We started thinking about buying an R/V, or at least I did, several months ago. I’ve always wanted an R/V so that we could have adventures on land, just as we have had on our sailboat. Around the first of the year we started taking drives around southern California. We’d limit the drives to a day because we were in our car at the time. At one time we drove out to the desert with the intent on spending the night someplace where we could put the top down on our convertible, and enjoy star gazing. I was a nice, albeit uncomfortable, sleep. It was at that time that I started thinking about an R/V for our road trips.

By early November 2014 we had a bit of money set aside, and had decided it would be a good time to buy. Thanksgiving was a few weeks away, and we wanted to be able to use the R/V to drive to my stepdaughter’s house, as we did every year. We hit Craigslist hard for several days, and by about the fourth day, we saw a 22 foot Lazy Daze for sale. We did just a bit of initial research and found that Lazy Daze was a very popular R/V because of how well-built they are. They have had a great reputation over the years. Hand-made at a family-owned and small shop, they are built to own. No prefab here. They were heads and shoulders above anything else we had seen. Most R/Vs our there are pure junk, but that is not the case with a Lazy Daze.

We drove down to Huntington Beach to meet the owner at his business, and when we pulled in we noticed the R/V off to the side. We were pleasantly surprised at the condition. We had looked at three others, and were really disappointed in all of them. Each one was in some state of disrepair and malfunction. We’d get the same story from each when we asked about whether the appliances worked. One didn’t have a battery hooked up, so we couldn’t test the water pump, and the propane tank was empty, so we couldn’t test the stove or refrigerator. Another that we looked at didn’t seem to have any of the appliances working, but it drove well. When asked, all the owners said the same thing. We really never used any of the appliances, so we have no idea of they work or not. None did.

We had a good look at everything on the Lazy Daze before it became a consideration. We found out straight away that the refrigerator did not work, but the stove/oven did. The roof air conditioner worked, the furnace worked, and the hot water heater worked. The generator would start, but not keep running, but that is a story unto itself. The asking price was right and we were able to talk the owner down a few hundred, so after pondering over lunch, we jumped on it.

On the day home, the wife followed me back so that if something went wrong, she could pull in behind and help. The Lazy Daze performed well, and we made it home without a hitch. We were able to keep the R/V at our office for a few days while I sorted things out, which was a real comfort. I had already rented a space at a storage lot, but I wanted to have a chance to really go over our new toy before we hit the road.

Next up: our first adventure!