Day 1 - Oil Cooler Line Replacement

RAIN DELAY - pouring! at 9:43am local time.

While drinking coffee this morning as the pregame warmup, I checked intellicast dot com for weather radar that is my preference for weather radar. All rain was south of me and west of me by 200 miles. So I started THE project with sun partially showing on an overcast morning.

Opened the hood, slide back the first line dust cover and there was the C clamp just like my YouTube instruction showed me. I could already tell that my idea of just loosening a nut was not even a close guess and it looked more and more like Bill's tool was what I needed. The removal tool that I bought at the local Napa were just for A/C and fuel hoses as I had pointed out to the cashier but he insisted those were the tools he used to remove the oil cooler hose.

The YouTube video showed using a needle nose hook tool that got under the C clamp and pulled it out enough that you could grip the clamp with the needle nose pliers and then pull the stretched clamp complete off the connector. His hoses came with new clamps, mind didn't. So, I attempted to pry my hook tool under the clamp but I am not sure that is the correct procedure for the clamps that I have. I believe now that Bill's tool is used like he described, with the tool releasing the pressure of the clamp just enough for the old line to slide out and the new line to slide in.

I am pretty sure of that because my lines did not come with a separate package of clamps as if the old ones were replacement. I think Bill would have ordered those clamps if I had needed them.

But the excitement of this morning is yet to come.

Leaving the hood up, my tools sitting outside next to the RV, sun poking through the cloud overcast and knowing no rain is within a 100 miles of me on radar ... I jump in the Chevy pickup and head to NAPA in town to return the incorrect tool and buy hopefully that hook tool I had seen on the video.

While walking back to the truck at NAPA to leave, it sure did look awfully dark in the sky and rain could be just any minute....that is the only thing I was right about this morning. Just as I closed the truck door, rain started pouring down so hard you could barely see.

My RV hood is up, tools sitting outside by the RV and it's pouring so hard I can't see?????  Fantastic.

I told you "Murphy" and I were close friends when I did house or auto repairs....or so it seems. LOL I drive my 1-2 miles back home knowing I will have everything soaked that is sitting outside. It's was strange but the closer I got to my house the highway had less rain on it and by the time I was almost to my driveway, the highway was completely dry!!  LOL

I pulled in, took everything inside that had been sitting outside next to the RV, then tried the new hook tool in prying up that clamp off of the radiator connector for the oil line hose as the video showed. That clamp is on their so tight that I cannot get the hook under the clamp to pop it up enough to take off the connector. So looking at that clamp pictured below, it looks like a tool will be needed that can squeeze that small clamp you see by the large nut, releasing enough pressure for the line to be pulled out and later, the new line slid in, with the clamp staying where it is.

While I was trying to fit my new hook tool under that pin, the rain arrived. I closed the hood and sprinted for the house.

In the meantime while writing this post and loading pictures it has rained in a steady downpour for the last 20 minutes. With the tornadoes in Nebraska and Iowa last night and the storm in the gulf heading north, it looks like it will be a weekend of rain here in southern Indiana.

Hopefully the "football gods" will prevent the DirecTv signal from being blocked due to bad weather.

Bought a 2004 but Find Out It's a 2003

Should I be concerned?

Would you be concerned, if what the RVT ad showed and what I was told by the seller before I made the purchase, was different than what is confirmed by the VIN number on the title today?

A few weeks ago I posted on an RV forum that I was looking at a 2004 Coachmen and was looking for any kind of feedback on a 5.7L engine and that RV traveling in the western states. I was then told by the seller it was a 6.0L engine, which would make a difference in buying replacement/repair parts, possibly performance. From that forum post from a couple of weeks ago, I confirmed today that I have a 2003 Coachmen with a 5.7L engine instead of a 2004 Coachmen with a 6.0L as advertised. The 8th digit from the left on the VIN shows R, which is a 5.7L. Not until 2004 did they change to the 6.0L based on information that came from two GM Tech's. The local GM mechanic told me about the 8th digit from the right of the VIN shows it was a 2002 chassis earlier this week.

So, should I be bothered that a small list of things the RVT ad showed as well as what the seller told me before the purchase is confirmed to be different that I have bought? Or, am I just on the paranoid side for buying a used RV?

As far as the oil cooling line replacement, I plan on starting Saturday morning early unless there is heavy rain and lightning. The forecast shows only a 40% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow and 50% chance of thunderstorms on Sunday.  I am anxious to see if the connectors are what I think they are instead of what I am told. That will mean no tool for my guess or using a connector tool on theirs.

Oil Leak Source Found

As scheduled on Monday, I crawled under the RV after I got home from work. It was a pretty simple and fast find. I wiped all the oil residue off the oil filter, oil pan, the hoses, and even absorbed the small spot up in the front of the oil pan where it meets the engine. Instead of waiting the 24 hours to see if I had any drips and then driving it on Tuesday, I turned the engine on after cleaning it up and within 2 minutes of idling the engine, my first drip showed up.

Those hard lines are coming from the oil filter, then the black hoses meander through and around the frame and just inside the wheel well, turning back to hard lines that go into the lower radiator...the oil cooling hoses. The 4 connectors between the black hose and hard lines are factory sealed.

So Monday night I took a quick trip to Napa Auto and then to AutoZone, both showing me an assembly for a Chevy 6.0L on a 3500 van frame...but the length's of the hard lines didn't look right, nor the angles. I came home that night and did some further internet searches without much luck.

Tuesday after work I headed for my local mechanic in this small town, "Bill's Auto Repair" that is right across the street from the small mini mart/gas station called "The Picnic Basket".....I am assuming you can read from those two business names and understand just how small the town I live in is. Which at times makes it hard to find repair or replacement parts for anything that has a problem. Even though the town is small and hard to find replacement parts at times, I felt that Bill would know where and how to get the correct oil cooler hose and/or assembly.

He told me he didn't have room above the lift in his garage to work on RVs and he was too old to crawl under an RV and have to work in his gravel parking lot to replace the hose, but he thought he ecould get the GM OEM part for me. I just had to give him the VIN of my RV and he had a site that would cross that VIN to the correct GM OEM part.

I picked up the correct hoses today and matching them with my pictures of the lengths and angles of the hard lines, they are identical.

You have understand something first before you think I am now home free on this repair job. I am not a mechanic, I'm an accountant. I do regular maintenance on my old Chevy pickup truck and use to on my old 60's VW buses I collected a few years ago but as far as doing major repairs ... not me. Also when I have attempted most auto maintenance "Murphy" shows up and makes a normal 1 hour job into an all day affair with me swearing at the end of the job that I will never buy another used car in my lifetime".

"Murphy" didn't take long to show up. Just as I picked up the hoses Bill told me "you know you will need a special tool to open those connections to your oil filter block and the radiator". No, I didn't know that, I thought from the picture I would just unscrew the nut and that would loosen the hose connections enough for me to pull the old lines out and install the new lines then tighten the nut.

I ended up going to the local Napa Auto and buying a plastic connector tool set that says it will work but it doesn't look nearly as impressive as the tool kit for different size connectors that Bill showed me in his shop. I'll try the one's I bought first. Bill said if those didn't work, I could take his set home with me to use as long as I could get them back to him the same day, because they use them every day.

How's that for service?

So as I sit here with the new oil cooler lines, I look at the weather forecast and see rain for most of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'll wait and see how it goes but I hope to replace the hoses on Saturday with a mindset, yes, it might take me all day just because the two connections to the oil filter are in a pretty tight place. I'm not sure if I can drive it 45 miles with this oil leak to the nearest RV shop to have them do the repair, if I can't get my tool around those two connectors to pull the old lines out and insert the new lines.

These are the two places I need those tools to fit. Sorry for the blurry pictures.

One thing before I go. This repair job does make one thing evident. If this would have happened while I was on the road out in the middle of nowhere I would have either needed to tow a toad or have Good Sam's Services where they would tow my RV to the nearest repair shop where just the repair costs would have been a lot more than the $103 I have spent so far on parts and the tool.

I am now thinking of towing a toad even though I would prefer not to.

Oil Leak Update - No News

The day started with rain and it has rain lightly all day. I didn't feel like working outside even under the RV to figure out the oil leak problem in today's weather, but a couple of comments, a few emails and a couple of phone calls led to some pretty good advice. I will start tomorrow after work while it's sunny and dryer than today.

One consistent thing said by all that replied, email or called .... they did not think it was anything serious. If fact it might not be oil at all...possibly power steering fluid from the connectors that connect the hard line to the black hose. I did not know from the pictures those were lines to the power steering.

Yesterday when I saw the leak, I went immediately to check the fluid levels of oil, power steering fluid and brake fluid .... all were at normal levels, so nothing on the dipsticks showed I was losing a massive amount of fluid.

Tomorrow I will get home late afternoon and clean up all the sprayed fluid residue and anywhere else that is not dry. Then I will put some cardboard underneath this area to see what drips for the next 24 hours. If there are no drips on Tuesday afternoon, I'll take a short 20 mile round trip and then look again and check the same area for any leaks or blown residue.

Once that last check is done on Tuesday afternoon, I'll go from there.

The seller did call me today and said he had not seen any kind of leaks like that, the 7 months he owned it. He did say the only trip they made was a 800 mile trip to Mississippi and back to Indiana about a month ago. So, one trip in 7 months, that's a lot of time being parked. Maybe it's just a seal that need to be reseated after being driven?

Probably nothing more than just coincidence I had a leak right after I bought it. I don't believe the seller was trying to hide anything in the transaction. I did not notice anything the night I test drove it and I didn't notice any leaks on his drive where it was parked.

So it sounds like a minor problem and should be an easy fix.

I deleted my post about my old blog url being back in use. From that post I received over 2,300 views and most of those were spam emails from anonymous senders. Since the number of views has increased today after I had changed my comment settings, I decided I would delete the post for good.

More Downsizing & A Surprise

After waking at my normal time around 7:30 am, a cup of coffee while the hounds are outside checking for any overnight visitors in their yard, I went through a long list of stuff to do this weekend. The list is long and I need to get started early just after this cup of coffee. There are two demons that may jump out at me that may make it hard to accomplish anything. These are a couple of photos I took at 7:30 as the sun was trying to get over the trees. It looks like my neighbor's corn is a few weeks away from being picked. Cool temps this morning.

The hounds are always doing their morning search of new smells around the perimeter of the yard...except Heidi who is the sleep monster of the crew and is not even out of bed at the time this picture was taken. She seems to always know when its a weekend and she can sleep late. That is why only 2 hounds are pictured.  

A few people are telling my by email that I am crazy for thinking of selling my house with the property that surrounds it. That is why it's always been a hard decision for me in deciding whether to sell the house or not and what vehicles to sell.

The 1st demon I warned you about jumped out as I was drinking coffee. The INTERNET ... reading email, blogs, sports blogs, sport forums, rv forums, ....you get the picture. Before I  knew it 11am was almost here.  I hate when that happens. I know when I have things to do on a weekend, I have to go straight to the list and don't even look at the computer. There's always tomorrow.

So a late start. I wanted to check on the manufacture date of the tires. I knew I was looking for a 4 digit number that would be the week and year. The tread on these tires were new, hardly used, no cracking or dry rot on the side walls. Seller said they were a couple of years old. I even used a small led flashlight that night I looked at the rv tires. I later found that 4 digit number not on the back side of the tire but the front side of the tire, so that information from the rv forum was incorrect I guess.

The date of manufacture did not matter to me because just for my own peace of mind I was planning to installing brand new tires on any RV that I would buy. Since you have read this far you need to know the date....July 2006 .... which makes them at that 7 year mark and needing replacement. I am glad I was planning to install new tires anyway. Still the date surprised me a little.

Here is the SURPRISE ...

As I was crawling under the rv, I wanted to see where all the tubes and tanks were connected and I wanted to do a little more in depth inspection just out of curiosity.

What I saw next was not what I expected. Oil residue all over my oil pan, the new oil filter that was changed less than a 1,000 miles ago and a couple of hoses that looked fairly new...

I kept moving forward to where I thought I was at the front of the engine, when I found the source.

I am NOT a mechanic but it seems there would have to be quite a bit of oil leaking to have that much blowing residue on the oil pan, filter and hoses. I am guessing its a seal that needs to be replaced. Hopefully one that can be replaced without pulling the engine.

I have sent these pictures out to a couple of friends of mine that are 'gearheads' and see what they say. I will definitely call the local truck mechanic and have him take a look on Monday.

I don't think its anything major but what concerns me are the "little" discrepancies" I am finding after buying the rv compared to what the seller told me....such as:

1. "I have had this rv for a little over a year, bought it a year ago spring".... title says he bought it just 7 months ago in February 2013. Makes me wonder if he sold it because of the bed size and location like he said or this leak.

2.  "Tires were put on just before I bought it, they were new so probably a couple of years old at the most".... good tread, no cracking or dry rot on the sidewalls, but a manufacture date says the 28th week of 2006...mid July 7 years ago. Time to be replaced.

3. "I'm old school when it comes to maintenance, I like doing all my repairs and change the oil every 3, 000 miles".....if I were doing all my repairs I think I would have noticed this leak.

Could it had just happened....coincidence with purchasing? Yes it could.  When I said in my post last week that I had looked underneath it, I did no crawling....just looked underneath for anything out of the ordinary, saw the new Blistein Shocks, no damage on the skid plates, no leaks around the tank connections....I just didn't crawl far enough to find this....if it was there last Wednesday.

So I will move this leak as my top priority and get it fixed before anything else. After that I'll have new tires installed. 

I will close with saying, the 2nd demon showed up around 3pm...college football on tv.  By that time I had found the oil leak, had cleaned the house and looked around at more stuff to sort, sell or give away.....finding out "stuff' multiplies while you sleep during downsizing. I have not bought anything new ....but the more I look the more I find....it's like I ever started downsizing this past year.

After all that I found by 3pm, I decided I deserved to kidnapped by the college football demons and call it a day.

Loading the Rig and Downsizing Thoughts

I had to take time out today when I arrived home from work for something I wasn't excited about anymore. The yard needed mowed. The shrubs will get their annual trim tomorrow. This is an activity I use to really enjoy. I have a push mower and it takes about 45 minutes to finish, nothing major. Anymore it's a task I dread. Either its too hot and humid that you can barely breath or its cool and dry where there is more dust in the air, so it's hard to breath. I guess the real culprit could be me, being out of shape!  Anyway, I haven't enjoyed mowing much the past few years.

I decided earlier in the week that I would start moving things to the rig as if I were getting ready (I actually might be) to head west.  I did this for various reasons.  I wanted to see how it felt moving stuff out to the rig from the house and see if at any part of this moving I would feel hesitation or doubt. I also wanted to see just how much of my traveling list that I could fit in the rig. Before I get started it looks like I will have plenty of room for storage. The last thing I wanted to see, was how much stuff would be left in the house that would have to be sold, given away or taken to the goodwill.

Since 2011 I have downsized in different periods of effort (motivation) or as my mind changed.  I would say I am really down to just one room where I am sitting now. It has my computers, indoor bicycle stand with bike mounted, a closet full of my sports jersey collection, winter clothing and jackets and more stuff to throw away. I have downsized A LOT over the past year....still looks like a lot to go.

A lot of the furniture is spoken for when I leave, lamps, tables sold, other stuff sold and will be picked up when I leave. Tonight I see a lot of stuff that can be sold on eBay. I see some things that may be stored in a box somewhere.

In the meantime I have hauled a lot of stuff to the rig. I have a plan in mind that I will follow. I'll keep you updated on how this progresses. There should be more answers as I get into the process.

I will leave you with this though. I think at least the hounds are ready to travel fulltime. Why do I say that? How do I know?

Every night this week, I have left the coach entry door open as we do the daily hound walk through the hay field in back. On the return about 100' from from the yard I stop and unhook the basset and the bloodhound from their leashes...Winston, the old hound walks without a leash. So, EVERY night this week after being unhooked from their leashes, all three hounds sprint (ever see a basset run?) toward the house but all make abrupt left turns jumping into the open coach entry and all are inside the rig by the time I get to the door.

What do you think?  Are they ready?

Two days ago when I pushed the domain name to my blog I started getting hundreds of anonymous comments from spammers. I have had to adjust my comment setting to not allow anonymous comments. I apologize to those that are honest people but are blocked from commenting.

Even Where the RV Sits My Options Increase

I was telling a friend today, this past week I have been having thoughts that I had in October 2011 after reading Glenn's story on Yahoo Business page. Of course if I were paying what he was in rent in the Los Angles area I may have had the same thoughts that Glenn had when he started his downsizing.

With the RV sitting here next to the house, it opens up a lot of options and one option that I had not thought about until my friend that is a fulltime traveler, blogger on the side bar and a reader of my blog, brought up a new option. Load the RV as if you were getting ready to leave, then if you are serious about selling your house again, it is empty, move in ready while I live in my RV right outside using house power and house water (if desired).

While driving home from work (no traffic jams), I was thinking also....I had always wondered if I did get rid of everything except what I was wanting to travel with, would that put me on the road without just "trying it".....just going for it full speed ahead. Like a follower has told me more than a few times in his comments ... if it doesn't work out, you can always go back and start over with what you have left.

It also hit me last Sunday afternoon when I returned home from the hounds's shakedown cruise and I am up on the roof cleaning out the gutters as well as seeing some missing shingles from the last high wind/thunderstorm. I remembered how many times in a year I do this exact same thing, clean gutters and repair the roof from high wind storms. During my walk around house inspection I could see things I need to do to the house in preparation for the winter. I realized once again that I am tired of normal house maintenance and yard work.

My spreadsheet analysis even shows that selling out and fulltime to be the best option. That is even a better option than retiring, keeping the house and not RVing.

Could the answer be that obvious?

I have discussed this many times on whether to sell everything or not via emails, blog comments, phone calls, etc. I know that the right decision is what works for me.

Some Backyard Training

With a job I have to put up with until May 2014, I am not able to do much camping during the week, still that doesn't stop the training for the hounds and I. I have not taken any pictures of the hounds while we are in the Class C at night because I need the flash to do that and they will wake up from their deep sleeps, in some cases snoring occurs.

I know it's only been not quite four days since the purchase but I really think I can say by their response and actions of the three hounds .... they love this RV. If they hear the keys, as they go out the house door all three of them head for the coach door wagging their tails waiting for it to open.

Sadie the bloodhound takes her seat on the couch, Heidi under the table on her blanket and Winston the oldest basset on the blanket in front of the refrigerator.  Tonight though I caught him sleeping in the driver's seat. I guess he figured if I wasn't going to drive, he was.

Daily after work I try to spend as much time as I can looking at as much as I can to learn everything about this rig. I am learning more and more each day. (remember I'm a rv rookie) Then we sleep with the windows open, mid 40's by the time I get up to start the day of work... all is good. The hounds have adapted very quick to the change in sleeping location and still know when it's a day of work for me. After more number crunching, the best time for me to leave will be May 2014. I would love to leave earlier but everything seems to be falling into place for a May 2014 departure, could be a couple of months earlier. Those months will fly by, I still have more things on my downsizing list to take care of before I leave.

Some blurring nighttime photos ... I didn't realize my hands moved that much trying to hold the camera still.

Shakedown Cruise With the Hounds

First of all I really appreciate all of the great comments that have been posted the past couple of weeks and especially the past couple of days. It may start being hard for me to reply to each one due to the increase in comments, but I will. I wanted to let you know that I do read all of them, I note your suggestions and appreciate them.

Second ... since I have finally bought a rig, even though long term travel may not happen until next spring, I will return to blogging every couple of days or when events occur while the RV (no name yet) sits here teaching me all it can before I leave next spring. When I said I was going to stop blogging after my Arkansas trip, I really didn't think I would be buying a rig this soon so that is why I didn't know when I would return to blogging.

I have posted some different pictures on a couple of Facebook groups I follow, so some of the pictures I post here may be duplicates to those that are either in the Bloodhound Group or a few different RV Groups that I have joined.

The hounds seem to really like the rig. No hesitation going in and all three have claimed their spots. Saturday afternoon was a "get acquainted" day for them. I left everything as was, no furniture throws, no blankets ... just as is and let them sniff away. Last night we all moved out to the rig, opened the windows and spent the first night in the backyard. There were no problems, and they acted as if they were in the house sleeping during the night.

Based on the Bloodhound Rules (linked in the Labels on the right), Sadie decided the couch was hers.

This morning I wanted to take them on a shakedown cruise, maybe 2-3 stops along the way. To all that have commented in the past weeks with suggestions on handling the hounds on the road, some suggestions were implemented with successful results. All three hounds had on their 6' standard cloth leash attached while driving. At 51 miles I had found a spot to pull off the highway in a closed business parking lot. I stepped from the cab, walked to the living room door and walked out BEFORE them...when I said "stay", they all stood there wagging their tails ready to go outside. 1st one out was Sadie, the bloodhound...she stepped out, stopped and then waited for the other two. Out of curiosity and not being near traffic, I let the other two bassets out, holding their leashes as they stepped down the steps. All three hounds did not run....simply started walking with their noses to the ground.

After about a 10 minute walk with no problems, no leash tangles, some switching hands..I dropped the leashes to the ground and said "get in". The bloodhound being a typical bloodhound....went first, sat down inside and waited for the bassets. The other two hopped inside and went to their chosen spot. 27 miles later, saw a place to pull over .... same "fire drill" with the dogs....same successful results.

We returned home after 110 miles, with absolutely no issues. Between today and the trip in the H3 Hummer 2 weeks ago, it was like night and day.

First impression ... I really feel good about buying a Class C instead of towing a small trailer with the H3. I know there is a lot more to go and longer time on the road, but right now there seems to be enough room  for the hounds and I while inside. On those good weather days, we will be outside the majority of the day.

The rig itself ran great as expected through the hills of southern Indiana corn country (yes south of Indianapolis a lot of hilly country). The pictures just show the corn country, not the hills. I know the rig has the new Blistein shocks installed and that probably makes a difference, but this rig rides so much smoother than the other I test drove over the past year or so.

It finally rained Friday night so that was just one of the reasons I wanted to lower the awning and see what was there. There were different rows of water on top and inside the awning. The awning was in great shape as well as the awning structure. I wiped down everything, left the awning up for the day to air out, opened all the roof vents, windows and let the nice cool air today flow through the rig. The awning was easy to lower, luckily all of the original manuals are with the rig along with the owners manual. We rookies need all the help we can get when it comes to rig operations.

So I am at the point of familiarizing myself with the rig and all the accessories included. After spending almost two years reading forums, emails, asking questions it is amazing how much you can't remember when it's time to apply all of that knowledge. Luckily all the important stuff is in my notes or sites that are bookmarked. This is why I want to use my backyard as my classroom as well as local trips as much as possible before leaving next spring. I would love to be in Quartzsite AZ or Borrego Springs CA this winter but I'm not sure if I will be able to leave that soon.

After a tough day, Heidi decided a nap in the sun would be perfect.

Sadie is practicing her "stay command" ... no leash attached while in the backyard. You can see her enthusiasm.

In summary, everything about the decision to change directions in what type of rig to buy feels good. The hounds seem happier than they did in the H3 and I like driving the rig. Now, to decide to tow or not and if so, which vehicle to tow. I am already receiving different feedback from people on that question.

A Completed Transaction!!! 2004 Coachman Freedom 258db

A deal has been completed!!! 

The hounds are ready and excited to travel in the new vehicle.

After returning home 11 days ago, 1,100 miles without the trailer I was planning to buy, I wondered and doubted my rv plans. My last blog post said I would not blog again until I was traveling. I didn't know when that would be because at the time I felt there was no way I could travel with my bloodhound. That assumption was based on traveling in my H3 Hummer and towing a trailer. After a couple of days of getting away from blogs, 4sale sites, pictures of traveling, etc ... I returned to read my blog roll, look at some Class C's and Class A....but no trailers. These were the types of RVs I was considering in 2011 and 2012 before I thought of going smaller. I was just looking with no intentions of buying anything until my dogs were gone or at least until next spring.

Then this past week, Al over at The Bayfield Bunch, not knowing anything about my bloodhound dilemma, wrote and posted pictures about the first time he and Kelly traveled towing a trailer with 3 dogs in the back seat of the pickup truck. They said it was not a good combination and moved into a Class A after their 6 month trip with much better results for them and their dogs. Al's pictures made me think a little more about having the right rig, maybe the bloodhound would be a better traveler in a different rig??

I went to the Bloodhound group I am a member of on Facebook and asked if there were any bloodhound owners that RV'd or camped with a bloodhound. All responses were positive. So it was possible? I continued to look and think. Long time blog readers know that is a dangerous combination for me...thinking.  LOL

That thinking process had been going on for about 8 days, looking a lot at Class C and Class A RVs. Then on Tuesday night I decided I would do a search for Class C's within 50 miles of my zip code. Three Class C's for sale showed up after that search but one of the three was very interesting ... 16 miles away ... but only 1 picture on the ad ... never a good sign. I thought about it, then forgot about it, then a couple of hours later I emailed the seller asking for more pictures of the interior.

The interior looked to be in mint condition. I never wanted to buy a RV that was from the Midwest because of all the stories you read about rust, mildew, more wear and tear from the extreme weather changes even when the RV had been stored inside. Still, I emailed the seller back, telling them I would like to see this rig as soon as possible. By the looks of the pictures, and the price ... I didn't think this rig would not last long.

The next day, this past Wednesday I got the call from the seller and drove over to look at it inside, on the roof, underneath. The test drive was smooth and quiet. Interior was spotless and in brand new condition.

I called the seller back the next morning telling him I would buy it and we could arrange payment and pickup around both of our busy work schedules. That day happened to be early Saturday morning, September 21.

Just some highlights:

- 25' of living space
- New TempurPedic Mattress
- New Blistein Shocks
- New Fantastic Fan installed center of living area
- A new tow package and brake controller that was never used
- Backup Camera
- Maintenance performed as scheduled
- Preventive roof maintenance this summer
- LED lighting installed
- Wired for multiple batteries
- Microwave/Convection Oven
- All appliances look like they have never been used, they are that clean.

This is the rig I could not pass on ... in great condition. It's a 2004 Coachmen Freedom 258DB

The seller is the 2nd owner of this rig while the original owner bought it new and drove it every winter all over the western states before they would return to their Wisconsin farm to work between April - November. The original owners were an older couple and by the time they sold it in 2012, 8 years later they were in their 80's had put on close to 75,000 miles on the rig. While in Wisconsin the rig was parked inside their barn out of the weather. It was used as designed and taken care of.

The seller owned it for a year, made a few trips and loved it. He told me he had been towing trailers all his adult life when camping but after this first Class C, he would never go back to towing a trailer. That was good to hear, kind of reaffirmed I was going the right direction compared to where I had been.

Currently my plans are for local camping trips with the hounds on weekends. I do have some great state parks in a 40 mile radius from where I live. The seller also mentioned a spot locally where they boondocked, so I will definitely find and try that area.

The only 2 mods I see doing presently are making the overhead bed area some sort of entertainment center/storage area and later installing solar panels on the roof. Everything else is great.

So, my plans for traveling are back, stronger than ever and I really believe I have the right rig to accomplish those travels while having enough room for the three hounds. I plan to retire and travel no later than next spring as I originally planned in 2011, with a desire to move that departure date up before the Midwest winter weather hits. The house stays as a base camp.

What a long, strange trip it has been, backing out of 3 different trailer purchases in the last minute with funds in hand to complete the transaction... but things look like they are finally coming together and moving in the right direction.