Sunday, October 17, 2010

Up and Down...In and Out...

Yesterday we took the whole day to go to the RV Show at the state fairgrounds in Oklahoma City. We arrived around 11:00 and started the browsing process. Up and down stairs we went. In and out of motor homes, 5th wheels and some regular size trailers.

Dave was amazed at the amount of the space in some of the motor homes and the price tag as well. We went through each motor home checking on how much downsizing we would have to do. A LOT!!!!! I said that certain criteria would have to be met. Some of the motor homes did meet those criteria but the price tag....well let's put it this way we would never see the end of payments on the vehicle in our lifetime.

Moving on to 5th wheels we found several we really liked and a lot that would not meet our wants or needs. Keystone has a "new" trailer out called the Alpine 3640RL. I like an end entertainment center as I want to be able to do my Wii exercises but Dave likes the side entertainment center for some reason. We sat in the trailer for awhile and I did a mini workout and found that I had plenty of room to do my Wii exercises. After talking to a lot of real nice full timers yesterday one of the important things mentioned was to have a separate room for the stool located away from the sink and shower. This particular trailer had such an arrangement. It also had a King bed and lots of other real nice amenities. The trick now is to wait for a few years and let the price come down or look on eBay. I found a 2009 Heartland Landmark Pinehurst with what I wanted, currant bid @ $12,000.00 with 6 days left. Don't think I will bid on it now, my surgery comes first.

We went to Bunny's Hamburger stand for a bite to eat, it was delish as always and then went back to the show to tour the next building.

I find it rather interesting that there's not a uniform height for steps on these trailers and motor homes. Some you have to have mountain gear to get up into. Others are quite easy to get up into. You would think that these companies would realize the hazard of having too steep a step and too narrow a step. 4 steps are better than three. Wider width is better for balance. That was another nice feature of the Alpine 5th wheel, I felt safe going up and down. It also had a nice extended safety handle to grab onto. By the end of the day my right knee had had it and my knee cap was starting to let me know it. My left knee sailed right through the torture. I was even able to to stay on my feet all day and even get back up on them after lunch and continue the walking and climbing. I figure we were in and out of about 40+ vehicles.

We only had one negative experience and this was after we left the show. We decided to go to one of the RV Dealers to see if they were still open. We pulled up as they were closing, that was ok, we didn't expect them to be open. One of the salesmen was outside and we asked a simple question of what their Saturday hours were and were informed with an attitude, they closed at 5 today, well duh... we could see that. He then proceeded to ignore us and then after finishing a conversation with someone he turned back to us like we were bothering him, informed us they were closed on Sunday and would be open Monday. I doubt that I will go back there and do any business with them nor will I recommend anyone to do business with them.

I deal in customer service and you just don't treat a potential customer with indifference even if it is after 5 p.m. and you certaintly don't do it with a scowl on your face. So much for my rant for the day.

Dave was amazed at all the different configurations of the trailers. There were several that he really liked...so we will continue to do our homework and figure out which one will be perfect for us.

809 days and counting...

See you out there...