Tuesday, January 28, 2014

We saw a Bighorn....ours

I already posted some photos that the salesman at Great Lakes RV Center sent to us and we planned on going to see our new home this last weekend to sign the papers and actually make it OURS. Well the finance guy decided that the papers needed to be signed before the weekend so he could get them to the bank ASAP. So he send them to us FedEx overnight last Monday, we signed them and sent them back so our trip to Elkhart would only be to see the Bighorn. That's fine with us. We got a call from our son in laws mother and she wanted to know if there would be room for her in our car to go with us for a visit. We, of course, planned on staying at our daughters house over the weekend in Osceola, IN just down the road. We said Yes, come on along. We left Friday evening with a threat of snow as we got closer to the IN border and sure enough the snow began. It wasn't as bad as when we came home from our Christmas celebration at the beginning of January but it did slow us down a little. We made it there safely and had a good visit that evening in anticipation of seeing the rig the next day. Over the night the snow continued to fall and ended up accumulating about 6 inches or so. We had planned on meeting Mike at the dealership at 9:30 but we got a call and he said it took longer for him to get there so we moved it back to 10:30. We piled into the car and headed over. Mike was waiting for us and said that he had to have the service guys bring the rig back in from the storage lot so we could view our home in relative comfort. It was cold outside. He took us back to the service area and there it was. In all it's glory.


It is ours...We own it now. No turning back from this adventure.
 
 
I walked around the rig as if I had to be sure it was real. It is real and it is REAL BIG. Mike opened the door and we climbed in and took our first look at where we will be living soon. (Still pinching myself) After going inside I was so happy we kept the light fixture as it was and for the décor we decided on. It feels and looks so rich. Just like a home.
 

Remington décor
 
 No TV since it will be stored outside
 
 Love the light fixture over the island
 
 We had the washer/dryer installed....hmmmm
 
 There it is....Glenda is very happy
 
 This couch is actually very comfortable
 
You can see I like it.
 
 
We spent a good long time in the rig just looking at everything, opening and closing doors, drawers and the slides just got a feel for it all. We noticed that we could still access the bathroom and bedroom with the slide closed in the front. Good to know for those overnights where you may not open the slides. The MCD shades are even impressive. Mike also told us that there are only 2 Bighorns in the country that have disc brakes installed.  That is an upgrade that is found on the Landmark model for Heartland but they just happened to be offering it when we ordered the Bighorn and then found out that it slowed the line down so they stopped after 2 units were built - ours and someone else's. So we are glad we ordered when we did. After enjoying our new home we had to leave and let Mike get back home and we could enjoy our time at our daughters.
 
We found out the truck is scheduled to be built on February 10th and should be delivered a 1-2 weeks later. This waiting is beginning to get to me. We seem so close yet so far  away. Glenda's last day at work in on Friday. I know that once that happens the real work begins as we get the house ready for sale in the spring. Fortunately we aren't hoarders and have downsized from our home a few years ago after the kids all moved out and on their own. Still there is a lot to do....but we are up for the task and it will help the time pass too. I'm beginning to ramble so I will just say we had a great time at our daughters house even though all the grandkids weren't there.(That's another story) We had more snow over the weekend but once we got on the road and headed west and south the temperatures improved and there wasn't as much snow so we made good time. You might have noticed I moved the countdown clock up one more month to Sept 1. We figured if we are going to go to the RV Dreams Fall Rally we could just save the vacation time and apply it to the retirement date and end this work thing a month earlier. So that's what we're doing. We keep working the plan and I know retirement is just around the corner and it won't be long. Thanks 

Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. Faye N DaveJanuary 29, 2014 at 8:27 AM

    Very nice, the Bighorn is one we are considering down the road. Congrats on Glenda's imminent retirement, I'm sure the time will pass quickly with getting the house on the market and all then entails. We now save Dave's vacation to add to the front oh his leave of absence time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IL CamperJanuary 29, 2014 at 9:05 AM

      Faye N Dave, thank you for the comment. You won't be disappointed if you go with the Bighorn. I also recommend contacting our salesman at Great Lakes RV Center. His name is Mike. He really did give us straight talk on the unit and the price. He has also gone out of his way to make things right for us when we had issues. Guess we will see how that goes once we take delivery. Glenda is excited and knows we have alot to do but it should be a labor of love, so to speak. I also figured why wait another month and sue some of the vacation time I have when I could just leave earlier and apply to the pension. I really appreciate your encouragement. Curt

      Delete
  2. Rick and Kathy RousseauJanuary 29, 2014 at 10:01 AM

    Like you said getting rid of the house will be a labor of love and don't let someone's discouraging remarks stop you because they would be to scared to have the same dream.
    One thing you might consider as a future add-on to the trailer are Slide-top awnings. They save you from constantly having to climb on the roof to sweep the debris off the top of the slides each time you are about to close up camp. They also keep most rain out when closing up in a storm which most RVers avoid doing anytime.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IL CamperJanuary 29, 2014 at 1:51 PM

      Rick and Kathy, Always appreciate your comments. We had considered the slide awnings when ordering but opted for the W/D instead. We'll see how it goes for a while and may have to look at that in the future. Thanks for the suggestion. Can't get discouraged now, we have too much invested. :-) Curt

      Delete
  3. UnknownFebruary 16, 2014 at 5:45 PM

    Nice choices on the truck and fifth wheel. Wife and I are in the planning process. Do you have any advice since we are still on the fence between a motorhome verses a setup like yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IL CamperFebruary 17, 2014 at 9:49 AM

      William, Thank you for your comment. We too during our planning process went back and forth on MH or 5th wheel however we asked our selves how would we be traveling. Did we want to pull a vehicle behind a MH or unhitch from a trailer so we would have transportation once set up at a campground. If repairs needed to be made we could unhitch and leave the trailer. We found the floorplans of the 5th wheel more to our liking. I visited a website ww.rv-dreams.com and reviewed the information that Howard and Linda have there. We sent to as many dealerships and RV shows as we could to see all the different RV's both MH and 5th wheel. We originally thought we liked the Sanibel 3500 by Primetime Manufacturing but then saw a Heartland Bighorn at a Camping World RV sales lot in Nashville and began to explore that brand. We found the Bighorn 3585rl and knew it was the one for us. I also went on the RV-dreams website forum and asked alot of questions of the members there which really helped with buying the truck and the 5th wheel. It really will come down to your preferences. Ask questions(like you are), look at as many RV's as possible and decided what your lifestyle will be. Good luck with your process. Curt

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)