In the beginning — August, 2016

The adventure begins!

Starting with the purchase of an RV trailer in August, 2016, and then, after that, the purchase of a seriously sturdy Dodge RAM pickup truck, I began my RVing adventures.  You may have noticed that I said I purchased the trailer before purchasing the truck.  That’s correct, and yes maybe that was a little backwards.  For a few weeks, I had no way to move the trailer.  I couldn’t even move it off the dealer’s lot, much less tow it on public roads to take it camping.  But the dealer who sold me the trailer was kind enough to tow it to the covered, fenced and gated, 24×7 secure storage that I had rented south of Puyallup in Washington State … The Stor-House … so the trailer was then safe and sound.

I spent the first month of ownership exploring every nook and cranny in the trailer … the brakes, the awning, the roof, the trailer’s base frame, the windows, the tanks underneath, and every electrical and plumbing and propane device and system in the trailer in order to learn as much as I could.

Then in September, 2016, I purchased the truck.  And then, of course, I needed to figure out how to connect the two.  Since they were both used, it turned out they had different hitch configurations, different electrical connections, and some other stuff that was simply missing from one or the other.  More stuff to learn and buy.  I was having a blast!

How I decided what to buy.

But let’s back up a minute and talk about how I got to this point of purchasing an RV in the first place.  There is all manner of advice online about how to purchase your first RV (recreational vehicle) … buy something small and less expensive to make sure you like RVing, buy the biggest and best you can afford right off the bat, rent several different RVs before you buy, do lots of research online and crawl through lots of RVs on dealers’ lots and go to all the RV shows, listen to people you know, don’t listen to people you know, etc.  In the end, each of us has to follow the path before us, especially since there is a down-side to each one of those pieces of advice.  I’ve met people who bought too big, bought too small, spent too much money renting, didn’t do enough research, did too much research and wasted time when they could have been out exploring the world in an RV including one couple who ended up not buying anything (after literally years of research) because one of them eventually developed a medical condition such that they then couldn’t go at all.

For several months, I looked at used camping trailers in sales lots all around the greater Tacoma area and up north in Everett, all in Washington State, researching what was out there and trying to determine if something might fit for me, or at least fit what I thought was right for me.  I also spent an inordinate number of hours online, looking at layouts, interior and exterior photographs, reading reviews and owners’ forums, looking at for sale ads and lists of standard items and lists of options, looking at costs, maintenance requirements and future repair projections, quality of construction, etc., ad nauseam.  I started with a list of over 300 trailers in the size range that seemed right and I narrowed that down to 5 finalists.  The Rockwood MiniLite 20-footer was one of the finalists.

A decision gets made.

So then one day in August, 2016, while I was still in the research stage (or so I thought), a friend of mine and I drove to a used RV dealer (who also rented RVs) simply to ask what sort of RVs they had for rent.  Well, there sat this lovely Rockwood MiniLite 20-footer for sale on their lot .. four years old, very clean, the price was right, and she was just begging for a new owner.  What could I do?  I bought her that very same day and made her mine.  And the rest, as they say, is history.  Well, not quite … “history” goes backward in time and I was on my way forward!

In my next post, I’ll talk about how I decided which vehicle to buy as a tow vehicle.  Stay tuned!


Towhee in her new home … covered, secure storage.

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8 Responses to In the beginning — August, 2016

  1. Jan says:

    Congratulations, Ann! I know you worked long and hard to get this site and blog up and running. Looks great, I can’t wait to read your next blog entries. ?

    • Ann says:

      Jan, you get a gold star!! You are the first to commentate! communitate! commenditate! commendate! You are the first to “reply”! 🙂 Thank you for that and for your kind words. I see you have subscribed too (along with a few other folks, thank you all!) to receive automatic notice of new posts. I hope you enjoy the blog. Feel free to comment any time and add your voice to this journey.

  2. Bob Wheeler says:

    I don’t see an anchor or fenders. How can you be having any fun?

    • Ann says:

      Bob, I’ve had those exact same thoughts .. where the heck are the cleats?! and where the heck do I stow and deploy the anchor? Should the anchor be on the front of the trailer or on the front of the truck? So many questions! I hope you hang around and help me figure out the answers. 🙂

  3. Linda Davey says:

    I know this is an old entry, but I just found your blog via The Bayfield Bunch and started at the beginning. We are also from the Seattle area and when we bought our Travel Supreme Class A motorhome in 2013, we stored it in the very same facility in Puyallup for just over a year until we went fulltime. We are still on the road today, having just spent time in Seattle and Whidbey Island! I look forward to reading more of your blog. Safe and happy travels!

    • Ann says:

      Hi Linda, welcome! Gosh, it’s so nice to hear from other folks who are out there too. I hope you’ll enjoy this little blog, and I hope you will share any bits of helpful hints when it’s obvious that I’ve missed something. 🙂 Seems like there is always something to learn, and yet that’s (usually) part of the fun. I’ll go check your blog. Happy travels!

  4. robin says:

    Sometimes researching on the internet is “going down the rabbit hole” to be sure! Paralysis thru analysis I have heard it called…. and then coming across the MiniLite,
    you must have known it was the right fit. Really enjoying your blog, looking forward to reading more!

    • Ann says:

      Hi Robin! 🙂 Oh, it’s nice to have you here. Yes, the MiniLite was the right fit at the time, sort of. I knew there were a few things that weren’t quite the right fit but, as you referenced, one can analyze something to death. Since it fit most of my criteria, I decided to simply buy it and get on with it. Sure glad I did.

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