Replacement

We found our replacement window today. It is attached to a brand, spankin' new 40-foot diesel pusher.

Yes, it's true. As several of our faithful readers suspected, our detour to Ashland, VA was all part of our Bullwinkle Expansion Plan. Yep, it was time to find a bigger moose. The exploding window a mere 15 miles from our trade-in destination provided added excitement.

Though we made a pledge early on to delay any big decisions - like a motorhome purchase - until we'd been fulltiming for at least six months, we decided since we were the ones making the rules we could also break them. So, it's only been four months. What's 60 days between a couple of fulltimers, anyway?

Since the first day we started poking our heads into diesel pushers and dreaming of fulltiming in them one model stood out: The 40TD. Itasca calls it an Ellipse. And we drooled all over it from day one. Winnebago calls it a Tour. In fact, we were looking at a 40TD Ellipse the day the sleazy sales guy introduced us to the 32H, the layout of our beloved moose. With each of the 200 or so nights we've spent in our first motorhome, the idea of someday owning a 40TD has been firmly planted in our collective consciousness.

When Winnebago announced its 2010 lineup, one thing was missing: The 40TD. If we were ever to grab the brass ring with the floor plan of our dreams it would have to be a 2009. So, we started searching.

In Asheville, after our visit to the Winnie dealer there, we were reminded of our love of the 40TD. So, we started searching online. Thursday morning we found the 40TD of our dreams. It was sitting in Ashland, VA, just 382 miles away. After a marathon of emails and phone calls, the deal was essentially done by late Friday. All we had left to do was drive to Virginia.

After we arrived in Ashland yesterday, we drove over to the dealership. Behind the locked gate, there sat our dream machine. Only now can we admit that in that moment we fell in love. We had found our Big Moose. This morning we made our way back to the dealership. We met all of the people we had only corresponded with by email and phone. Then, we got the tour of our Tour.

It is beautiful.

Eight feet longer than our current moose, and with two - count 'em two - Big Ass Slides, our Tour is spacious. Really spacious. Lots of space. Gobs of storage. Massive amounts of CCC. It has a lovely table and chairs, fireplace and a sleep number bed. Yep, it looks a lot like that place we once called home.

Then, we drove it.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! With that engine 40 feet behind us we hardly heard a thing. The air suspension gave us a ride that was oh, so smooth. And the 60-degree cut in its steering allows this thing to turn on a dime.

Yep. It's awesome.

Really. It's awesome.

Then, we got down to business. If you ever want to negotiate a deal on an RV, call Paul. You definitely want him on your side. He's good.

Before we knew it we were signing papers and had big smiles on our faces. We're picking it up Wednesday or Thursday.

We promise to document our find on Bullwinkle's Travels. Pictures, and all. But, for now, we're so tired we've barely been able to feed ourselves. So, we're going to call it a very productive day.

And, just in case you're wondering, this rig will be Bullwinkle II. But, I have a feeling we might just refer to him as Big Bull.

He's the fulltiming rig of our dreams.