TA DA!!!!!!!

 Here's a hint.  It's a waiting room, right?  Have you figured it out yet?  I know you have.  Let's just say it's ALL DAVE'S FAULT!!

Here's another hint.  "Don't Forget Your Key".  

And HERE is the story.  My photographer friend Renate bought a Camper Van.  She took it out on her first long trip a couple months ago.  Having a little experience in that area, I was able to help her a bit with a few things she didn't know.  She has never been RVing before in her life.  

Then Dave and Marcia said they were looking for a camper van.  Hmmmm maybe that is the answer to me not lifting heavy weights like big bottles of propane and the steps into my fifth wheel.  When Renate returned, I went over and scoped out her rig.  I loved it.  Small ... yes ... but I thought doable.

The hunt was ON!  I looked at truck campers, but they had even LESS room than this, plus I would probably need a one ton truck.  That cost about the same as this beauty that I found about 40 miles down the road.  Thank you Dave and Marcia for solving my RV problems.

I looked at several different models, but they had minuscule refrigerator/freezers.  This one has the same size as my fifth wheel did.  So here it is, but not without a little stress.  I was supposed to pick it up a week ago, but they said the AC wasn't working good enough.  They ordered an entire new one.  WOW!  But that made it another week for installation.  I cancelled THAT ride with Diane, and scheduled another one with Renate.  She wanted to go back because she had some questions.  Sadly, she got sick and didn't want to infect me.  I didn't want to BE infected!!

Yesterday was the appointed pickup day, but now I didn't have a ride.  That's when Cyndae asked for a room at the Kissack Hotel so she could take care of some house sale business.  Good friends are worth a million bucks.  She drove me up there yesterday to pick it up.

Driving it was a breeze ... with just a little bit of that motorhome movement.  Figuring out HOW to drive it was another story.  Good grief ... there's no key.  Most of you probably know you have to step on the brake first, but I didn't.  On the left is the cruise control.  YIKES!!  It took ten miles before I figured THAT out.  I think the right is all telephone, but to be honest, I don't know.  I was just concentrating on staying in my lane.

Floorboard it and it takes off like a jet!  The accelerator is pretty touchy.  The brakes will stop you on a dime, which I didn't expect, it being heavy and all.  The dash panel is like an airplane cockpit.  I'll probably NEVER learn all THAT stuff.

I made it home and backed into the back yard ... how could you miss with a rear view back up camera over a foot wide on the dash!  Sadly, in five minutes it was 107 inside.  Figuring out the AC and the hookups took a considerable time before I had to give up as sweat poured down my face.  Did I mention it was 103 today?

There's a nice swinging table (two pictures up) that I finally figured out how to install.  Is it small inside?  Yes.  Is there lots of storage overhead?  Yes .. probably more than I would need.  Is there storage in the back for things like a tool box and leveling blocks?  That would be a no.  Apparently they changed the model this year, taking up the two feet of storage space with bigger seats in the back.  

The entire space under the couch is filled up with lithium batteries and solar stuff ... so I'm going to have to get creative in the "where the heck can I put this" department.

Everything ... and I mean absolutely EVERYTHING is controlled by the black screen above the TV.  There are two of them.  I'm going to need a solar expert to explain all the info it shows, but at least I figured out the AC and the fan.  

The TV?  That would be a NO.  I got the guide (I don't know how) with the TV shows, but these are from their demonstration and are too far North for reception.  This is a smart TV that is MUCH smarter then me.  I finally got it to locate a couple local channels, but I couldn't get the TV to SEE them.  This might take a college degree!

SO ... I will be spending the next week teaching this old dog a LOT of new tricks.  I'll let you know how it goes because in three short weeks, I'll be heading off over the Sierra Nevada Mountains!!!  I better be a quick learner.