Wow. What a week. At this time last week we didn’t have a quote on putting in our Sanderling driveway. Now the basic drive is in and awaiting surface material (road base or decomposed granite) and erosion-control retaining walls. Lot of work to do over the Summer, but we can get on the lot! The excitement didn’t end there: We bought an RV trailer.
Arctic Fox trailer logo (Dealer photo)
It is a 2000 Arctic Fox 26X model, bumper pull . This unit has a kitchen-area bump-out and rear bedroom. The basic design has not changed over the years, with the exception of the front window. (Newer units don’t have one, this one does.) We don’t have the recliner shown at the left edge of the slide-out, or the TV on the cabinet near the main entry door.
Floor Plan (Dealer photo)
While looking over the rig we found it already has 3 solar panels (total of 60 watts) mounted on the roof to help charge/maintain the twin batteries. The trailer comes with 2 each 30 pound propane tanks instead of the standard 20 pound units.
Trailer – entrance side view (Dealer photo)
Bump-out / slide (Dealer photo)
Manufacturer web site, which has more interior and construction details, is: http://www.northwoodmfg.com/index.php?page=makeindex&make=arctic&type=traveltrailer
We spent last Wednesday looking at RV lots in Grand Junction and saw some very nice — but very expensive — units. We looked at toy haulers but eventually ruled them out as they are not “4 season” rated. (4-season trailers have furnaces and methods to heat the fresh water and holding tanks, allowing RV use later in the Fall and earlier in the Spring. Since the trailer will be parked at 9,600 feet elevation, we decided the 4-season rating outweighed the transport and storage area a toy hauler offers.) Five RV lots and a dozen or so trailer tours later, we realized we wanted a used unit with a living room slide that was reasonably priced. Which is pretty much what we purchased.
The trailer comes to De Beque this Friday. The dealer, Humphrey RV and Trailer, is replacing the carpet in the bedroom, testing all the systems, and cleaning and detailing the trailer. (It has just come in on trade when we looked at it and had not been “gone through” yet.) Price: $8,600.00 plus tax and licensing. Our thought is we can spend weekends and vacations in the trailer for the next several years. While the RV purchase expense takes away from our long-term home construction budget, it saves hotel/motel fees, gives us a place to cook meals, and provides sanitary facilities on-site. ($100 per night for motel stays x 20 mountain visits per year = $2,000 annually for motel fees without the RV.)
We have window where spice rack is shown, different flooring. (Dealer photo)
Hm-m-m-m, transport. Our next challenge will be getting the trailer to the lot. We’re going to borrow a neighbor’s truck to make the initial trip from dealer to De Beque and, once on the mountain lot, use the Scout to tow the rig to and from the RV dump station. The Elkhorn Ranch dump station is about 15 miles away (provided by our homeowner’s fees); that’s where we’ll dump the grey and black water tanks. Experience will dictate how often that needs to be done. (Grey water is kitchen and shower water, black is toilet.) Now, how to get the RV from De Beque to the mountain lot is still in the works. Biggest problem is to make sure transport vehicles used have electric brakes; a controller costs about $130.00 and will need to be purchased and installed in the Scout to ensure safe braking to and from the dump station. If we end up getting a pickup, the brake controller will be relocated to it. (I can dream about the pickup.)
The “fun” part is making lists of what we need to put in the trailer. A 2nd tea kettle, linens, pots, pans, cooking gear…neither of us has camped in a long time, and it will undoubtedly takes us a few outings to get everything we need. Us and the 3 dogs…should be a hoot. Oh yes, an outside containment area for the dogs is on the list too.
A 10 by 12 foot storage shed will need to be erected fairly quickly. We need a place to store the chain saw, portable generator, and other equipment we will be using to clean up the lot, work on retaining walls, and landscaping where necessary. We are in for an active Summer!
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
Please notice on the Arctic Fox 26X floor plan [above ] the bedroom is on the far end of the RV — with the bathroom between the bedroom and the living area– featuring two doors enclosing the bathroom. Two doors and two thin walls may not be much to shut out the sound of Jer’s snoring, but it sure beats some of the other RV floor plans we walked through. I’ll take it.
The “fun” just keeps rolling on. The lumber yard/hardware store in Grand Junction had it’s 20% off everything sale yesterday. Had to send Mr. Fields over for various items to be used on the lot. Where the heck we’ll store them between now and then is open to discussion.
Ties, gates, pavers, drain pipe…all to be used on our Sanderling lot.
Good thing I squirreled away and stored what money I could through the winter, because the $$$ are sure flowing out this month. The IRS gets their cut next month too.
It appears that you got a very good deal on the 26X. Other 2000 models I saw were at least $2-4000 more and, new models (w/o window) were pushing $40K…
The floor plan is exactly the same as later models — from YouTube, they appear to be a very solid product. Less “camping out”, more like a small 2nd home.
Of course, adding in 3 dogs will be “interesting”…
I’d think that a 60W trickle charge would be sufficient at high elevations even for a long weekend. I’ve seen 100W single panel complete systems for about $200 (no idea of your current 3-panel “charge controller” amperage) if you need an add-on. Also no idea of the fridge/freezer or furnace ignitor “drain”…
Hopefully the RV dump station also has watering/flushing capabilities?
The videos I watched also had “winterizing” cautions…
All-in-all, a nice “home away from home” — hopefully your weekends will be “long weekends”.
Any ideas on how to maintain “communications”?
Larry:
Dump station does have potable water and flushing capabilities. Many lot owners in the area own RVs and use them during the summer, so the Owner’s Association dump site is full service.
Biggest battery drain is the furnace circulating fan. Depending on how often it runs I may ned to plug in the portable generator to recharge the batteries if the solar does not keep up. If we go to an add-on it will probably be wind turbine as that would recharge the batteries at night. Fridge / freezer is propane or electric; we will be running on propane which will cut down on electrical use.
We negotiated new carpet and a spare tire as part of the price. There is an annual RV show comming up next week in Grand Junction and we got a “show price.” We found very few sub-$10K units on dealer lots, and think we did OK on this one.
Communications…we do get cell coverage on most of the lot, at least where we have tried. Not strong, 2 – 3 bars, but enough to check e-mail on my corporate iPhone 4s. (Pam’s cell is phone only.) I also carry an iPad 4 and occasionaly a Panasonic W8 laptop, both equipped with cell phone modems which can get internet access. I think we will be OK using 1 or more of these devices from the lot.
Thanks for the note!
As it appears that there was little change in RV construction from 2000 to 2013 (except the front window), I’d think your price was very good, especially looking at new model costs…
The biggest inconvenience would be hauling to & from the dump station. Hopefully water & gray/black tank storage is sufficient for at least several long weekends.
Noted a number of reasonably priced wind turbines in the 500W range, though short-term fuel/generator costs would certainly be less expensive. Perhaps a future “nice to have”, for supplemental use, charging power tools, etc.
There’s always signal boosters for wireless communications, better than walking to a location-on-property that has the highest signal strength on cold & windy nights, but another power drain. Then, there’s the (overpriced) 3G/4G data plans to contend with — perhaps better to think about satellite packages, which include VoIP, Internet, & entertainment (if things don’t improve when you build your permanent structure). Meanwhile, a change-out to LED lighting might be useful. Eventually, good router to hook-up the several “PamCam’s” would be nice!
The best thing is that you don’t have to worry about any of the above (besides the dump station) right now. You can afford the time to plan for the long-term, while enjoying your land, though I’d think getting the dogs out from under foot might be a priority…
how exciting!
congratulations again!
the fun keeps on coming (though the money keeps on going)
i think you’ll have a grand time in your rv–it looks beautiful and like everything you will need!
3 dogs would be right where you are no matter how bit the place anyhow!
so much to do
and so much enjoyment to come from working for your own dream place
i’m very excited for your first camping adventure post!
hopefully not too long 🙂