A New Home - A Little Different Blog Post

For almost 8 years, Walt and I have enjoyed a really fine travel trailer to go out traveling.  For me I thought it was like the Taj Mahal, however, Walt is a little larger, OK a lot larger, than me, and he was always hitting all four walls in the bathroom every time he took a shower.  So we had started looking almost 3 years ago for something larger.  We had both thought that a fifth wheel would be just our cup of tea.  We'd been inside a lot of them and there was always something amiss.  Some were used and some were really used and some were simply cheap and showed it from the get-go.  So last month when we were in Port Aransas, Walt was on his trusty computer and was searching on one of the better known RV-for-sale sites, and found a fifth wheel that was made by our favorite company.  He mentioned it to me, and I looked at it and it looked really well maintained, and the price was sweet.  So Walt called the guy and they almost immediately struck up a great conversation.  As time went on, both of us decided it was time to go home, clean out our own trailer, put it up on the market and see what we could get for it and do some more investigation on this fifth wheel.

This trailer was made by Northwood Manufacturing and known by the trade name of Arctic Fox.  This is one of the best-built RVs around and this is exactly what we had been looking for.  As Walt got to talking with the guy, they had done some mighty excellent modifications and kept up their trailer as well as we had kept ours.  Now, I'm getting excited.  The trailer, however, was in California - Sacramento, California, but we got so excited, that I started plotting how we could get out to get it, and how we'd get back towing our new Foxy Okie right behind us (I'm the navigator of the team!).  And before you know it, we're on the road.  Two hard 12-hour days of driving and we're there - even earlier than we planned, and met them to take a look at the trailer.  It was everything we'd been promised and we were in love!  So the generous owners let us stay Sunday night in the trailer, we would meet for breakfast the next morning and then after breakfast do the transaction at their bank.  Done deal.  Only there was a slight hitch in the deal.

Now, Walt had told me before we started out that I was going to have to keep my big mouth shut and that I shouldn't, couldn't, wouldn't even think of saying anything political.  This was California after all and we weren't sure who these people were.  They seemed level-headed and very nice, but as Walt as impressing on me, they lived in California and therefore might be of a different political mind, and Walt didn't want me to mess up the deal before he could get them to sign the bill of sale! So I promised I would keep my trap shut - hard, I know, but Walt's a good guy and we've been together for a long time and we travel so well together, I thought it was worth me keeping my mouth shut for this short trip.

Well, that all ended on the morning we had breakfast, and not only did we like them, but we found we were of like mind.  We started breakfast at 8am and finally at 11:30 Walt said we needed to get to the bank before it closed so that we could complete the deal because Walt was convinced that these nice people would like to be paid!!!  The deal completed, we sat around the RV that afternoon while the guys hooked and unhooked the fifth wheel.  Walt hasn't done anything like this since he was a kid with a gooseneck so he felt he needed a little practice. 

Ain't she sweet - we haven't named her yet, but she's getting a name.  What makes the fifth wheels so nice is that that overhang over the back of the pickup is a bedroom, and this bedroom has a slide.  A slide is a part that extends out so it makes the room wider than the road.  The bedroom is really luxurious with a full hanging closet, gobs of cabinet space and a spacious bathroom with a really nice shower that Walt doesn't have to bang against all 4 walls to enjoy.  Just below the bathroom area and just behind the truck bed is wonderful storage for all that man-stuff that men need to be manly!  Tools, hoses, metal mechanical type gadgets and more tools.  All I know is that when men see it, they respond the same way I do when I saw the galley with all its storage and even a pantry.  This was better than the Taj Mahal - this was like  Buckingham Palace on the road!  Not only that but it has a huge back window with luxurious chairs to sit in that you can enjoy the view of wherever you are traveling.  There are two additional luxurious chairs and a table with an extension and four chairs.  

And here's our new Arctic Fox.  These RVs are made for colder climates which means they are very insulated and well-built.  Sealed and having double insulated windows makes for an RV that is not only well-built but can survive almost any weather conditions.  So whether we're in Yellowstone messing around in an early-spring blizzard, or in an eastern Oklahoma swamp-ish summer, this RV can take it.  Walt and I both love well-built, well-constructed products, whether it's my sewing or his furniture making, we both strive to do the best, and know that the best-made products are actually cheaper in the long run cause they last and last and last. 

Finally, after a whole day with the kind folks who were the previous owners, we said goodbye and promised to meet up again.  Chances are good too, cause their daughter resides in a neighboring state!  After many lessons on the fifth wheel (and listen this whole fifth-wheel business is way over my pay grade, but right down Walt's alley), they departed, with Walt wondering whether he could get connected and disconnected without major injury to himself or the RV!

Here's the proof.

What you may not be able to see in this photo is that Walt has all 10 of his digits and the truck has been successfully disconnected from the fifth-wheel trailer without damage to the RV storage facility and the 5W!

What you may also not see is that Walt successfully backed the trailer into the appropriate space, with enough room on both sides to enter on one and push out the slides on the other when need be.  But you can also see that the truck is successfully disconnected from the 5W with no damage to the truck too!

If you ask me - it looks like a pro did this.