Project Beignet-March 2018

Project Beignet

Ever since we have seriously started using an RV as our mode of fun we have always wanted to go to the Big Easy. Well this year we have hemmed and hawed and debated everything about this journey and we are going to do it!

March 23rd through March 30th 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1w1DZDq8g0IS5n1ULjTmMy7Ain_w9lvAQ&usp=sharing

The actual drive time down is a little bit over 15 hours covering 1060 miles and we should burn about 125 gallons of diesel fuel. My plan to safely make the journey is to drive roughly 5 hours or 300 miles  (not including bio or fuel breaks) and then sleep for an hour. Ferocious and Fabulous (our 2016 Fleetwood Discovery)  has a more comfortable mattress than my home mattress…so crawling into my bed and taking a nap is easy. On the way back home we are making a pit stop at Stone Mountain, Georgia. Based upon our experience from  8 years ago everyone loved the views, hiking and the campground.

Also I have uploaded into the Google Map above all of the rest stops and Pilot/Flying J Rest Areas along my route.  I will have all of this information uploaded into my GPS trip plan that way if I need/want to stop before 5 hours or 300 miles  behind the wheel I know exactly where I can safely stop. Also on the morning that we pull out i plan to download the current diesel pricing so that I can make fill up decisions based upon which state has the lowest per gallon cost.

After I analyzed this journey 7 ways to Sunday (roads, road condition, fuel costs) I have come to the conclusion that the journey up and back will be fun, enjoyable and relaxing.  Hey I have scheduled nap time…I must incorporate this amenity into every trip

Over the next couple of weeks we will start to plan out activities (Beignets, Muffuletta & Alligators) 

Buy Local

If you are a frequent reader of the Rambling Rants and Opinions of the Urban Suburban RV’er (my pen name from blog that was hosted on another site) you will know that we have been in the market for a new RV for a few months.

Our 1st choice in RV’s was a Tiffin Allegro Red 37pa or 38qba and our 2nd choice was a Forest River Berkshire XL 40bh or XLT43b. Any one of the units would have met our needs for years to come.

I searched high and low for a reasonably priced Tiffin 37pa or a 38qba and non were to be had.

We expanded our search to the Forest River models and found a few units in part our or price range but the reputations of the closest dealers were horrible! After reading a few blogs and doing a little bit of research I came across Total Value RV in Elkhart, Indiana. This dealer had a stellar reputation and a lot of feedback was around the fact that they treat you like family. A few weeks ago I reached out to one of their sales reps Chad Rothrock who immediately got back to me and took his time to answer all of my questions…even though I wasn’t ready to pull the trigger just yet. I researched the Berkshire and Total Value RV six ways from Sunday and I kept coming back to Forest River’s tag line “Buy Local”

At this point we were set on buying a 40bh and found that the only local dealers were either ones with crappy reputations or Camping World. Lucky me…at this point I was ready to pull the trigger with Total Value when I heard that General RV (largest family owned dealership) was opening a location in Virginia!

http://www.generalrv.com/locations/richmond-virginia

BTW this is great news for all current  and future RV’ers in the Washington DC/Virginia area. We do not have to deal with Camping World you now we now have a choice! General RV.

I reached out to one of the  sales reps from General RV, Doc Holliday, who wanted to know about me and my family before we started talking about available units and pricing. He wasn’t pushy, he was just interested…which is a good thing.  I will document the buying process in another blog.

So thanks to Forest River and Camping World I am “Buying Local” just not a Forest River product.