Testing RVs

We honestly did not set out to test different versions of recreational vehicles, but I guess we have.   Here are a few of our impressions.

We moved into a 1996 28 foot Fleetwood Bounder April 1, 2010.  We traveled from Washington through British Columbia, Yukon Territories, Alaska, Alberta and into Montana.  The inside had a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining area.  There was only one lounge chair, and the other person had to try to get comfortable in the dinette to relax in the evening.   Driving just the motor home was OK on good roads, but when the roads got bumpy, the entire unit would rock back and forth and seemed top heavy.  When we pulled the car behind, the motor home would sway and took concentrated effort to maneuver on the road.  I found backing and maneuvering into small spaces fairly easy in the motor home.  I now believe that this size motor home would be great for shorter trips when not pulling a car if you planned to park in one area, or were going in the summer time when you can spend most of your time outside.  If you want to pull a vehicle, I would suggest a motor home that is longer and heavier and the diesel powered bus-sized motor homes would be better for towing cars.  We averaged about 6 miles to the gallon in this motor home.  I, being the slow riser in the morning that I am, loved the fact that I could walk to the passenger chair in my bathrobe and slippers and drink my coffee as Mike drove in the morning.  After I had an hour or two to wake up, we would stop so that I could shower and get dressed.  I do miss that!

We sold the motor home in Montana by sitting in a store parking lot with an "open house" sign  in the second week of July and we moved into a 28 foot Holiday Rambler Savoy fifth wheel. With it we traveled through Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and into Pennsylvania in the fifth wheel.  We hit some debris in Massachusetts and had to have the shackle welded back on in Massachusetts.  We learned after arriving in Pennsylvania that we had actually bent the frame on the Savoy beyond repair.  The insurance company totaled it. 

          The fifth wheel had a slide out that made the unit feel more roomy.  It also had a couch and two recliners in the back.  We loved the rear window which often had great views as we backed into campsites.  If it weren't for the frame, we would still be quite happy in the fifth wheel.  On the downside, we learned later, that without a sliding hitch, it is pretty easy to put the trailer through the back window of the truck. (We replaced it twice.)  Getting used to the maneuvering of the trailer was difficult.  Many people swear by the ease of maneuvering a fifth wheel.  But you have to make wide turns because the back of the trailer will swing way in on turns.  Mike demonstrated this when he knocked down an outhouse.  We averaged 13 to 14 miles per gallon with the fifth wheel which was quite an improvement over the motor home.

We then bought a 24 foot Sunline travel trailer built in 2007.  We have traveled from Pennsylvania back to New York, and then through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and into North Carolina in the travel trailer.  The trailer does not have a dinette but instead has a table between the couch and chair.  But for our lifestyle the smaller size works well.  Additionally, when shopping for the trailer, we were looking at another 4+ months on this journey rather than a year, as we were planning while shopping at first so the smaller size didn't seem so intimidating.  Both Mike and I prefer driving the trailer to the fifth wheel.  Maybe it is because we are old and learning new things is harder at our ages.



After our experience with the fifth wheel, before we bought the trailer, I did some research regarding RV frames.  Most dealers will tell you that they are all the same.  To me, it seemed like it was just too easy to bend the frame on the Savoy and I didn't want that to happen again.  I found that the Internet is full of complaints about Lippert frames and Lippert builds about 80 - 85% of all RV frames including the one on the Savoy.  They are spot welded and the welds frequently fail, and they are made of lighter weight steel than some others. The ones made in 2004 and 2005 seem to be the worst. (The Savoy was a 2004)  The Lippert frames are probably great if you want to use your RV a few times a year and not go great distances.  However, if you want to do extended travel, I do not recommend them.  When we would ask RV salesmen for trailers without Lippert frames, they usually indicated that all frames were the same, and that we didn't know what we were talking about. I read lots of stories about people who tried to get their warranties to cover their problems with the frames and when that didn't work, would have them welded as best they could and then traded them in on something more sturdy.  Watch out for those trade-ins! Our Sunline trailer has a solid I beam frame made of heavier metal than the Lipperts.  Dealers thought we were crazy crawling around under possible purchases, but we weren't going to get burned again!  We average 14 - 15 miles to the gallon with the Sunline which is about 4000 pounds lighter than the Savoy.

With both trailers, we really appreciate being able to park the trailer in camp and disconnect the truck to drive around the area we are in.  It is not very practical to have to maneuver your gas guzzling motor home into strip malls and  small historical sites near camp.

Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia

        General Lee surrendered to General Grant in April 1865 in Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.  While many people mistakenly believe this to be the end of the Civil War, it actually took until June, 1865 for all of the Generals and armies of the South to surrender.  Appomattox Courthouse is the name of the town, given because it was the county seat.  The building below was the Appomattox Courthouse court house.  Even though it was an existing governmental building, the surrender took place in the house of Mr. and Mrs. McLean in their parlor.  Lincoln was assassinated five days later.  The telegraph was available to spread the news of surrender and John Wilkes Booth conspired to assassinate the Vice President and the Secretary of State at the same time, but was not successful in those plans.

      Lee had retreated from Richmond, Virginia with his armies and was trying to reach supplies for his troops in Lynchburg, VA.  Union troops blocked the way so Lee tried to intercept the railway line at Appomattox to get food and munitions.  When Grant's troops cut the confederate troops off before they could get the supplies, they had little choice but to surrender.  Grant is said to have been very gracious, starting the in-person conversation with Lee by asking questions about the Spanish-American War that they had both been involved in.  Lee refocused the conversation to the task at hand.



                                                    Court house.

                                                           Tourist Mike.

                                                         McLean House

                                                    McLean's bedroom

                                                Parlor where surrender agreement was signed.

                                                       Other side of the parlor.  The generals
                                                       sat at separate tables.

                                                            Store in town.

                                            Upstairs boy's bedroom

                                               Upstairs girls' room.  The  McLeans had 1 boy and 4 girls.

                                                         McLean's dinning room.
                                                               

                                                     Kitchen building behind the McLean house.

                                                       Jail cell in Appomattox Courthouse jail.

                                                          Lock on cell.

                                                              Prisoner Mike!

Tavern used for printing paroles.

                                                           Printing equipment.
                                      

Hand painted wall paper inside of tavern.

                                                                  Grave in field.

                                            

                                                             Law office.

                                                 Inside the law office.

This street runs through the town and is where the confederate troops marched between lines of Union troops to stack their weapons and ammunition.  They couldn't leave the area without proof of their surrender because they could be arrested by other armies as an enemy or a deserter.  The town tavern was used to print thousands of paroles allowing the men to return home as long as they did not take up arms against the United States of America.  27,000 Confederate soldiers marched down the road and then had to receive paroles to leave.  Most returned home.  They were hungry and without funds so the way home was very difficult.  McClain had lived close to one of the first battles of the Civil War.  He moved to Appomattox to get away from the war, but found himself present at the end.  He sold most of the original furniture and other items in the house after the war, and much of the original items are held in the Smithsonian.

It was strange to walk down the same road that had been the site of approximately 50,000 soldiers going through the last moves of a hard fought war, half of whom must have been ecstatic and the other half devastated. I imagine all were ready to return home to normal lives, families and friends.

Shenandoah National Park and Monticello

      We left Pennsylvania on an icy morning.  We drove west to interstate 81 and then south.  This took us through Maryland for 13 minutes and West Virginia 27 minutes.  In Virginia we detoured over to the Shenandoah National Park and drove down the Skyline Drive.  This road travels along the top of a ridge with spectacular views both directions.   The Shenandoah Valley is covered with small rolling hills which are green even in December.  While driving along the ridge, I looked up to see a black bear standing on the wall at the edge of the road.  But I couldn't move fast enough to get a picture.  The Valley was 15 degrees warmer than the ridge, and on the ridge in the shade were lots of ice formations. 



        We drove back down to the valley to camp for the night.  The next morning we drove over the mountains and to Monticello through some of the worst fog I have every seen.  Can you tell me what is in the above picture?  I can't say either!  Unfortunately, the fog continued into Monticello.  Jefferson built his house on top of a hill so that he could see his lands that spread out for four miles.  I am glad he could see them, but we couldn't.

         We toured through Jefferson's last version of his house. (We were not allowed to take pictures in the main house.)   When he first build the house, it had rectangular rooms.  After serving the country in France for several years, he returned to remodel.  Many of the rooms then become octagonal with skylights.  He used the available light everywhere possible to light the house.  He had his bed built in an alcove between his office and bedroom spaces.  Depending on his mood, he could get up and work, or get up and sit in the bedroom.

         Jefferson was quite the inventor.  He had a clock that had a cable with balls on it.  The balls would go farther down the wall over time, and he used this to show the days of the week.  The only problem was that Saturday had to be in the basement.  He also had cables attached to a french door set, so that when you open one door, the other opened as well. 

                                                Front column ageing over time.

                                                         Detail under the eves.

                                              Stables connected to the house.

                                                               Ice house.

      The kitchen was located off the "basement" corridor.  Notice the several holes on the bricks.  This allowed the cooks to use different levels of heat for each pan.  Small or larger fires would be built in the bottom holes.  Off the same corridor were two privies, a brewery, a wine cellar and lots of storage.  The end opposite the stables had some slave rooms.  Once of them was where Sally Hemmings lived.  The Historical Society that runs the park acknowledges that Jefferson had a long relationship with Sally and probably fathered her six children.  (Genetic testing has verified that a Jefferson male was the father of one of her children.)  Sally had gone to France with Jefferson and at the time France had outlawed slavery.  It is rumored that when he returned, Sally (and other accompanying slaves) had the option of returning with him or staying in France.  Sally chose to return, but the rumor has it that she bargained with Jefferson that he had to free her children.  He did free them as they turned 18.  However, while at Monticello, they lived in the slave quarters, not the house.

                                                          Basement corridor.

                                                                         Stables.

                                               Jefferson did enjoy his wine!

                                                   Linden tree on the grounds.

               Jefferson's grave.  This cemetery holds the graves of his "family" but not Sally or her children.

                             Small area that was the slave graveyard.  There are not stones or markers.