With a heavy heart...

[phrogpilot73]

I bid farewell to this community. While I wasn't a prolific poster - I was a prolific lurker. You guys taught me a lot about camping in general and Forest River in particular...

After 3 RV shows and visits to 4 different dealerships, as much as our heart was set on FR, we ended up buying an Open Range Light 5th Wheel. I once said that I wouldn't trade our FR 2304S for anything, that was before we adopted a third dog...

Drive safe, camp a lot, and build wonderful memories! Thanks for everything!

[Iwannacamp]

As others will say... You ain't got to leave.

Thanks for the warm wishes.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Terier]

Originally Posted by phrogpilot73

I bid farewell to this community. While I wasn't a prolific poster - I was a prolific lurker. You guys taught me a lot about camping in general and Forest River in particular...

After 3 RV shows and visits to 4 different dealerships, as much as our heart was set on FR, we ended up buying an Open Range Light 5th Wheel. I once said that I wouldn't trade our FR 2304S for anything, that was before we adopted a third dog...

Drive safe, camp a lot, and build wonderful memories! Thanks for everything!

There's more to the FRF family than owning a FR unit. You are welcome to stay and share. Many RVs are very similar.

BTW - congrats on your Open Range Light 5th wheel!

[jonrjen]

It is said that knowledge is wealth, why not stay around and become rich. Well, rich with knowledge anyway.

[asquared]

Just because you are now a SOB (some other brand) Doesn't mean you need to run away.

[mhartzel]

Stay and chat with us.
I own a Cougar but come back here for the banter and other general information

[F and E Damp]

I expect to be doing the same before the end of the year. Unlike you, we're bagging it altogether. We've had a 4 years with our Georgetown, after buying it from the original owners, who'd had it 8 years.

We've had the typical nit-picky problems, but two of them were troublesome and one is till not resolved.

Last year, 2 days before leaving on a 4-week trip down the Oregon and Northern California coasts, the OEM fridge (a Dometic) died. There was no time to get it replaced, so we set out planning to rely on ice. Yearh, sure! We must have visited every Fred Meyer store along 101, from Astoria to Brookings. New fridge - $1800! At two weeks of that, we decided Brookings was the southern tip of the trip and headed home.

We picked up a couple of minor body dings on the trip which I'll be getting my local body shop to take care of before we put the rig on the market.

The second major issue is the generator. When we bought the rig at 8 years old, it only had 48 hours on the Hobbs indicator. We've since pushed it up to about 70, but two years ago, over the winter break, I had cardiac surgery. Convalescence took longer than anticipated, and I didn't get out to do the monthly "exercise the genny" routine. It hasn't run since. I think it's going to need professional intervention.

We're giving things up becuase of the cost. We started out with a 26' Class C when gas was $1.75 a gallon and it was rare to find a CG overnight price much above $15. gas is up around $3.75 to $4.25 and even State Parks are pushing $30. On a limited retiree budget, it just doesn't work for us any longer.

Since we won't be RV-ing in anything, It's doubtful that I'll remain in this brand-specific forum. I might stay with iRV2.com or RV.net for a while, but who knows?

[Wiscampsin]

Just because you bought an Open Range (congrats by the way) doesn't mean you have to leave.

[Arefbee]

I lurk on other brands plenty - but I gotta say, this place is different... It has a "je ne sais pas" thing...

I probably will get another brand next for budget reasons. If I could go to the rallies it might be different.

(I have even used knowledge gained here to look like I know what I am talking about elsewhere... don't tell anyone though.)

[GlacierGus]

F and E Damp--I visited Anacortes once. Beautiful place. Must be a lot of great local camping. Good luck with everything.

[F and E Damp]

It's a wonderful place to live (we've been here 15 years). I'll only leave after being fitted with a wooden overcoat! It's still a small enough town (about 18,000) that you get to know a lot of people. Add to that a very easy climate, rarely extreme, and all the natural beauty around us, makes it a very pleasant place.

We're partly in the rain shadow of the Olympic mountains, when the weather is moving from the south west. As a result we get about 40% less rain than the Seattle area and more sunny days. Even when Seattle is in the high 80s F (which it has been for 40 days this summer) our immediate neighborhood is about 74 degrees. We're a short distance from Burrows Bay - a 20-minute walk with our Labs to a beachfront park. Two miles off shore, the water is 300 fathoms deep and the primary source is snow-melt. Terribly cold water for swimming, but it sure keeps the climate pleasant.

We had one snowfall last winter that stayed on the ground for about 4 hours. Of course the downside is that there a lot of winter days when the local airport reports "800' broken, 1500' overcast, 10 Celsius, 1/4 mile visibility, light rain and fog." Anyone who loves So-Cal or AZ would get thoroughly sick of it. As ex-pat Brits, we find it very acceptable.

[phrogpilot73]

Thanks for the warm wishes, I guess I will stick around (again - I mostly lurked... Didn't even know where my low point drains were until I found this fourm).

We originally only looked at FR brands when it was time for the upgrade. At the time, we were in love with the idea of TTs vice 5ers. Once we finally settled on a general floor plan (rear living) and some desires (kitchen island), we started looking at FR that fit that. Couldn't find one that had any appreciable exterior storage (we REALLY like a Rockwood TT, until we realized it had almost zero external storage).

We were going to go with a Spree by KZ TT, my wife loved the floor plan... I was hesitant (because I'm the one that tows it) because it was almost a 40' long trailer... Once we actually saw it away from the RV show, and in a dealer lot, my wife's reaction was essentially "holy *****!"

She finally relented, and we started looking at 5ers. Still wanted to do a FR, but then we found the Open Range Light. Insulated and ducted heat in the underbelly was huge (the bulk of our camping is in the fall/winter), my wife loved the floor plan, I loved how easy it was to winterize (I'm the one that does that), and the storage!!

Picked it up a month ago, have camped four times already (I'm spending a week in Onslow Beach in Camp Lejeune, NC right now), and only sort of miss our Rockwood. My wife and I both pulled away from the lot feeling bittersweet. The Rockwood was our first camper, and we built a ton of memories. We actually called the dealer to find out if it was sold yet or not. Just got a text that there was a couple that was new to RVing who fell in love with the floor plan, and they're picking it up tomorrow. We were so happy to hear that!

We love our Open Range, and I don't know that we're trading this one anytime soon (that is, until my wife falls in love with another dog, and now this trailer is too small). We're already talking about taking it across the country when she retires from the Navy. We had to buy a new TV, and we got a '99 F-250 with the 7.3... In the process of upgrading that to the modern amenities I want...

[phrogpilot73]

Picking up our new 5er:



Relaxing in the CG during our shakedown (the night we picked it up, the dealership threw in two nights of camping - since we were driving from VA Beach to Charlotte):



First legit camping trip up at Ft. Meade, MD:



One of our last trips in the Rockwood, at the Chickahominy River Front Park in Williamsburg, VA - can't wait to do this in the new OR Light: