Getting Our Sea Legs – Audrey’s Tale

So, a while back, Jon found a pretty screaming deal on an RV. CruiseAmerica was offering their used rentals up for sale: decent sized class C’s with a spartan setup (no levellers or other fun sorts of breakable extras) for suuuuuper cheap. Before throwing down the cash for one of these bad boys, we decided to rent one, as CruiseAmerica offers a rebate towards the purchase if you decide to buy one for the full price of your rental. Great! Either it’s awesome and we get the rebate towards one of our own, or it’s terrible and we know not to get one. Well, we rented it for this weekend and learned a truck load about what we did and didn’t want in an RV.

Firstly, and very foremost, we didn’t want one of theirs.

For vacationing, briefly, they’re fine. However, full timing in this thing would have been….uncomfortable to say the least. Space, aside from wardrobe space, was fine. I actually didn’t feel all that cramped at all. It was 28ft, and frankly, it wasn’t overly tight or cramped with two people and two cats. There was definitely a lack of wardrobe space, and as someone with not a whole lot of clothes I feel like if there wasn’t enough for me for two days, there would definitely not be enough for any extended period of time.

I liked the convenience. It was small enough to get anywhere. The controls for everything were easy to pick out because there was nothing fancy to muck it up. And I mean nothing. No levellers, no awning, no backup camera, no TV, nooooothing. Dumping the black and gray water was easy. It was very very simple.  I really enjoyed the peace in it though. The first night was cold cause we were boondocking at a friend’s place and didn’t want to run the generator all night to run the heat, so we kept it low, but that’s largely in part to the fee associated with it through the rental company. In our own, we’d have run it, as needed.

It was very quiet in our second location, at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Golden, CO. The folks who checked us in were wildly helpful, nice people who had been fulltiming for 3 years. We got the last pull through spot with a hookup, and it was absolutely lovely. Due to the lack of levellers, we were at a jaunty angle, but it was excellent to be able to run the heat and leave the windows open. It was quiet, our neighbors on each side being a dream. We had the moon shining in through our skylight. I slept better the second night, than the first. Our cats  adjusted fairly quickly, and by the end of the second day were exploring and peering and doing cat things all over the RV.  I was actually pleased that there wasn’t any carpet.

I hated the fact that the bed was nearly boob high. The mattress was a plastic covered monstrosity (because, again, rental) that was really, VERY uncomfortable and reminded me of very old hospital beds. If we were to buy one of these (and that’s a mightly large if), that’d be the first replacement. And the toilet…well it was an adventure in acrobatics. Cramped I don’t mind, but having to climb up what feels like three feet to pee in the middle of the night is disorienting at best. Since there were no levellers, I didn’t partake in the shower, because I could see face planting out the 18 inch drop out of the shower because we weren’t level. It rattled, it shook, it occasionally felt like it was going to fall apart on the interstate. I can appreciate a heavily used RV (especially a rental) will have it’s creaks and it’s moans, but at 158000 miles, this one was uh…disconcerting.  We prepaid for 300 miles, and kept our travels just over 100 and I am grateful for it.

We didn’t partake in any of the kitchen stuff aside from the sink to wash our hair (the sink was very deep which was nice).

So what do I want in an RV? A reasonable bed, shower, and toilet for starters. I don’t mind a bit of a lip but I don’t want to have to climb a 14er to sleep/bathe/pee. More storage space on the inside. I’m actually surprisingly OK with class C. I thought we’d be climbing over each other all the time, but even in an RV without slides, sub 30 ft, we were okay. Ultimately, I’d like slides (at least one in the bedroom, so that I can have that wardrobe space). I liked the over the cabin bed. It was a great place for our cats to lurk, and if we ever did have company stay over, it’d be nice to have a place that isn’t a fold out for them to crash on.

Overall, it was an educational experience and I have solidified my desire to full time…just not in one of these.