Soon-to-be-Newbie

[Sharhu]

My husband and I grew up tent camping, and after we got married we tented, then moved up to a pop-up and then a 25' travel trailer. After the kids went off to school and out on their, the trailer was getting pretty old so we sold it and bought timeshares instead. Now with retirement 3-4 years away, we have been planning on getting back into "camping" but with more luxury than we had before. We hope to do a long cross country tour when we retire, maybe even be snowbirds for part of the winter, and of course lots of weekend or weeklong trips. My husband has always thought of a motor home, I always pictured a travel trailer. Then we discovered 5th wheels and decided that was the happy middle that fit what we thought we would want to do. We had discoverd floor plans we liked, even a model or two that we liked. My husband's '94 blazer was going to need to be at some point in the next year so we had researched what we might like and what we might need to tow it.

Well maybe things happen for a reason. We had some spare time and stopped in a local RV dealer to look at some RVs, which also confirmed our decison a 5th wheel. While we were there the salesman gave us a tip about a truck that would pull a 5th wheel that was going to be for sale. That tip lead to us purchasing a beautiful, low mileage 2009 Ford F350 (even has the hitch for a 5th wheel) at a price that was too good to walk away from. We bought it last Saturday morning and take delivery this Saturday. It was such a nice day last Saturday that after we bought the truck we decided to take a drive to another RV dealer that looked like it had some models with the floor plan we thought we might like some day. Well, we left there as new owners of a new 2012 Montana 3455 that was to us, from our research, just too good a price to walk away from. We pick it up in a little over a week.

We are very excited but nervous as well. What we thought we weren't going to be doing for another year or two, just seemed to come together for us right now. Just hoping we weren't too hasty but we love the truck and the trailer is everything we could possibly want and more. Although when we went out to celebrate with a drink later on, we looked at each other with a little bit of panic that maybe we were really crazy. We won't have time for more than a couple weekends this year as we had other vacations already planned, but we are looking forward to some weeklong trips in the spring. Hopefully by then we will have things mastered. I am so glad I found this forum. We are probalby going to be needing a lot of advise and help. Now if I could only get rid of one or two of our timeshares.........

Sharon

[Bill-N-Donna]

Congratulations on the 350 and the 3455 and welcome aboard!

Be sure and check out the forum really good. There are many postings that can be found with a little searching. This is a vault of information that can help you with most everything needed. There are also rallies that can be attended throughout the year and a lot can be learned at one of those. Pick out an area you would like to visit, find a rally and come join in on all the fun.

[camper4]

Congrats on your purchases. Exciting, isn't it?
You have picked a good site to get helpful info from. I have reaped many benefits from this site. Lots of good, knowledgable people who want to help you.
Enjoy!

[DarMar]

Welcome to the MOC family and as well in our case fellow 3455 owners. We think you have acquired a sweet pair with the 350/3455 combo. You will glean a wealth of information and friendship during your time here, enjoy and keep us posted!!!

[H. John Kohl]

Congratulations,
I suggest you go to this web page and check out the pre delivery inspection (PDI) lists.
I like this PDI.

[CORattler]

We purchased ours 3 years earlier than originally planned!
Who knows what the future will bring???
Every day is a gift... Enjoy it and your new rig!
"he who waits is lost""

[Rondo]

What a better way to meet MOC members and learn more about your unit than to join us at the Fall Rally in Goshen coming up next month! There's still spaces left for you and we'd sure like to meet you! Just go to Fall Rally site and sign up! YOu can go on the factory tour to see how you new unit was made! Not just being a newbie here on the forum but a newbie at the Fall Rally too! What a way to go and learn!! Welcome aboard by the way!

[DQDick]

quote:Originally posted by Rondo

What a better way to meet MOC members and learn more about your unit than to join us at the Fall Rally in Goshen coming up next month! There's still spaces left for you and we'd sure like to meet you! Just go to Fall Rally site and sign up! YOu can go on the factory tour to see how you new unit was made! Not just being a newbie here on the forum but a newbie at the Fall Rally too! What a way to go and learn!! Welcome aboard by the way!

X2 & welcome!

[Sharhu]

Thank you so much for the welcome postings. We are so excited but as I said still nervous. My husband has spent the past couple days dealing with insurance for the F35O which we cannot just add onto our current auto policy and which evidently is not the same as for say an F250 would have been. Locating storage since we cannot keep the RV in our driveway or yard all the time has been a little hassle since we hadn't planned to purchace an RV this soon. Oh well live and learn. We will deal with it all. Along with all that. for Pennsylvcania sounds like he may need to get a class A license which he has already gotten the application for a permit for. Whilee he deals with all of this, I dream about all the places I want to go..,..

[bigskyjimmy]

Seriously!...a Class A CDL???, WOW it must be one of the few states that require that at the Most you would think a class "B" which is easier to get but still not a cakewalk I know I have a Class B from my previous job, I bet %80 of people driving a 5th or a class A do not have a CDL or even drivin a big rig before,I always found it amazing that I see 85 year old men and women driving 43 ft RV's

[seahunter]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new truck and trailer. Don't be afraid to ask questions or contribute as well. There a plenty of folks who can help and at least someone who has had the same question and knows the answer! Great place to bounce ideas off others as well...

[Petmoose]

Welcome. You sound a lot like us except for the time shares. This forum is a great resource of information. Good luck.

[CamillaMichael]

Congratulations! Hope your new Montana serves you well.

[Steve and Susie]

Congrats on your great purchases, sounds like you have a winning combination for sure. In the past I have had Motor Homes, Pop Ups and Pull Behinds in more than one different combination. While in Florida we traded a 25 ft the wheel for a 37 ft Montana and couldn't be happier. Our biggest problem when returning home was, the add on part of the cement drive we had added for the 25 footer, was in front of the adding side garage for the boat and mower. To park the 37 footer on the cement, with the front down riggers on the cement, I couldn't get the mower or boat out of the garage. We were fortunante to have Alice Springs RV Park in Ionia, MI, 20 miles away, contact us to host their Country Jams on Saturdays, for a fulltime lot for the trailer. Worked out perfect. Little things will work out, and you will love your days and nights in your Montana. Welcome, and Happy Trails, Steve and Susie

[Sharhu]

We brought our Montana home last weekend. Uneventful trip home, but took forever to get it backed into our driveway, thank heavens for a neighbor who came over to help guide it in. Now it takes up most of our driveway but that is just temporary until we get it set up and make a couple weekend trips then it will go to offsite storage. We plan to set up a pad on the side of the house at some point to keep it, just haven't got that ready yet.

I love it. While we didn't cook in it yet, we did take dinner out to the RV the first night and ate dinner while listening to music and watching the fireplace:-) I've been spending my time with the fun stuff: getting kitchen supplies and linens set up, etc., while my husband has been in charge of getting the other stuff like water pressure regularors, circuit protectors, and other necessary equipment. Still trying to decide on the Star Warranty or not. I have read all the postings good and bad about extended warranty but i think we are leaning towards getting it, if for no reason but peace of mind.

I have set up our first trip for Labor Day weekend to a little campground in Pamona near Atlantic City. I was able to get a pull through site, it is not far from a beach we go to and we know the roads so there shouldn't be any unexpected low overpasses. On the way we are stopping at a big open old parking lot near us to practice some backing up and maneuvering. The following weekend we are heading to a gampground in Lancaster, PA for a dance weekend and I was able to secure a pull through site for that weekend also. That may be the only trips we get in for a while as we already had vacations scheduled for September and October at our timeshares. But maybe we can sneak in another weekend the end of October.......

[HOOK]

Hope you enjoy your 3455 as much as we do ours. We are well pleased . Pleasant travels.