Welcome Friends,
It has been awhile
since our last post, mainly because as our intended purpose of this blog is to
serve as a travelogue, or log of our travels, both to serve as a reminder for
us when we get feeble-minded in 10 years or so; as well as to serve as a place where
our friends can check up on us, find out where we have been and are or are
going to next. It also serves to avoid having to write everyone individually as
to our adventures.
Therefore, because we
have really not been doing anything special since returning to our winter
residence in Benson, we just haven’t needed to update the blog. We were
planning on leaving AZ by April 23rd to slowly make our way up
north, via Cottonwood and the Grand Canyon, but Covid-19 (aka ‘the best laid
plans buster’) changed all that. We are still planning (hoping) on getting out
of AZ by Mid May, but those plans are still in the air, depending on travel
restrictions and campground availability.
However, given the
depressed state of affairs, of finance and of business all around, we thought
we would look at this as positively as we can. So calculating that since our
extended warranty will expire in 2022, and that we weren't too happy with it, yet found another we like better for equal cost;
and that we will be needing new tires for the RV in a year or so (about $500
each x 6 = $3,000); and the pre-season maintenance would cost about $1,000, and within 2-3 years we would need to
replace the batteries ($1,200) as well. All in all we will never get more for our trade than right now, and the new RVs will not go down in price, so it seemed justified that if we are looking to upgrade on the technology in the industry, NOW may be a dandy time to make the switch, now that the interest rates are so much lower than when we purchased the last one. Mary also wanted to replace the
standard side-by-side refrigerator that came with the Discovery for a more
comfortable French-door one, and also wanted to change the living room sofa for
theater seating, as her feet didn’t touch the floor when seated against the
back. The only problem with that (and why we have not exchanged it before) is
that because our king bed rotates upwards to make room for the slides to close when we are dry-camping overnight in a rest
area or parking lot en-route the next morning with the rest of our driving,
Mary has to sleep on the king bed across it at the foot of the bed and Bill has
to sleep on the sofa, which Roxy doesn’t like because that is where she likes
to sleep. So, in order to exchange the sofa we would no longer be able to
overnight anywhere where we cannot open at least the bedroom slide to have the
bed lay flat. Most rest areas don’t mind an RV over-nighting as long as they are
not ‘camping’, which means no opening of one’s slides, or lowering of one’s
jacks, or sitting outside, etc.
So, the thought came
to us that as bad as Covid-19 is making things in other ways, things like the
extra low interest rates and low cost of fuel, etc. can be made to work for us
during this time. IF we could find a NEW diesel pusher motorhome that fulfilled
ALL our requirements… i.e.
·
That
is new with a full warranty on ALL parts and components;
·
that
the bed would stay flat even with the slides all closed (or had an alternate
bed, as in bunk beds or an over-the cockpit drop-down bed);
·
that
included power theater-seating, (with a lift TV directly across from it), plus
another sofa for company to sit on;
·
that
included the optional non-booth type dinette with computer stations;
·
that
has 3 air-conditioners, ALL with heat pumps (currently we only have 2 with heat
pump and the one without it is in the bedroom);
·
that
has heated floor tiles (Discovery doesn’t have it);
·
that either has a Traveler DISH satellite dish
or can have ours switched to it;
then, we would be able
to trade out of it and spend the money we would have spent on updating the
Discovery on a NEW RV that already had all that in it. So, we spent a long time
researching possible options, looking at floor plans of different RVs and
eventually going out to preview them in person (yes, despite the ‘stay at home
order’ travel ban)... HOUSING is an essential element.
Of course we had
pre-DISqualified some, like anything THOR-related and had a pretty good idea of the ones we would be interested in:
1. FLEETWOOD: Another Discovery LXE (making sure that the batteries
were ALL NEW and that the A/Cs were all heat pumps);
2. TIFFIN: An Allegro/Phaeton;
3. ENTEGRA: Only the Reatta was in our price range.
All the above are
about the same price, but Reatta is the entry-levell of the Entegra diesel
pushers; whereas both the Discovery and the Phaeton are the upper end of their
diesel pusher line. We already knew of some of the issues with Fleetwood and
have heard nothing but good things about Tiffin, although we are sure that
there will always by someone ready to diss Tiffin or any brand (there always
is). So we opted to concentrate on the Phaetons and the Discoverys. Our choices,
as to models were:
A. FLEETWOOD: the Discovery 38W; 40M; 40G (they don’t make the 40E
anymore). The 38W and the 40M, believe it or not are exactly the same length
and same exact floor plan, but both too small in the living area. The 40G is the
bunkhouse, which would make up for the lack of closet space, using the bunks as
a closet, but the bunks were fixed in place and it was still awkward to move around in with the slides all
closed.
B.
TIFFIN: the Phaeton 40-QBH and the 40-IH. The 40-QBH we liked as well as the 40-IH, but
according to RV Trader and our own extensive search, there were only seven (7)
40-QBH vehicles in the whole country (US), so we were not able to go see one in
person. The 40-IH was quite a bit more pricey, but then it has a lot of extras
in it as well. Given the lack of availability of a 40-QBH, the Phaeton 40-IH
was the only TIFFIN option.
The 2020 T I F F I N
P H A E T O N 4 0 – I H is
the W
I N N E R.
Unfortunately the
only Phaeton 40-IH available in Tucson was a black (90%) and red (10%) vehicle,
which colors we don’t care for that much; and the cabinets were of a dark color
that depressed the interior ‘feel’. Then we found one in Mesa AZ that had a
pleasant paint scheme, and lighter cabinets, and ‘wooden-plank looking’ porcelain
floor tiles. so we drove 157 miles to see it. In addition to all the standard
features, these are the options:
v
Amber
Glazed cabinets
v
Ultra-Leather
AirCoil sofa
v
Free
Standing Dinette w/Computer Work Stations
v
In
Dash Navigational System & GPS
v
Two
(2) Cargo Compartment Full-Width Slide Trays (2 ways)
v
Electrically
Heated Tile Floors
v
In-Motion
Domed Satellite
v
King
size bed – w/Memory Foam Mattress
v
In-Motion
Satellite Dish
v
Pre-wiring
for Traveler Satellite Dish.
v
Security
Safe
v
Three
(3) 200w Solar Panels, providing 600 total watts of power
v
Stacked
Washer/Dryer
v
Theater
Seating
v
Winegard
ConnecT 2.0 4G2 Wi-Fi Extender + 4G LTE
v
Season
Wood Winter Spruce Tiles
As it turned out we
agreed to buy it on 3 conditions:
1. They exchange the In-Motion satellite dome on the
Phaeton, for our Traveler dish.
2. They exchange a tiny microwave-convection oven in the
Phaeton for our own in the Discovery, which can cook a 12lb turkey.
3. They take out the Tyron Bands from our Discovery and
transfer them over to the Phaeton.
As it turned out,
when the tech went up on the roof of the Phaeton to see about swapping the
satellite dishes, he came back right away saying that the Phaeton already has a
Traveler satellite dish installed, as well as an In-Motion dome, so no need to
swap them. It also came with a Wally receiver, so now we have 4 Wallys. We’re still not
sure how that dish got on the Phaeton, as it is not listed as an option, and thus
we were not charged for it. We can only imagine that it must have been ordered
that way and whoever ordered it changed their mind… OR somebody goofed at the
factory and put one on the wrong RV. In either case, we are not complaining
with two satellite systems aboard.
Before we show you
our new baby, we’ll just tell you that our future plans involve taking a
shake-down cruise from Benson AZ to Red Bay AL (factory for Tiffin) to address
a few issues like a warped door, and some other minor issues as well as
anything else that we discover on our trip. Then from there we will be going on
to our summer residence in Thayne WY, where we hope to see our friends Cliff
and Venise.
Now on to better
things, here are photos of what the new RV looks like…
At home in Benson AZ with desert 'off-road' golf cart and "Edith" (the F150)
Just had to get one that had maroon in the color scheme.
The Spyder Electronic Control system puts everything at one's touch (even next to both sides of the bed)
3x 15000btu heat Pump A/Cs, 3x200watt solar panels, an in-motion
domed satellite plus a Trav'ler HD Dish satellite, a Winegard WiFi Extender
Inside (one of the features we were looking for)... theater-seating (right behind the Driver's seat).
Across from the kitchen is the French-door refrigerator (another feature that Mary wanted).
To the left of the refrigerator is a pullout pantry, which self-locks when the ignition is turned on
to keep it from opening during a sharp right turn. Above it is a button that one has to push to unlock it.
Next to the refrigerator and pantry is a comfortable stand-alone dinette with a credenza
next to it and a computer station and a Pendaflex file drawer and lots of storage above and below.
Next to the dining area is a comfortable 2-person sofa (with an inflatable bed within it.)
This sits directly across from the theater-seating and has a 55" lift TV behind it
(with an excellent surround sound system.)
View from the livingroom to the back (bedroom and full bath)
View from the kitchen forward to the cockpit. The black screen behind sofa
(also an inflatable bed) is a 55" lift TV that is across from the theater seating (on left).
Outside a 48" TV with sound bar for watching football games on.
Below (in cargo bays) a 36 gal. propane tank (for stove and furnace, if needed).
However it also has heated floor tile flooring and most owners tell us that rarely
is the furnace needed, due to the heated flooring warming the interior as well.
The utility bay includes a water hose on an electric rewind reel, an all-house water filter, an
outside shower for washing hands (or the dog)and even a 12 oz. bottle of Purell (a welcome
commodity as it is not found in any store due to the Covid-19 issue.
The electric bay (on driver's side) has a long 50-Amp electric cable and a large DEF tank.
There are three (3) cargo bays that have full pass-thru access.
The two large ones have full-length sliding trays that come out on either side.
This is the narrowest side-to-side access storage bay.
The 100 gal. fresh water tank can be seen and accessed from one of the doors. Though the water level can be seen through it, the Spyder electronic control panels (throughout the coach) give the owners full control over EVERYTHING with this coach (lights, locks, temperature settings, battery levels, watt-usage, amps usage, generator usage, etc... The water heater is a Truma system with instant hot water.
This is the forward of the two sliding-tray bays.
Back inside, the main bath with a full 6-foot closet (mirrored doors), ample shower
and en electric mascerator commode (to the left of the closet is the washer and dryer (stacked).
And the washer and dryer (with a sliding door) and Jack n Jill (side by side) sinks and medicine cabinets.
View of main bathroom from the bedroom.
Across from the king memory foam bed is the bedroom TV and drawers/cabinets.
The king size bed.
And between the bedroom and the kitchen is the 1/2 (guest) bath.
The kitchen sink
Propane stove.
Lots of cabinet space and drawers in the kitchen area, and even a trash bin in the cabinetry under the stove.
This shows the tiny microwave/convection oven which came with this unit. We had them take this one to our old coach and bring in ours, which even though older, was much bigger and better. Mary has cooked a 12lb turkey in ours whereas it would not fit in this one, due to being smaller as a consequence of their putting the controls on the right of the unit instead of under it.
View of the kitchen with a pull-out cabinet extension with extra long drawers.
Another view of the kitchen (next to the theater-seating). There is a huge (long) window behind kitchen that allows a lot of light in without heat, due to the very dark-tinted glass in all frame-less double-paned windows.
Theater seats are fully reclinable with electronic controls, drink holders and even
USB charger/ports, plus a large storage compartment under center armrest.
Well, that's all, folks. We should be leaving Benson AZ on May 20th, headed for Red Bay AL (Tiffin Service Center) to have several issues worked on under WARRANTY (the things that the selling dealer should have taken care of, but rarely do, and we figured that under warranty no one can do it better than the Factory... so we're going there first, expecting to be there 1-2 weeks. Then we'll be headed to our lot in Thayne WY (at Star Valley Ranch RV Resort). Stay tuned as now Bill has a new computer and Mary has a new SLR camera to take great pictures with.
Happy Trails!
