Our Shakedown Cruise

No posts yet at Bullwinkle's Travels. We had no internet access all weekend. Then, Natasha left her camera cord in the coach. So, it'll be a few days before we can post pics of our maiden voyage.

So, imagine a brand spankin' new coach and two very happy 50-year-old "kids" on the road.
That's the bottom line!

Everything went very smoothly with Bullwinkle. The two of us were the ones who took little missteps here and there! (Like Natasha leaving her camera cord!) We are chalking it up to just a wee bit of stress. It all made for a memorable weekend.

A bit of self-induced car trouble (kind of a long story) delayed our arrival at the RV dealer by an hour. Everyone gladly accommodated us, and Mac the service guy patiently introduced us to Bullwinkle from front to back, top to bottom and inside and out. Mac even hooked up the satellite receiver box we brought from home. (It's doubtful we would have been so successful at that!) We shot bits of video of the stuff we were sure we'd forget (like how to winterize) and lots of notes about the stuff we understood but still might forget. Everything checked out great. Mac took care of a few little odds and ends while we signed the paperwork. With the last "i" dotted and "t" crossed, we started to move in.

The car was so packed we didn't have room for food. So, we headed out with grocery list in hand to a nearby market to stock up. First on the list was steaks for a celebratory dinner. Guess what we forgot to pick up? Steaks! (See, it's that stress thing!) With (almost) everything loaded, we left the car at the dealership and headed off to our campground In Oroville, which is about 75 miles away.

Boris captained the moose with authority and ease. This 90-minute drive was actually the least stressful part of the day! Before long, we had made our "emergency" steak stop at a grocery store near the campground. We arrived at our campground nearly three hours later than we had originally planned. The office was closed but our stuff was taped to the door. So, we grabbed it and started to head to our campground when we remembered we forgot to get ice. And it was cocktail hour! So, we pulled into the campground just enough to pull out and make a "run" for ice. (A 32-foot motorhome was not designed for running errands!)

Before long, we were pulling into the campground once again. We found our way to our spot. We were met by the manager who pulled up in a golf cart and yelled at us for driving too fast. (We weren't!) She also couldn't understand why we had pulled in and left and came back. (We wanted to shout, "Because we just bought our first motorhome today, Lady! Give us a break!!!!") Then she gave us her advice of how to position our coach into her skinny little pad flanked by two trees that were ready to pierce our extended slides. Yeah, it was quite a welcome.

The real welcome came after we settled in a bit and made our first trip to the trash. (When you move into a motorhome you can make a lot of trash!) We took a stroll around the campground and noticed many Winnebago coaches. Just as we were feeling like we had bought the most popular brand of motorhome ever, we received a friendly greeting from a gentleman who crossed our path. We exchanged pleasantries and explained that we were on our shakedown cruise and that we had taken delivery of our first ever, new coach just hours earlier.

"What did you buy?" he asked.

"A 2008 Winnebago Voyage," we replied.

"Oh my!" he exclaimed. "Have you ever come to the right place!"

He went on to explain that we had strolled upon an outing of the "Chardonnay Travelers", the Northern California chapter of the Winnebago Itasca Travelers (WIT) club. (WIT is the Winnebago owners club.) They have some 28 rigs in their chapter, and had about 40 people in the campground this weekend. He announced to a small gathering under someone's awning that we had just bought a new Winnebago. A flock of very cheerful people descended upon us.

They offered handshakes, cheers and congratulations. They invited us to Saturday night dinner. Yep, we definitely felt the love!

When we finally made our way back to the moose for a late night cocktail and steak dinner, we could not believe our good fortune. We'd made a major purchase, taken a huge step toward a new lifestyle and found new friends...all in the course of 12 short hours! We most certainly must be on the right path.

After a great night's sleep, we spent Saturday reading owner's manuals of everything from the chassis to the DVD. We took a long hike along the Feather River, enjoyed a movie in the coach and a nice long nap. Saturday night's dinner with the WIT crew was a blast. We're most definitely planning on joining the club.

Another peaceful night's sleep welcomed a nice Sunday morning, with some welcome relief from the smoke and haze of the nearby wildfires. After breakfast and a short hike, we bid farewell to our new friends, packed up Bullwinkle and hit the road. Natasha drove the beast back to the dealership and did great. We picked up the car and caravaned in crazy late Sunday afternoon traffic to a quick stop for essentials at Camping World and then on to our new storage facility. By the time we got Bullwinkle perfectly positioned in his new spot, we were close to toast. So, we threw things in the car and headed home.

After a very fun and slightly stressful weekend. Guess what?

We can't wait to get back out there again!

We are definitely looking forward to hitting the road again very soon!!!!!