It's Only Money, Right?

 Ugh ... can't we PLEASE go back to sleep?  This is my thought every morning at 3:30 am when I finally open my eyes after laying there awake for 30 minutes.  No kidding little buddy ... can't you hold it?  The answer of course is a resounding NO MOM!!  So out we go into the cool morning air.  Truly, it's the best part of the day!

Going back to bed will never happen.  I can lay there for hours and never fall asleep.  I know this harkens back to the days of gathering cattle where we were up at O-Dark-Thirty saddling the horses.  If you weren't on your horse headed out to the far fields by the time the sun came up, you were BURNING DAYLIGHT.  

Snacks are involved here too.  If he's a good boy, he gets a snack or two or three before he lays down for his first three hour nap.  If only I could do the same.

It was a rather interesting day.  As you know, Dave and Marcia from Florida sent a message that they were getting a new RV ... a Thor Motor Coach Sequence.  Here's a pic I found on the web.  I've thought about these camper vans for a few years, even though everyone says they are too small.  Check out Dave's Blog HERE.  I'm sure he will be posting all about it very soon.

What a coincidence ... one of my long time photography friends just bought a similar version in December.  When I mentioned I was interested, she said to stop by and take a look.  I was all over it!!  But first ... I had a couple errands to run.  I returned the blower with no battery to Home Depot where I stood for 20 minutes to the sound of their phone ringing (that NO ONE picked up) while they tried to figure out their computers.  

Then it was off to the Elks Lodge to turn in some paperwork and get updated on the latest happenings.  Turns out that paperwork that they told me needed to be in TODAY isn't really needed until NOVEMBER.  With that .... I headed straight to Starbucks for a drink.  

Truly, I don't like Starbucks.  How can so many people afford such expensive drinks?  This is black tea lemonade ... perfect for the diet.  Turns out chocolate croissants are NOT so good for the diet, but boy are they TASTY!!!  I ate that thing in one fell swoop!!!  The whole order cost me $8.50, but felt OH SO GOOD!

So there I was at my friends house.  She is from Germany, very quiet and shy and sometimes hard to understand.  I'm actually very surprised that when her husband passed, she purchased this beauty and began to drive around the country.  

She called me for advice now and again and I explained things like dumping the tanks, Happy Camper, conserving water .. you know the stuff.  So far she has been doing really well and just finished up a ten week trip.  

I've been considering a camper van for some time now, mostly because it's so much smaller and easier to handle.  My back isn't getting any better, which means all that hooking up isn't going to go very well.  

I didn't get any pictures at her house, so these all came from the internet.  This is a Canadian built Pleasure-Way Plateau TS ... exactly what she bought last year for a whopping amount of dinero.  Is it worth it?  I probably won't know until I buy one ... IF I buy one.  

Here's the interior, of course taken from the back to make it look SO spacious!  The couch you would be sitting on in this picture, makes into a bed ... with the push of a button.  A queen sized bed if you wish.  The windows are large and open on the bottom to allow airflow.  All around the top are huge storage bins.

Heading forward to the captains chairs, you pass the fridge/freezer ... which amazingly enough, is the exact same size as the fridge in my 5th wheel.  I admit, the walkway is a little tight, but the closet is almost the same size as my 5th wheel closet.  I'm not thrilled with the one burner induction cooktop, but imagine I would just order pizza a lot!  There really is quite a bit of counter space too!

The bathroom you ask?  It's pretty small, but doable.  You have to pull a curtain around to use the shower, with its aqua hot water system.  Even better, everything runs on propane or solar or electricity.  I'm sure I could NOT camp for a month without dumping the tanks.  It dawned on me that maybe this was more of a stay one night, then go explore and stay somewhere else the next night type of rig.  

I want one!!  It's diesel with dually tires in the back.  It can tow 4220 pounds, and my jeep just happens to be 4290.  Not sure I need to do that if I wrap my head around moving more often.  Would sure be nice to have a jeep to run to town with and for sightseeing.  Can I make it over those high mountain passes towing??  The 2023 I am looking at has a 3.0L V6 Blue TEC Diesel engine that I know nothing about.

The killer of course is the price.  It's so very well made and on a Mercedes chassis.  A 2023 model sells for $160,000.  Yes you can buy a lot of 5th wheel for that price, but the quality is beyond belief.  My head is in the clouds right now ... we'll see if I still think it's a good idea in a couple of weeks.  It's like buying a new HOUSE!!!  It's only money, right?  

I spent so much time looking up different vans that I almost missed dinner.  Sometimes I get focused on things like that and suddenly realize it's four hours later.

Dinner was the last of the romaine lettuce wraps, this time with Thai sweet chili sauce.  That stuff makes all the difference!!  I'm liking this MUCH better than with bread!!

And so ended another day as I contemplated draining one of my bank accounts.  My friend thinks I should buy a camper van so we can go to Alaska on a photography adventure.  It's a thought!!!!!