A Day in the Rain

a walk in the park. Okay, I am starting to train for the marathon of traveling. Actually, Charlie and I are both in training. Saturday we left around noon to drive up to Ilwaco, Washington -- at the southern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula. This was a result of the RV show I attended with my friend, Colleen, a couple weeks ago.
I had entered some drawings -- and of COURSE they always follow up with a phone call to tell you that you won something. And of COURSE whatever you won isn't really worth anything, unless you upgrade for a few thousand dollars. What I won was a membership in Sunrise Resorts. I wanted to check out some of the membership programs anyway, so I drove up there. It was about 240 miles roundtrip from Portland. And it rained all the way up and all the way back.

Charlie went with me. He spent almost the entire day in the car -- and boy is he shedding!!! But he was good company. He stood in the back and rested his head on the divider between the two front seats or leaned against my shoulder. Contact dog. So we drove up I-5 to Longview, then cut over across the bridge there to Highway 30 and followed that to Astoria. Then we crossed back over into Washington over the Astoria bridge, which is very, very high and very, very long. This may seem silly but we actually picked the best/fastest route. We drove through Chinook, which is kind of a cute little town, up to Ilwaco, maybe 15 or 20 miles from the bridge.

Now I've been to plenty of time-share or membership presentations before, but this one was unique. There was only one salesman -- Moke -- who took me back into this kind of grubby little office and proceeded to explain the product (membership levels), why mine really wasn't worth much and how I really should cough up the additional $4,500 to buy the top-of-the-line package. He had this really terrible nasal condition, not a cold he assured me, and was very unpleasant to listen to and hard to understand so I tried to steer the conversation -- just give me the details, get to the point. What are you selling and how will it help me and how much does it cost? But NOOOOOO, he has to go through his whole routine. Drove me crazy. I ended up buying the next-to-the-top-of-the-line, for a lot less than $4,500 and really getting the same value as the best package. I will be able to stay in any of their 12 "resorts" for $1/night for up to 14 days and then will have to be out of their system for 7 days (or can pay $119/mo. and stay all month.) The resorts are mostly in Washington state, with four in Arizona, one in Nevada and one in Alaska (go figure!) But wait -- there's more! I also get Preferred Membership in the Resort Parks International where I can stay for only $8/night. Those are all over the place. Lots in Florida, California and Arizona, in particular. Only a couple in Minnesota, one or two in Montana . . . mostly in the "snowbird" areas.

But, I still don't have a motorhome to take there.

Moke has a buddy who just started a business where he kind of makes matches with buyers and dealers who have what buyers are looking for. (I wasn't completely clear on how it all works.) He called the guy and Brad and I chatted about what I'm looking for: preferably a Monaco Coach, late model, with at least 2 slides. He can get me a much better deal than I could get for myself. Well, we'll see. I'll give him a little time to come up with some potentials. Of course, I may have to fly down to Vegas or somewhere similar and drive my new rig back home. Whatever . . . He assured me that a diesel engine was the best choice. They last longer, have better resale value and less maintenance costs.

On the way to Ilwaco I had stopped at a dealership and looked at some new rigs. They were all gas and the salesman there assured me that gas is a much better choice because diesel is so much more expensive. Most of their salespeople and rigs were across the freeway at the Clark County Fairgrounds for an RV show. But the show prices were in effect. I could have bought a brand new rig for $78,000 or so, even though the printout said $102,000. I'm thinking there's quite a margin in these rigs.

So today, after church, I drove down to Charbonneau to look at the Monaco Cayman I've been talking to the owner about. Thank heavens the sun was shining and it was a really pretty day. Charlie stayed home this time, although he really begged to go along. This particular coach was suggested to me by a woman who works in my building. She knows the owners and knew they were selling. It's a very nice rig and he took me out for a little jaunt. I could get used to that. Love the visibility -- you sit high over the crowds, huge windows, great mirrors to see the lanes on both sides, and a cute little backup camera that shows you wants behind you. Very handy.

Well, I think it's a bit overpriced but it is a nice rig. We'll see what Brad can find. At least he can hopefully find me some similar quality rigs and I'll figure out how much overpriced this one is. Probably between $10,000 and $15,000, maybe more. Still, it's bargaining power.

And the "selling the house" thing. That's a whole 'nother post. Ahhh, decisions, decisions.

Travlin' Lady