever since. And confounded by this strange glow coming up from under the back of the bed, I realized this. I was not going to get dressed to go outside to open the back doors to get to that switch and I have to say, that it took quite a contortionist act to reach over the back of the bed's rear board and work my hand down to where that switch was and turn it off. So - more reason to know as much about your new RV as you can before you take delivery. Some RV manufacturers have their manual's for download for their RVs. Roadtrek has these going back a number of years. You can get the manual this way before you get the RV. Bottom line be prepared and get the seller to show you where everything is and how it all works.

Let's meander a little more. I come across so many people who are shopping for RVs and don't know anything about RVs in general. Someone recently was asking about what Class B to buy to go to Alaska in the winter. That question was met with a lot of similar answers about the limitations of many Class Bs - and RVs that are not designed specifically for four season cold weather travel - and those are mostly large Class A bus type RVs that have special heating units that will warm any plumbing or tanks exposed outside under the RV. And even with those systems the need to have 110 volt power generated or plugged in 24/7 to keep the heating systems working. At least this person asked before they went ahead and purchased. Some don't - some plan to live full time in their RV with no idea that there might be a problem in the winter months with freezing weather. I have read many posts from those who learned this the hard way when their first full freeze weather hit and froze their pipes.

Then there are the people who buy an RV or Travel Trailer over the Internet sight unseen - not inspected - and have it delivered to them across the country - after money has been paid. And, of course, when they get it, it is nothing as described, what was supposedly working is not working, and it in no way suits their needs - because in the photos it looked bigger and better than it really was. Photos can be taken in a way to make something small look very spacious and large. What can they do then? Some have discovered that there is little that they were able to do - but have to fix what needed to be fixed or sell with as little loss as possible. Never buy an RV sight unseen - even if buying new, if that year is not on the lot, you want to see a year model that will be the same or as close to the same as you are buying. We saw and test drove a 2010 and we got a 2011 - there was no  difference from our 2011 OTHER than the switch to AGM batteries in 2011 but later learned that we also did not get a slide out battery compartment which had been standard on Roadtreks before our year. These were OK changes - the battery change, great, the no slide out battery compartment - not so great.

No matter if buying new or pre-owned always test drive. Oh, that was a good story. The older woman who bought sight unseen from a relative's friend, had the Class B delivered to her from several states away and found out when she finally got it that she could not drive it. It was too much for her to handle - and then had to sell it - at a loss.

And please, if buying pre-owned, have the RV inspected by both a vehicle mechanic of your choosing and also by an RV technician of your choosing. There are RV techs who just do this or you pay an RV service center to do a full inspection of all systems. So many stories about how good a deal the RV was until they bought it - not inspected - and found out that it needs thousands of dollars in repairs, often to the point that they could have paid much more originally for one in good working order and saved a great deal over what they paid plus the cost of repairs and replacements. I don't know - maybe I value my money more than others? If I am buying something, I want to be absolutely sure it is going to work before I spend a dollar. A small investment in these inspections - even though they will come out of your pocket - is better than finding out you have a money pit after the sale is done.

A good book for first time RV owners or shoppers - The Complete Idiot's Guide To RVing by Brent Peterson. I bought this book in Borders, when there was still a Borders,  when we were first shopping for an RV. I wanted a book that explained all of the systems clearly. This one was the clearest. It also goes into picking and shopping for an RV - and tells you about the different types. Good book. Others have recommended this book also.  The book is still around and certainly can be found on line.

One last story - a couple bought an RV from a very nice couple not a far distance away. They did everything that they should do - just as described here. It seemed like the perfect sale. At the time the money changed hands, the very nice people selling the RV told them that they could not get to the bank vault to get the Title certificate for the RV so they will be certain to mail it to the new owners.  In most states, if not all, one cannot register a vehicle including an RV without a Title certificate. Since these were such lovely people, the new owners did not think anything of it - and the gentleman selling even drove the RV to their home. A week went by and no Title certificate. Attempts were made to contact the seller. No response. They went back to the seller's home only to find that they had moved away. Was this a scam? Maybe, maybe not, but this couple was stuck. They could not register the RV and they could not sell it with the Title certificate. I never did hear how that all turned out but I am sure it did not turn out well. These are not Internet myths - these are people reporting what has happened and are asking for help from other RVers about what to do.

So, if you have followed my wandering here, you have come away with a lot of dos and don'ts. Do the dos - don't do the don'ts.

Questions from Readers - RV INSURANCE

We have a lot of readers who contact us about buying a Roadtrek, owning a Roadtrek, dealing with issues and problems with their Roadtrek, and asking for clarification on something that they read in one of our articles. I am always happy to answer these questions and I had a thought that perhaps sharing my answers with all of our readers would benefit others. As we go along, I will share these questions and answers.

Recently I was contacted by someone who is purchasing a pre-owned Roadtrek and wanted to know about RV Insurance and any help that I could give in choosing a policy. She wondered if she should just use the insurance company that covers her car.

Here is my response, and I will add some more after my answer to her.

"I can share with you how I selected RV insurance for my Roadtrek. Just to be clear - we are talking about vehicle, damage, and liability insurance just like car insurance - and not emergency roadside assistance plans. I only say this because some people confuse the two. So - when we were buying the Roadtrek I found an internet forum about RVs in general. There were many categories of discussions there including Class B RVs like the Roadtrek as well as other larger RVs. I read with a lot of interest stories from some on the group about insurance claims and which companies worked to make things right and which gave the policy owner a hard time when making a claim. The one company that kept coming up positive was Progressive - the company with all of the TV commercials with the lady, Flo. They only sell by telephone or online. I was not able to find a local broker that represented them - though in other parts of the country there may be Progressive offices and Progressive brokers that one can walk into. I contacted them by telephone and got a quick quote. I then went to AllState which I have had my car insurance with since I started driving back in 1970.  AllState did have an RV policy but the lady in the office that we deal with really had no idea about specific information on the policy. She did not know RVs and was reading along with paperwork to provide me with a quote. The AllState quote was a lot more money than the Progressive quote. I called Progressive back and spoke with the agent over the phone and he knew all about RVs and RV insurance. Together we set up a policy that would cover the Roadtrek. One important thing that is different from a car policy in a good RV policy is that the RV policy if you take the option will include FULL replacement value. This is more than the value of the RV on the books at the moment but a replacement of my Roadtrek should that ever be necessary due to a serious accident. AllState had that also as an option. It is worth getting this coverage - you should talk with them about what this means for a pre-owned older model RV, but I believe the coverage is available for that too. This was something that impressed me about Progressive's handling of one of the RV owners on the forum. He told how he had to use the full replacement coverage for his Class B RV and had Progressive insurance, and had no problem doing so.

Just like car insurance the cost of the premium will vary by state, location in the state, etc. It will also vary by how much you tell them that you will be using the RV. This is not something that you are committing to but a way for them to not charge you the same using the RV for vacation trips as they would charge someone living full time all year in their RV. I told them a number of months leaving out the coldest, non-travel months. This is not to say that if I decided to go on a trip in the Roadtrek in January that I would not be covered. Somewhere along the line of applying for the insurance this question will be asked.

The Progressive policy also includes emergency roadside assistance but I have a plan for that with a company that does that specifically for RVs so I have the coverage from Progressive, didn't pay any extra for it and if I ever wanted to use it I could.

I am sure there are other companies out there. Sit down with your car insurance agent and get a quote. Get several quotes from different companies and make sure that what is covered in each company's quote is the same. I hope this helps."

I am going to share with all of you the actual coverage details of our policy with Progressive. I will list the Coverages but not the limits, deductibles, or cost. At the top of the coverage listings is my zip code, indicating that the coverage cost is dependent upon location - as they put it "Garaging Zip Code".

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Coverages:

Liability to Others
      Bodily Injury Liability includes Supplemental Spousal Liability Coverage
      Property Damage Liability
      Wrongful Death Coverage

Mandatory Personal Injury Protection

Additional Personal Injury Protection - Full

Aggregate No-Fault Benefits Available
      Death Benefit
      Maximum Monthly Work Loss
      Other Reasonable & Necessary Expenses per day

Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist

Medical Payments

Comprehensive  (This is the Total Loss Replacement/Purchase Price - "Full Replacement" as I spoke about in my response - and it list the actual amount that I paid for my Roadtrek.)

Collision

Included With Comprehensive And Collision:
      Mexico Coverage
      Fire Department Service
      Emergency Expense
      Vacation Liability

Replacement Cost Personal Effects

Roadside Assistance (it seems I am paying less than $24 for this coverage a year but it cannot be deleted)

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The rate was added up for each of the coverages listed and then discounts were applied that include Anti-Lock Brakes, Home Owner, Good Driving Record, Passive Restraints, and Daytime Running Lamps. There is also a discount to pay the premium in full rather than in two or more payments during the insured year.

Now, as I had indicted in my response to the reader with this question, I had been asked about our intended length of use of the RV during the year. No where on the policy does it list this.

Insurance is important and necessary. There was a time that in some states vehicle insurance was optional. I do not know if any state still exists but driving without insurance is foolish. Insurance is also something that you buy and never want to have to use - and be very happy when you have not had to use it.

There are many insurance companies that provide good RV insurance and service. This is in no way an endorsement for Progressive Insurance. It is just the insurance company that I choose based on my reasoning given above. Do not just accept that. Investigate yourself before you purchase RV insurance - and do so thoroughly. Know that you are getting the best coverage for the best price for the area that you live in. If you full-time, your insurance will be based upon the state that you register your RV in - and full timer RV insurance may be a very different thing all together. I do not full time so I cannot provide any detail about such a policy.

The Second Day

The second day of owning the Roadtrek- after a sleepless night (not to the fault of the Roadtrek).

A little after nine I gave up the idea of sleeping and got up. We needed to get unhooked and everything outside put away anyway and we had to get to the dealer to have him fix what had to be fixed including the TV which I tried for another hour that morning to get a signal to lock without success.

Dressed and outside I went in to pay the lady at the campground for our night- which normally would have been done when we arrived. I paid her and asked about the digital TV reception there. She told me that it is very strong. She gets strong signals in her home which is there at the campground and also that the RV a few spaces down from us gets 19 strong and clear channels without putting up an antenna. I told her that I could not get any. She got a little angered as if I was saying that what she was telling me was not true. I quickly told her that I did not doubt her but I wanted to know because I thought there was something wrong with the TV or antenna in my new RV. She suggested that I have it looked at because I should have at least gotten the Lancaster channel that is just eight miles away. I thanked her and went out to unhook.

I wanted to dump our sewerage tank and our "gray water" tank (that is the sink and shower water tank). I needed to make sure that worked. To do that I had to get those tanks full as they are not to be dumped without at least being 2/3s full. I started running the faucet and flushing the toilet. We were getting no where fast. I filled a gallon jug outside at another campsite's spigot and dumped that down the toilet and the sink. This took over an hour before we had filled the tanks to be able to dump it all right then and there. The black tank monitor panel went from a third full to full - we never saw the 2/3 light. And once full you should see all the lights on. The 2/3 led remained dark. There was something else to tell the dealer service.

We were ready to dump. With thoughts of Robin Williams and the movie RV in both of our comments we set that up. And it was the easiest thing that we did. The two tanks dumped. There was no terrible odor when we opened the CG sewer pipe and it was all fairly clean. Rubber gloves are worn at all times, of course! Now, our friend, the salesman, told us to close the blank tank before opening the gray tank and draining that. This went against all that I had read, but we did it his way - which is wrong (of course).

Meryl called the salesman to tell him that we were coming back and what was wrong. We had a list. He started to tell her to make an appointment and come back. I did not make the call as she can control herself much better than I can when I am angry. She told him again as I had before the sale and during the sale and during the delivery, that we were here on this day because we could not make the 400 mile round trip with 150 dollars in gas and tolls for two vehicles back again. OK- he said get here as fast as possible. As fast as possible is an hour and a half.

We left the campground with Meryl driving the Roadtrek following me in the SUV back to the dealer. Not only was the day unseasonably warm but it was forecast for severe storms and the sky showed it. I kept hoping that the rain would hold off - maybe to tomorrow. It was almost Noon when we got on the road heading northeast to the dealership service center. We made our way to the turnpike and moved along in convoy. I was pumping with adrenalin which was good because it would be later that afternoon before I would be able to eat lunch. We don't eat breakfast and I maintain a pretty close schedule of meals due to my Diabetes. As I drove, I watched behind me to make sure that Meryl and the Roadtrek were in sight. We were able to keep close together most of the trip which is good because the dealer is not located off a main road and the GPS in my car was taking us through back roads to get us there once we got off the parkway. Along the way, Meryl called the salesman again - as he had asked her to when we were close to arrival. We pulled into the service center lot at almost two that afternoon. The sky was thick with storm clouds but it had not rained.

Inside we told the service desk what was wrong. They were expecting us. She took the keys, filled out her forms, and asked where we would be waiting. She took the cell number and would call us. We had the SUV and told her that we had to go and have lunch. As soon as we were about to walk out the door, there was a downpour. The rain came down fast and heavy. We made a run for the car and the rain stopped shortly after as fast as it started.

There is a Wendy's very close by and we drove over and sat down to lunch at almost 2:45 pm. I was just holding on at that point. The thing about adrenalin effecting your blood sugar is that when the stress level starts to subside you suddenly drop in blood glucose level to where you normally should be and if there has been no food that drop can be harsh. The drop happened at the restaurant and if it has to happen that is one of the better places for it to.

There is not a great deal to do in this area without traveling further than we wanted to go from the dealer. We walked around a Home Depot. Then we walked around a dollar store. From there we went into a Staples Office store. I really did not pay much attention to anything that we walked past in these stores as my mind was on the Roadtrek. I was pretty sure that they were going to tell us that we had to leave it and come back another day to get it. That would mean 200 miles home and then 200 miles back with gas and tolls. I did notice, however, in the Home Depot how the wood was of so much better quality than the same wood sold at the Home Depot stores at home - but that is another story for another website. While we were aimlessly walking around Staples the phone rang. Come back and talk to us we were told. This did not sound good to me.

We rushed to the car and drove back. The Roadtrek was parked next to the service building. We went inside and were told that a service rep would come out and talk to us. He came out and took us outside to the Roadtrek. He told us that he filled the black tank and it showed 2/3 fill on the monitor lights, insisting that it lit for him. Why it did not light for us he could not explain - and we will not know if this is truly fixed until the next time we fill that tank. He told us that he replaced the light bulb that had burned out in the hose compartment which we reported was not working. He showed us that it now worked. He took us into the TV and showed me the channels that he could tune in. He showed me a switch box that I already had changed to each setting while I was trying to tune in channels. He insisted that it was set wrong and look - there is TV. And yes there was.

I will stop the story here and jump ahead a few days back at home. We went out to the Roadtrek on the driveway to try to tune in TV channels. After a half hour of trying there was nothing tuning in. I am not unfamiliar with wiring and I started to trace the visible wires from the TV to the switch box to a splitter to the cable that went up to the ceiling toward the antenna. It did not look right to me and it wasn't. The switch box has two inputs and an output and that output goes to the TV. One input is the antenna and the other is for cable service. The connector for the cable service was plugged into the OUTPUT to the TV and the cable that should have gone to the TV was plugged into one of the inputs on the two way switch. There was NO wire with a signal going to the TV. Digital TV channels can be pulled in and tuned with a wire alone acting as an antenna providing the signal to be decoded is strong enough. Apparently, near the dealer, the signals are strong and he was tuning them in on the wire alone. No antenna was connected. For that matter, no cable service could have made its way to the TV either. I reversed the two wires on the switch. I started to scan for channels and they came in quickly and in quantity. So why didn't the service guy look at the box and find the problem?

Back to our story... The service center acknowledged that the front tires were out of alignment but they could not do the alignment there. I would have to take it to be aligned at home and they would get authorization from Roadtrek to pay for it. I was not thrilled with this. I was hoping to take this home all set and done, but there was nothing that could be done. They bid us good bye and off we went.

It was almost dinner time - even though it seemed that we just had lunch. We decided to go to a restaurant that we know near Philadelphia that was easy to park at and we headed south. We had the walkie-talkies working so that we could communicate. Before we left the area we stopped for gas to fill up both vehicles. The Roadtrek has used a quarter tank of gas in the day we had it. For the four hours of driving that it did I suppose that is not bad. Just to be sure we were in good communication as we would be traveling now to the restaurant on unfamiliar roads, I changed the batteries in the walkie-talkies. Right after I did along the road they stopped working. Of course. We stopped to try to fix them and got them working again with another set of batteries and off we went.

We arrived at the restaurant, had dinner and started on our way home. The trip home was uneventful until we got to the Veranzano Bridge. A heavy fog came over the roadway and the wind was picking up a heavy mist from the ocean and tossing it on the road and the cars. It was very difficult to see out the windshield and everything was being covered with salt water. I have never really seen anything like that before. I have, of course, driven in fog, but never where it was like waves crashing over the side of a ship on the deck. We got over the bridge and move on. The next highway that we needed to take is under construction and the lanes have been narrowed. I watched the wide Roadtrek in my rearview mirror making its way through these tight lanes. Meryl told me later that it really was no problem. The Roadtrek has a very distinct light pattern on top and in the dark - and in the fog it looked like a large truck on this narrow-laned road. At one point I looked in my mirror and wondered what that mac truck was doing on this road and then I realized it was the Roadtrek. There is a point now that we had to get off the highway and take the streets because the continuation of the highway to our home has overpasses on the road that are too low for the 8'9" height of the Roadtrek. We both got off the road where we knew we had to. We have practiced taking this new route several times before and it would be no problem - unless there was an accident on the road almost to home and we both had to weave slowly around the police cars and tow trucks which did not leave very much room to drive through. I could see the RT making these really tight turns and thought to myself that we came all this way to have it damaged not four miles from home. It got through fine and we arrived home at almost 11. I was exhausted. Remember that I had not slept and the frenzy of the past two days was taking its toll on me. I had looked forward to what should have happened on this day. I had planned some sight seeing and some fun things that we like to do in Lancaster County. While we had a great dinner, I had planned dinner in our favorite restaurant. Well, we were home and the Roadtrek was now ours. And now, I would have to find someplace to have it aligned in an area where no one has ever seen such a vehicle...

Our First Night

If you have been reading along in order you know that this is the day that we picked up our Roadtrek 190 Popular from the dealer. We had decided to spend that night in a campground not too far from the dealer (we live 200 miles one way from the dealer) so that if we discovered any problems we could drive back to him the next day with our car (used to drive to PA to pick up the RV) and the Roadtrek, and not have to make a two vehicle trip back to PA.

We arrived at the campground at 6:30 pm, one half hour after the campground office closed. It was a good thing that I had called along the way. When we arrived I found a note on the office door with my name on it that had a map and several spaces highlighted with a marker for us to choose from. We picked a space that was right across from the office and adjacent to restrooms (just in case). We had the ability to pick a space that had vacant spaces on both sides. There were other rvs parked further down from us and in another section of the campground. We pulled our car up into our space next to the Roadtrek.

Many of the restaurants in this area close at 8:00 pm, so we did not really have much time, but I wanted to test the 110v power in the hook up of the campsite that we choose. We got out the adapter for 15 amp to 30 amp, the voltage meter, and the polarity tester. I never thought to cut the adapter from the card and it was held on by plastic pull bands in three places. What I had not thought to bring was a set of tools - at least something strong enough to cut these bands. We had a small knife and a pocket knife - neither was strong enough to cut through the plastic. I finally just ripped the cardboard away and went off to the power box with the adapter. First I checked the polarity - good. I then plugged in the voltage meter and it looked good. Great. Put it all away and head off to the restaurant that I had planned on eating at.

I now drove the Roadtrek for the first time. My wife drove it following me from the dealer on the hour and a half trip to the campground. I headed off in the Roadtrek through the turning and slightly hilly Pennsylvania farm roads. It was easy to handle and drove nicely. The large V8 engine did seem to strain a bit when first starting - or perhaps we just thought so. Once it was rolling it had plenty of power. As we were driving Meryl said to me that she felt it pull to the right when she drove it. We got to a main road that was straight and I lessened my grip on the wheel in a straight-away and the van moved toward the right. Nothing that one could not compensate for but it definitely felt out of alignment. OK - we would have to head back to the dealer the next day to see what they could do about it.

We arrived at the restaurant and parked in the parking lot. It fit nicely in a standard parking space. It was still light outside when we went into the restaurant and we had dinner. When we came back out to the Roadtrek, it seemed as if there was light coming out from the inside. It was now dark out. I opened the drivers door and I could see two ceiling lights on and also the GPS. Well, I have since learned that when you open the door, the GPS screen comes on. But those two lights baffled us. We did not THINK that they were on before, BUT the salesman taking us through the van was turning things on and off and our heads were spinning such that it would have been possible for these lights to be left on and in the daylight we would not have noticed. I went in and clicked each of the light switches to off. They are rocker switches and were both on. We started to wonder how this could happen. Is there a dusk sensor for the cabin lights. There is for the vehicle headlights. Perhaps the two are connected? But the switches would not physically be moved. That seems impossible. I decided that the lights must have been left on and that was that. (More to come about this in my next article.) We buckled in and started back to the campground. Not it was fully dark outside and we would be setting up in the dark. I did bring a small but bright LED flashlight. I drove the Roadtrek back to the campground, now on the same turning farm roads through the Amish farm fields - but this time in the dark with no road lights. Meryl was quick to point out that I have done that before. It would have been nice to be driving at night on well lit roads, but fine. We got back to the campground at almost 9 pm.

I backed into the site and we got out to start hooking up. First I checked to see how level we were - we only need that for our comfort as the refrigerator is electric and does not need to be kept level as a "three-way" fridge does. We were slightly off level toward the rear driver's corner. I tried moving the Roadtrek in the parking place - no difference. It was not really noticeable walking around inside so I left it where it was.

All of what we both read in advance was to hook up the electric first - so you are not standing in a puddle of water when you plug in the 30 amp plug that sits next to the water hose faucet for your water supply. We got the large electric cord out of the compartment on the side and plugged it in. Make sure the power box breaker is OFF, plug in, and turn the breaker ON. Easy. Done.

What was odd was that the with the cord coming out the bottom of the compartment the door could no longer be closed. There was a hole in the compartment wall leading to a place that the cord would go out without interfering with the door, but the plastic star cap on that hole seemed too small to put the large plug on the cord through. We unhooked and tried it and Meryl said it was too tight a fit and we did not want to force anything. Someone would have told us about this when we were being shown the RV on delivery... Well, that someone did not know what he was telling us about. We left the cord coming out the compartment and decided that the door would just remain open enough to let the cord out.

It was now time to hook up the water. Both Meryl and I had read that water connections at campgrounds should be sanitized before using them. People touch them, a dog may have used it instead of a tree, etc. and germs grow. To sanitize it is simple - mix bleach and water in a spray bottle and squirt it outside and inside the faucet. Let it stand for a minute or so and then run the water to flush out the bleach. What we were not sure of was how much bleach to water - and everyone who had answered me on the internet forum about this a few days before had a different mixture from ten to one to 100% bleach. We decided to go with the directions on the bleach bottle for mixing it as a disinfectant. Several squirts later and that was done.

We got out the hoses that we bought. We were very close to the faucet so I chose the ten foot hose. I hooked that up and ran some water through the hose to clear it out. We got out the filter that we purchased for the hose line and also the pressure regulator. We quickly found that where the Roadtrek's water inlet for "city" water - yes, if you connect it to a hose - even in the country - you are connecting it to "city" water - anyway - the inlet is very low to the ground facing downward. It is necessary to get the hose up under the bottom of the van and to this connection and then screw them together - along with the pressure regulator and the filter which is about a foot long. No way. I unhooked the hose and started all over again. I also realized that I needed to test the on-board fresh water tanks - one is filled through the side of the back doors and the other is filled inside the drivers door. The ten foot those would would not reach the other side of the back doors. I got out the 25 foot hose. I hooked that up with the filter and filled both tanks. We went inside, turned on the water pump and started the sink. There was some sputtering - and then Water! We flushed the toilet - water! So far so good! I turned off the water pump. We then connected the hose to the "city" water inlet. Things dripped a bit which I know is a no-no at campgrounds but no matter how much I tightened there was still some dripping. It would have to do in the dark. That afternoon we were told by the salesman that we turn the valve on the city water inlet to the side to connect the city water. I turned that valve as he told us too and turned on the campground faucet. I could hear water rushing - this could not be right. I looked around and at the rear of the Roadtrek water was coming down from the overfill of the water tank. Quickly we turned off the water. We decided to turn the valve on the city water inlet straight up. I turned on the water again - and no more gushing. We went inside and started the sink. Water flowed out of the faucet with more force than before. Perfect. Again, the toilet filled with water when we stepped on the flusher - half-way down to let in water, all the way down to open the door and flush!

For all the RVers reading this, this is all second nature to you all. For us this was a monumental first. We had electricity and we had water.

I then turned on the propane and we went in to test things inside. I had been told by good people on the internet forums that I should light the stove first to get the gas flowing in the line before I light the water heater or the furnace. Meryl got out the long lighter that we had been given by the salesman in his box of "gifts". I tried to light it first. I moved the lighter's safety switch to off, pressed the red button on top, and pushed that button forward while pulling the trigger. No flame came out the end. I tried it again and again. Nothing. OK, we had brought one from home that I knew worked. I turned on one of the burners, waited a second and clicked the lighter's flame on. The burner caught and a blue flame circled the middle. I tested the second burner and it worked as well. Great. We don't particularly like gas. We took it out of our house for all appliances and only use it at home for hot water. We both feel that it is not all that safe, but we also grew up with it when we were small children and do understand how to use it. I turned off the burner and moved on to the water heater. We took out the instruction booklet and followed what it said. There is a six gallon hot water tank and it takes a little time to heat up. We could hear the water heater ignite - this uses an electronic ignition. We waited a few minutes and I was pretty sure that I could feel hot water. I asked Meryl for an opinion - "cold" she said. We waited a little more and it was definitely hot. Another test with success.

What I have not mentioned in this article yet or in the article on delivery was that this day was the hottest day of the year to date - and the hottest night. It was over 80 during the day and the night would be in the mid-70's. Inside the Roadtrek there needs to be some source of air coming in or - at least to me - it gets hard to feel comfortable and breath easily. I turned on the air conditioner. It roared loudly. It has two settings - auto or fan and two speeds - high and low. Being blown hard, I moved the switch to low. But it is noisy inside even on low. I played with the thermostat and it turned on and off with the temperature, but I soon felt that it was better with it on all of the time that the on and off of the auto setting.

With the A/C running, it was time to test the furnace. I turned that on and very quickly heat started to come from the vent in the floor - good. We turned that off quickly - it was very warm still outside. I tried the heat pump that is part of the air conditioner. Warm air came out the vents - that worked too. All of the important systems were working. Next on to the luxuries.

We are big TV people. My wife cannot fall asleep unless the TV is on. The campground we were at did not have a hook up for cable TV - many do and the RT has a cable connection outside. We would have to rely upon the digital antenna that is
built into the RT with a booster. There were at least ten channels advertised for this campground so we should be fine. I turned on the TV - the salesman had it working that afternoon. I scanned for channels - and - nothing! The antenna rotates with a handle inside. We turned the direction of the antenna - scanned - nothing. We spent two hours turning and scanning. I changed settings, pushed cable connection buttons. Nothing. At one point we got a sports channel that was running infomercials - better than nothing but the picture froze almost immediately and then broke up to nothing. I was now very frustrated. I had brought along some DVD's so we put one in the "home entertainment center" and that played nicely. I was tired and I wanted to relax. I swiveled the front driver's seat to the back and sat down. I moved the backrest down a little and comfortably settled in. Meryl shortly joined me. Poured us both some soda and as it was getting late asked if we should have late night snack. We have something to eat each night to keep our blood sugar from dropping during the night. We are both Diabetics. She had brought pre-measured servings of oat cereal and we each took a bag.

Before eating I needed to test my blood sugar. Things had been so involved during the day that I had not done that two hours after lunch or dinner as I am supposed to. I got a drop of blood up on my finger and put my meter to it. A high for me number appeared. Stress causes blood sugar to rise. I certainly had been and still was under stress. I put the meter aside and decided that I would still eat snack and try to relax. Meryl's number was fine.

We sat and watched the movie on the DVD. She made an observation that it was after 1:30 am. I said that maybe we should go to bed and watch the movie there. She made the twin beds up and put on the sheets and blanket - which with the A/C running was necessary - but turn the A/C off and the air would get stuffy again.

I should say to you now that we are both "late night people". We usually go to bed around 4 am and get up mid-morning. Trying to go to bed now at 2 am for ME was a mistake. I was too high strung, not tired, and still nervous. And obviously, my blood sugar high reading was attesting to the stress - which pumps adrenalin into my system. I got ready for bed and I took my insulin.

The bed cushions are comfortable. They are a bit narrower than I thought they would be. We can always make the bed up into a king size bed instead of two small twins (cots?), but with this arrangement we both could get in and get out easily rather than climb down from the top of the bed to the bottom to get out. I tried closing my eyes to fall asleep. Nope. I watched the movie. When it ended we started it again which was easier than getting up and going for another DVD. I had taken the side of the van that was most like the position that I am in in our bed at home, but this also put me on the opposite side of my wife who was across the 18 inch aisle in the other bed. I kept trying to fall asleep. Something that I know from my professional training - and my advice to my therapy clients - one should not do. If you can't fall asleep, don't force it. Just lie with your eyes closed and you will get most of the benefits of actually sleeping. I kept telling myself this over and over again. Meryl was in and out of sleep and could see that I was not. She turned off the movie and the TV and the inside of the RT got dark. She said that maybe that would help. A few minutes later she told me that there was light coming out of the back of the van from under the bed - not outside, inside. She told me to look at the floor and sure enough, there was light coming through an access door to the back under the back of the bed. I told her I had no idea why that would be or where it would be coming from. No one had told me about any lights down there. She got on the floor and opened the access door which is very small. She said that there was a row of lights on in the back. Until it got totally dark we could not see them. She told me that she could see a switch off to the side but that she could not reach it. I told her that the only way to get to that was from the outside through the rear doors. We decided to leave the lights on. I then asked her how many switches she saw. Only one. Aha! Our salesman (I refrain from how I would like to describe him) had turned on a switch that afternoon to show me the "Generator Inverter switch". I asked him at the time what was that - as I had never heard of such a thing but after all I have never been near one of these up close before - and he told me that was standard. The fool had turned on these lights. There is no such thing as a Generator Inverter switch! Was he making it up as he went along? I am sure of that now.

Meryl was asleep. I was still not and it was approaching 4 am. I thought that this was good because now it was my usual bedtime and I would fall asleep. Silly me. I watched 5 am come and go. A little before 6 am I could see the sun coming up through the corners of the curtains. Now, I was really in a panic. We had to drive 200 miles to get home and I we had to deal with the problems we were finding at the dealer. I tried to just close my eyes and sleep and my head was overflowing with thoughts. A bit later with the sheet twisted around my legs and the temperature going from warm to cold and back again, my legs started to cramp and my foot curled up in a cramp. I could not control it - and this has not happened to me before and I was in a great amount of pain. I woke Meryl up for help. I am not sure how she figured out what to do but she put one of her pillows under my knees and the spasms and cramps stopped. I still could not fall asleep but I was not in pain.

It seemed to me that I never slept. Meryl says that at several points I was snoring so I must have been sleeping.

Next article - the second day...

Delivery

It is the night before we are driving to Pennsylvania to pick up the Roadtrek. Earlier today I purchased RV Emergency Road Service. We spent the end of the afternoon loading everything that we purchased for the RV and our first night in it into our SUV. Let me tell you that the shopping trip that I wrote about a few weeks ago was not the end of our shopping. We have been thinking of things to add to that list since and made our last purchase (so far) this afternoon. The back of the SUV is filled to the brim. I am not certain how it all will fit into the Roadtrek. Of course, things like the four pillows, sheets, and blanket took up a bulk of the space. There are still several things that must get added in at the last minute before we leave. We plan to add two more things to our purchases at the time of pickup - an RV power protector - a type of surge protector for the RV- and a collapsible cone (don't ask). I must admit that I have been anxious all day. Someone asked me yesterday, what do I have to be nervous about? Well... I tend to over analyze everything and then worry about it. I get plagued with what if this and what if that. I am sure it all will be fine. But knowing that sometimes just does not help the worrying. Well, we are off in the morning and I will continue this when the Roadtrek is ours.

Off to the dealer -

With every thing seemingly planned for and prepared for the night before, we got into the car to head to PA. Immediately, I found that the self-made GPS stand had come apart in a way that was going to cause a problem on this trip - so I got out of the car and went into my workshop to fix it. Just what I needed, because this was THE day and I was still nervous - perhaps more so.

It seems that every major road in NY, NJ, and PA, and even some small roads, are under construction. We drove into a thirty minute traffic jam that was caused by a small crew, not working on a road, but doing landscaping on the side of the parkway. This was the first of several tie ups that we encountered on our way, and our estimated three hour trip was increasing in time of arrival as we went along.

I must say now - and I am writing this two days after it took place (though you are reading this about one week later) - that this all feels that it happened long ago and it seems to have happened in a bit of a fog. There is a distance to it all.

Anyway, we arrived at the dealer in Pennsylvania about an forty five minutes later than anticipated. We went in through the RV supplies store and up into the showroom. There did not seem to be anyone around. The showroom floor is full of large RVs so it is not possible to look across from one side to the other. We kept walking inside to where we knew the sales manager's desk is and as we approached it there was a salesman sitting at a desk on the left. If you recall - I never met the salesman face to face. (See my earlier articles to understand why.) He asked if he could help me and I asked for the salesman we were to meet. "That is me," he said and with that knew who we were. I expected to sit down and do the paperwork - give him the check - before anything else, but he said that we should go outside and see the RV. He handed us each a set of keys. We followed him out the door and there it was in the front of the lot. This is what we saw -


It looked great. It was just as we expected. In fact it was better than expected because there were fewer identification markings on it that I expected. We ordered the RV with the Roadtrek name not on it - yes, this is an option and it is free. Going along with this, to my surprise, the dealer did not put his large decal on the outside. That was great. While it is nice to show something like this off, it is better sometimes for it to remain "just another conversion van". On the model 170 that is parked to the left in the photo, you can see some of the standard markings. Ours has none of that.

He started the tour by showing us the battery draw on the side. It is in front of the rear wheel in the photo but it blends in so well that one cannot really see it. As he is talking and pointing, I am looking around the outside for scratches, dings, or marks. Happily, there were none. (I have picked up new cars that did have them.) We moved around to the back and he showed us the how to open the back doors. At this point I remembered that I had the checklist that I made up - the one that was published here last week. We got it out and my wife had a notebook to record everything that he was telling us how to do. As I will go into later in detail (and in perhaps the next two articles) she need not have bothered.

Now, the checklist. It is comprehensive and everything that you really need to find out about - but when it is all going down and happening then and there - you forget all about the checklist and just keep attentively watching - and hope that you find out what you need to know and look back before you leave at that checklist to ask what was left out. For this the checklist was good, but we were too much in a flurry to look down the list and even check off what he was covering. He was not going fast but he kept moving along. There I was with the checklist in hand and my wife quickly taking notes. He noticed the checklist and made a comment that it was good that I knew what I needed to learn about. Too bad he never had learned what he needed to teach us.

When we first started shopping for an RV, I started researching RVs and started communicating with RV owners on internet forums and email lists. There are several good ones and one specifically for Roadtrek owners. When I had a question I asked - and I kept reading what others asked about, and the answers they received. I gained a lot of theory. I knew what was supposed to be where and what to do with it. Now, up close and personal with the Roadtrek in front of me, I needed to know exactly where on this RV and how do you make it work. I would ask him something that I was pretty sure about and he would tell me either that had changed or that it did not matter - or the ever popular line - "You don't have to be concerned with that." I listened eagerly. My wife took notes and wrote down what he said, and I was happy - at least for the moment. After all he is the salesman and he knows what he is selling - and the basics have not changed on the Roadtrek from year to year, at least for the past several model years. I learned later that evening when we were at the campground- that he had no idea what he was talking about. Maybe he was making it up as he went along... But at the moment we had no idea of that and we went along pretty happy as he showed us outside and inside. I continued to ask questions. He continued to tell me answers - and I kept wondering how so much of this did not match what I had been researching all along. We finished the tour and we were heading back into the showroom. I quickly looked down the checklist and saw several things that we had not talked about. I asked. I was told we would go back to that later. OK. As we were finishing outside he mentioned the ever popular with vehicle salesmen Extended Service Warranty. I got suckered into that once with a car and have never again been persuaded. He made a very convincing argument why this was different for an RV and he told me the Finance Manger who would finish up with us would talk to us all about it.

We went inside and sat down with the Finance Manager who we had met before when we made he purchase and arranged for an RV loan. He was then and was now very knowledgeable. There were many forms to sign - just like when buying a house. There were much more forms than one signs when buying a car. Everything was signed and we handed over our check for the down payment. Photocopies and carbons were handed over and he shook our hands in congratulations. There was no mention of any Extended Service Warranty. I asked him.

The Extended Service Warranty being sold by the dealer is with an independent company that is supposed to be located all over the US and can be applied at non-participating service repair centers by reimbursement. It runs for seven years and covers everything inside and outside of the RV - the stove, the refrigerator, the microwave, the TV, the propane system, the sewage system, the tanks, and on and on. It also covers the vehicle engine. The problem is - and is with most plans like this - that it does not start when the manufacturers warranties end but rather runs at the same time and then on to the end of seven years. So with some parts under coverage you will get six years of extension and with some some you will get two. The cost - $2500.00! I had not expected such a high number. Meryl was not surprised at the amount. My question was - Do we have to buy this today? He said, no. We can purchase it at any time during the first year. Fine. We will wait and think about it. Unlike a car there are major cost things that can go wrong in the RV that you cannot just go to any service station to fix. So a warranty like this on an RV makes sense. It just costs so darn much!

We were done. The Roadtrek was ours. We went back to the salesman's desk and he had a cardboard carton full of RV supplies. "Here is my gift to you", he said. Inside the carton there was a drinking water hose, a pressure regulator, chemical to put in your tanks, a rubber donut seal, two butane, long lighters (for the stove), and a 15 amp to 30 amp converter plug. All very nice. (I have some returning to do of some of these things that I purchased on my own. I asked my last questions again. My head was spinning with the finalization of the purchase and all that he had told us before. He asked if we would go outside and he would take our photo in front of the Roadtrek - for something special that they will send us. We did that and while outside he answered my questions. That was it. It was time to go. We had spent over two and a half hours at the dealership.

Meryl was driving the Roadtrek to the campground that we made reservations at in Lancaster, PA to spend the night and test out everything on the Roadtrek. I was driving the SUV that we took to get there - gas is now over $4 a gallon and I have two cars that eat gas fast over two hundred miles from home. I thought that we would have to stop for gas to fill up the Roadtrek -another big surprise was the tank was full! So I get in my car. We need to get back down to the turnpike and drive an hour and a half to the campground. We both know the area well, but we do not know the area where the dealer is very well. She would follow me and communicate by cell phone along the way. I had the GPS. We were not going to stop and program the Roadtrek's in-dash GPS at this point.

I wanted to connect my cell phone with my GPS by bluetooth. I have done this a few times before just to see how it works. It has worked in the past. My attempts to get them to pair was just wasting more time so we set off.

As I am driving and Meryl is following, when I got to Valley Forge on the turnpike I thought that I should call the campground just as a courtesy to say we were on our way - as it was late. I got the very nice lady on the phone and she told me that they close the office in fifteen minutes. We were still forty five minutes away. She told me no problem - she would put a sign on the office door with a list of spaces that we can choose from - and we could pay her in the morning. Wonderful!

This was the day of delivery.

I will continue next week with our night and morning at the campground.

Delivery Checklist

In preparation of taking delivery of our new Roadtrek I made a checklist of all of the items we had to be sure to learn about from the dealer when we pick up the RV. I know that the dealer has his own review of all of the systems, but I felt that it was best to have a list to check off each thing that he tells us about and then look to see what he may not have mentioned that we need to be sure to know. For those who have owned RVs before this list is probably basic and things that you already know how to do, but for those of us first time RV owners these are the things are essential to find out about. In creating this list I went through every system that I can think of that is contained inside and outside of the Roadtrek. I have not included the basic vehicle operation but you may want to make your own list for that as well. That part should be pretty much like taking delivery on any new car.

I share this list with all of you first timers. Feel free to copy and use it.

RV PICK UP CHECKLIST

PLUMBING

Where to fill water - front and back

Where to attach city water

How to switch from tanks to city water

How to switch from one tank to the other

How to turn on water pump

WATER HEATER

How do you bypass the hot water heater tank

How to turn on hot water heater- how to light/ how to turn off

How to access water heater from outside

How to drain fresh water tanks and water heater if needed

PROPANE

How to turn on/off propane

Where to fill propane - is the propane full now

ELECTRIC

How to connect electric to outside outlet

How to switch from battery to electric and back

How to turn on generator

How to switch to generator from AC or battery

How to access batteries

Anything we need to know about the inverter or charging system

GENERATOR

How to check oil on generator – where?

Generator maintenance?

What to run to put load on generator for monthly startup and how long.

REFRIGERATOR

How to switch refrigerator from battery to AC

FURNACE

How to light furnace

How to turn on furnace

How to set heat temp on furnace/thermostat

KITCHEN

How to light stove

BATHROOM/WASTE TANKS

How to flush toilet

How to set up shower

How to uncap shower drain in floor

How to dump black tank

How to put hose into campground sewer outlet

How to dump gray tank

How to unclog macerator

How to put macerator hoses away

A/C and FAN

How to turn on A/C

How to turn heat on from A/C

How to turn on and control ceiling fan

LIGHTS/INSIDE ELECTRIC

Light switches?

Outlets? 12 volt outlets?

Where are the circuit breakers and fuses for RV

MONITOR PANEL

How to read control panel

Smoke/propane/CO alarms – how to reset, test buttons?

How to read battery level

How to read propane level

How to read water levels

How to read waste tank level

INTERIOR MISC.

How to set up bed

How to put up antenna

Antenna booster switch?

How to swivel seats

EXTERIOR MISC.

How to lock outside storage

How to put spare up and down

How to open van hood

Any break in period for van or appliances

Where is jack? What is needed to know if jacking up van – where can’t jack be placed?

Where is the cable TV outside connection?

Maintenance of AGM batteries?

MANUALS

Roadtrek

Chevy

Nova Kool Refrigerator

Generator

Macerator

Toilet

Water heater

Water pump?

Microwave

GPS/RADIO/REAR CAMERA

Air Conditioner

Furnace

TV and DVD

PURCHASED

Friday, we purchased the Roadtrek 190 Popular. The decision was 18 months in the making and very late Thursday night I turned to my good wife and said, "Are we crazy buying this thing?" I actually did not get the answer that I expected to get. I thought that I would get a quick and encouraging "not at all". What I got was a pause and a long talk followed. After a couple of trips to the calculator and another examination of our finances, along with a review of all of the positives that this would bring us - most of this from her, we went to sleep still with the intention of making the trip to Pennsylvania that morning with our check book in hand. Now, this is the second most expensive thing that either of us have ever purchased with our house being first. It is not an decision to be made lightly. Of course, there must be a loan to make this possible. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous - still am - about the whole thing.

The trip for us is often a big part of the adventure and the two hundred mile trip to the dealer was no exception. I had checked weather reports for both home and Pennsylvania for three days. There was a large rain storm on Thursday and there were flood watches for many parts of New Jersey. The route that we usually take to this area of Pennsylvania only marginally touched the areas of concern and I figured that if there was a problem my recently purchased GPS with "traffic" routing would take us around any problems that might be ahead. Let me say now that I should have left the GPS turned off.

The route we were directed on started us off as usual. One mistake that I made was that I did not review the route before we started. We crossed the bridge into New Jersey and could comfortably gone one of two ways - on the New Jersey Turnpike or up to Route 78 both of which we have driven on many times. As we approached the entrance ramp to the turnpike I expected it to tell us to move to the right to go that way. It didn't. So it would be Route 78 - that was fine too. A little further along it started to tell me to move to the left and was directing me off the large interstate that we were on. The route it was sending us to, my wife was quick to point out, was not a major road but a road with traffic lights, etc. Thinking that it was sending me around some of the problems that I was concerned we might encounter, I obeyed the command and turned off the road where directed. Silly me, I should have turned around right away and gotten back on the interstate.

The route that the GPS was following when looked at on a paper map would look to be a better way to go. It is a diagonal into Pennsylvania through New Jersey that most likely would be quicker were it not for the fact that it is a series of roads through towns, traffic stops, traffic circles, and one lane roads. And all with speed limits below 45 miles per hour. The GPS also could not know that these roads would more than have its share of drivers who had some need to drive significantly slower than the speed limit, especially where the roads went down to one lane. Not to mention, that the route was taking us right through the towns with flood warnings and along the edge of rivers that were cresting and rising from the heavy rain that was overflowing the banks. Had we never been to the area of Pennsylvania that we were heading for and had we followed this same route - we might have considered one of those other dealers. Even with the GPS we had a few wrong turns and, of course, there was a bit of exciting language coming from me along the way. We did eventually get there but with the excitement and anxiety of what we were about to do, we could have used a more calming trip.

We went into the dealer and looked for the sales manager. The new salesman who we only know through our email contacts back and forth was not going to be there. We knew in advance that we would be dealing with the sales manager who we had met the first time that we visited the dealership and also had made given us the price quote. We encountered a salesman who asked if he could help us and we asked for the sales manager. He looked toward where he should be and he was not there. He would find him for us.

Right there was a Roadtrek 190 Versatile amongst the trailers and pop ups. We were told that the sales manager would be back to his desk in a few minutes so we went over to the Roadtrek and went inside.

Each time I go into a Roadtrek I am struck by how small it actually is inside - and each time this is a surprise to me. For some reason, I remember it being larger or at least seeming larger. It really is small - though the Versatile with its arrangement of four seats in the front with everything condensed toward the back is smaller toward the rear and gives a tighter feeling. Hmm, I thought. It was still not too late to change my mind... No, I realized that once it was mind I could make it my own - and like any new place that one moves into, it will take time to get used to. The sales manager came looking for us and told us that he was finishing with another customer and perhaps we should meet with the business manager about the finance application. He went off to get him and we went back inside the Roadtrek.

We opened the bathroom cabinet doors and looked inside. Hmm, smaller than I remembered. Sufficient for its purpose, though. I opened storage cabinets. We looked for the electrical outlets that we had not thought to look for before. There were two near the bed, two in the cabinet where the television and DVD player connect. I know that there are people who full time in one of these. For us it will be a place to sleep while touring at all of the places that we love to go to and some new places that would not have been possible before. The excitement started to grow.

The business manager found us inside and we got out and accompanied him to his desk. We had filled in the paperwork at home and brought it with us. He entered everything into his computer and sent it into the bank. There did not seem to be any problem. He told us that in an hour he would have a rate for us.

We were now ready for the moment of truth and the sales manager was waiting. We went over to his desk. It all seemed to happen very quickly. There was nothing really to discuss. We went through some small talk - I found out that the original salesman was alive and well - good - and that he was selling furniture now instead of RVs. We looked over the sales agreement and my wife wrote a check for a down payment. We both signed on the lines - owner and co-owner. And it was done. The actually process took all of two minutes.

The Roadtrek will be ordered now by the dealer and it will come from Roadtrek in about six weeks. Just in time for the warm weather (I hope) and a chance to test it out for a day in Pennsylvania at a campground in Lancaster so that if there we find any problems are get confused by anything we can easily go back to the dealer the next day for adjustments.

Before we left the dealership we went through his RV store - the first one we ever really had a chance to look around in and saw all types of things to buy. We did not buy anything. We left and headed to some of our Pennsylvania haunts and spent the rest of the day. We had a good dinner and headed back to home late - by way of our usual and comfortable route.

So it is now done. We own a Roadtrek - at least we will own a Roadtrek when it is delivered. I must say that my excitement is well mixed with anxiety. And the next morning I awoke with a lot of questions that I started to worry about - which my wife had answers for when I told her later.

While we are waiting for delivery in the next six weeks I will write a few more articles and fill you all in on some of the details.