BEFORE you read any further…… This is a blog. There are no ads, I do not get ANYTHING for your clicks. If I post a link to a product I do not make money. I am JUST writing about what I’m doing with our camper. This is not a “business”…….. Also, if you see blatant errors or bad info please let me know! Enjoy.

Actually, technically it’s The Castle II. Before this there was The Dragonship, a diesel pusher, and before that there was The Castle (I) a 2011-ish Heartland Cyclone. (And before that there was a Lance truck camper, a Cougar travel trailer and a 1976 Coachmen class A, but I digress).

Over the years it seems RV shopping comes down to: Identifying the type you want (class A/B/C Fiver or Travel Trailer), identifying the budget, deciding on one or more floor plans within the price level, locating candidates within an increasing radius of home, taking a look and making a deal.

We decided to go back to a truck with trailer for safety. (There are no crash standards for motorhomes and no airbags. When the appliances, TV’s and cabinets start flying it gets ugly, fast. We all know how well they are attached……) And we wanted space, a lot, so that dictated a fiver. We like toy haulers for the storage in back and the completely separate guest quarters with head. The biggest beef with all the TH layouts out there was the sacrificing of the “conversation pit”. As little as one love seat with a large TV two feet in front of your face, or the linear 6 seater couch where all but two are staring at the kitchen island. (This was how our former Cyclone was and the feature I learned to hate the most). But there were a few layouts that actually had everything plus a living room. The Road Warrior 430 came out on top.

At an RV dealer 35 miles from home, in fact, where there was a 2020 with minimal evidence of use. I’m guessing once or twice. Now this was COVID year 2 and we all know what happened to supply and demand and ultimately prices. Fortunately the dealer had plenty of inventory at this time, in fact there were new ones arriving as we were looking at this one and they were scratching their heads where to put them. They also hadn’t cleaned ours yet, and it was missing the awning. I made them an offer “as is”, they came back with a counter, we made a deal. They insisted on a state inspection, and leak checking the gas system. No argument from me there…

So, how was the “as is” unit? Normally one does a Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI) and goes over everything with the dealer before signing the paperwork. Any defects need to be repaired. I wasn’t willing to play that game as I don’t want my unit sitting at a dealership waiting for a $5 piece of plastic. Avoiding this process is how I got quite a few dollars off. I do my own work and try to keep going while working around breakdowns. Well, on this particular unit everything worked and I mean EVERYTHING. All I had to do was evict a spider from the gas part of the water heater and put a new battery in the smoke detector. Amazing.

Now, this doesn’t mean there are no projects in the works. It will need a few mods and the usual maintenance. I will document most of that on these pages. The journey continues.