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Old 03-30-2018, 04:33 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: THOR Chateua 35SF
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Switching from "sail to "steam"...

Just traded our 2016 Open Range 323RLS on a 2018 Chateau 35SF. Man, am I looking forward to push button everything. The TT was very nice and high end but the hooking up, setting up and breaking down was killing me. I'm retired and wife soon will be. We plan to head around the country for a year or so in search of the "World's Largest Ball of Twine". Looking forward to meeting many here and sharing ideas, past mistakes and successes!

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Old 03-30-2018, 04:43 PM   #2
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Congratulations, and welcome.

Found it: Largest ball of Twine -- Roadside America

Now you just have to go there and everywhere else in Roadside America

We did a similar switch going from a 5th wheel to the motorhome. Much simpler to pull in, park, plugin, pop a cold one.
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Old 03-30-2018, 04:55 PM   #3
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My sales speech to the wife was..."pulling into a new campground at 11PM in pouring rain"...she said DO IT!! Plus, cutting 30 feet from your rig length opens up so many opportunities and places you can fuel up. Looking through the campgrounds and parks around the country, we would have had to pass on many due to length.
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Old 03-30-2018, 04:59 PM   #4
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Three words swayed me: push button leveling.
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Old 03-30-2018, 05:16 PM   #5
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Congratulations on your new rig!
(If you bring that ball of twine home with you: you'll never need a GPS! )
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Old 03-30-2018, 05:31 PM   #6
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Welcome to the site!
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Old 03-31-2018, 02:35 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton View Post
My sales speech to the wife was..."pulling into a new campground at 11PM in pouring rain"...she said DO IT!! Plus, cutting 30 feet from your rig length opens up so many opportunities and places you can fuel up. Looking through the campgrounds and parks around the country, we would have had to pass on many due to length.
Welcome! Yup, set up/tear down is much easier. And, the DW can make you a samich while you keep driving! LOL
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Old 03-31-2018, 04:29 AM   #8
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With each "New to You" style of RV....
Keep in mind..
Your 1st coach is a learning tool..
BUY USED! & buy one with everything you "think" you want and will need..
As You will make mistakes and have booboo's We all have.....(sometimes more than twice..)
Within a year or two you will discover..about the RV

What you love about the RV...
What you can kinda-sorta tolerate with the RV..
And what you absolutely hate about that !@#$%^%$#@! RV.
Then you can go get what you should have gotten in the first place..
Happy Hunting

Remember..Every day you put off retiring..is just one less Day of being retired
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Old 03-31-2018, 02:12 PM   #9
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This is actually my 6th RV in my life and it wasn't a newbie mistake. My wife wanted a motorhome when I bought the Open Range. Happy Wife=Happy Life. I already own a 2500HD GMC. Thought I could keep another 100K in the bank since I had the power plant already. She won...as usual.
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Old 03-31-2018, 02:40 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton View Post
...My wife wanted a motorhome when I bought the Open Range. Happy Wife=Happy Life. She won...as usual.
SWMBO...
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Old 03-31-2018, 08:16 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
SWMBO...

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Old 03-31-2018, 08:48 PM   #12
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Conversely , as the sign said, "If Papa ain't happy, nobody cares!"

Congrats on your new rig. Happy trails!
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Old 03-31-2018, 09:19 PM   #13
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Amen...
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Old 03-31-2018, 09:33 PM   #14
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We came from travel trailers to 5th wheel and now a small motor home. We ain't lookin back. I should have done this years ago. Every trip is more relaxing.

Side note: Bob, I like your new hair do
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Old 03-31-2018, 09:37 PM   #15
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THOR #8860
Thanks! . I like to play "Spin rhe Avatar" a lot!
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Old 03-31-2018, 10:13 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mountainsam View Post
We came from travel trailers to 5th wheel and now a small motor home. We ain't lookin back. I should have done this years ago. Every trip is more relaxing.

Side note: Bob, I like your new hair do
We went from a 41 foot DP to the small motor home. Know exactly what you mean, by more relaxing, less stress. and easy.
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Old 03-31-2018, 10:35 PM   #17
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THOR #8860
Is it just that it's easier to drive and park?
Do you miss anything about your larger rig?
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Old 04-01-2018, 12:13 AM   #18
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There are a lot of things we miss not having, that the 41 footer had, like all the interior space it had, plus virtually unlimited storage. Life is all about trade-offs, and for my wife, me and our small dog, we do fine in the small motorhome. With the DP, very little was spontaneous, even buying fuel for it, since with the car behind, I was a little over 60 feet, so I could only buy fuel at truck stops, so knowing where they are on our route was mandatory. The DP got about 6.5 MPG vs right around 17MPG with the little one, so from that standpoint alone, it’s quite a bit less expensive to use. It is as you say, much easier to drive and park, plus my wife will drive this one, she would not drive the DP. After eleven years in the DP, we really don’t do the long, months on end trips we used to, which was a good fit for the big rig, but for shorter trips, both mileage and time wise the little motorhome just seems to make more sense for us. If you have followed some of the threads I have been on, you know that I have done some major modifications to the Gemini, like an automatic satellite system, an inverter, an HWH auto leveling system, a second air conditioner/heat pump, and more. A lot of those items were on the DP, and we did want them on the Gemini, too, so we have set it up to suit us more.
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Old 04-01-2018, 12:17 AM   #19
I Think We're Lost!
 
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Thanks for offering up this perspective from "both sides of the fence".
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Old 04-03-2018, 08:21 PM   #20
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Well fellow RV fixers....I fly out tomorrow morning to Bradenton FL to drive her back home. A new chapter in the life of fixing things and having the time of our lives! Let's see...I've packed a crescent wrench, a phillips, a flat head, a pair of pliers, channel locks, electrical tape, duct tape, some zip ties...hmmm...what am I forgetting...oh yea...clothes!
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