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scarletbison · 11-03-2014, 09:31 AM

Hi All,

Just a quick intro to some soon-to-be new Interstate Owners.

We are Grant & Beth and our 2 daughters (12 & 8). we've entered into a contract to buy a 2014.5 Interstate EXT Lounge and expect to take delivery mid November. We live in Central NJ so not too much will happen until spring other than people moving, unless the weather gods allow. Our big plan is to take 10 weeks next summer while the girls are out of school, and drive across country and back. I'm a stay at home dad so I'll be doing the bulk of the driving with my wife flying and meeting us places as her work schedule allows. We have family in Northern California and Oregon and many friends spread out across this great country that we plan to visit (and borrow laundry facilities) along the way.

We are obviously very excited and I'm sure I will be peppering the forum board with questions in the coming weeks and months.

TinTin · 11-03-2014, 09:34 AM

Congratulations, those are beautiful vehicles. Enjoy!!

Lily&Me · 11-03-2014, 11:02 AM

Congratulations!

You will have a wonderful time.

Maggie

kposey · 11-03-2014, 12:29 PM

Congratulations! Hopefully you will get to "try her out" sometime this winter!

Boxster1971 · 11-03-2014, 12:35 PM

Welcome to the forum and the world of Airstream Interstate owners.

- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

73shark · 11-03-2014, 12:38 PM

Congrats!

Make sure it's winterized. If the dealer will do it for you, try to have him show you what they're doing.

Ron_CA · 11-03-2014, 12:41 PM

Congrats, you are gonna love it.

David M · 11-03-2014, 10:10 PM

Congrats and welcome to the forum!

cwf · 11-03-2014, 10:29 PM

Nice plan! Welcome aboard! Since you have a pc.. write all you can about the trip

InterBlog · 11-04-2014, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scarletbison

Hi All,

... We are Grant & Beth and our 2 daughters (12 & 8). ...Our big plan is to take 10 weeks ... drive across country and back. ... my wife flying and meeting us ... (and borrow laundry facilities) along the way.
.

First of all, congrats! It will be a superb learning experience for your girls!

Second of all, I would be interested in hearing more about the configuration of your vehicle and your intended logistics. Your reference to doing laundry at family / friend stops suggests that you plan to spend at least part of the time living in your AI instead of in hotel rooms (because hotels have laundry facilities). How will you work that with three to four people?

I'm curious because the Interstate's two-sleeper limitation was something we thought long and hard about before recently buying ours. We have a dog and a teenage daughter, so we are really a family of 3.5. What pushed us toward the Interstate was the uber-cool teenager's vehement rejection of all things RV-related (she perceives the common geriatric lifestyle stereotype and I believe her exact words were, "I'd rather die"). We therefore anticipate taking her only rarely, so the sleeping challenge will not dominate our lives. Maybe we will throw a tent on the ground beside our Interstate in those times when she is present - I'm not sure; we have not yet experimented.

Thanks
Alison and Lawrence
League City TX
THE INTERSTATE BLOG

73shark · 11-04-2014, 10:06 AM

FWIW, some have turned & reclined the driver and psgr seats to face the se cond row. Then placed a foam sheet on it and voila, a bed for kids.

I think Roadtrek has an option that supports this. Might check it out to see what they do.

InterBlog · 11-04-2014, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73shark

FWIW, some have turned & reclined the driver and psgr seats to face the se cond row. Then placed a foam sheet on it and voila, a bed for kids.

I think Roadtrek has an option that supports this. Might check it out to see what they do.

When we were shopping B vans in general, we did look at one non-Interstate model, I forget what brand, but it had a clever insert to go with one of the up-front seats to create that all-important third bed. We were wondering if any in-vehicle hacks exist for the Interstate.

Re-Pete · 11-04-2014, 02:06 PM

Congratulations, It will bring all of you some new and wonderful experiences.

I'd certainly recommend some short shakedown trips before the big one. It's a very good way to get familiar with your RV and invariably unexpected things will pop up and occur, i.e. you'll forget something or forget to do something, etc. Shakedown trips are important. You'll get a better idea of what you need and what you don't.

Also, try and find a willing Interstate owner and spend a couple of days together so they can help you get to know your new vacation home.

My wife and I bought a 1992 29' Excella in 2012. We were very lucky to have met a couple via Air Forums who invited us to come straight to their home, about 20 miles from where we bought the Excella, and spend two days and nights in their driveway while they walked us through every aspect of our new to us RV. From hitching and unhitching, to setting up and stowing. I assure you it was invaluable and we made some new great friends to boot.

We started taking our kids camping about the age of your daughters, tent camping in those days and it was such a good experience for all of us. Things did not always go as planned and they were rarely perfect, but those trips provided some great family adventures and togetherness.

Good Luck, and God Speed.

jkinglet · 11-04-2014, 02:44 PM

Congrats. Don't forget the Oregon coast on your trip next Summer!

jkinglet · 11-04-2014, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scarletbison

Hi All,

Just a quick intro to some soon-to-be new Interstate Owners.

We are Grant & Beth and our 2 daughters (12 & 8). we've entered into a contract to buy a 2014.5 Interstate EXT Lounge and expect to take delivery mid November. We live in Central NJ so not too much will happen until spring other than people moving, unless the weather gods allow. Our big plan is to take 10 weeks next summer while the girls are out of school, and drive across country and back. I'm a stay at home dad so I'll be doing the bulk of the driving with my wife flying and meeting us places as her work schedule allows. We have family in Northern California and Oregon and many friends spread out across this great country that we plan to visit (and borrow laundry facilities) along the way.

We are obviously very excited and I'm sure I will be peppering the forum board with questions in the coming weeks and months.

\

A short heads up. When you take delivery have the dealer explain what can happen if you leave the kitchen sink faucet lever in the up (hot) position when you close the lid with the water system either on city or charged with the pump. Always leave it in the down position (cold). Check out the forum link "flood." Especially important with kids onboard. Enjoy.

scarletbison · 11-04-2014, 03:03 PM

Thanks everyone for your kind replies. I am one who frequently suffers from analysis paralysis so I've been researching RV's for about 3 yrs now and focusing on B's which I initially tossed out as too small and very expensive relative to the other styles. But as we examined how we would use our new vehicle we decided that the B was the way to go. Yes it will be cramped at times, but with the three of us most of the big trip, I plan to have the on the 4 captains chairs.

My other concerns with traveling with the 3 of us is water consumption and tank capacity. I will need to find lots of fill-up and dump stations along the way.

With regards to the winterization, Colonial will winterize it for me after PDI and testing of plumbing systems. We're buying a "demo" as it has about 775 miles on it, but hopefully that means that some of the new RV gremlins and punch list items have already happened. We already noticed 2 during our test drive and the work order to service was processed before we left the dealer with our contract in hand. One was the Pyle rear monitor was very dark, too dark to be useful. Our salesman indicated that there is some video interference that has to be found and corrected.

The other issue is insurance, I've received three quotes within a $150 range of each other. I've read some opinions but I thought I'd ask on this thread.... Any comments good or bad about Progressive, Geico, or Blue Sky?

Thanks,

scarletbison · 11-04-2014, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkinglet

Congrats. Don't forget the Oregon coast on your trip next Summer!

Definitely, my folks live in Corvallis as well as my sister and her family. We only got to spend one day last summer at the coast but will do a lot more this time.

Re-Pete · 11-04-2014, 03:07 PM

We've used Progressive and been happy with their service. We had two incidents thus far (with a previous Pop Up camper) and they stepped right up.

73shark · 11-04-2014, 03:23 PM

I got Allied that includes a great roadside service plan as part of it.

Didn't check Geico or Progressive for personal reasons but Allied was the best rate for the coverage.

Protagonist · 11-04-2014, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scarletbison

With regards to the winterization, Colonial will winterize it for me after PDI and testing of plumbing systems.

Don't forget to have them turn on the furnace and let the accumulated dust burn off. That way, you don't have to listen to your smoke detector going off the first time YOU light it up!