I think I am offically old, I just got an RV!
 

My wife and I are looking to move out west, away from all that sucks about living in NY. Don't know just where yet, but our son lives in Denver and I have always loved CO. So we have decided to take 2-4 weeks and look around to see where we might like to settle. I figured an RV would be the best way to do this. So after looking into leasing, which cost $200-$250 a day!:eek: I said screw that, I'll just buy one, use it and sell when we are done. even if we lose a few grand, I will still be better off. So we didn't want anything big, wanted something that got good mileage, was easy to drive and park. But needed to have a bathroom and shower. We settled on a 2003 Winnebago Vista 21B. Its only 21' long and has everything we will need. Has only 35k miles on it with ZERO rust, gets about 14-16mpg! Sellers are older and moved up to a Sprinter style, as they wanted the bed on the same level. Will be flying out to Kansas to pick it up next week! These are very hard to find, as they only made them for three years on the VW Eurovan chassis. Has the VR6 in them and are FWD.

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Very nice. Seems like a nice compromise between comfort/convenience and ease of use (not crazy to drive, park, etc...).

Based on seeing the videos for the 11'8" bridge, I'd say "make sure you know how tall it is" but then since you've got the Unimog experience, you are probably no stranger to thinking about how tall a vehicle is.

Congrats, Von! Very nice acquisition!

My two older brothers each bought RV trailers recently - for camping purposes - as they have moved into their retirements.

I'm not quite ready yet, but when I am, would prefer something like what you got, than the pull behind trailer approach.

BTW, last night I went on Facebook Marketplace for the first time and there were tons of RV's on it and some looked like pretty good deals. Interesting resource for shopping.

Colorado is very beautiful - enjoy your travels and good luck with your re-location project. :)

Very cozy. I dig it. And a VR6! Nice get!

Very nice. Been looking for a nice Rialta.

Very nice, look into joining KOA, its cheap and you get some advantages on priority for spots.

Make sure that you bleach:water the fresh water tank. In general I use it for shower, toilet and dish washing, but bring bottled water for drinking.

Look into a surge/voltage drop protector, from what I've read voltage drop is more likely at an older RV park, due to bigger rigs requiring more and more amps. Voltage drop will burn out the AC motor, and refrigerator.

A friend gave me some good advise, don't do elective repairs on the road, you will no doubt need a tool or part that you didn't expect.

We looked at the Rialtas first, but didn't like the bathroom set up on them, and having to take the bed down to use the dinette. Plus I am 6' and the Rialta is only 5'10" inside. So I could not stand up straight in it. The Vista has a 6' 5" inside height. The mileage is a little better with the Rialta, but not enough for me to give up what the Vista offers. Plus the Vista is an inch shorter and narrower than the Rialta, spare tire on the outside vs, under it. We found it harder to find the Vista as they only made them from 02-04.

I keep looking at the "Transit" RVs. They are now making some with "pop outs", which make them more practical. That looks just big enough to actually live in, while not being hard to drive. And not need a towed vehicle.

Mrs. Beard will not drive it.

Nice get, Von. Love the Eurovan bones. CO is great, because it's 2/3 of the way to WA!

We owned a Ford Transit mid-rise in our business. I always thought it would make a great RV, James.

That's a nice handy sized rig you found, and very clean looking. Especially the underside, wow.

I too like those Rialtas, but your expanded camper body offers lots more interior living space. I wouldn't want to convert the bed to living space each day either. I hope your over the cab bed works out for you.

The only problem I see is that your four weeks will end leaving you wanting more, Colo is just that way, so much to see.

Cheers Richard

Where is the entertainment center???? The WIFI hookup so you won't miss the goings on, on the Pelican...

And Hey for allyo RV'ers I know a place where you can get some water front property just for the parking....Any Seattle park just grab a parking space and you can live there permanently....right on the water...hey what could be more grand and cheaper than that...

Looks to be in great shape!
Congrats!

1) cool rig!
2) I love that people refer to Colorado as "out west." As I write in Oregon.

Congrats - When in Colo, don't overlook the western Slope towns......Away from the city crowds.........I visit step son in Montrose twice a year....I could live there......

Von, you should come check out AZ. Cheaper land than CO and better winters! 🤣🤣🤣

Don't forget to put a fire extinguisher near the bed.

Awesome! Converted to s camper in my mother’s home twin of Forest City, Iowa.

If you want any tips on CO or while you are here, look me up.

I'm so disappointed. I was hoping to see something like this...

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...or this...

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Kidding... have fun! :D

Nice Von !

I was going to do this with a truck camper on my brown Doka, but then my wife would not drive it at all! I'm lucky that I will be able to get her to drive the one we are getting!

And I don't know what a Inside dual-IDK is??

Congrats. Nice Rig. Great size. You should be able to take it anywhere. +

I'd be tempted to go the James May pub RV route.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1568327071.jpg

I must be getting old too and I'm starting to think RV's are :cool:

Yep. It's the beginning of the end. Make sure you have a safe place in it for your will and your health car POAs.

Well all went well with picking up our new to us RV! We are just about home and taking a break heading out again. Here is my wife working in her new "Mobile office" and us next to the beast! Runs great, had less than 34k miles on it when we picked it up.

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Be prepared to work on it.

I just picked mine up to reinstall the 80 gallon fresh water tank and insulate the underbelly better. It froze on us last year elk hunting. I’ve got a plan to prevent that from happening even in negative temperatures. The wind did us in last year...

I’m glad you are enjoying it!

Forgot to post some photos of our trip out west! We had a great time, and would have stayed longer if not for getting chased back east by the cold and snow. Only issue we had with the RV was a bad Mass Air sensor that cost me $100 and took less than 5 min. to change. We found some areas we might like to settle in, and learned a lot on RV'ing. It's now in storage till spring time, when we will get it out and take another trip to the south and see if we like anything down there.

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After making a 5200 mile loop in my Carrera to Luft5 last year, we bought a 24' Keystone trailer from some friends. We pent the summer doing our best Chip & Joanna impression and then bought a Cayenne Turbo to haul it 4600 miles to Banff and back.....in a week.

We were severely limited on what roads we could drive and sights we could see while pulling a camper on a roadtrip. We looked at a couple Class B Eurovan campers.....I thought doing a turbo VR6 would be a great compromise. They are still a ton of money though.

We decided that picking a destination for a basecamp and staying a week instead of a night or two is the way to go. This summer we bought a 25' Airstream but stuff came up and we didn't get to take it very far :( Now we have two camper trailers.....anybody need one?

That is the reason we got the RV that we got. Being able to park anywhere and able to drive it like a minivan is why we picked it. If you look at the photo its not much bigger than the Jeep. But inside it has everything two people need. This thing is like Dr. Who's tardis, bigger on the inside than the outside!

Too cool,

We just sold our second trailer as our boys out grew the bunks, looking forward (so much) to the two person options when our boys are a little older

Nice size not too big not too small. Can squeak into supermarket car parks.

Great looking RV, Von!

Well we are all set for the stay at home order is lifted so we can get out on the road again. Hopefully soon!! Installed a new memory foam mattress and built a ladder for my petite wife (5'2" tall) can get in and out of bed a bit easier!

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Nice, Von!

Thanks for keeping the thread alive for us guys who aren't yet there.

We need carrots!

My two older brothers both retired and bought tow behind trailers and when my time comes I would rather have an RV like yours. Seems to be more practical.

Have fun!

Hey Von, once you are rolling south, give me a shout, I can offer you a spot in the Fl panhandle to stay while looking the area around Panama City over.

Thought the state parks will be reopening and have lots of available places near the beaches to choose from.

Cheers Richard