2023 - AND A NEW RV...

Preamble

My Winnebago Adventurer had served me well in the two years since I bought it as a replacement for my Airstream travel trailer. In early 2023 I was, however, facing a decision point... approaching 30,000 miles on the odometer, and with a couple of routine maintenance items needing to be addressed, I felt I had to either commit to another couple of years of ownership or consider a replacement.

Additionally, several specific features lacking in the Winnebago had come to assume increasing importance to me, and this tipped the balance towards a replacement.

After due prioritization of “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves”, and considerable desk research, I had narrowed down the list of acceptable alternative RVs and spent the early days back in the US after my regular February/March trip to the UK hunting down RVs, mainly online (only three candidates viewed “in the flesh” as they were within 250 miles, others typically 1,000 miles or more east, west or north).

After a number of mis-steps (the details of which I will spare the reader) I finally bought a 2019 Newmar New Aire from a dealer 1,250 miles north in Garfield, Minnesota, my Winnebago being traded to a dealer in Florida who agreed to send a driver to collect it from me at the dealership in Minnesota.

The new RV is "a proper piece of kit" - details here.

The trip to collect it follows.

MAY/JUNE 2023 - NEW RV COLLECTION IN MINNESOTA

Monday, May 15, 2023 – Washington, TX, to KOA Sanger, TX

I intentionally set an itinerary that would allow me to cover the 1,250 miles to the RV dealership in Minnesota without unduly long days of driving, and with a day or two in hand in case of unforeseen hold-ups.

The first leg covered familiar ground, heading north up to and around Fort Worth. Showers, and indeed some storms, were in the forecast and I managed to miss all but one brief shower... although 5 minutes driving on wet roads is all it takes to get a recently-washed RV grubby again.

Arriving mid-afternoon at the KOA campground in Sanger, I had time to get a couple of loads of laundry done at the campground’s facilities – the last time I would need to do so, my new RV having the luxury of a washing machine and separate tumble dryer.

The first half of the evening Monday Night Football game on TV was my reward for trudging back and forth to the campground laundry.

Tuesday, May 16, 2023 – Sanger, TX, to Wellington, KS

A pretty simple day - a 280-mile drive north up I-35, through Oklahoma City, from the large KOA Sanger campground to a rather smaller KOA campground out in the sticks near Wellington, KS.

Not much else to report...

Wednesday, May 17, 2023 – Wellington, KS to Perry State Park, KS

A somewhat shorter day’s drive – 180 miles - most of it on the I-35/I-335 toll road, skirting round Topeka just before the turn-off to Perry State Park, east of town.

The hand-drawn map and directions provided at the park ranger’s office were rather unclear, so an unnecessary loop on a narrow, hilly road was required to eventually find my campsite, as well as a final 180-dregree turn in the lakeside parking lot.

After a late lunch I unhooked the Jeep in order to scoot into Topeka to visit the State Capitol Building. As is often the case in America, the state capital is not in the largest city in the state, but this rarely detracts from the grandeur of the building.

In this case, the State Capitol is of typical neo-classical design, with wings and a dome reminiscent of the US Capitol, the somewhat more elaborate and photogenic interior decorated with a number of prominent murals depicting homesteading and the historical struggle between slavery and freedom.

The dome has an interior staircase which leads to a view of the structure of the outer dome, the visible inner dome being glass panels with a central chandelier, but this area of the building is only available on officially guided rather than self-guided tours.

Thursday, May 18, 2023 – Perry State Park, KS, to Lewis and Clark State Park, Onawa, IA

A partly cloudy sunrise over the lake in the campground first thing.

Another day of fairly easy and direct highway driving – 225 miles – to another state park, very conveniently located a short drive from the highway and where I had managed to snag a pull-thru site so that I had no need to unhook the Jeep.

Friday, May 19, 2023 – Lewis and Clark State Park, IA, to Lake Shetek State Park, Currie, MN

An apparently straightforward day ahead but the very end of the drive was rather stressful, with a detour required due to a bridge being out and detour directions and my GPS rather unclear and somewhat in conflict.

All of which resulted in a few miles driven on unmade roads, the gravel surface at one point being both thick and a little water-logged.

This would not have been a good place to have bogged down, so I applied plenty of throttle and powered through, the rear end of the RV snaking a little in the process, and thick dust clouds being stirred up to blanket the back end of the RV and the Jeep in tow.

Friday, May 19, 2023 – Lake Shetek State Park, Currie, MN, to Garfield, MN

A short day’s drive ahead – only 140 miles – left a good amount of time available for a pleasant morning run on a paved trail around the lake.

Onto fairly small roads at this point, though all very straight as they cut through the rather featureless farmland.

Arrived at the Newmar RV dealership in Garfield, MN – Steinbring Motorcoach – early afternoon to a warm welcome, complete with complimentary and convenient on-site hook-up.

Saturday, May 20 to Saturday, May 27, 2023 – Garfield, MN

Stayed at the dealership in Garfield for a week, my Winnebago being collected on the Wednesday after transfer of gear to my new RV and a last-minute delay in receipt of funds for its trade-in value.

The two RVs next to each other for the gear transfer...

...and then it was "Goodbye, Winnebago, thanks for the memories"

My stay beyond this was mainly due to several remedial items still needing to be finished up by the service department at Steinbring.

But I did, in any case, want to delay my departure in order to give me a couple of easy days of driving down to Dubuque, IA, where I had arranged for all the seat coverings to be renewed (driver and passenger seats, bench seats in the dinette and two recliners) as the original (and rather sub-standard) material was showing wear in places.

This also allowed for numerous trips to the adjacent, and much larger, town of Alexandria to pick up items for the new RV.

Storage in the new RV actually less than the Winnebago, with its cavernous rear locker and under-bed storage, so Goodwill in Alexandria received a few surplus items.

Sunday, May 28, 2023 – Garfield, MN, to Cabela’s, Owatonna, MN

Hooked up the Jeep and finally headed out with the new rig, although I had made a short run into Alexandria with just the new RV a couple of days previously for a new side window to be installed.

A very different driving experience – quiet diesel engine at the rear instead of a noisy V8 petrol engine at my feet, air suspension providing a much smoother ride, a steering system that is much lighter and more stable (“Comfort Steer”), powerful air brakes, adaptive cruise control...

...but still a large vehicle to be maneuvered, and as the New Aire is longer than the Winnebago, the whole rig is now 55’ overall length.

Interstate and major highways for the day’s 225-mile drive, however, so a more relaxing environment for me to familiarize myself with the New Aire.

And an easy overnight stop, pulling off the highway into a large and mostly empty Cabela’s parking lot with no need to unhook the Jeep.

Rather a shame I wasn't somewhere more photogenic for the vibrant sunset...

Monday, May 29, 2023 – Owatonna, MN, to Dubuque, IA

Not much ceremony needed this morning, simply pulling out of the Cabela’s parking lot, so on the road by 8:00am.

Fairly quiet on the roads, being Memorial Day.

Some rather smaller roads to negotiate at the end of the day to get to the Bauer RV Upholstery location on the outskirts of Dubuque, as well as a little shuffling and repositioning to get the RV set up in the parking area outside their shop.

But settled comfortably by mid-afternoon, including a shorepower hookup, and ready for a 7:00am start tomorrow on the recovering of all seating areas in the new motorhome.

Tuesday/Wednesday, May 30/31, 2023 – Dubuque, IA

Work started early on recovering all the seating areas, with the first job being removal of the driver and passenger seats... disassembled before being squeezed out of the RV door and taken into the workshop.

The seat bases were – somewhat to my surprise – bolted through the floor and into the chassis, and a little grunt work was needed to remove a couple of the bolts, with guys on their backs under the RV. A surprising amount of wiring also to be detached... power seat adjustment motors and seat heating.

A little disconcerting seeing everything laid bare, but since this is what these guys do for a living, I had to assume it would all go back together in due course.

They very thoughtfully worked around me as I stayed in the RV, working on the recliners and booth benches alternately so that there was always a seating option always available.

Although everything was complete by early afternoon on the second day, it didn’t leave much time to get on the road and to an overnight destination, so I was kindly allowed to stay a further night there.

Thursday, June 1, 2023 – Dubuque, IA, to KOA Lebanon, MO

I had made a number of local trips while the seat covering work was underway in order to continue the process of getting the new RV set up as I wanted it, and had also called ahead to a Starlink satellite system supplier conveniently on my route back to Texas.

So my first stop this morning was at Winegard in Burlington, IA, to collect a Starlink system – initial confusion over where I should be to collect it was eventually resolved and the fairly large and heavy package squeezed into the back seat of the Jeep.

A quick Starbucks coffee was collected once this was done before setting off on the remainder of a long day’s drive, some 425 miles in total, with the overnight stop at the Lebanon KOA campground rather inconveniently off the highway and out of town in the wrong direction.

Friday, June 2, 2023 – Lebanon, MO, to KOA Sanger, TX

Started the day by retracing the route back into Lebanon and onto I-44 south.

A long day, close to 500 miles, but all on interstate roads and a much less tiring drive in the new RV – a remote and well sound-proofed diesel engine 30’ behind me instead of a noisy gas engine right at my feet, smooth air suspension, much better controlled steering, adaptive cruise control...

Arrived at Sanger a little before 4:00pm where I immediately pulled into the McClain’s Longhorn RV dealership adjacent to the KOA campground to get the annual inspection done on the RV that would be needed for registration. This is an entirely cursory inspection, bearing no resemblance to the more thorough MOT inspection in the UK – the standard $7 cost pretty much making this clear.

Saturday, June 3, 2023 – Sanger, TX, to Washington, TX

The final leg of the trip back to my Texas base... 250 miles of relatively easy driving, mainly on interstate and familiar 4-lane roads.

Topped up the fuel tank in Navasota before the last 10 miles back to Washington, TX, pulling into my familiar spot on Les’s 15-acre property.

Engine off, shorepower connected, slides out, air conditioning on and awnings out to offer at least some shade from the early June Texas sun.

And a feeling of some relief. Made it.

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Saturday, June 10, 2023 – Washington, TX, to Baton Rouge, LA

Having turned up on the doorstep of the local vehicle registration office at 8:00am on Monday to start the process, I was a little frustrated at not being able to get Texas registration finalized – without previous owner loan payoff documentation a new title document can’t be issued – as that was one of the main reasons for returning here rather than heading directly for North Carolina from Minnesota.

Since this would likely require me to hang around for another 10 days for paperwork, the dealership that sold me the RV advised handing the whole process off to a titling agency – which would have been the best way to go in the first place, had I known this option was available...

So some of the week here spent on various pieces of paperwork for this, including getting notarized signatures, although mostly I was working on installations and fine-tuning equipment, set-up and storage in the new RV.

But with a good deal accomplished – most notably the installation of a new braking system in the Jeep, connected to the RV’s air brakes - it was time to set off for North Carolina where my generous buddy Les had offered me the second of the two sites he owns at the Mountain Falls Luxury Motorcoach Resort in Lake Toxaway.

I decided to head east on I-10 rather than I-20 for a change, although that turned out not to be the smartest move, as construction south of Beaumont had required the whole interstate to be diverted onto local roads - even with relatively lighter weekend traffic, a delay of 45 minutes in stop/start traffic.

Thereafter a fairly straightforward drive, the new RV damping somewhat the poor Louisiana road surfaces, arriving at the KOA just to the east of Baton Rouge late afternoon.

Sunday, June 11, 2023 – Baton Rouge, LA, to Foscue Creek, Demopolis, AL

A better day’s driving, at least as far as traffic was concerned, for the 300-mile run to the Corps of Engineers campground at Foscue Creek, where I had stayed a few years ago.

No pull-through sites available in the campground, so I got some more practice unhooking the Jeep so that I could shuffle the RV back into the campsite.

But no complaints... the campground infrastructure is good and a bargain at a cost of only $15 with my "America The Beautiful" senior pass.

Monday, June 12, 2023 – Demopolis, AL, to Mountain Falls Luxury Motorcoach Resort, Lake Toxaway, NC

An early start to be ready for the campground gates to open at 6:00am, no doubt waking a few people with the noise of the diesel engine as I exited the campsite and hooked up the Jeep.

A good deal of indecision as I approached Atlanta with regard to the best route to take – through the center or around the I-285 ring road – the multiple checks on Google maps to try to ascertain the state of traffic.

In the end, the decision was made by the 2-mile tailback of trucks in the inside lane waiting to exit I-20 onto I-285, a line I didn’t much want to join. And other than a few slow sections, and some unclear signage, the I-85 north route through the center of the city was fine (although not the case for people heading south, where there were a couple of long hold-ups).

Took on some fuel before pulling off I-85, although not a full tank as I wanted to minimize the weight I would be dragging up some of the steeper sections as I climbed up into the mountains.

Although the New Aire had reasonable power from its 6.7L Cummins diesel when on the flat or modest inclines, steeper grades were more of a challenge. While generally not embarrassing myself compared to 18-wheelers, the winding road up to the mountains had slow curves from which it was difficult to regain momentum, needing to shift down to second gear and 30mph on several occasions.

Pulled into the Mountain Falls Luxury Motorcoach Resort at 4:00pm, punched in Les’s code at the gate and headed up to site 113 where the RV would end up staying for the next 4 months...

...although a couple of those months without me as Les was kind enough to let me leave the RV there while away in the UK over August and September.

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Go to the next chapter, The Carolinas and Natchez Trace Parkway

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