Motorhoming - How many years and in what?

[merle&louise]

How many years have you been motorhoming?

And what brand did you start out with?
Motorhome, travel trailer, tent?

What were some of the pluses and minuses of each RV?

Would you like to go back to those days?

Or are the buses better today!

Which was your favorite?

[garyde]

I always Camped since I was a little kid, so I always had a tent or something.
My first and second Campers were Volkswagon buses in my early 20,s. Toured the whole USA and Canada.
Then an old slide onto a Pick up Camper Hand me down. Back to Tenting when the Kids were small.
Finally , in about 1998 or so , I bought a Type A, Holiday Rambler,36'. Toured the Southwest with the Family & had a ball.
2 Years later, Monaco Diplomat Pusher , Brand New with DBL. Slide, & Custom Paint. 3 years later, Country Coach Lexa. Many Trips to Northern Pacific, Canada, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, etc. Great Ride.
Now , the Ultimate, 2003 Liberty Coach. I'm in Heaven!

When I was a young Boy, my folks used to ship me off to the Grandparents in Idaho on a Greyhound Bus for Summers and Christmas. I guess thats how I got hooked on Driving and Buses. Gary

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Just starting in our 17th year. Started out in 1987 Liberty, got our present 97 Liberty in Aug. 2004.

I slept in a tent as a boy scout.

[Ray Davis]

Made perhaps an unusal progression:

1978 - 2 man tent camping from motorcycle (with wife)
1978 - (1 day later, expanded to 3 man tent)
1980's - bigger tent, with car
1980's - borrowed neighbors tent trailer. Boy that's a step up
1990 - First motorhome, 23 ft class C Tioga
1991 - Purchased GMC (urban assault vehicle from Stripes) Class A
2005 - (December) Purchased Prevost

Loved my GMC, but probably spent more time under it than in it! Had friend with similar coach who got me into the GMC. Later he purchased a Prevost (wife didn't like him under the coach so much, especially when they were supposed to be driving!), so naturally I followed suit.

I will admit the GMC was a lot easier to get around in smaller, tighter places, and really drove nice (when it was running!). But, sleeping was horribly cramped. Bought the bus to hopefully (1) have more reliable transport, and (2) bigger sleeping accomodations.

So far, I'm pretty darn happy with it!

[Kevin Erion]

Did a few days tent camping in Boy Scouts, spent about 10 days every year tent camping at Lake Powell just out of High School, that lasted 5 or 6 years.

First RV is a 99 XL45 Marathon I bought in June of 05, I have put about 32,000 miles and 2 Summer Vacations with the wife and 3 girls. Can't believe how hooked I am with the Prevost and can't wait until the summer of 07 to do another 20,000 miles or so.

Kevin

[dalej]

We never thought of RV’ing until some friends from southern Illinois were up here for a
visit and to spend some time they wanted to look at class C motor homes, I thought they
were crazy at the time.... (motor homes).?? Well after they left Jan & I started thinking
about it and you know... it would be nice to see the USA by a motor home. We had
always flew to the Caribbean to dive and relax. The airports were a hassle, they always
wanted to inspect all the camera gear etc.

July of 1998 we started looking and asking questions, a lot of questions. The majority of
the people that owned motor home said you start small and work up to a class A and
then the ultimate form of transportation, The Prevost Bus!

By August we were flying to California to buy a 1986 Prevost, country coach conversion
bus. We had looked at new Class A’s and decided to spend between 200-250 thousand.
So why not step into a used Prevost bus and not trade up every two to three years.

We just love our bus, our mobile home as my mom calls it.

PS...our friends bought a new Gulf Stream Tour Master a year later...then traded it for a used 96 Prevost (Marathon) four years later.

[lewpopp]

30 years of motorhoming

Had to find a way to take all of my family on trips and the station wagon ended up being too small. 7 children and the two of us, JEEZE we need something. When the campgrounds saw us exiting from the motorhome, they thought it was the circus.

1977 1973 GMC , rebuilt it twice
1987 1976 GMC, rebuilt it stem to stern. Between the 2 GMC's I put about 400K on the coaches. Has anyone seen my "SUN OF A BEACH" ?

1996 1993 Gulfstream Tourmaster
1999 1996 Gulfstream Tourmaster
2002 1990 Prevost, How sweet it is

The only camping I did was in the scouts and the army. Don't need that!

Lew

[Ben]

How many years have you been motorhoming?
8 months.

And what brand did you start out with?
Motorhome, travel trailer, tent?
1997 Prevost

What were some of the pluses and minuses of each RV?
Love the private toilet, single waste water tank and temp. controlled shower.
Wish I had keyless entry, shore cord real and motorized awnings.

Would you like to go back to those days?
Huh? I'm in those days now. :-)

[Orren Zook]

We been 'camping' for 29 years, we've had Airstream trailers when the kids were small, but sold the trailer and bought a Winnebago to pull an enclosed trailer 'cause we couldn't take the motorcycles or fourwheelers along to the woods. We outgrew that and moved on to a Georgie Boy then a had two American Eagles before we finally bought a Prevost. There's no comparison - fit, finish, ride, power - we should have done it years before! Go back? Never!

[dale farley]

1973 Champion 28' Class A
1994 Tioga 24' Class C
1996 Avco 32' Class A
2003-2004 5th Wheels
2005 40' American Dream
2006 Prevost 1970-73 Tents


I started camping with the boy scouts a long, long time ago. As a married couple, we started camping about 38-39 years ago in a tent. After a few years of fighting the Florida mosquitos, we gave the tent away, and bought a new Champion class A in 1973. Used it on trips within 500 miles for a few years. It was cheap, cheap, cheap, and I could see it would falll apart in a few years, so I sold it after a couple years.

Later bought a Class "C" and drove it to Idaho, Canada, and circled through California back to Florida on our first trip. We enjoyed the trip, but our teenage son and his girlfriend were bored because there wen't enough video games, etc. to keep them entertained. They later got married, he became a minister, and they now have two boys and a better appreciation for the simpler things of life, such as scenery and solitude.

We bought a used 32' Class "A" Avco (not Travco) in the mid 90's and I put thousands in bringing it up to par. Replaced almost everything on it, and when I got through, I still had a motorhome that I wasn't really happy with. Sold it, lost a lot of money and had no camper for a few years.

In 2003 we bought an "almost new" 26' 5th wheel. It was nice but not a lot of quality. Sold it and bought an older 32' Mountain Aire. It was nice, and well-built, but we wanted something nicer. Bought a 1994 37' Londonaire that was a one owner with two slides. It is very nice, and we really like it. I just can't see pulling an 18,000 5th wheel out West. I will reluctantly be selling it in the near future, just because I don't need it and the Prevost. I need the money for it worse than I need the 5th Wheel.

In 2005, after planning a trip for a month to Yellowstone, I ruled out pulling the 5th wheel and bought a 1999 American Dream. It was very nice, and we had a great trip, but we really like the Londonaire 5th wheel better, so I sold the coach to a guy in Canada. I actually made a few thousand off it, because I had bought it at the right price. Didn't make enough to offset the loss on the Avco!

Since our only son just moved out of town, we wanted something nice to travel in and hopefully retain its value, so that's why we decided on the Prevost we bought a couple weeks ago. Our son was our Pastor before moving, and it was hard to get out of town without the Pastor knowing we were somewhere goofing off and missing church. Sorry for the long post.