An Update on our Experience!!! - Montana Owners Club

exav8tr · 11-01-2007, 10:45 AM

Well, it has been 5 months since leaving Alaska and I just wanted to give an update on this "Fulltiming" thing.

We added several items to our house as you can see in our sig. I am pleased to report that all of these are doing well and no problems to date.

Warranty Items: Still waiting on Tireco to reimburse me for the funky Mission tires, they keep saying "waiting for a signature before releasing a check". Will check on this later today. Shower leak was fixed after the second time in to dealer, both in Oregon. Power cord seperated at ends and was replaced by a dealer in Oregon. One day/night shade was replaced by dealer in Oregon. I believe this was all the warranty work done so far. Our warranty did expire in Sept so I guess we will have to use our extended warranty for anything else. I also had to redo the closet door railing in bedroom that was falling down. It Just needed some larger screws. Works great now. Did repair the wiring harnesses myself. Two 4 1/2 inch door hinges and some bolts and a little time. I also made a pull down door below fridge for storing vac hoses.

Installed Mor-Ryde hitch pin myself. Noticed some reduction in chucking. Had air bags added this leg and will try them out when we pull out of here on 19 Nov. Also had TV tires upgraded to 265's. We'll see how that goes also.

Mail forwarding from Alaska has been no problems. Medication refills a little hassle from one Wal-Mart in Oregon (told me would take 4 days to get a transfer as they were very busy), just went to another Wal Mart for that bottle. Hernia surgery has me laid up a little at the present but saw doc today and she said it looked good and I should be ready to travel by 19 Nov.

We have made our enrollment fees back from Good Sam and Passport America so far, have SKP's to go and have just joined 1000 trails, stayed for a week at their expense in Oregon. Staying on military bases helps defray the costs also. Here at Travis, it is $17.00 a night for full hookups and 50 amp power and cable tv.

The biggest craw in our throats so far is how a CG is judged and what our expectations are. For example, when a CG calls itself a resort we would like to SEE a resort. This hasn't been the case so far. I'm still trying to figure out what makes a resort a resort. CG's that flat out lie about their services are another. For example: Cable TV available, yes but only certain sites and a couple IF you have over 100' of cable and are willing to stretch it out across a road. I'm sure, with a litle experience, we will be able to weed out some of these parks. We're not looking for country clubs just some honesty in advertising.

On the more positive side: We are enjoying ourselves tremendously as we travel and enjoy seeing the sites. Also on the positive side: OUR APOLLO 1/2 time Oven is still working, We have had no strange smells, no electrical meltdowns, no black water tank probs, no critter problems (although we did have to spray for ants where we are at now). Shackles still look good and had the brakes (Monty) adjusted somewhile back). I hope I am not speaking too soon.

Since leaving Alaska we have put 12,000 miles on our TV and I would say about 7-8,000 on the monty.

Upgrades on horizon include: New LCD HD TV and surround sound system (presently working this), TV and elec outlets in basement, relocating the light and fan switch INSIDE the bowl area, removing sofa sleeper and going with two recliners only, adding small desk for MY laptop, laminate flooring as carpet wears out, Heavier axles on Monty, (7,000 pounders).

I will add that the MOC has, and continues to be, a GREAT source of info to me and Cathy. We have met several MOCers so far and will be meeting more of you as time goes on.

Thanks for allowing me to post this update. Any questions, just ask...

Phil & Cathy

Glenn and Lorraine · 11-01-2007, 12:42 PM

Phil,
Into each life some rain must fall. For some it's just a light drizzle for others it's a down pour. To me it sounds like you and Cathy got into a few showers but there's clearing over the horizon.

Really really glad you two are enjoying yourselves and your full timing lifestyle.

richfaa · 11-03-2007, 03:18 AM

Phil we are with you on the CG rating issue..The term 'resort" allows the CG to charge more money. When we see that term we keep on going. Helen gets on the phone and grills the C.G that we are heading for on exactly what they have and what we expect to see when we get there..it usually works although we have had folks with chainsaws and clippers clearing the site. We will always ask if the C.G has insurance to cover damage to our camper caused by trees, branches or corners the 3400 can not get around. That will usually scare them away. Everything else sound sounds good.you have about the miles we have on our 3400 and we are now feeling confident that we have all the glitchs ironed out..although we did note a leak in our hydraulic line near the pump yesterday and had a chat with Lippert. They assure me that they will "take care of me" as soon as I can identify the exact problem...Enjoy...

rogue · 11-03-2007, 07:43 AM

Phil, Nice update. Good information even for some of us not so fulltimers. And totally agree, a wealth of information and knowledge here. Safe travels.

HamRad · 11-03-2007, 08:02 AM

Phil and Cathy,

Thanks for the update. Good to hear that things are going fairly well and you are enjoying your new adventure.

We agree with you on the CG thing. We've been fairly happy with the ratings and info we've found in the major travel books but there are some glaring errors from time to time. I think experience will help us all to learn to deal with this issue.

Enjoy it while you can and we hope to see you folks again soon.

Dennis and Mary Kay

simonsrf · 11-03-2007, 12:13 PM

Phil and Cathy,

Looks like you have fallen into the perfect lifestyle just like us. We have those not so great days, but MOST of the time life is pure heaven.

We found this site for RV Park reviews. It is pretty accurate, the biggest problems usually are with the quality of the management, and the subjective content...one persons luxury is another's purgatory.

http://tinyurl.com/y5z4yb

See you at Quartzsite, only 76 more days!

Hope this is helpful, let us know.

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