The one with Griz - Part II

Last weekend we decided to head back up to Boerne and visit our friend Griz, down at Ancira RV.  That guy just cracks me up.  I have the BEST time listening to him chatter on and on about RVs, the RV life, what we should expect and things that we should consider.  He reminds me of an over-Texased version of my own grandfather.  His upbeat personality, the way he constructs his sentences and his truly genuine laugh find a way of creating one of the most engaging forms of entertainment I’ve seen in real life.  Just walking through one RV after another, listening to good ol’ Griz tell you about the finer aspects of a washer/dryer combo in the RV, which by the way is the protection of a perfectly good bag of chips NOT the ability to wash clothes, or to watch him go into a trance as he stares off into the future, populating an RV with your belongings and telling stories of how you’ll do this or that, makes the hours dissolve into nothingness.

“Come over here and check out this RV … it’s not the best deal on the lot.”  What RV sales guy says something like that other than Griz?  We entertained his notion, visited the Class A that is not the best deal on the lot and man was it beautiful.  A little while later, we drove down to the other end of the lot in Griz’s golf cart … it actually has his name on it … to view the BEST deal on the lot.  Admittedly it was a good deal.  Originally priced a little over $250K, the BEST deal on the lot was an ‘06 Class A therefore the price dropped to a mere $158K.  We are nearing ‘09 after all!

“But Griz, I’m afraid to drive something so big!” I exclaimed.  Better to get the truth out now than wait until we’ve signed papers.  “Sister …”, he begins.  I’m not sure why but that’s what he always calls me.  “Sister, I can teach you how to drive this thing in about an hour!  Sit down here, Sister.  Sit down in the driver’s seat.”  I do so with a bit of fear even though I know I’m not going anywhere.  “Take a look at this sister.”  Griz jumps out of the RV with agility you would not expect out of a 60 year old RV salesman.  He walked around to the front of the RV and stood right in front of me.  “See, sister.  You sit so close to the front of the motorcoach that you can park within an inch of anything in front of you, no problem!”  I looked back at John, who was standing behind me, with a tiny bit of concern and a whole lot of “Isn’t Griz completely entertaining” in my eyes.

That Griz …. he’s my favorite salesman ever!  I think Griz’s secret is simply the knowledge that he reports to his clients.  If he leads them astray or convinces them to make a purchase they are not ready for, they’ll be back in his office, sometime in the future, demanding to know why things worked out in a less than favorable fashion.  Griz knows that he’ll make a lot more money and innumerable friends and advocates if he is honest and forthright.  I think he really is what a salesperson should be.

So, with our latest trip to the RV lot I think we’ve decided to switch from a Class A to a fifth wheel.  Many justifications point in this direction.

1.  I fear tight right-hand turns in a Class A.  I’m told they are not hard to drive at all and Yes, I do trust you Griz.  However, right out of the box I like the idea of driving a truck with a fifth wheel behind rather than a Class A with a Pilot behind.

2.  The whole point of selling off everything and moving into an RV for an undetermined amount of time is to simplify.  A fifth wheel and accompanying truck winds up being anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of a Class A and a tow vehicle.  Lower bills means a lower income requirement which means simplicity.

3.  Piggybacking on number 2, the less money we spend on the RV the more money we have to EXPERIENCE life on our travels.  I’d rather go to a rope challenge course (http://www.thesummitusa.com/ropes/ropes.htm) and have a story to tell than live in a more expensive mobile house that decreases in value with each mile driven.

4.  I find comfort in the fact that if something happens to the truck, we still have our own home.  If something happens with the Class A’s engine, we’re either sleeping in the mechanic’s shop or we’re looking for a hotel that accepts 4 dogs.

5.  Fifth wheels are actually more homey in the living room areas.  I don’t know what it is.  The bedrooms in Class As are bigger.  The kitchens in a Class A typically include upgrades.  Somehow though, the living area of a Class A is not as comforting as a 5th wheel.

6.  The number of days/months/weeks/years that we continue to take part in a mobile RV lifestyle will be known only after we take the plunge.  Personally, I find very little reason why we would not live this type of life for at least a year or 2.  However, you never know.  If after 3 months we decide that RVing is for the birds, we still have a 5th wheel that we can use to take trips, we haven’t invested a lot of money in it and we can go buy another house.

7.  If we decide we never want to “settle down” we can always trade in the truck/fifth wheel for a Class A.

I’d like to find something like this Quantum.  http://www.fleetwoodrv.com/brandtomodel/models.aspx?brand=quantum&m=355RLQS   A dedicated desk and a decently sized kitchen table provide two work areas for John and myself.  Ample living room space accommodates our many dog beds.   The island area provides more counter top space for cooking than many other RVs.  Plus, I’m hoping this is a model that comes with the side-by-side refrigerator.  It’s my little piece of simplified heaven!

This entry was posted on Tue, Nov 18 2008 at 23:40 and is filed under Vanessa's Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.