Turning Lemons into Lemonade

We were disappointed that our plans to go to Myrtle Beach were interrupted due to motorhome problems. The exhaust system problem was repaired about the middle of September. When life hands you lemons make lemonade, so the saying goes.
Tom and I had started to look at motorhomes this past January when we saw a Newmar Ventana with a bath and a half that caught our eyes at the Tampa RV show in Florida. We talked with a dealer in Tucson, Az. and had the ability to really look over a Ventana that the dealer had on the lot. We felt that the storage space was not as good in the Ventana as we had in our MountainAire so we put that thought out of our minds. Then with staying home in September we decided to go to the RV show in Hershey, Pa. with the thought of checking out motorhomes again and didn't see anything to really get us excited about. We then attended the RV show in Timonium, Md. and saw a Tiffin Phaeton with a bath and a half that caught our attention. A salesman was very informative but not pushy with trying to sell but the price was a bit much. So Tom started to look on the internet.

 We had decided that our Mountain Aire with 122,000 plus miles would need to replaced for us to continue traveling and we did not want to be much older before purchasing another motorhome. We were looking at used as well as new diesal motorhomes on the internet. The bath and half models had really interested us so we decided on either the Ventana or the Phaeton but preferred the Phaeton which we felt had more storage space, was equipped as well as the Ventana with a lighter price tag. Tom had bid on a Ventana that a dealer in Florida had put on Ebay and actually won the bid but did not meet the reserve price. He also had seen a Phaeton on the internet that a dealer in Alabama was asking for offers on. Tom submitted a offer for this Phaeton that included trading in our motorhome. About a week later a salesman finally called and discussed the offer and counter offered. After discussing it we felt the offer was probably the best we were going to get and decided to go with it.

This new 2011 motorhome was appointed better than the one we had seen in Maryland and the price was about $26,000.00 less so we made arrangements to go to Dandy's RV Superstore in Oxford, Alabama. Tuesday we left home and arrived at the dealership Thursday (September 29th) morning. Our salesman, Richard Green, talked with us briefly and the we were taken to the motorhome by a technician that spent a couple of hours explaining the motorhome workings with us. We then sat down and got the paperwork out of the way. We had arranged our own financing with our bank before leaving Maryland.

Tom had spotted a small ding in a compartment door so that had to be repaired as well as a few other little minor things and it was decided that these repairs would be done on Friday. After eating a late lunch, our MountainAire and the Phaeton were parked side by side so we could move our contents from one to the other. What an overwheming job! But we finally got the job done late in the evening and we were really tired. Friday morning at 8am the Phaeton was picked up and taken into the shop for the repairs to be done. We spent time with Richard Green, salesman, giving us a tour of the facility and then we went for a drive through the Cheha National Park and to Telladega racetrack. After returning we had to wait until about 4pm before the Phaeton was returned to us. Richard Green and Tom then took to a local gas station to get the motorhome fueled up paid for by the dealership. We were then on our way toward home in our new motorhome. We only drove about 70 miles north before stopping for the night.

Saturday we stopped in Sevierville, Tn. for the night. I have started to rearrange closets and cabinets from the hasty move that we made at the dealership. Today, Sunday, we are stopped for the night at Natural Bridge, Va. We had quite a time this evening I was preparing dinner trying to locate the can opener but finally after searching from Tom and I it was found in a storage box in the outside compartments. Such is life!

Tom check our home phone for messages and had a call from a man in Alabama that has already purchased our MountainAire. They sure didn't have that on the lot very long. The dealership was impressed with condition and the maintenance of the MountainAire having the mileage of 123,495 miles. Tom returned the call to the new owner answering questions and offering information. We wish this family many happy travels.

Tomorrow we are continuing north to Pennsylvania where we stay a few days at a campground near East Berlin and then going to the Lancaster area on Friday for a Traveling Americans weekend.