We knew that we did not want the two sofas this Providence had but figured that could be easily changed out, or one sofa could be replaced with two Euro style recliners. That would turn out to be a more cumbersome and costly project than we anticipated. The coach was really more for a traveling family than two empty nesters. As I sat on one couch, I looked at the to me wasted big floor space and lamented the lack of kitchen storage although it came with a dishwasher. Now at home the dishwasher is a must have for me, but on the road in the RV not so much. The dishwasher has been the first appliance added when we remodeled kitchens in CA, preceding a stove or oven. But in the motor home, it replaced areas I now enjoy in our Southwind for storage. Besides I cook differently in the RV.
The gold tone carpet was not at all to my liking and I began to figure that would mean a visit to the factory in Decatur, IN to redo as the carpet trim is under the dashboard and up the stairs as well as along the sofas to the back bedroom. But the bedroom had the most heinous of all to me--a bedspread of a burnished drab gold taffeta like fabric with hundreds of tiny tassels hanging all along the bottom. Oh NO! That would have to go immediately! The RV salesman gasped when I remarked that it looked like it belonged in a whorehouse! He tried to tone that down with, "well maybe a casino." No, to me it was typical brothel furnishing! I've watched Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke, and old westerns, I recall the decorative bordellos!
I did not like the small step down from the bedroom to the hallway either. I figured on my multiple nightly bathroom calls, I'd forget about the step which we do no have in our current motor home, and end up falling on my kiester at best and breaking my nose at worst! I wasn't saying too much because I could not tell if I was just being too picky, finicky, ornery, or was tired from the quick two days we'd spent on the road driving the 1360 miles. While Jerry has to have been a long haul truck driver in another life, he loves the road and driving, I have never been good on the road for long miles. At least in the motor home I can get up and down but there is something about sitting confined as the miles roll by that will get to me. I read, I use my Blackberry and I work puzzles and write, still I am fidgety. So I sat on the edge of the sofa and said a quick prayer adding to those I'd had going through out this process, "well God, I don't know what to think but I don't think I like it. Now what?"
Jerry had determined a diesel is necessary for more power, towing our vehicle and climbing some of the hills and mountains and he has decided a larger motor home will have better liveability. His first reason was quite comical in that he wants a bigger bathroom shower, saying he bumps his shoulders on the shower walls! Now he is not a big guy and that made me laugh. Although when I do see the bigger Euro style showers in these bigger motor homes, I admire those too.
After he looked around and in and out he took a long look at the gold carpet and shuddered as he said to me, " I don't know about this, what do you think?" I told him I flat was not impressed with decor and layout, I prefer the kitchen dinette across from the stove/sink in the kitchen area and for sure I did not want two sofas that made into beds. We calculated it would take another $20,000 to get interior and decor changes and realized that besides the $$big bucks we were going to fork over for this one and trade ours in as well (which by the way they already had a buyer on hold for) it was just not something we wanted to do. He liked the model and the engine and does not want a 2010 as there are emission additives/standards that are not to his liking. He knows mechanics after a lifelong career. But he admitted that he did not like the interior either and said, "the carpet has to go..." So it was a no go on the 2009 Providence.
The RV dealer showed us another model , a diesel, a 2010 and with the layout we wanted. But that is not the model Jerry wants. He knows mechanical things very well and will not be sidetracked from what he wants in engines and horsepower. All that is most boring to me! Nor will he deviate from Fleetwood , as he is impressed with their service and quality. So we left, feeling a bit disappointed but relieved.
It was back home and back to square one for Jerry. We plan a couple months trip to Alaska next year, GLW%CDR. (*) We spent five days on the road, drove 2,791 miles, used 361.8 gallons of gas at $971.18, spent $41.50 for food, $49 for overnight RV fees, and $4.08 for some oil he added as it needed an oil change which he did not want to do if we were trading it in. I do love having our food available for a quick bite to eat and even in the evenings after a day on the road. As I said, I think he wanted to go for a ride! Or, maybe it was the travelin' bears who were complaining that they had been confined to quarters for a couple months. That's it, we agreed, the Bears wanted a ride!
Now we have a few days to clear up and repack to get back to PA where my 92 year old uncle Carl is failing somewhat. He no longer is walking after falling in his room in the assisted living center. Although he was checked over at the hospital and found nothing broken or damaged, he is using a wheel chair. His doctor had him admitted for tests and found no physical reason for him not to walk. However the nurse & hospital social worker told me he may not walk again. His doctor wants him to get intense therapy at the Skilled facility and they have classified him as risk of falling. I am blessed to know the doctor, nursing facility as well as the folks at the assisted living center where he has been. We've spent so much time in PA last year that I have a handle on all of that. But this is the next step. We'd been planning a PA trip to winterize his home which I could not get cleared and sold yet this year. It's always something, as RoseAnneAnnaDanna said! At least I have friends to see in PA.
If you wondered (*) GLW&CDR= Good Lord Willing and Creek Don't Rise, which waters in many rivers out west and Midwest are quite high now from rains! And that's my true life story, life as we are living it for this week. Click here to go to the Story teller site and read others. Or click above on my title to this post which will direct you there.
