I can't believe that we have done this and I am so happy and
excited. For over a year we have talked about downsizing our camper and
once we bought the house and got moved in it just seemed like the right
thing to do. Besides, we had a rainy day with not much to do so we
went "looking".
When we bought our 38' Avalanche we
were moving from our home to the camper with no second home and no
storage unit. We had to get everything we owned into that rig so we
needed a lot of space! Now that we have our home here in Yuma, we don't
have to carry everything with us. We can just take a little of it.
So, we have downsized by 8 feet and purchased a Cougar half-ton fifth
wheel.
We really did just go out looking because it was
dreary and cool out. Our second stop found us at RV World here in
Yuma. I know they rotate the sales staff so we drew Jeff. Jeff showed
us a few campers and one was a 27' Cougar that we liked very much but it
just seemed a few feet too small. Then Jeff got a phone call and
passed us over to Josh. I liked Josh much better, maybe because he
showed us the 30' Cougar. We still could not decide on which one we
liked and we left with a "we will call you".
Two days
later we called and Josh was out but Jeff was there so he came out to
look at our Avalanche to see if they would take it in trade. His
assessment took all of about 2 minutes and he was on his way again. I
guess he just wanted to make certain that we really did have it. So the
next morning we were back at RV World and Jeff was there with no sign
of the illusive Josh. Again we looked at the 27 footer and the 30
footer. The thing that we liked better about the 30 foot Cougar was
that there was a loveseat that Jake could use!
I know, a
sofa for the dog? Yes! We have bought a boat for a dog so why not a
camper for a dog. Jake is a big boy and he has to be somewhere! We
have learned that when we aren't looking, he will find a nice place to
sleep so we might as well plan on it.
So we sat down to do the negotiating.
Part of me loves that and then there is the part of me that feels very
ill equipped for it. Anyway, we finally arrived at an agreement and we
signed on the dotted line! They would pay us money when the deal was
done! We didn't have to come up with one cent. Well, that is not true
as we had to pay the registration fee. We agreed to take possession in a
week.
Now the work began for Kirby as he had to remove
some of his upgrades like solar panels and expensive batteries. So we
really did need that week.
On Wednesday we made the trade and our new Cougar now sits in our yard!