Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2007 17:11:55 -0500
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: How much is enough? (Vanagon's about right for me)
In-Reply-To: <f1b3203c08904a6e8e897f9baa6eeacd.dhanson@gorge.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I happen to be one of those folks who now travel in a large RV. The
largest is the Prevost H3-45 bus conversion and some equivalents. 45 feet
is the max allowed and most states limit combinations to (Bus and Trailer)
to 65 or 70 feet. I have 39 footer and I often tow the Syncro Westy behind
me.
Why do we do it? Well the choice of an RV and it's size is like choosing a
house. Many folks make do with a small apartment and others go for
mansions. I guess it is a combination of perceived needs and what the
finances will bear.
For me some of the thrill is the toys that go with it. I have done the
progressive moves from the Westy to what is now motor home #3 and each
upgrade was the result of short comings of capacity, features, or
durability of the previous unit. I also frequently travel with 4 adults,
(older in-laws) and kids (20, 11), make for 6. As for the jeep inside the
trailer, I have seen escalades and motorcycles get pulled out. Someday I
will have my antique car running and will use the motor home and an
enclosed trailer to bring the car to shows and tours. That is what got us
started on the motor home thing to begin with. The first one got us
addicted with the comfort and convenience. Back when fuel was still under
$2/gallon the increased cost was incremental. Now fuel really puts a
damper on things.
Dennis
Enjoying sunny Florida with the RV.
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
dhanson@gorge.net
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 3:56 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: How much is enough? (Vanagon's about right for me)
Hey all, Merry Xmas from the sunny desert.
We've been here about a month now and I am still amazed at the "stuff"
people seem to need to
travel with. Many many of the 'outfits' I've seen are pretty
'conspicious consumption', in my
humble opinion, which of course, doesn't count with the RV set. I am just
about as noticable as a
microbe in my little Vanagon amongst the behemoths I've been surrounded
by..
I saw, this morning, a typical scene, oft-repeated since I've been
here..
A large Diesel pusher motorhome (about 50-60'long) with a 20' box
trailer behind comes whooshing
along the paved road, looking for a place to "camp". He sees some others
(RVs) scattered around the
desert and pulls off on a 'road' nearby and starts looking for his
"spot"...But of course, he finds
some soft sand and gets the rig stuck. Out of the box trailer comes the
new Jeep...He lashes that
to the behemoth Mo-Ho and winches that out of the sand, then takes the
Jeep on a "re-con" to see how
to get out and maybe find a place he can get to with the huge
Mo-Ho...Finds something (I think, I
left before he'd finished) so he takes the MoHo out and parks on the
pavement, then hooks up the
Jeep to the trailer and tow that over to the MoHo..Jockeys the box trailer
around in a spot, then
backs the MoHo back up to the trailer and begans to re-attach the trailer
to the MoHo...Presumably
he got the Jeep re-inserted into the box trailer and dragged the whole
mess off somewhere else...I
will see when I return to my 'campsite' in my plebian Volkswagen
Vanagon... I got bored watching him
wrestle with his 'stuff'. The first few, I went over to help out, but now
my Good Samariton quotent
has been long exceeded...I could spend every day helping these big rigs
get unstuck and pointing
them to the nearest paved RV park..Oh well..
At least this guy (and his wife) didn't have to call the tow truck, like
most of the stuck MoHos
end up doing...
The Vanagon's been super. We've done more side-trips this winter, taking
advantage of having good
mileage and a relativly light and small camper rather than our normal
pickup and large campers..
Don Hanson
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