The Day Has Come at Last!

I get to go pick up Miranda at 6:30 tonight!

The previous owner called me on Saturday morning to let me know that he was releasing the keys... and that his neighbour with the keys had just left for the weekend. *edits a really honest, but not so nice, thought* Anyway, the neighbour called last night to say I can swing by tonight. At last!!!

A friend and I had planned to go pick up Miranda together in her car, so she could follow me to the storage location and give me a ride back. We both felt that I'd have enough stress without worrying about towing right away. Well, of course, now that my friend has been on standby for over a week, she had to leave town. So, trial by fire for me tonight. :-)

I went over to Their house yesterday to install Miranda's license plate (carrying a copy of an email giving me permission to be on Their property, just in case). I wasn't sure about what tools (wrench) I'd need for that or how complicated it would be (not at all), so I figured that I could save some time on pick up night. And, okay, I just wanted to make sure my rig was okay! :-) At the same time, I took a closer look at the tow hitch... and discovered that They hadn't left me the safety cables. *rolls eyes* So, I need to go pick some up before I get Miranda tonight. There's a store in Gatineau called 'Attache remorques'(Trailer Hitches), so I figured they would probably have the necessary item. They do. Thank goodness. I can't believe how much STUFF is involved in towing. Freedom doesn't come cheap!!!

My car is filled to the brim with assorted bits and bobs for the coach, as well as all my hand tools. Since Miranda will be parked 45 minutes from home, I won't have the luxury of making a million trips out to see her, so I need to maximize every visit. Moving will be easier than I'd thought, though. My mother is coming up the last weekend in August to get some of the furniture my sister wanted, plus the few boxes she'll store for me. It was supposed to be earlier, but this turns out to be a much better plan. I'll be able to pick up Miranda that morning and bring her up to my house and then fill her right there, with help in bringing in larger items like the mattress. Then, I can take off for a campground for my final three or four nights before hitting the road. I had another thought over the weekend. I wasn't sure what to do with the bed spreads and curtains that come with Miranda and which I don't want. I might as well store them.

This coming Saturday, provided the weather cooperates, I aim to go pick up Miranda bright and early and drive her to the nearest Home Depot so I can get all the major work done on her--back up camera installation, bed ripping out, carpet replacement, desk building, etc. That's going to be such a fun day!

I Might Seem Impatient...

I've been asked why it's turning into such an issue that I might have to wait another week before I take possession of Miranda.

Let's start with the legal implications. I am now the registered owner of this coach and am insuring it. Therefore, I am liable for anything that happens to the coach or that it might do. If the neighbour who has the keys decides to take Miranda for a joy ride and then commits a hit and run, or if she rolls down the steep driveway on which she's park and kills a child playing in the street, I'm liable.

Then there is the issue that I told the owner weeks ago that I needed the coach by this weekend. No, not because it would have been the perfect weekend to take her on a shakedown cruise (something that came up after I gave him the deadline), but because after this one I have only five weekends left before I leave!!!

I have to learn to drive this thing, how to tow with it, how to use its systems, as well as make the necessary renovations, upgrade the electrical systems (more solar power), install a backup camera, move in, and take it for a shake down cruise. I'm running out of time!

If I wanted to end this really badly, I could exercise my right to go to their house right now with a police officer who would then knock on every door on the street until he found the neighbour who has the keys. But that's not my way. The owners are now aware that I know my rights, have access to lawyers (it's very convenient to work with some), and could make their lives difficult. I trust that this will be sufficient to grease the necessary wheels.

Okay, Now I Have Something To Say

Miranda's PREVIOUS owner's bank is playing hardball with the cheque from the dealership and has withheld the funds until it clears. My bank would have given me part of the funds, but, anyway, that's between him and his bank and has nothing to do with me.

He doesn't see it that way and advised me that I should have my keys next week sometime.

I told him that this is not acceptable. I'm really disappointed that this is how the transaction has turned out after it going so smoothly for so long. I think the biggest issue is that he clashed with the wonderful lady doing the financing--she didn't do things his way, so of course she was 'difficult.' I maintain that if he'd advised us much earlier on in the process that he was leaving the country that none of this would be an issue right now.

So Close...

Miranda is legally mine. I received the necessary paperwork today to go to the SAAQ and get her plated. Once again, I lucked out with a licence plate that has numbers which are meaningful to me, so I already know the plate number by heart.

She's legally mine... but I have no keys yet. I have nothing nice and or non-sarcastic to say about that, so I'll refrain from commenting.

I got Pommette the toad back from having her base plate installed. There is still more to do, and I still can't tow, but I'm very close. In order for me to be able to tow, I'm missing the plug that would connect the car electric system to Miranda's. I didn't know what sort of plug she has, so the mechanic was unable to install it. I went over tonight to ogle my gal, pet her, and take a photograph of the connector. Hopefully, the missing component can be installed tomorrow. After, there's another thing that needs to be installed, but I'll be okay to tow short distances until Blue Ox gets the part to the garage.

Finally, my back up camera arrived. I took one look at the installation instructions and blanched, but I'm sure I can get it installed. It'll just take longer than the instructions say it will.

Negotiations

For those who are curious, I'll give a few details about the negotiations that went on tonight. I'm not posting this on the other blog and will, in fact, remove some stuff about the negotiations from the other blog because the current RV owners will be reading it. So, those at OIT get extra content!

At any rate, I showed up with some ads for other comparable rigs.

They were asking for 32,000$. A class C sells for about 18,000$ if it's in impeccable condition. That's a significant difference!

So, after I showed them how I got my 18,000$ figure, I opened the negotiations at 20,000$. The owner said that he had posted for 32,000$, and was hoping for 28,000$. His wife didn't want to join the conversation yet.

I then reconfirmed that they were willing to include the tow system with cables, worth several thousand dollars, as well as a solar panel and inverter. Yes. I went up to 23,000$. I could see his wife getting a little bit antsy. I didn't budge, let her gather her words. She finally said that she couldn't imagine letting the coach go for anything less than 25,000$.

That was the maximum I wanted to pay (and was pre-approved for) and, truth?, what I think that the coach is worth. I even think it's a bargain. I have a rig that's in absolute perfect condition AND I don't have to go through the hassle of finding the tow hitch, and then paying to get it installed. The solar panel and inverter aren't cheap toys, either. I'll need a more powerful inverter, but had wanted a smaller one, too, which I've got now. I've also got a luxury unit with a lot of little features, an incredible amount of carrying capacity, a huge basement, a more powerful engine than most units being sold, and the exact layout I wanted. And let's not forget the incredibly low mileage.

So, I gave her words a moment of silence, smiled, and said that I could live with 25,000$. We shook on it, then we went out to my new home so I could give her one more look over before we do the transfer of ownership next week. We talked about my plans and they gave me some tips and even offered to let me go home with all the instruction manuals. I resisted. I just want to do this in the proper order and those manuals aren't really mine yet.

Tomorrow, I'm going to the United States to pick up a Wonder Wash someone is giving me, and then I'll head to Watertown, NY, for some serious cross-border RV shopping. I'm aiming to come back with at the absolute minimum a GPS, a back up camera system, an uninterrupted power supply, and a surge protector. This bird found out recently that there is no duty on all electronics other than televisions, and some Googling revealed that there are serious bargains to be had south of the border. It'll make for a fun day; there's nothing like pulling out the passport and foreign currency to spice up the week even if you're only going to the good old US of A. :-)

It's been a good day.

Introducing Miranda

Miranda is an impeccable 31' Glendale Royal Classic.

(To the person who voted for the Winnie Minnie, I'll just say that the WM had no basement storage, a less powerful engine, half the carrying capacity, and it reeked.)

Here's a plan of her layout. The only difference between this diagram and real life is that I have a rear twin bed configuration instead of a queen bed. But this will at least make it possible to put the pictures in their proper context.



I've put the pictures on a Flickr slide show. These are pictures taken by the seller. I will add my own later, especially as I made my modifications.

So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce my Miranda.

Getting Closer and a New Blog...

The RV inspection is scheduled for a week from tomorrow. As long as there are no surprises from that, the owner and I should be able to button up this transaction with a couple of days after that.

I feel like I have a massive ball of snakes writhing in my tummy.

For those who are only here for the RVing stuff, I've made an RVing-only blog, Travels with Miranda.

If you're a regular visitor to One Idiot's Tale and want to keep up with the whole tale, then you do NOT need to visit Travels with Miranda. That blog will only host copy & pasted blog RV entries from OIT.

But I Thought You Wanted a Bus...

But I Thought You Wanted a Bus...

I still want a bus. But I'm not ready for one.

When I first looked into the RVing life, I gravitated towards the class C models. While smaller, their layout made more sense to me: I could use the back bedroom as my study and sleep in the over head cab, giving me more floor space for daily use. But I began to hear horror stories of carrying capacity on class Cs, so I started to look at class As, which sort of automatically led me to look at buses.

Soon as I started to shop for a bus, I began to feel very uncomfortable with my plans. I finally accepted that I was trying to learn too much in too little time. I just did not have the time nor knowledge to learn what I needed to learn about bus conversions to buy smartly. Also, the amount of choice in Canada left to be desired. I had no idea what I was looking for and fishing in a very small pool of candidates. It was a recipe for disaster.

Later, when I'm properly retired and have years of RVing under my belt, I can get the bus of my dreams. For my current plans, a bus just adds too many variables.

So, I went back to looking at class As. Originally, I had budgeted a lot for my rig, but I knew I had to scale that plan down when I decided to give up full-time work for at least a year. The rigs within my new budget were older. Through research and inference, I began to realise that a lot of these older rigs really didn't have all that much more carrying capacity than does a class C. Why buy a 35' or 40' rig when a smaller one would actually give me more usable space?

I test drove a 40' rig and doing so showed me that I didn't have to fear driving such a behemoth. I could now look at smaller rigs for reasons other than 'I'm scared to drive a class A!!!' The more I researched class Cs, the more I liked them. Their smaller size is better suited to the sort of RVing I want to do and will be easier to heat in winter.

So, it was a question now of finding the perfect match of manufacturer, length, floor plan, and the all important carrying capacity.

Figuring out my optimal floor plan didn't take long. I want a rear twin bed model. I could use one bed as a sofa and replace the other one with a desk. Once I'd settled on this floor plan, I seriously narrowed down my options for the other three requirements.

I Googled, searched discussion forums, read, read, read, and did a ton of math. I made some phone calls, read some more, and perused the for sale ads.

Finally, I found two local RVs matching all four criteria.

One is a Glendale Royal Classic, 31'. The other is a Winnibago Winnie Minnie, 28'. Both are roughly the same age and the same price. The Royal Classic is a high end, luxury model. The Winnie Minnie is in the same league.

One of them is just about as perfect as I could ever have dreamt of, factoring in some compromise, and offers almost twice the carrying capacity as the average class C its size. I didn't believe the math, so I ran it by a few other people. It checked out. It's a gorgeous coach, twelve years old and still looks brand new, with a layout that would give me the illusion of having no less than six rooms. Solar panels, inverters, and the very tow bar I want to buy are also negotiable as a package deal. If the inspection checks out, and I have no doubt it will, this coach will be confirmed as being a gift from the gods.

I went from 'thinking about full-timing' to 'shopping for a rig' in a very short amount of time. I've had to take a crash course in everything from calculating RV weight to 12V electricity 101. The amount of research I did and the questions I asked (some of them probably sounding idiotic to those in the know) really helped me figure out exactly what I need for my current project. It's not what I want; I would love to head up the 417 in a gorgeous Prévost conversion, but it's what makes sense for me at this time of my life and for the type of full-timing I plan to do in the next year or two.

So, which did I choose, the Royal Classic or the Minnie Winnie? All in good time, faithful readers, all in good time. :-D

Plunging

I'm now waiting for the RV's current owner to call me so we can discuss the terms of surrender. Erm, purchase. I've come up with a list of items I'd like for him to include as well as the price I'm willing to pay. I don't feel like dithering with him. He and his wife are very open and honest and it'd just feel like an insult to give him a stupidly low figure and then work our way up to the price I'm willing to pay.

(I need to stop staring at the phone. :-D)

Mechanical inspection, insurance, and financing are more or less settled. The first two more, the last one less. A friend's step-father should be available to check the truck portion of the RV (brakes, chassis, engine, tires, etc.), I've found an insurance company that caters to Quebec full-timers (!!!), and the guy at the bank is fairly sure based on our conversation that a loan won't be a problem. I'm just not crazy about the loan terms since I know that dealer financing for RVs provides much better rates and terms. I have one more lead to follow before I make a formal, credit-report dinging, request from the bank.

I'm still trying to figure out how I wound up at this stage so quickly.

I told a colleague/friend today that I'm scared witless by this project and she didn't believe me. But I am! It's just that I've learned in life that great things lie beyond fear. I just can't wait for terror to give way to enthusiasm! LOL

Taking the Plunge

Soon as I have financing, insurance, and a mechanical inspection sorted out, I'll be ready to make an offer on a unit I have viewed.

*pauses to reread that*

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've Got It!

After looking at class Cs and then drooling over Triple E class As and then looking at bus conversions and being determined that I just had to have a Wanderlodge and then giving up on buses for the time being and focusing on As I've finally figured out exactly what it is I need to shop for in terms of class, length, layout, and manufacturer.

Now, comes the hard part: finding candidates that match all four criteria. I've found two so far.

I'll withhold details until I have a new acquisition to show off. I have given lots of hints, though! :-)

I'm still trying to figure out how I went from musing, dreaming, and scheming to actually implementing this plan!!!

Found a Class C To View...

It's not diesel, but it shows promise. The CCC is an issue, of course. Best case scenario, I'd have about 1,200lbs for my stuff and extras I'll be adding like solar panels, extra batteries, and a satellite dish. It's not much, but it's a number I feel I can work with. Worst case scenario, I have 500lbs, which is NOT a number I can work with at all. The guy has the RV weighed when he bought it, but the number is fairly meaningless since he doesn't remember if the tanks were full or if there was anyone in the RV at the time. I figure I might as well go see it myself, get the info on the specs plate, and extrapolate real data based on his weight amount.

It has a really good layout and, in fact, is my 'ideal' layout for a C: queen over cab bed; dinette with arm chairs across the aisle; nice kitchen and bathroom (toilet has its own room); and a rear bedroom with twin beds. I'd take out one of the twins to put in a computer desk and keep the other one as my sofa.

This is so much work. :-D

Frustration

The more I look at buses and class As for sale, the more I ache for a Class C model. Even though they are smaller (although some do go up to 30'), the ones with a rear bedroom layout are much better suited to my lifestyle. I could sleep in the cab-over bunk and dedicate the bedroom to being my study. With the buses and class As, there would be a huge chunk of living space that I wouldn't use much. I mean, how often do you go into your bedroom for the day if it's a place dedicated to sleeping?

Some people do full-time in class Cs, but weight and towing capability is such an issue. I did get wind of diesel Cs and that's what I'm investigating now. I could probably get a nearly new class C diesel for the price I'm willing to pay for a very used A or bus.

A friend offered me a corner of her basement for storage if I want it and I'm beginning to think that I'd be best to take her up on her offer. What I'd have to store is going to sound silly since it's made up of items one would not associate with sentimentality: dishes, mixing bowls, serving utensils, and the like. These are items that have been passed down through several generations on both sides of my family and are not replaceable. Whether I got a C or an A (or a bus), I'd still have to divest myself of these items. So...

Going through the house, I see so much that I use daily or that I would use daily that I'm not sure would fit in a light A, much less a class C--tools, my Wicca library (and my cauldron, while I'm at it), the iMac, the laser printer, the artwork, the two cases of DVDs... I know it's just 'stuff', but it's the 20% of my life that means something to me, that is me, that I am not willing to give up.