Working on the beast - my dad's motorhome.

Monaco knight 2000 - my dad's motorhome.

My dad has always loved driving.  As a young fellow, he would drive from Kingston to Calgary in 40 or so hours without stopping for anything other than gas.  When we were kids it was given that holidays would be spent visiting relatives and distances were no consideration.  When he worked for Haliburton in Alberta he would drive about the country on inventory assignments.  Driving was the best part of the job.  He was let go during a downturn in the economy; he bought a used mid-size motorhome with his severance.  That marked the beginning of another driving era.

He and my mom spent drove across Canada, down throughout the States, and up into Alaska and the Yukon.  Winters were spent in Arizona around Quartzite, a popular place where a lot of Canadian snowbirds could be found.  That continued on until my mom got cancer; she died in 1997.  He still drove it about but the vehicle's age and milage had taken its toll.  He met and married another lady and in 2002 they bought a two year old Monaco similar to the one in the photo above.  He drove it until 2014 and decided it was time to get rid of it. 

My dad's way of dealing with used stuff is very straight forward; he gives it away.  That has been true for every car, motorcycle, snowmobile, and RV he has ever owned.  Since my wife's health had been declining due to her continuous headaches it made sense that I would be the recipient.  So I asked him for it and he granted the request.  I sold my truck and trailer and bought a jeep to flat tow behind it.  In the summer of 2014 we drove the jeep down to Arizona to pick it up.

We hooked the jeep up to the motorhome upon returning.  That was the beginning of a very steep and costly learning curve.  Let me tell you that owning a motorhome is not the same as owning a truck and trailer.  Diesel engines are much more expensive to maintain, it gets 10 mpg when in a good mood, and the parts are expensive and hard to find.  A single tire costs $1000; I can buy 4 of them and a spare for that for my car.  It is also huge.

At 36 feet there are few provincial, federal, or state parks that can accommodate it. If there is a site or two available they get snapped up quickly.  Private parks are not a problem as they tend to cater to rvs, but cost twice as much, if not more, than the public ones.  Then there is the issue of parking the behemoth.  I have left it out on the street a couple of times, only to discover that my driver's side mirror has been severely damaged by passing vehicles.  Cars can't do it because they are not high or wide enough.  Chances are it was a passing garbage or service truck of some sort.  No one left a note.

I happen to have two places where I can park it on my property, but getting the green giant there requires precision driving to get it into position.  My neighbours compliment me on my prowess, not to mention guts, for achieving success.  I can tell you that I have missed cars, buildings, fences, and power boxes by mere inches.  It usually takes three or four attempts before it is lined up correctly.

Then there is the maintenance, but that is a blog for another day.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com   Eric Svendsen