Where Did Julius Go?

I’m not sure where Julius went, but hopefully to a happy home! He had plenty of life left and was recently sold by Fort Walton Beach RV Brokers to his fourth owner (for about a third of what we originally paid for him—gulp! They depreciate so quickly…) We will fondly remember the months we spent in our old 2012 Open Range 375BHS, but when standing at the crossroads of keeping or selling it, we chose the latter. It just had too many issues that needed to be addressed, and we weren’t sure how much time and money we should put into an older rig.

We started thinking about upgrading when we went to our first-ever RV show in Mobile, AL. Somehow we went from just walking around to sitting with a Camping World rep who was supposed to be “running some numbers just to see” how much of a trade in we could get for Julius. We found a 5^th wheel layout we really liked but didn’t want to buy new; when he said he had a used one back in Biloxi, he somehow talked us into putting down a deposit on it and we walked away dazed, like “What did we just do?” What kind of rookies go to an RV show and buy an RV?!

The contract was pending our approval—because we weren’t going to buy it sight unseen—but since it was two hours away, they sent us a video. It had a dent on the outside and a dog had torn up the couch, plus the fridge was dinged up and it just didn’t look good. We easily walked away from that, but it started the proverbial wheels turning, and we watched a bunch of videos of different RVs with spaces that could be used as an office for Ken. One video showed a full-time family walking through their Jayco Pinnacle 37MDQS, explaining what they loved about it, and we were hooked! We Googled used models for sale, and only four came up in the country for the year we wanted, one of which was under two hours away from our spot in Gulf Shores, AL in Fort Walton Beach, FL.

We drove over there “just to look,” with the intention of buying one later. The crux of our changing campers depended on buying from a place that would take Julius on trade, of course (for the sake of logistics, since it’s our home), which limited our options because that wouldn’t work through a private seller. After spending over an hour checking out every nook and cranny, as well as just sitting in it and talking, we realized how very much we could picture ourselves living in that particular RV. It was in excellent condition (barely used) and felt so much homier and roomier than Julius—more like a house than a camper.

The rest, as they say, is history. The following weekend, we packed my car to the brim and left it and everything from the ‘basement’ at our campsite, and drove to pick up our new home. As Ken worked on the paperwork in the office, I scurried back and forth between the two RVs, emptying one and filling the other. Julius felt like a clown car to me; more and more stuff kept coming out of every nook and cranny. Still, it was the fastest, easiest move I’ve had in my entire life—a benefit of owning so little.  I will introduce you to “Bling” in my next post. She’s a beaut!