We bought our '98 Pleasure-Way Excel TW last Oct. 1st.... traded up to 2000 model Excel MP3 last month due to needing more seats/belts (baby inbound).
In that 8 month period we have spent 13 nites in our rig.... six - 1 nite at a time shopping/sightseeing excursions, with one vacation trip to Florida lasting 7 nites.
2 nites at rv parks in Tunica, MS and Branson, MO
1 nite at state park in AR
4 nites at Fort Wilderness, Walt Disney World
6 nites at Wal-Mart's in MO, MS, AL and FL
There happens to be a Supercenter about a block from Van City in St. Louis. Twice after staying on their lot, we met our "neighbors" next morning at the dealership.
Without exception our Wal-Mart nites were late arrivals, getting on their lot between 10pm and 3am, always leaving fairly early next am, between 7 to 10. Only once have we failed to buy something from our hosts.
I like to go buy $20 worth of stuff I don't really need for the van :-)
*This Message was edited on 04-Jun-02 09:52 PM by ARcruiser*
* This post was
edited 07/05/07 07:24am by ARcruiser *
We have a '95 Roadtrek 190 Versatile on a Chevy chassis and the two of us spend up to 90 days a year on the road. Sometimes we tour for up to a 30 day period. In seven years we have been in every continental state and all the provinces of Canada except Newfoundland and the van now has 92,000 miles on it. Go to " http://members.aol.com/howgregg " to see some of our travels.
ARcruiser, not nearly enough, but that's about to change because my wife is retiring from her teaching job at the end of the month. In the two years we've had our unit, we've gone away for 10 days each year during the Ontario school break in March, and probably spent about 20 nights during the summer exploring our own diverse province.
Also, to respond to you regarding the other thread, yes indeed, the Chevy Roadtrek is very attractive from the outside. Having said that, I'm going to try to keep our Dodge as long as possible!
How Gregg, I really enjoy your stories about your interesting travels, and hope to emulate some of your trips real soon.
Jerry & Susie
1996 Roadtrek 190 Versatile (Dodge 5.2 L)
FMCA F390585 Trees are being destroyed through the transportation of invasive insects and diseases in firewood. For more information, please visit www.dontmovefirewood.org
In case you haven't noticed, I'm bored today and decided to bump this up again.
I think Ricky is gonna set a mark that we will not reach for quite some time
howgregg no longer has his rig
what about you, VE3ESN ?
Sugar Daddy got a bigger rig, right?
And we have only spent 1 nite out in the 200 Versatile so far... at a campground in Branson.
(having a "why do we have this thing?" moment)
2 More Questions:
Do you use your rigs shower? We do every day we are out.
Do you use the cooktop? Only once for us - but have used the microwave quite a bit, well not really... we seem to "eat out" while traveling.... but still just the once for the cooktop.
*This Message was edited on 03-May-03 12:56 PM by arcruiser*
We have had our PW since November 29,2002. We have taken 4 trips of 2-4 nights duration, all to State Parks, which are all within 2-3 hours of home and accessable during the winter months - you know, the California lifestyle!
We do not use our shower - it is for emergency situations. All State Parks in California have hot showers for a small fee (25 cents for 3-5 minutes). Once we begin travelling out-of-state we will make other arrangements, like KOAs, etc.
We have used our stove inside once with the exception of just heating water, etc. - coming from a long background of camping we prepare all our meals outside on the good old Coleman propane stove which we store in back underneath the sofa.
*This Message was edited on 03-May-03 01:31 PM by PUPTENT*
PUPTENT - Barry and Wife
2003/02 Pleasure-Way Ford Excel RD V8
Novato, California (SF Bay Area)
Unfortunately, we have spent nearly enough time in it. We still have to work.
We did use it about 20 nights last fall, 1 or 2 nights a a time. We have season tickets to Va Tech football and we go up and spend the a night or two. That's what's so great about a class B. We spend the night in the large commuter lot on the other side of campus where other RV's spend the night. However, in the morning we just drive over to our parking space in the regular parking lot to tailgate. The RT is a great vehicle for tailgating.
Now, I have two propane outlets on the tank so I can hook up two grills at one time, or a grill and a deep fryer at the same time. It's also nice that we have our private "facilities" and do not have to use the portajohns that are set up in the various lots.
After the game, we just back over to the commuter lot and spend the night.
Erroll, Mary, Duffy the Badger Dog plus "Ollie"
2009 HiLo Towlite 2209T
2005 F150 Supercab 4x4, w/ 5.4L
In 2002 (30 nights):
March: 2 nights at Lake Fayette, Texas
April: 2 nights at O.H. Ivie Reservoir, Texas
May: Husband and a buddy spent 2 nights at Lake Fork, Texas
June: 14 nights on a trip to Colorado
July: 2 nights for Hubby & a buddy on Toledo Bend, East Texas
October: 2 nights at the State Fair of Texas Parking Lot for the Texas/Oklahoma Football game in Dallas
AND 3 night at O.H. Ivie Reservoir
December: 5 nights at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in East Texas
2003 13 so far!):
January: 2 nights at Stillhouse Hollow Lake near Belton, Texas
February: 2 nights at Lake Fayette, Texas.
March: 5 nights at Lake Fork, Texas
April: 2 nights at Pace Bend, Austin, Texas
May: 2 nights at Stillhouse Hollow, Belton, Texas AND
Have reservations again at Stillhouse for May 16-18 and at Sam Rayburn for our 30th wedding anniversary in June!
Yes, we use our shower, about every other day.
We use the cooktop but since getting the RoadTrip Grill in February we use it more and the cooktop less.
*This Message was edited on 04-May-03 03:26 PM by GizmosMom*
Marilyn w/ Joe, 2000 Xplorer Class B van, usually pulling a Ranger bass boat.
Smudge, (in photo) a Shih Tzu/Yorkie Mix and Gizmo is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge
We bought our 190 just before the 2002 Labour Day weekend. Spent 14 nights in it until the campgrounds closed in late October. Spent one night in it this year, with a three-night trip planned in 2 weeks. I suspect that we'll spend 30-40 nights in it this year.
I refuse to calculate the cost per night, even though I'm an accountant by profession. Between the depreciation and the opportunity cost associated with tying up this much cash, it's probably in the Cdn$300 - Cdn$500 per night range. That would get you a very nice hotel room in a major city. However, the hotel probably wouldn't let you roast hot dogs over a campfire in your room, the light pollution would prevent you from pointing out the Milky Way to your son as you gaze at the sky and talk about everything under it, and you probably wouldn't see any 'critters' at dusk as you rode your bike along a deserted trail. That's the "priceless" part of the MasterCard ad.
We've used the shower 3 times. Once for the novelty and twice because we had to. Worked great (once I levelled the van!), but the campground showers (if available) are more convenient.
We use the microwave if we have shore power, the cooktop if not.
Bought the 200, used, Sept 2002. Sold the P'Way MP3 the day after "The Little Man" hit the ground, in August. We wanted a 4 seater up front due to the baby.
If I had it to do over again, don't know that I should have bought another rig at that time.... We ain't gettin' out much with him around. We were just beginning to enjoy overnite eating out/shopping trips etc... I really don't know - seems like it may be a couple of years before he can really enjoy stuff, and the recently (last week) purchased minivan seems to be better suited for our current needs. We are in "thinking bout what to do" mode right now - trying to decide which vehicle is the "one too many".
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I forgot I already answered this, so I'll just paste my second answer here.......
pmorris, as "The Little Man" was approaching, and us having traded for the Pleasure-Way MP3, I kept feeling we needed 4 seats up front - either an MP4 P'Way, or RT Versatile. I placed an ad in local paper and rvtraderonline. He hit the ground August 29th, and I sold the MP3 August 30th. She (the new Mom) was not happy, having visions of happy family on the road - so search was on.... about 2 weeks later, I found a really good deal on the 200 Versatile, and flew out to North Carolina to inspect and drive it home.
We do like the 200 V. We would both have preferred having another P'way (MP4), but due to the tax situation, had to purchase another rig soon, or lose the sales tax credit from the rig I sold.... and the 200 was too good a sure thing to pass on, hoping to find a MP4.
We would still like to have a MP4, we really liked the cabinetry, fit and finish, and stoage/cubby areas near the driver. To us, the Pleasure-Way is a better "touring" rig. Visibility for driver was a lot better to side and rear than in the 200.
That said, I firmly and strongly believe the Roadtrek is a better "camper" than the P'Way. AND I believe the Chevy chassis is easier to drive than the Dodge. The RT has vasts amounts of storage compared to P'Way overall, for various reasons. We do use our shower, and prefer the aisle shower (as long as the floor is sloping right). The 200 is a bigger rig overall - I guess the biggest you can get without going B+ or C.
I would say we would prefer the P'Way MP4 for our normal "local" driving... taking Mabel with us in the summer (generator and A/C), shopping, visiting relatives, take out meals in the van, just loafing for the day.
....and I can see us being a lot more comfy in the 200 V, if we are doing a long drive, staying overnite or two weeks, etc.
Since purchasing the PW 2/22/03 we have spent 5 nights. Since purchasing the PW it has also rained non-stop in Oregon; can't ever remember it being THIS wet!! Looking forward to using our awning someday...for shade!
In trying to match mortgage to mileage, our goal is to put no more than 1000 miles per month on Vincent. This rig has got to last! Being a weekend rig only, this formula seems to fit our lifestyle so far. And most campgrounds are less than 100 miles away...
...casinos, too 'Free' overnight stays...if you can stay away from the slots!
John and Annette
'03 Ford Excel Pleasure-Way, Blue/White TD w/ V10
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