Home for the road

About time I posted a picture of the new camper at home. It's been 6 days since we towed it from Bangor. Between work at the office, work in the yard, work at preparing the camper for the Memorial Day weekend, attending Ali's college graduation party in New Hampshire and getting one of the dogs in to the vets for shots and to have a small growth under an ear flap removed, finding time for a blog post has been impossible. Each day by the time all was said and done the last thing I wanted to do was summon enough brain power to write a half decent comprehensible blog, case in point.

There is a story or two about picking up the camper and just getting in the driveway much less turning it around. Maybe another day, we're just happy to have it in the yard.

The search is over

Bright and early Saturday morning Carol and I jumped in the truck to check out RVs two hours north of here. The weekend before while web surfing for RV dealerships farther away Carol came across this place in Bangor that had a different styled 5th wheel camper floor plan than others, they also carried a line of campers we were very interested in so we planned to make the trip the following weekend. At the very least it was a gorgeous day for a drive. Once there a salesman, Rick, approached us and we spent sometime with him discussing what we wanted in a camper, the price range and our interest in seeing the one that caught our eye online. This was the first one we looked at, nice, had a different take on the dining table and a couple of other things but we still wanted to see some others. The next two were OK but not right for us so it was back to his office to check the inventory at a satellite lot a short drive from the main complex. This place had around 400 campers for sale and there was a Cougar X/Lite available. Once we got there Carol looked inside and almost immediately identified the color scheme as Silver Sage, her favorite. The floor plan was one of the best I'd seen, a good kitchen area, roomy bathroom, linen closet and a nice bedroom setup. Outside there's a rack to attach a grill which is stowed in a forward cargo compartment, electric awning, outside speakers. So it passed our criteria especially coming in at 7,574 lbs, well enough below the trucks capacity to carry any stuff we'll need. To top it off they offered a higher that expected trade value for our present camper. It all fell into place so well that we did the deal.

Later this week we'll return with our old camper, they'll set up the truck with the fifth wheel towing package. We'll get the rundown on how to operate the camper, how to handle a fifth wheel on the road and maneuver it around tight places.

Almost makes me wish I was old enough to retire now.

Rub a dub

Had a gentlemen from Lowes stop by this morning to look over our bathroom renovation project. It's been needing a complete makeover for years now and with a little bit of money left from our refinancing loan we hope to get the professional stuff done (framing, plumbing, electric) so Carol and I can do the finishing touches. The last time we did this we took out the tub/shower, added a whirlpool and a shower stall, new vanity, etc. Over all we never did use the whirlpool much, the shower and vanity have seen better days and even the skylight we had installed isn't a whole lot better than a hole in the ceiling. Now it's back to tub/shower and an upgrade to a double sink vanity, new skylight and flooring. With interest we're looking forward to what the fellow comes up with.

Weekend residue

Already feels like the week is flying by and it's only Tuesday. The recent weekend at least made a good attempt at bringing the clock under control. A couple of fine weather days, tried to get the lawn under control, spent time trying to patch some leak points on the camper. Bonus, old friend Bruce and Tina stopped by for a quick visit - we'll try to get together next month. Sunday Carol I assembled the screen room, won't be to long before I fire up the grill. Wine, reading and an action movie filled in some of the other parts. Nice to think back as after another sunny day Monday we're now in the midst of a three day rain period. By the coming weekend we'll have the average of rain for the month of May and a lot of tall grass waiting for me.