New Baby is Now in our Hands! - Montana Owners Club

eeoski · 04-22-2008, 04:14 PM

We are currently sitting in our new 2009 Anniversary Edition 2955RL! Some immediate news that we wanted to share with you all is that THERE IS A HITCH IN THE BACK!!!!! Hooray! So it appears that the burning question about rear hitches being added to the Monties has been answered (at least for this unit).

We are still trying to wrap our minds around the myriad of "stuff" and associated "how tos" and "why fors" with the new unit. As are the service representatives. I believe we may have mentioned that this is the first year that Lazy Days has had the Montanas in their inventory so everyone is on a steep learning curve. (Thanks to the this forum Doug was able to show him where the Galley Valve is located!) As a result there are a number of things for which they do not have immediate answers for...hey, we are all "newbies" at various points in our lives so we are okay with that...at least so far!

So we've defered actual review of all the mechanicals/features of the unit until tomorrow. We are currently going through the interior of the unit with a fine tooth comb and will start with the exterior tomorrow morning. We are in the delivery lot which has wi-fi access and electric...no cable but great local t.v. reception (their campground does have cable) so we aren't "suffering" from lack of "entertainment"...like there is a lot of time for that!

Thus far, Doug is impressed by the unit (obviously there are tiny things that make you cock your head to one side and go "Now, if I were to the one deciding how this would be done I would have..."

Inside, nothing that jumps up and smacks me upside the head thus far, but I've been busy stowing things away so we don't fall on our faces after tripping over something. Tomorrow morning we start with "exercising" everything and making notes of what needs to be adjusted/fixed before we contemplate taking this off the delivery lot.

We'll take photos and post as time allows. This is going to be a BUSY week with the "shake down" of the unit, taking the 5th Wheel Driver's Course, rearranging the stuff in the unit as we "live" in it and figure out what works best, and reading all the "distructions" on everything.

We'll try to keep you up on the things we learn/find out as the process unfolds (e.g., how to remove and reinstall the window screens)!

Robin (and Doug)

Icehouse · 04-22-2008, 04:53 PM

Have fun with the new toy! I bet y'all will sleep like rocks tonight. No cable? That's too bad. I HAVE CABLE!!!!!! Woo Hoo
T

Waynem · 04-22-2008, 04:55 PM

Robin,
It sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun enjoying your new "baby."

Congratulations. Is it a boy's name, or a girl's name?

nailbender · 04-23-2008, 02:22 AM

Congratulations and enjoy the new Montana. Good to hear about the hitch. Do you know when the 2009 production started?

HamRad · 04-23-2008, 03:25 AM

Isn't it nice! Enjoy. Nothing like moving into a brand new RV.

Sounds like you have everything under control. Make sure everything works like it's supposed to.

We were told at the Spring National Rally in Tucson that the units would soon start coming out with the rear hitch. Sounds as if yours may be one of the first!

Congratulations and see you on down the road.

HamRad

eeoski · 04-23-2008, 05:56 AM

Wayne,

No names yet...(s)he has yet to reveal his/her personality...but I suspect it will be a girl's name as I am SURE she will have a sweet personality and Doug will have another love in his life! (HEE HEE!)

Don/Joy,

Don't know when they started adding this in production but this one came off the production line early this month (about 2 weeks ago) and it is 2009 vice 2008 (as we thought it was going to be....maybe it is with the 2009 production models.

Dennis/MaryKay,

So far the remote control doesn't work and the refrigerator is a gas junkie and doesn't like the electric (already checked the GFCI so its something else). Nice thing is that we can take our time going over everything and they'll fix everything while we are still here.

Thanks for all the nice thoughts!

Robin and Doug

krtam · 04-23-2008, 06:47 AM

Doug and Robin,
So glad to hear the big day(or week?) is here. How wonderful you have so much time to fine tune your new baby. I agree, a girls name. Our last name is Tam, hence our Montana's name is Tammy. Enjoy!!
Sharon

stiles watson · 04-23-2008, 02:01 PM

Congratulations on your new rig. Enjoy!!

Icehouse · 04-23-2008, 02:10 PM

Sharon, aw shucks! And here I thought that was a tribute to me! Ha Ha Ha Ha
Tammy

boylanag · 04-23-2008, 02:12 PM

Congratulations on your new Monty. It is great seeing you so happy. May you stay as happy with yours as we are with ours.

eeoski · 04-24-2008, 04:28 PM

Sorry I've been a BIT quiet...as Tammy said earlier in this thread, while this is all very exciting it is also time consuming and tiring!

I THINK we've tested everything in the unit. Gave the gang here at Lazy Days our "punch list" with a couple of immediate items already having been addressed. (Refrigerator only worked in gas mode...turns out they foam insulated over the receptical/plug so with a little judicious chipping, the two pieces were freed from their prison and the proper connection made; battery cable was not properly fixed and made for possible short; and some wires were flopping around at the end of the electric awning's armature (sp). I emailed the PDI checklist with my notes to "our" service representative and he came by and we went over it so he could translate my observations into "techno speak." As he is scheduled to be off tomorrow and Saturday, his substitute, John stopped by while we were going over the list and introduced himself. So tomorrow the work to tweak and tune this puppy starts!

Today we had our "driving lessons" Doug just got a familiarization as he is used to towing and driving big stuff and I got the driving in the camp ground, driving on I-4 in traffic at speed, and then parking the rig. "S" curves, "push," "pull," let the truck do the work, etc. will be dancing in my head for days! BUT once I practice over and over and over I might actually get proficient in parking somewhere in the vicinity of an assigned camping site! Our instructor, Bobby Nolan, has the patience of a saint! He was so helpful and didn't make me feel like a total nudnik. Highway driving didn't bother me at all (in the Class A I was a nervous wreck within minutes and so stressed at the end of driving even for 15 minutes I was tied up in knots for hours), but I know I will have some serious learning withr regard to moving from lane to lane when traveling the highways. Suggestion for using parking lots for practice is that you use two parking spots, eliminating the middle line and using the two outer lines as the parking site.

Am REALLY glad I had the opportunity to practice (we used a Lazy Days 5th wheel vice our unit (and we even had it all "buttoned up" and ready to go!), but the issue was more about technique and practice rather than having to use our unit to be successful.

Piccola and Lupo have staked out their "digs" as the back of the sofa. They perch up there like little mountain goats and watch the world go by and bark as they deem appropriate. I have draped a blanket over it to protect it for now, but I hope to get information about getting matching upholstery fabric so I can make a removable cover that doesn't standout. I'll let you know how successful I am at achieving that goal after I go to customer service tomorrow.

King size bed is workable for us though space to maneuver around the closet is a bit tight. The mattress and I are not friends (its like sleeping on a slab of marble to me, but Doug likes it). I have purchased a memory foam topper from CW (couldn't wait) to test out, but it took over 24 hours just to get it to completely decompressed. Tonight is test run night. Last night I slept on the sleeper couch to ensure it worked properly...must have as I actually slept AND it was still inflated when I woke up! (Like I said, I think we've tested out everything.)

I'll jot down some of our immediate observations/impressions about the unit in a separate thread, but overall we're both pretty satisfied/impressed by what we've observed/experienced thus far.

Thanks for all the kind words and information. Will keep you posted!

Robin

OBTW I still think that PDI Checklist is the "bomb"!

Mrs. CountryGuy · 04-25-2008, 02:59 AM

One word:

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

krtam · 04-25-2008, 08:43 AM

Robin,
WOW, you should be an expert now. We could sure use lessons in backing in to a campsite. Right now we will pay extra for a pull-thru site, if available. We are going to the Wine Festival in Paso Robles, CA in two weeks and we are assigned a back-in site at Wine Country RV. Oh joy!! I think I will let our friend help Kevin and keep my mouth shut.(Shh don't tell Kevin) Oh well, they say experience is the best teacher. Have fun with your new baby. Any ideas on names.
Sharon

Fire1 · 04-25-2008, 04:02 PM

WE ARE OTTA HERE!
We are leaving Lazydays tomorrow (Saturday) with "Bella" and I hope "Bruto" and her get along well on the road. After the lessons the emission system on the Dodge says its full of soot and needs to be run for a long trip to clean it out.

We are going to do both highway and country roads so we will learn it all together.
By the end of the day we hope to be at our country site and hooked up to her new home.

Doug

Icehouse · 04-25-2008, 04:27 PM

Have fun!!!! Bella is that her new name? If so, I like it!!!
Let us know when y'all get home and how she does on the road.
Tammy

eeoski · 04-26-2008, 12:53 PM

As Carol said, WAAHOOO! Bella is home! No problems with towing...Bruto was kinda like, "I have NO idea what you are talking about! Towing, there's nothing back there but a couple of rocks!" Now Doug and Robin KNEW Bella was back there...especially when braking! However, neither of us were in the "OMG" stage. Thise weekend there is a big bikers' event going on in Leesburg, Florida so we saw lots of bikers and, of course, bikes which made for an even more scenic ride than what we already had in store with our drive home being mainly on country highways.

We're currently sitting inside and cooling off a bit (Its been 85 plus degrees today...that's fahreinheit Miss Tammy! LOL) before doing the final leveling exercise. Front to back is pretty dead on, but side to side needs about a "bubble's" worth of of adjustment. Dad and Mom are out to dinner right now (they have 10 acres adjacent to our property) and when they return we'll exploit Dad's leveling expertise to get Bella in her final set-up for the site.

(This is our first foray with using the aircard and it is sweet! Don't think this thing is going to get returned after the 30 day trial period thank you very much!)

We'll be uploading pictures tomorrow sometime after we get them taken here on Bella's new home turf and with her set up in all of her "glory!"

Glad you approve of the name Tammy. We figure there is a nice "Ying and Yang" thing going on with the truck being Bruto (Ugly) and the Monty being "Bella" (Beauty).

Sharon - "Expert Novice" is a bit more apt a description of where I am with regard to parking Bella! That being said, the guidelines provided in setting up for parking are pretty simple (read, I can actually remember them)...presuming you are parking in a site on the left side of the road, you pull the rig over to the left side of the road as close to the edge of the road as possible (even onto the none paved part if the site and/or road is narrow); when your knees to hips are even with the far edge of the entrance to your site turn right and go as far as you can across the road and then turn left (you are moving slowly forward at the same time) until the 5th wheel and the truck resemble a "soft "s"" (or boomarang) with the axle of the 5th wheel just past the far side of the entrance (where you turned the truck to the right to go across the road). THEN you work on "dancing" with your trailer (the instructor's words) by turn the wheel of the truck as far to the right as possible and the going slowly in reverse and correcting slowly as needed by turning the wheel left or right (what they describe as pushing/following or pulling). Its easy once you figure it out and do it about 2000 times, but I figure I CAN do it if/as needed, it just might take me an hour or two and I will serve as the in house entertainment for the campground that day! (Keeping as sense of humor is key here I would say!)

Good luck on keeping your mouth shut! Keeping your eyes shut will probably help you as well! (Don't worry, I won't tell him, but you never know about the rest of this gang! LOL) After all the adventures we've had in our lives with traveling around the world, I've finally learned that stressing really doesn't add a thing to the experience, but if you can see the humor in what's going on and laugh about it during or afterwards, then nothing is lost and much is gained.

Having experienced friends/family is wonderful so I am glad you all have Kevin to help out. Oh, don't forget my other mantra "Breath in, breath out." it works wonders! :-)

Enjoy yourselves at the wine festival and have a glass for us please!

Well, Mom and Dad just called and are on their way home with Mom's cousin and her husband for coffee and to see Bella "in situ" so I guess I better sign off for now.

Robin

Waynem · 04-26-2008, 05:01 PM

Robin,
I could use some of those lessons on backing. You make it sound to easy. I have to back into the driveway when we want to load up and I'm on a street where 3 cars could just barely fit side by side. So figure that as about 24 or 25 feet. Once, I think I put the front wheel across the neighbors grass across the street, but I denied it. Who? Me? So come on over and show me how it's done.

You are going to have fun showing it off. The first reaction you get is, "Oh my gosh! It's so big!"

Icehouse · 04-26-2008, 07:07 PM

Robin, Bernie's first reaction when I told him the name of your truck and Montana, "That's the first mobile B & B I've ever heard of!!"

85 F is wayyyyy toooooo hottttt forrrr meeeeee!!!!!

Y'all have fun, smile big when everybody tells you how pretty Bella is and enjoy!
Tammy

eeoski · 04-28-2008, 04:42 PM

Okay, let's see if I followed the directions correctly for tinypic:

Photo 1 - Bruto and Bella in the Delivery Lot in Lazy Days, Seffner, Florida

Photo 2 - Bella in her new home site (front view) in Umatilla, Florida

Photo 3 - Bella in her new home site (side view) in Umatilla, Florida

Hopefully, you all are smarter than me and can figure out how to find/see the photos now! Otherwise, I will need a technical "intervention" from someone smarter at this than me! If I screwed up and this needs to be removed by our tolerant moderators no problem! (And please accept my apologies in advance!)

Robin

eeoski · 04-28-2008, 04:43 PM

Okay, why did one print out the right size and the others didn't? They all came from the same source/camera?

Robin

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