Home is an RV...

Home is a 30ft, Class C (truck cab with added body all in one) 2005, Four Winds, Majestic RV. It is based on Ford E450, 6.8L, V10 puller (RV speak). They tell me this is the biggest petrol engine made and as such you will not be surprise to hear that on a good day it will do 10 MPG (downhill and kept at 55 MPH max on the cruise control). Mountains are bad days!

It was a Cruise America ex rental with 100,000mls on the clock but completely refurbished and looks pretty good inside and out. We also added a 20ft retractable (manual) awning at the time we bought it as the shade is a life saver when it is 30C.

All new fittings beds, seats, shower, toilet, curtains basically everything they can and do replace during a normal rental life. Couple that with a year engine / transmission warranty, a really good idiots guide and the support of their emergency help people it was very good value and hopefully will prove easy enough to sell on. The good thing is that it is pretty much idiot proof with no over engineering, slide-outs, minimum electronics. They spec their own fleet and use ‘bullet proof’ quality fittings (fridge, generator, furnace (heater)) that are built to last and should give long service for min hassle rental.

When we bought it (there were 6 or more to choose from, 25 and 30ft models) the guy gave us all the normal rental kit of four people (cups, plates, utensils, chairs, sheets, pots pans etc) so we have pretty much a home on wheels from day one. Add to this all the bits that Auntie Heather has given or loaned us (sheets, towels, tins, crocks, bedspread, tools) with more tools and goodies (toaster, boards, drill, battery charger, rope, cable, spares) from Lynn and Lamar we have a mobile home that weights something like 10tons. However, we have still spent a small fortune on bits to make living a bit easier (bedroom carpet, bath mat, storage boxes, food mixer, mirrors, patio mat etc) mainly at Walmart (Asda).


Petrol is around $2.70 per US gallon (7 pints) so approx 60p per litre in UK terms. To fill the tank is an investment of $150 (£100) 60 US gallons for around 600mls travel. Given we have already covered 3000mls you don’t have to be a genius to work out the fuel will be a major cost for our round trip of say 20 – 30,000mls.

These RV’s are big… ours at only 30ft (which is longer than our flat!) is dwarfed by the 40ft+ Class A’s (converted 40 seat coaches). Some are 45ft long and tow a 2 level car/golf cart/garden shed transporter behind. But as you know everything is big over here… don’t get me started on the size of some of the people – it has to been seen to be believed.

It is a bit like driving a bus and more like reversing a tank. With a turning circle requiring a 3 lane highway U-turns are fun and reversing it anywhere can be a tricky operation especially with low obstacles (swimming pool fences comes to mind). Reversing it into a narrow camp site with trees, ditches, water pipes and power posts onto your levelling board in the dark requires teamwork and walkie-talkies! (Thank You, David). It is not something you take into towns – we have, Charleston SC – but it is scary and easy to get somewhere where you can’t get in or out of. NB it requires 12ft height clearance, 3 lanes to U turn and blind spots on both sides with very limited rear view. So we got 2 bikes and yes, you guessed it, the bike rack (Thank You Julie and David) now makes it 35ft long!

Having made it sound big – it is – but also it is easy to drive… although a bit nervous at first Jane has driven it and reversed it in an RV lot. Just like me the first time leaves you with white knuckles from all that gripping the wheel tight and a bad headache from all that concentrating!
Inside it has everything you need for life support with fresh water, grey (shower etc) and black tanks and heat and light. It has a separate full size double bedroom, separate (big) shower and separate little toilet / bathroom - Imagine going to toilet in a broom cupboard... With a 3 ring stove and combination convection/microwave Jane has cooked some amazing meals and even a cake! At the moment the camp fire thing is also giving us extra variety of food and entertainment but sure that will wear off when everything we own smells of wood smoke.

There is never a boring moment with over a dozen ‘pods’ along the side of the RV to look in and play with. They contain everything from the LPG tank to storage for your wood – love a good fire! As with any house things need servicing (generator, water heater etc) and repairing… our grey water tank developed a leak but Cruise America have been brilliant and have ordered a new one and will fit it when we are in that bit of Florida.


So there you go... a basic overview of our home on wheels.