The commitment to make our adventurous dream come true turned out to be easy compared to what followed when we started our search for the perfect motorhome in late spring 1996.
Choosing the right transportation with no previous knowledge of recreational vehicles was difficult and time-consuming. Touring the country with five people, going to school on the road, and incorporating a desktop computer in our traveling home became defining guidelines for our search. Finding the right vehicle was unexpectedly complex.
We focused on a Class A motorhome early on, not only for the room but also for the convenience of being able to move about easily while on the road. From there the interior configuration was especially important for sleeping arrangements, some sense of privacy, and work requirements.
While many times less is more, in this case the minimum required length increased from 28 to 34 feet by unanimous agreement after we spent a few minutes in a couple of shorter coaches. We were getting closer to defining our needs.
After acquiring the necessary knowledge and narrowing down our needs, finding the right coach on our limited budget became the challenge. In addition, since both adults in our family are mechanically challenged, we also had to find a used vehicle in excellent condition.
We looked for weeks, shopping at RV lots, watching newspaper ads, searching the Internet, reading trade magazines, and talking to RV owners. Our hard work was rewarded when we finally found a well-cared-for, almost pristine 1989 34-foot Coachmen motorhome with only 11,000 miles of previous wear and tear. We slapped down $26K (well, actually we took out a loan) and there was no turning back.