We had to make the trip back to Memphis to pick up our used motorhome. Normally that would mean that we would have two vehicles to drive on the return trip to Oklahoma. But the timing was perfect to hitch a ride to Memphis with our son. Luke was heading down I-40 towards a residency interview in North Carolina. He was excited to have some company (and someone to drive the first 8 hours of his journey) and it didn't hurt that we were lending him our new car and would be paying his entire gas bill. So he dropped us off at Davis Motorhome in south Memphis in late afternoon. We didn't know how we were going to get home if this purchase fell through.
At our request, the motorhome was already set up at Yogi Bear Campground. Isn't she beautiful? (I call her "she" but Mark thinks that beastly proportions deserve a more manly pronoun!)
We spent the first evening opening every drawer, checking all the windows, and really exploring!
We soon found out that there were at least two other families waiting to trade in their current motorhomes in order to pick up their brand new Tiffins at Davis. True to everything we heard about RVers, they instantly welcomed us into the fold. Ken and Barbara were our first ever guests in our new home. They gave us great advice from their years of RVing, and even invited us to camp near their home in Oregon!
The next morning another couple shared their latest copy of Escapee magazine and invited us to the Escapade next spring. Then our salesman, Brian, appeared with a gallon of milk the next morning, and helped us with our preparation to break camp for the first time. Mark took the wheel, and followed Brian back to the dealership for our morning filled with signing paperwork and getting instructions on how to operate everything. I videoed 3 hours of private motorhome tutorial, and the crew fixed and cleaned a few things at our request.
We were a lot smarter, but pretty overwhelmed as we pulled out of the parking lot for our maiden voyage toward Oklahoma. We didn't have far to drive, as we had made reservations at Tom Sawyer's RV Park just west of Memphis. We were camped a couple rows off the Mississippi River, and enjoyed watching the boats and barges on the water.
We were treated to a beautiful sunset over Ol' Man River. Our dream of Wandering His Wonders feels like it is beginning to become a reality!
We decided that our university fall break would be a great time to make a road trip to shop for a motorhome. So we headed towards Alabama, where they manufacture Tiffin motorhomes. We had targeted several well-respected dealers, and three different privately owned motorhomes that we wanted to see in person on this trip. We were also hoping to see some pretty fall foliage, but most of the trees were still green.
We scheduled our trip around being in Red Bay, Alabama, for a Tiffin factory tour. It was really interesting to watch the cabinet shop, the bare chassis, the finished slide outs before they were attached to the frames, and the unpainted gray motorhomes.
After reading a request for pictures on the Tiffin Forum from a couple who had ordered a 2015 37AP Allegro Bus, we searched it out. The motorhome was at station 18, almost completed, and we took over 20 pictures to email to them.
The good news is the road trip was ultimately successful! After days of very serious shopping, we decided to buy a used 2013 Tiffin Allegro Red 33AA at Davis Motorhomes in Memphis, Tennessee. We can recommend them as a very fair and easy to work with dealership. Mark drove like a seasoned pro on the test drive. We actually made the deal over the phone between Red Bay and Memphis. The bad news is that they couldn't get it ready for us this weekend, so we will have to come back to Memphis to drive it home. There will be more details later, but here's a sneak peek of our new home.
