We are in Moab, UT...

This is going to be a long post.

First of all, I was unable to update last night because we were both so worn out by the time we made it into Salt Lake City last night at about 9pm. So I will have to pretty much start at the beginning...

We landed in Boise yesterday afternoon at about 12:15pm, giddy with anticipation. After calling the sellers to let them know we had landed, they said they were running about 20 minutes late. Being late for pretty much everything ourselves, we figured this meant about 45 minutes. We were wrong. An hour or so later, our new coach pulled up to the airport, squealing and squalling. Sounds like it needs brakes. Great.

The seller hopped out and greeted us and helped us throw our luggage in to head to a different location so we could look it over and learn all of the features. We pulled out of the airport and headed toward the local truck stop. It started immediately as he turned the key and I could hear a distinct exhaust leak in the area of the engine. Weee. As we headed down the road, she creaked, groaned, bounced and rumbled along, with doors inside swinging open and closed. The steering wheel jostled back and forth. I looked at CeeJay and she looked at me. Great. What in the world had we gotten ourselves into? At the truck stop, we met the seller's wife and kids and then proceeded to learn about the features of the coach we were planning on driving all the way back to Houston. 2,200 miles. A really, really... really long way.

After a once around of our new home on wheels we decided that it really couldn't be THAT bad. I mean it only has 35,000 miles on it. The stuff that we were letting sway us in the wrong direction were all things that could be fixed relatively easily. The generator wouldn't start. The bathroom door has no handle and won't stay shut. Several cabinets won't close properly and open when driving. The refrigerator doesn't seem to be operating correctly and is missing a handle. Then of course there was the exhaust leak. The squealy brakes. Many lights didn't work. The left windshield wiper is broken. They don't even turn on when the switch is actuated. Not to mention, it was dirty. Really dirty. However, again... it only had 35,000 miles, didn't leak and had a solid floor. The roof had just been redone as well.

After a quick thought, we decided that all it really needed was some good owners, some TLC and a good cleaning, and it was still a pretty good bargain so we made the deal. The seller handed us a copy of the clean title (we will get the original after the check clears) and sent him on his way. We spent a couple of minutes walking around it and through it, sort of soaking in the whole experience. Still a little bit numb, we decided we had better get it filled up and get on the road. We drove around the truck stop and found the gas pumps. This thing is huge. It is a house. On wheels. Again... what were we thinking?

$100 didn't fill her up. Another $50 topped the tank off and we hit the road having no idea what we were doing or where we were going.

Have I mentioned it is huge?

Five minutes behind the wheel on the freeway, the massive pressure of driving a 31 foot, 10,000 lb vehicle began to fade. The view out of the enormous windshield of the southern Idaho scenery was so worth the whole trip. Like the seller said, it is almost like watching IMAX. He was right.
CeeJay immediately broke her sunvisor and then wanted to stop at the local Walmart to buy some cleaning supplies, but I was able to talk her into getting a little further down the road. We stopped in Jerome, Idaho.

After doing our part to make sure that Walmart doesn't go out of business, we walked back to our coach parked in the parking lot. Man, it really is large. We got back on the road quickly and CeeJay began cleaning up the inside while I drove. 30 minutes later, our new coach was already becoming just that...ours. A few more hours on the road and things really started to go well. The jostling steering wheel was 100 times better. The brakes no longer squealed when used. I was starting to think maybe it just needed to be driven.

We crossed the border into Utah and kept rolling. No need to stop to pee. Hungry? We got food right on board. We pulled into Salt Lake City well after dark and once the sun went down, I realized just how dirty the windshield was. The construction in SLC, coupled with oncoming headlights was amazingly difficult to drive with. If only the windshield wipers worked. Heh.

We made it to Alissa and Blake's house by about 9:30pm. We were exhausted. It was cold. We turned the behemoth around in their parking lot, and got it put where we would stay for the night. No electricity, no water. No battery power. What? No juice? Another Walmart trip. But first, we needed to eat dinner. Thanks to Alissa, Blake, Cody and Sheena for taking us to Sconecutter for some food we can't get in Houston. Great stuff. They even bought dinner. It was awesome. After dinner, we made our second trip of the day to Walmart. I need to have stock in that store by now. I went ahead and gambled on some tune up equipment for the generator too, including a new spark plug. I had no idea which one to buy. I love having the internet on my telephone. After replacing the "house" battery, we had enough juice to power the heater for the night, which we were going to need, because it was cold. The fridge still wasn't working properly, so we set our food outside for the night. So ghetto. HAHA. We tumbled into bed, exhausted and just passed out.

Friday am, and a pretty good night's sleep brought a new perspective to the whole experience. We were able to look the coach over in a non rushed, open area. I was able to get the generator running (it won't power the coach though) I got the fridge working, the burner valve was clogged. We cleaned the windshield and other windows. (Alissa and Blakers let us borrow a few things...thanks guys!) I tightened the passenger side mirror so it would quit shaking and I could actually see out of it. We adjusted a few of the latches so the doors would stay closed. We found an outside shower. Figured out the dump system. We even found a couple of lawn chairs in the basement storage. There are lights in a lot of the basement compartments. All in all, it was a pretty great day.

We stole some water from Alissa and Blake and headed out of town. Oh yeah, yet another stop at Walmart... good grief. After spending more money, we got on the road. The newly cleaned windshield and windows was a HUGE improvement. The entire coach took on a new look and feel. Today it drove even better than it did yesterday. I was right... it just needed some miles on it.

We made it all the way to Moab, UT tonight and that is where we are bedding down. The water heater works well and the showers were wonderful. Clean and tired, we are going to bed again...this time in a much different mindset. Today was one of the neatest things I have ever done. We saw some scenery today that was just amazing. There is nothing like seeing it through the gianormous windshield of an RV.

We are heading out bright and early in the morning. More to come tomorrow.

~Wade