Road Trip: From Idea to Reality

After months of planning, I finally settled on a 2017 Four Winds 31W to take Ashton and I across the United States. You can read more about RV buying at the end of this post. 

Here’s the plan. Over the next year, my son and I are going to be driving around the States trying to hit as many historic, significant, and/or interesting spots in the United States. We’ll start in the northeast, head south to Florida, out west to California, north to Washington, and back to the east coast. Take a look below at our tentative route. 

Tentative Route.

Buying an RV

Buying an RV is hard!! There are so many things to assess on each vehicle. It felt like buying a house and buying a truck at the same time. I spent about a month looking at different styles. I started by figuring out what types of RVs are available. I saw the prices and I immediately decided I would buy something that could pull a custom made trailer and live in a Yurt. Apparently, I was the only one who thought that was a good idea. Next I looked at fifth wheels and travel trailers. Both of these options would allow me to pull something. The huge advantage of this is having a vehicle wherever you go. Unfortunately, the cost of a truck to pull it was more expensive than an RV itself. 

I settled on a Class C RV. Here are the main reasons: Big enough to live in for a year. A Class B would be too small to live in for a year while trying to homeschool and work. A Class A was just too big and expensive. Class C RVs are relatively easy to drive when compared to the other options. I can pull a car behind. I plan on doing this in the next few months. Maybe when we get north of New York City. 

Now it was time to buy one. They go from around $20,000 for an older RV with lots of miles to a few hundred thousand for a new one with all the bells and whistles. After talking to a couple of dealerships, I settled on something around 32 feet and somewhere between three to seven years old. Prices were all over the place. There are about 100 things affecting the price of an RV. I decided there were a few things I really wanted. First and foremost, I wanted something with automatic leveling. After watching my parents in law struggle with this on their travel trailer, this would supersede just about everything. Next, I wanted an over-the-cab bunk, bunk beds, and something in the best shape possible. 

After hundreds of searches and dozens of emails over the course of a month, I finally arrived back in the States. I went to a couple of RV dealers. Both dealers barely had anything in stock. In fact, the second one only had two used Class Cs on the lot. A few more emails and I finally had one to look at from a private seller. I went out to their place and saw the 2017 Four Winds 31W in a huge barn. In short, I made an offer and they accepted. With minutes to spare last Friday, I signed the title and insurance…got really nervous about everything and left it on their farm (in the barn) until I knew where to put it. (It’s still there.) Budget, warranty, awning replacement parts…the list goes on and on. Tomorrow I’m going to have the tires and brakes checked before its maiden voyage to Maryland. Fingers crossed it won't break the bank before I get started.