The time has come to say farewell...

[LNBright]

Dennis, I do hope you still hang around, have always appreciated your perspective and thoughts on things.

Best of luck w/ the new rig!

[JetstreamAS]

Originally Posted by Dennis C

We aren’t planning to pull a vehicle behind the rig, even though it’s capable of towing a vehicle. We have nice e-bikes with a ~65 mile range and we will bring those along. The rig has enough storage and fridge space that if we plan appropriately, we won’t need to run out to the store while camped. In areas that are closer to civilization, we will take a Uber/Lyft/taxis. If we choose to stay in one spot for an extended period of time, we might rent a car.

Sounds like a great plan and one where you will not need an additional vehicle.

Best of luck with the new rig and hope to see you out on the road!

[sunnygirl]

Congratulations! That is a beautiful coach. We've been studying diesel pushers and Newmar motor homes are some of the nicest. Wishing you safe travels and wonderful journeys.

[Dennis C]

Originally Posted by GOUSC

Congratulations Dennis! I wish you many new happy adventures. Re: your e-bikes, make sure you get a bike rack that will support the weight. We encountered a couple that had one that was supposedly strong enough. Some bumpy roads caused the rack to fail with one of the bikes being dragged behind them for a long while. All of this is to say don’t skimp to save money on a bike rack that is on the edge of weight specs.

Just because you don’t have an airstream anymore doesn’t mean you can’t post. Keep in touch.

Thanks for the suggestion. Our bikes are the folding variety with small baskets on the front and rear for groceries and such. They’re fairly large and weigh close to 70 lbs. each, which is why we haven’t taken them camping with the Airstream. My plan at this point is to load the bikes into one of the baggage compartments underneath the coach. It has one compartment with a big slide out tray that is carpeted. I think I’ll be able to slide out the tray, load the bikes, then slide it back underneath the coach.

That’s the plan at this point anyway…

I also need a plan for our propane grille and my Outland propane fire bowl. I currently plug them into the low pressure propane port on the Airstream. The new coach is all electric, so there’s no onboard propane at all. I suppose the easiest solution is to carry a 20 lb. propane bottle for these items, but I don’t love that idea. I think I would prefer to use the little 1 lb. propane bottles. Not sure what I’ll do there yet.

I would love to continue to post over here too. I’ve found Airstreamers to be problem solvers who are often DIY people. I don’t know if that will be the case with the Newmar folks. We shall see.

[CWSWine]

We also went from a Classic 33 to Newmar Ventana 4037 for some the main reason you have mentioned. Newmar is class act and in almost 4 years we have owned the Newmar it has never been in for repairs and only things that have broken is the cheap door catches. If you have 'Comfort Drive" winds and passing trucks are things to past. The generator is great and being in the front and the bed in the back it easy to sleep while running. We love having 110 gallons of water and we travel 500 miles before refueling and still have over 1/4 of tank.
We have TOAD of a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and love going to your home state Colorado and doing moderate level high mountain trails and have even considered putting on a roof top tent and doing some camping on some our trips to Colorado. It takes us less than 5 minutes to hook up and go.
I missed the Airstream enough to purchaser a 94 Classic and the my son and grandkids use it camping.

Enjoy your travels and maybe our paths will cross.

-Dennis H

[nvestysly]

I second the notion of utilizing IRV2 that JanetH mentioned. I was active on that forum for a time (even though we have Airstreams) and found lots of useful information. Good friends of ours have a Newmar and they benefit from the discussion on IRV2.

Best wishes for your change of RV lifestyle. I can appreciate the desire for more room but you may have sold yourself short on whether the Airstream suitable for extended trips. We travel in our trailer for up to 3 months and the Interstate for weeks at a time. If we had to pick one RV it would be the Interstate. It's a completely different form of travel (very nimble & independent) compared to a larger, towable or drivable RV. I realize there are lots of RVs and lots of people so there's not a right or wrong decision but Airstreaming has a certain aspect to it that other RVs don't offer.

[Vantair]

A bright side of this goodby is someone else will be as excited as you were to take the reigns assuming your 23 and perhaps another valued contributor perspective in this forum !

All the best !

[Dennis C]

We considered an Airstream Interstate or Atlas also. I can see the appeal.

The longest trip that we took in the Airstream was about 5 weeks. It’s definitely doable, but it requires some compromises. I’m 6’4” and the shower isn’t ideal for every day. I think one of the biggest challenges for us is the tight interior lounging space, especially if the weather is bad and you need to stay inside. It worked fine for our shorter camping trips, but the additional space will be nice.

The Airstream club and members are great too. I attended a local rally last month and had a great time. Airstreams are definitely unique and special.

[davidrrand]

Congrats and good luck Dennis! Have enjoyed your posts.

[rmaldeney]

Originally Posted by Dennis C

Thanks! This is the unit that we bought. It’s 37’10” in length, so it will still fit in many state and national parks. Staying under 40’ is the key. It’s on a Freightliner chassis with a Cummins 6.7L diesel that produces 360 HP and 800 lb/ft of torque.

Congratulations on your jump to an A Class. My company does all the marketing for Freightliner Custom Chassis. FCCC is a rock solid chassis and has great 24/7 support should you ever need it.


All the best!

[Mike_Tina]

Best wishes on your future travels! We also live in Evergreen, CO. We just received our 30 foot Classic in September and we are about to start our adventures. The Newmar Ventana was our couch of choice for several years, but we never pulled the trigger. I started looking at the simplicity of the Airstream and we redirected our dream to the Airstream. Time will tell if that was the right choice for us. Enjoy your new coach! The Ventana is a very nice unit. Safe travels!

[Hermes]

If ever you get Airstream homesick, you could consider getting and towing a Bambi behind your Newmar! 😜
Safe travels!

[Dennis C]

Originally Posted by Mike_Tina

Best wishes on your future travels! We also live in Evergreen, CO. We just received our 30 foot Classic in September and we are about to start our adventures. The Newmar Ventana was our couch of choice for several years, but we never pulled the trigger. I started looking at the simplicity of the Airstream and we redirected our dream to the Airstream. Time will tell if that was the right choice for us. Enjoy your new coach! The Ventana is a very nice unit. Safe travels!

Good to hear from a fellow Evergreen resident!

You'll love the Classic. It's an awesome rig.

[Dennis C]

Originally Posted by rmaldeney

Congratulations on your jump to an A Class. My company does all the marketing for Freightliner Custom Chassis. FCCC is a rock solid chassis and has great 24/7 support should you ever need it.


All the best!

Thanks! We lived in Fort Wayne, IN for almost 12 years. I worked in the orthopedic industry for nearly 30 years before I retired.

[Aluminium Falcon]

Good luck on your new adventures! I will also miss your posts. I always found your posts to be insightful and your positions to be measured, positive and respectful.

[Bcc75]

Dennis
Please do continue considering sticking around on the Airstream forum and updating us on your travels. Enjoyed your fly-fishing insight as well. I will need some where to-go advice when we finally make it out west on an Airstream trip!

I have never owned a motorized RV of any kind, so I cannot speak for that community of owners. However, I have owned various other towable RV's before the Airstream, from Pop-Ups to 5th wheels. I have to say that the Airstream community far surpasses anything else I have ever experienced. We just started attending club rallies this year and have really enjoyed it, and met some great people. I hope you find that same camaraderie among your new RV owner groups.

If your travels bring you east, look me up!

[Troutboy]

Dennis!!! Wow, congrats, happy for you and the wife….. camping and RVing is all about what works for you, so glad you found a new approach. It will be fun for you going through the learning curve… keep in touch and don’t be a stranger

[Mikebrady62]

Dennis,
Congratulations on the new coach. It is beautiful. Enjoy the extended trips and time away from home.
Hopefully you will stick around the forum some and create interesting and fun topics as you always do. I have really enjoyed your topics and input.
All the best to you on your new camping style!

[lewster]

Hi Dennis,

Congrats on the purchase of the Newmar. They still make a very good coach, which you will love. Coming from a Monaco Dynasty, Foretravel U-320 and a Country Coach, you will love the room and flexibility of your new coach. Please be safe and don't forget to stop back once in a while to report on your travels.

[KCurtis]

Congratulations on your new rig. I know it will be a game changer for you and your wife. It will open up being able to stay without hookups for a longer period of time too.