At last - on the road

April 2, 2006 - After about 5 years of looking at different classes of RVs and never being able to settle on a size or configuration, we finally bought a unit. Great compromise on Joe’s part since he wanted a 30-32’ Class C with a car tow rig and I wanted as small as possible so we could get into small towns and small roads. We’ll start small and work up if needed though so far the truck camper is doing all we wanted. What made us finally decide to do it? Having to put my mom into an assisted living facility and realizing that there isn't that much time left for us to hit the road before our turn comes for the home!

We bought a 2005 Ford F-350 V-8 diesel,5 speed pickup with dual wheels with air bags carrying a 2005 Lance 1121 truck camper, bought used with only 3710 miles on it. Original owner’s wife decided after the first long trip that she wanted a Class A, his loss, our gain. We purchased through State Line Auto in Lebanon, ME and videotaped our 3 hour intro on how to work all the Lance systems. We spent the next ten days picking up gear and setting up the camper finding NetBoy's web site accessible from http://www.rv.net/ invaluable. There is a super discussion group for truck campers on this site with many willing people to answer questions on dewinterization, articles you cannot leave home without, etc. etc. We felt like we are getting a plane ready for flight.

Since we navigate with a GPS unit and laptop, time was spent with black iron pipe setting up a computer table between the seats. The tablet the laptop rests on was purchased online and the pipe from good old Home Depot. We ended up putting in a leg for extra support and sewed a padded pillow for the front of the tablet to rest on the area between the seats. Works perfectly with Delorme Street Atlas 2005 and a Delorme Earthmate LT-20 GPS suction cupped to the windshield. Sure occasionally you lose the GPS signal but for the most part works great.
Finally prepared for the first real trip to actually get on the road for a test trip to Mystic, CT.