Hello everyone!
I'm Sara - not retired, but taking this year off from my regular job to tour the Lower 48 (hitting the 42 RV-friendly National Parks for the Centennial) in an Axis 25.1. Keeping to the backroads as much as possible, and hitting up as many interesting stops as I can between the parks!
I've been thinking about doing a big roadtrip for decades, and started exploring the idea of driving to all the parks when I realised it was the 99th Birthday of the NPS last August. Quickly came to the conclusion that if I kept it to the Lower 48, and eliminated the non-RV-friendly parks (making for a total of 42), it was easily doable in a year. But that would only put me in 23 states, and, after a little more map-doodling, I decided that it was still possible if I added the other 25 continental states. So...I spent the next 3 months trying to talk myself out of it! The tipping point was when I remembered that 2016 is a leap year - bonus day
I had a rather specific wishlist for an RV, and the Axis 25.1 was about the only one that hit them all. Picked mine up in the middle of December and did a shakedown run over Christmas. That revealed a bit of a leak at the rear of the slide. Took it in for the warranty work-up, and it turns out the slide has been installed incorrectly and needs major work. Still waiting on the dealer to get the approval to go ahead, so I've been biding my time. Luckily I'm in Florida. Did my first National Park run down to the Everglades. Love the RV! Drives well in crazy Christmas shopping traffic & on the dirt road "scenic loops" of the parks. Now, if I can just get the slide out fixed, my "48 in 366" can still be completed, even if it is a little Florida-heavy at the beginning!
Looking forward to getting a ton of advice on the forums! I've been RVing for a while. First in Cruise America rentals, then in a 1975 26' Argosy, now in a new Axis. Getting used to all the nifty gadgets and features, and enjoying the dash air! Love the Argosy, but definitely reaching new levels of comfort in a 2015 model!
Thanks for having this awesome resource!
Sara