The way I see it... one man's opinion: April 2019

Saturday, April 20, 2019

On The Road With HaRVy

HaRVy is an RV

We have an addition to the family. His name is HaRVy. At least, that's what we have decided to call him. HaRVy is an 11 year old Damon Challenger 377 Class A motorhome. He's almost 38 feet long built on a Workhorse W-22 chassis and is powered by an 8.1 liter gas engine (that's 496 cubic inches for those of you still unwilling to embrace the metric system) mated to an Allison Series 1000 6-speed transmission. He's rated at about 340 horsepower @4200 RPM and 455 lb.-ft. of torque at 3200 RPM. HaRVy has three slideouts, has twin Carrier A/C units, hot water heater, 5500 watt generator, a queen size bed, 20 inch TV in bedroom, dining room table that seats 4, kitchen with refrigerator/freezer (that runs on propane or AC power,) gas stove and oven, microwave oven, full-size kitchen sink, bathroom with toilet, vanity and shower, living room with sleeper sofa, recliner, and a 32 inch TV. Outside, there is a powered awning that runs 20 ft down the length of the motorhome.

I should mention that we also added another to the family. Since we need to be able to go places when HaRVy is in his camping spot, we now have Taurus the Bull that HaRVy pulls along behind on a tow Dolly. Taurus is a couple of years older than HaRVy.

You may be wondering why two 60-somethings, who have already raised 2 kids (now 30 and almost 33 yrs old,) would, at this stage in their life, want to be adding to the family.

Well, here's the deal. We have two grandchildren (and their parents) who live about 10 minutes away. We like that. Thanks to the Coast Guard, they will be moving in a couple of months to a small town in northeastern NC (in fact, only about a mile and a half from the VA border.) That being the case, Carol and I will be leaving Florida (this was only ever a temporary gig) later this year. But where to go then? Our home prior to coming to FL in 2017 was Augusta, GA. Our son and his fiancee live in Augusta, GA. Nearly every friend we have lives in Augusta, GA. But... our grandchildren don't live in Augusta, GA. Hence, the dilemma.

To add to that dilemma, over the last 3 years or so, it has become harder for Carol to travel. I won't get into all the specifics but, I will say that staying in hotel rooms or even in the homes of family members has become more and more difficult because those surroundings are now a bit disorienting to her and staying in what are becoming less familiar surroundings is stressful. We still want to be able to go places, especially go to where our daughter & her family live as well as to where our son & fiancee live. One of those places will be where home #1 is.

So, that's where HaRVy comes in. HaRVy's role in the family is to be rolling house #2 that can allow Carol to feel "home" regardless of what city we are visiting. This allows Carol to have her bed and her bathroom with all of her stuff in a familiar spot... no more packing suitcases and makeup bags, which is also a high stress activity for her (HaRVy is now fully equipped with all the things that would typically need to be packed whenever Carol would travel... both our house and our house-on-wheels are fully equipped with duplicates of her stuff.)

We took HaRVy out last weekend for the opportunity to get to know him a little better and see how well he (and his dad- the driver) behaves. It was also important for me that Carol and HaRVy have a real bonding experience. We booked a couple of nights at Colt Creek State Park campground a little over an hour from our house. I didn't want to get too far from home... just in case. The drive from our storage lot to the state park was pretty uneventful (thank goodness!) Carol was a little nervous riding for the first time in a big Class A motorhome with a rookie at the wheel but, both HaRVy and I were able to assuage her fear. Set-up at the campsite went perfectly. This is a nearly new campground with only about 36 sites so, we enjoyed some peaceful relaxation.

(Click here to open in YouTube)

I am happy to report that Carol truly grew to love HaRVy over the course of our two-night stay. In fact, on the day we were to leave Carol said, "I wish we could stay here a few more nights." I'd call that a good first step in the relationship. Exiting the campground included a stop at the dump station to experience the nitrile gloved-up sewer hose hook-up to drain the contents of our onboard grey and black water tanks. Fortunately, I had no Robin Williams-in-the-movie-RV moment so, all was good. On the return trip, Carol also got to experience our first fill-up at a gas station. Bear in mind that the total length of HaRVy and Taurus is about 60 feet. And, with Taurus in tow, there is no backing up (I remove Taurus and the tow dolly before backing up HaRVy into a campsite.) $162.00 later at the Flying J, we were back on the road heading home. Like most large motorhomes, HaRVy is a thirsty boy...he drinks a gallon of gas for every 7-8 miles he runs.

Next weekend, Carol, HaRVy, Dolly, Taurus, and I will head out to spend 8 nights at Mistletoe State Park near Augusta to take care of some routine semi-annual doctor appointments. I'm optimistic that the bonding that began last weekend will continue and that we will confirm that this new way to travel is all that we hope it will be. So... I plan to blog about our adventures on the road with HaRVy. This isn't just about having a motorhome. This is an important thing for our family. I know that some of what I have written is a bit cryptic but... you'll just have to try to understand that some private, family stuff will remain private, family stuff. Thanks in advance for understanding.

Here are some pics from our first time out with HaRVy and Taurus the Bull.