DC Report

Largely because of Vicki's foot issue and the need let it heal, we did not get out much during our 6 weeks in DC. We were not idle, however. In addition to the hours upon hours of research about solar power for RVs, exterior storage arrangements, TV and wifi while on the road, and so on, we also painted and repainted Rachel and Will's downstairs suite...a large great room, galley, bedroom, and bathroom...hard work, especially all the woodwork and doors. But it's done, and we feel pretty good about having made some improvements. As usual, I went for a number of walks in the area, and we also went through the things we had previously stored at their house.

Then, just at the end of September, we got a call from the company that was building our new camper, a Provan Tiger, telling us of yet another delay, this time until early November. It was first scheduled for delivery in early August. Not all the delays were Provan's fault, but, by this time, we had waited long enough, were faced with missing the early autumn time we needed in Montana, and we therefore exercised our option of backing out of the deal with a full refund. No hard feelings--we enjoyed working with Mark Guild and really looked forward to joining the Tiger club--but too much time was being lost.

All this occasioned more priority-setting, planning, research, still more planning and research, and then shopping. Ultimately, we decided on a truck camper set-up, still wanting something that will go off-pavement and in all seasons...a 2014 Ram 3500 4WD crew cab with a 2008 Bigfoot camper mounted aboard. Interestingly, the Bigfoot was in Missoula, MT, precisely where we wanted to be in October (and September)...

The galley in the downstairs apartment became the painters'
studio for a couple weeks

Picking up our new truck in VA; the contrast between working
with honest, straightforward Provan and a car dealership could
not have been more complete