The Beast and The Littles!

Here it is! What a long day. We left the house around 7:30am and didn't get back home till around 6pm! But it was totally worth it. We went to McGeorge's RV out in Ashland, VA. We had been there before back in September, 2016 and really liked the place and the service. The salesman we were paired up with was 'Doc' Holiday. We made sure to ask for him this time around when making our appointment to look at the PUP and he was really grateful for that!

Doc was very informative and showed us the PUP inside and out. He told us everything that was good and bad about it and what to expect. He also showed us how everything worked, what every switch, knob, door and drawer were for and then showed us exactly how to put the whole thing down and prepared for towing.

While inspecting the PUP we found some added surprises! Inside one of the dinette bench storage compartments was a screened in "add-a-room" that attaches to the awning on the outside of the PUP! Doc told us that everything that we see in and on the trailer is ours if we want it, so we got that $400+ screened in front porch set up for free! We also got an extra spare tire, so now we have 2 spares. There was a completely functional sway bar (which is an essential used for towing that we were needing to buy anyways). There was a microwave inside just sitting on the floor that the previous owner left, not sure if it works or not. There also was this huge portable grey water jug that is used for when you are camping somewhere that doesn't have a sewer hook up, this jug plugs into the PUP and thats where all your grey water goes from the sink/showers. Then there are wheels on it so you roll it over to the dump station or, there was a separate handle so you can hook it to the hitch of your truck and drive it there. Those things cost $200 in the little store at the dealership! We also found an outdoor stove (that need some repair) and second propane tank. Lastly, when looking around in the storage box in the front, there was a tub of bungee cords, an extra hand crank (needed for the legs and lifting the roof), a second shower head for the outdoor shower, and a tennis ball for Toby! Clearly this camper was meant to be! We were SOLD!

All the extras we got for free!

Add-a-room  ~$400

Extra spare tire  ~$60

Sway Bar  ~$80

Microwave  ~$50

Portable grey water tank ~$200

Extra propane tank  ~$30

Outdoor stove ~$150

Bungee Cords ~$5

Hand Crank ~$20

Shower head ~$40

Tennis Ball  ~$1

Total: ~$1,036

Kyle talked with Doc about paperwork, and pricing and Doc was willing to give us everything (all fees included) for $4000 out the door! What a deal! All we had to do was make a trip to the bank to get a cashiers check made while they ran the state inspection on the PUP and prepared it for towing for us. Doc said that normally they don't do that service in the same day, but he pulled some strings and was able to get us out with everything we needed all in one day! What a guy!

We took our trip out to Navy Federal, grabbed some lunch and stopped by Harbor Freight on our way back to the dealership. Doc said that it would take a few hours to do the service and inspection so we took our time. Once we were back we worked through all the paperwork that was left and waited around in their lounge with all their free snacks until everything was ready for us. Kyle thanked Doc with a challenge coin from his Chiefs Mess, which Doc graciously accepted. The whole dealership has a wall of coins that are given to the salesmen and Kyle wanted to make sure that Doc got one too.

One of their service guys, Derek, showed us everything we needed to know about hooking up the trailer and towing. He told us that (like we assumed) it had failed the state inspection, meaning that we will need to get a new battery and new tires at some point. But other than that it was fine and ready to go. He answered all out questions and we felt pretty confident and comfortable driving off the lot towards our 2 hour journey home!

Ready to roll!

Derek showing Kyle all he needs to know and more.

The Beast and The Littles

Here we go! The start of our journey.

Is there something behind us? Oh its our new trailer!

Hello little guy!

This is where the nerves begin! The dreaded hill appearing out of the distance.

The HILL! As mom says, it will end up being a "word we don't say" in our home in the future.

Made it! All safe and sound, no tires exploding, no awnings falling off...

Overall the drive went fairly smooth. Kyle did such a wonderful job I'm so proud of him. He even kept his cool too! Virginia and Maryland thew every type of road at us too, hills, big grades, winding roads, windy areas, big curves, round-a-bouts, dirt, bridges, traffic, freeways and highways, more hills, even a little off roading when we finally made it home and drove up on our side yard. After all that I think Kyle is prepared for any drive now! He said he felt very comfortable once he got the hang of the brake controller and felt in control of the towing situation at all times. We did learn very fast that it will take quite some practice to learn how to back the trailer up into a camping spot. Luckily we have plenty of places near us we can practice that in. We are very lucky that the back window in The Beast (the 4Runner) rolls down completely and that the back up camera overlooks the bumper and tow hitch. That made backing up to the trailer's tongue a breeze!

Took a little figuring out how to get it positioned on the grass but with a little teamwork we figured it out.

Toby, looking for his tennis ball. The only part of the camper that he is excited about I'm sure!

For now, our "Littles" will be living on the side yard until we get back from Texas and are able to start some work on cleaning her up. We are very excited for whats coming next!