Being that this is the first post for my blog I will start at the beginning.
About 6 years ago my wife, Ann, and I went to a party at a cousin's house. There we met a cousin of theirs. That is a cousin of a cousin. is that a second cousin or a cousin once removed. I never can figure which is which.
The cousin of a cousin had a 5th wheeler and they were Full timers. That is what started it all.
The plan is to sell the house and to hit the Road around January 2011. Until then we will use the RV on weekends and Vacation.
I started doing research on the internet and finally decided on the New Horizons 5th wheeler. After much searching, emailing, going to camping shows and talking we finally talked to Drew at New Horizons and decided on a 2005 36ft pre-owned unit they just got in on consignment.
In July 2009, we took a trip from New York, where we live, to the factory in Kansas to look at it. I brought a long list of questions and upgrades I wanted.
We bought it and had the factory up grade the trailer.
We had disk breaks on all 6 wheels,
4 panel solar package with 4 - 6 volt AGM batteries installed.
Also we had the slide out with the entertainment center upgraded to the new style. (That’s Ann, DW, at the computer.)
A 5.5kw generator was added.
On the power side we had a 2000 watt inverter/charger and an EMS monitor system installed.
We had the carpet in the living room removed and tiles put down for ease of cleaning.
We had all the tanks insulated and headed.
The intent is to have a full self contained all weather 5th wheeler because this will be our Home.
Also added was a 3 camera video system. One in the back of the trailer and one on each side. With a 4 camera monitor in the truck cab.
Now we needed a tow vehicle. Drew at New Horizons was selling theirs. It is a 2008 Ford F450 superduty with every possible option available, things I would not get if I bought it new, but nice to have.
It is the one that was on the cover of the October 2009 issue of Trailer Life Magazine.
We left a deposit and flew home.
In November, I flew to the factory alone to check out the work that was was completed and to have some instructions on the unit. Two weeks later Ann and I flew to the factory .
We spent a few days camping at the New Horizons parking lot getting familiar with the Unit. Ken from New Horizons went through all of the systems and took us for a driving lesson.
And then we drove “The Roan” home.
It took us three days to get home. We stopped in Flying J truck stops over night.
We drove until about 5PM ate supper at the Flying J, since we did not have any food in the camper. Went to bed around 8PM, got up around 3AM and drove. We started in the dark and watched the sunrise on the road.
When we reached home. I parked the 5th wheeler by my office, which has a large parking lot with a raiser wire fence around it. Winterized the water system for the winter.
On the truck I installed a backup camera to the 4th input on the monitor, since most of the time I will be driving the truck without the trailer. A solid Tourneau cover for the bed of the truck that can be folded forward when I am pulling the 5th wheeler. I also installed a Pressure Pro TPMS from Pat and Mice McFall of Pressure Pro System.
The next task is to work on the 5th wheeler.
Hope to see you down the Road!
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