Downsizing, Take 3!!
Regular readers of this blog have watched us go through this exercise before, and not just once. We first attempted to go from a 40’ Class A diesel motorhome to a 26’ Class B van based RV (original story here). It didn't go well. A few years later we downsized from a...
Renting a Storyteller Overland Beast Mode Van
Karla and I had been kicking around the idea of buying a 4x4 van for awhile, and when the exact van we’re considering was available for rent nearby we jumped on it. We used the website gocamp.com, which we highly recommend. Easy and seamless. Much like airbnb you rent...
Microwave/convection oven upgrade in RV
We had always thought the convection oven part of the microwave in RVs was pretty much useless until we bought our 2016 Newmar Essex, which had a GE Profile Advantium installed as a special option. It’s an option we specified when ordering our 2020 New Aire. But lo...
Universal Toll Module
We opted for the Universal Toll Module on our 2020 New Aire since we frequent a number of toll roads throughout the country and don’t want to stop to take a ticket and pay a toll. In addition, the Universal Toll Module gives you the discounted rate as if you had every...
Adding Rozie Remote Control to Silverleaf Equipped Coaches
Our 2020 Newmar New Aire came with Rozie, a poorly named and even more poorly designed user interface for remotely monitoring and controlling a coach that runs Silverleaf. Despite looking like the website was designed in the 90s, it gets the job done. Since we store...
An RV Spot to Call our Own
Pagosa Springs, CO - As we have traveled in our RV throughout the United States and Canada over the past 8 years, we've enjoyed visiting a wide variety of RV parks and resorts in a wide range of locations. One region we have consistently enjoyed is southwest...
Goodbye 2020 New Aire, Hello 2019 London Aire
Quick summary: We recently traded in our 35 foot 2020 Newmar New Aire that we had ordered and picked up from the factory for a leftover 45 foot 2019 Newmar London Aire. Background and our reasons to ditch the New Aire: We picked up a 2019 New Aire 3341 from the...
Diesel Particulate Filter Shutdown, Part 3 – Resolution?
A quick summary: The DPF indicator lamp in our 2020 New Aire (with only 3000 miles on the odometer) had come on twice within 90 miles, indicating a parked regen was needed immediately. The first time we pulled over too late (5 miles after the indicator began blinking)...
Diesel Particulate Filter Shutdown, Part 2
As a recap from our prior shutdown the previous day, our brand new motorhome required an emergency DPF regen, which necessitated an expensive mobile technician call to accomplish. After that we figured we had a clean diesel particulate filter and that we were good to...
Diesel Particulate Filter Shutdown
Driving along a narrow canyon road in a big rig, in a one way construction zone with a line of traffic behind you, with no pullouts available...what is the last thing you want to see? A blinking red message on your dash, in all caps, that says STOP ENGINE, with a...
2020 Newmar New Aire vs 2019 New Aire
We’ve owned the 2020 New Aire for about 6 months now so I thought it’s time for a review. In terms of what we didn’t like about the 33’ 2019 New Aire, the 35’ 2020 New Aire fixes almost everything. Almost. Sadly, Newmar made a few changes that are less than idea. The...
Traveling in the time of COVID-19
To travel or not to travel, that was the question. After quarantining at home for three months, we were getting stir crazy. We are fortunate enough to own an RV. We had made reservations at RV parks in Colorado back in January for a June/July seven week trip. In April...
You bought another RV??
Hello. Our names are Mike and Karla and we have a problem. We are addicted to buying RVs. Admitting you have a problem is the hardest step, right? It’s a bad sign when we can’t answer a simple question such as, “how many motorhomes have you owned”? We’ve been RVing...
Newmar Factory Delivery
Deciding to purchase a new motorhome is a momentous decision. Costing anywhere from $100,000 to well over $1 million, a class A motorhome is likely the second largest purchase a person will ever make. The decision to purchase new vs used is not an easy one due to...
Would you buy a new RV with hail damage?
In the process of looking to purchase a New Aire we made a deal over the phone (we were on a trip and 2 weeks out from the dealer) to purchase a 2019 Newmar New Aire while trading in our 2016 Newmar Essex. Luckily I had the foresight to insist in writing that our...
Ordering a Newmar New Aire from the Factory
I previously talked about why we're downsizing to a 33' Newmar New Aire. We looked online at all 3341 model New Aire's in the country (only 5 as of this writing) and were not happy with the options the dealers selected. We've bought all of our previous RVs off a...
Downsizing, Take Two
After a disastrous first attempt at downsizing the RV, we’re taking a second dip in the downsizing pool, and hopefully won’t sink this time. Once we made the decision to stop full-timing and buy a sticks-and-bricks house, we took that as an opportunity to look for a...
Harnessing the Sun
We really like the idea of solar power on an RV. Who doesn't? We tried once before getting solar installed on our Dutch Star, but the system was far too small to handle a residential refrigerator. This time we decided to do it right and use a company that specializes...
How we get reliable mobile Internet access
Over the years, a number of people have asked how we stay connected on the road in our RV. So I thought I’d post an article on our solution, which hopefully gives a starting point for researching your own mobile answer. Please note this is not necessarily the fastest...
Choosing Our Full Time RV – Part 3
We did it! We just signed the paperwork to purchase our full time RV. In Part 2 of choosing a full time RV, we pretty much decided to go with a Newmar, either a Mountain Aire or London Aire. Well, we ended up buying an RV that wasn't on the list. We bought a 2016...
Choosing Our Full Time RV – Part 2
In Part 1 of choosing a full time RV, I argued my way into a 45' coach and ruled out Tiffin. Here in part 2 I'll explore some of the pros and cons between Newmar and Entegra motorhomes. Newmar makes a nice product, so they are still a contender. While their...
Choosing Our Full Time RV – Part 1
Now that we made the decision to go full time, what RV should we get? Let’s just rule out a 5th wheel trailer since we don’t want to drive around in a huge pickup truck all the time. That leaves us in familiar territory: a class A diesel pusher flat towing a vehicle....
Maybe Bigger Is Better
Regular readers of this blog are probably wondering how our downsizing experiment is going. In a nutshell: not so well. In fact, we’re now talking about doing the exact opposite: selling everything and going full time in a large diesel pusher. I know, I know, we just...
Blue Ox Flat Tow Fitment Program
When choosing a car to flat tow behind a motorhome, the first question is, “which cars can be flat towed behind a motorhome?”, quickly followed by “how do I set up my new car for flat towing?” We recently purchased a 2017 Subaru Crosstrek (manual transmission) for...
Downsizing RVs: Bigger’s Not Always Better
After much deliberation and discussion, we decided to take the plunge and downsize our 40 foot Class A Newmar Dutch Star for a 24 foot Class C. Our new motorhome is a 2017 Winnebago Navion 24V, a diesel powered RV based on the Mercedes Sprinter Chassis. We will post a...
Border Crossing
We crossed the border into Canada from I-15 at Sweetgrass, Montana. The crossing was very easy and fast, perhaps due to the fact we crossed on a Saturday morning at about 8:30 am with no other vehicles in sight. When we pulled up to the booth at the border, there was...
How to handle mail when away from home
The US postal service only holds mail for a maximum of 30 days. But what if you're gone longer than that? Luckily, modern society has mostly freed us from the physical bonds of mail, but not entirely, especially when it comes to health care. There are a few steps you...
Leaving a home unoccupied for an extended period of time
Leaving your house unoccupied for an extended length of time requires a few basic maintenance items to be performed to minimize damage and vandalism. This list is part common sense and part tips scraped from other web sites. If you have any suggestions we would love...
How to fuel a diesel RV at a truck stop
I decided to write this post when I remembered the intimidation I felt upon first driving into a truck stop to fuel our motorhome. Do I belong here? Are the truckers going to be upset because this is their job and why are we RVers here? Do the pumps function like...
Finding RV Campgrounds
Whether planning a trip from home or looking for a place for the night, there are numerous places to find RV campground information. Once we have an idea of where we want to travel, we start looking at the campground options. We look on a map to determine what public...
