Welcome Home!

We wondered if this day would ever happen, but it finally did!  On March 13 we drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan to take delivery of our new motor home a Newmar Ventana 3709 at Midway RV Center. 

The first day was spent with a one of the technicians as we went through all the systems and interior of the new coach.  The heating/cooling systems including the Oasis hot water heating system, the generator, the inverter, electrical systems plus the engine and the Freightliner chassis  are all things I don't really understand, yet.  Luckily I have a husband who has been studying all of this for the past several months and since he has a mechanically savvy  brain, thrives on learning about these types of things. Now the full size residential refrigerator, convection microwave, electric induction cook top, dishwasher, washer and dryer (yes! we've got all the bells and whistles!) the solid surface counters, and wood grain tile floors are things my brain can grasp much better!  There was a slight issue with the absence of speakers for the sound system, but that was resolved as soon as possible.  We spent a couple of nights camped in the back of their parking lot to make sure we worked out any kinks. Luckily, there were few!  Winter returned to Michigan while we were there, so we found out we could live comfortably in 15 degree weather! Hopefully, that won't happen often!

We headed back home on Wednesday afternoon and pulled into the driveway of our "sticks and bricks" house late that evening.  This would be "our" driveway for only a few hours, since we were scheduled to close on the sale of our home to our daughter and son-in-law the next day.  But we had several days ahead of us of moving our few remaining possessions (that weren't going into storage) into the motor home. 

It was a daunting task when looking at the stacks of storage boxes, clothes and miscellaneous  that had to be moved into our new home.  At one point I didn't think it could happen.  But we did it!  This picture is of probably only about one third of what had to be stowed away in the storage bays and interior of the coach! I even have my sewing machine and it's embroidery arm plus supplies. (Though now that we are here, I realize I forgot fabric 😏) Pretty amazing!

So once we were pretty much moved in, we vacated our little driveway and left the house in the possession of the new owners.  Our next stop would be my father-in-law's driveway, where we've added some extra rock to make it wider and  a nice area to park when we are in the area.  We spent about two weeks parked there.  Dennis worked on the entertainment system, the wifi system (wifi Ranger and two hotspots) and I did a tiny bit of decorating with some different pillows and new throw rugs.  We also had several non-rv related appointments (doctor, accountant, bank, financial) to take care of.  I also enjoyed a girls' day out with a good friend and we spent time with family and friends before we would "hit the road". 

 

These are just a few photos of the interior of our new home.  As you can tell, it is already beginning to look lived in.  Note the crock pot and Yeti cups 😀  One thing I love about this coach is the flooring we upgraded.  It is a wood grain tile and it will probably never show a small scratch or spill.  Much more our style than the shiny white marble look tile that was the standard.  I also love the dishwasher. I hadn't even thought of adding one until our salesman, Kyle, suggested it.  After all, this is our home now and if building a new "sticks and bricks" we wouldn't have left it out.  The washer and dryer is a stacking unit in the corner of the back bath and so far has worked well.  But it does give the RV a good shake when in the spin mode!

Last Sunday, April 2 was our launch into true full time RV living!  We said our goodbyes to our family hosts, kids and grandkids and headed south.  After one night at Levi Jackson State Park in London, Kentucky we headed onto our first destination, Pigeon Forge, TN.  We are at Up the Creek RV Camp for the rest of this week and researching our next destination.  We have to remind our selves this is our life now, and not a vacation. Even though there are things  to do and places to explore we can take our time and do as much or as little as we want. 

Thanks for stopping by to see how this adventure is going.  I promise to update here when I can!