Getting Ready to Roll

The day finally came to head to Lebanon.

I knew I had to leave around 2:00. Since I usually work until 2:00 on Fridays, that already had me a little twitchy. I truly hate rushing. When I rush, I miss something. It is never a small detail, either. It is always the kind that comes back later and says, “Remember me?” So I made the executive decision to work only half a day and came home at 10:00.

That gave me time to load up the RV without feeling like I was competing in the pit crew finals at Daytona. By 2:30, I gave Mrs. Weeble a kiss, climbed aboard, and headed north.

Waze and Selective Hearing

The drive up was mostly uneventful, except for my usual disagreement with Waze. As handy as it is, Waze does not seem to understand that an RV is not a sporty little sedan. You cannot just bounce one over every back road, hill, dip, and goat path in Pennsylvania.

Yes, I could use an RV-specific GPS. Still, I had driven this route before and had a pretty good idea of what I was doing. Last year, when I took the trip by car, Waze sent me the most direct route. It also turned out to be the most dramatic. This time, I turned on my husband-selective hearing and only listened to Waze when it suited me. Honestly, I mostly use it to keep an eye on traffic and, perhaps more importantly, to stay informed about the local police fundraising locations.

Stealth Mode in Mel

After I arrived, I unloaded my three planes and set them on the table. Then I took my usual walk around to see what was there. Nothing really jumped out at me, so I headed back to the RV.

Mrs. Weeble has nicknamed the RV “Melly,” and I’ve shortened that to “Mel.” It seemed fitting. I drove Mel across the parking lot, looking for a nice flat spot to spend the night. My friend Tim had checked on overnight parking for me. He was told people could leave trailers there overnight. I decided that was close enough to permission. My general rule is simple: unless someone tells you that you cannot, you are probably okay until proven otherwise.

Even so, I went into full stealth mode.

I waited until dark to extend the slide-out. Then I leveled everything up, settled in for the night, fixed a little dinner, and watched something on the iPad. At one point, I decided the evening really would have been improved by a fire ring and a campfire. Still, that seemed like it might stretch the definition of stealth camping just a bit. Besides, I had not brought any firewood. After talking with Mrs. Weeble for a while, I turned in and drifted off to dreamland.

The First RV Shower Test

The alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. I got up, fired up the generator, and turned on the water heater. While everything warmed up, I grabbed the iPad, read the paper, and ate some breakfast. When I heard the water heater shut down, I turned off the generator and stepped into the shower for my first shower in the RV.

Continue reading “RV Flea Market Trip, First RV Shower and a Water Pump Mishap”

RV De-Winterizing, Driveway Camping, and Getting Ready for Lebanon

We arrived home from Ohio, and life settled back into normal. Well, as normal as things ever get in our household.

It didn’t take long before I started thinking about the next RV trip.

Every year, there’s a Radio Control flea market in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and I go pretty much every year. It’s held on the second Saturday of March. My usual routine is to head up the night before and drop off the things I plan to sell. Once everything is set up on our table, I take a walk around to see if there’s anything I might “need,” which of course is flea market language for something I absolutely did not know I wanted until I saw it.

Then I drive back home.

The flea market opens at 7:30 a.m. for vendors. Since I’m already set up, I can walk around first thing in the morning and grab the items I spotted the night before, before the general public comes in at 8:30. The only problem with that plan is the drive. It takes an hour and a half one way to get to the flea market, which means if I want to be there by 7:30, I need to get up at 4:00 in the morning.

Now, I like RC airplanes. I like flea markets. I do not like 4:00 in the morning.

Mrs. Weeble suggested I take the RV and stay overnight.

Continue reading “RV De-Winterizing, Driveway Camping, and a Trip to Lebanon”

Wind Assist, Emergency Buttons, and Other First-Week Adventures

As I headed down I-75 with Mrs. Weeble in hot pursuit, I set the adaptive cruise control at 65 mph. The speed limit was 70, but I was comfortable cruising in the slow lane with the trucks. Two and a half hours later, we arrived at Dayton International Airport. I had Mrs. Weeble take the lead and follow the rental return signs. My plan was to follow her to the drop-off. That plan ended abruptly when I saw a 7-foot-5-inch height restriction. The vehicle I was driving stood 11 feet 9 inches tall. She went left, and I went straight.

Continue reading “Sprinter RV Wind Assist and First Drive Adventures”

Houston, We’ve Got Liftoff!

Mrs. Weeble and I drove back to Maryland, very happy people. We had done it. The RV was ours. Once we got home, we were sitting at the kitchen table reliving the whole adventure when Mrs. Weeble said she wanted to go to the RV show. I looked at her and said, “Why? We just bought an RV.” She calmly replied, “I want to make sure we got a good deal.” Now, I had already prepaid for the tickets, so there wasn’t much debate left in me. Off to the RV show we went. I was thinking about equipment and campgrounds, while Mrs. Weeble was thinking about RVs.

Continue reading “Houston, We’ve Got Liftoff! Our Sprinter RV Delivery”

The Road to Clyde

Mrs. Weeble and I have grown increasingly frustrated trying to find a used RV.

We believed buying used would give us an advantage. The price would be lower. The original owner would have worked out the factory kinks. And surely, someone who had invested that much money would have taken pride in maintaining it.

Slowly—but surely—we were discovering that wasn’t always the case.

Before all this started, Deb from Deb’s RV Services had warned me to be cautious when shopping for used. She told me that many RVs on consignment were units that dealerships didn’t want to carry themselves. That little nugget of wisdom kept echoing in my head every time we uncovered another issue.

At some point—neither of us remembers who said it first—one of us floated the idea:

“Maybe we should look at new RVs.”

When you look at dealer websites, the sticker prices can feel like they belong in another tax bracket. But instead of giving up, I cast a wide net online.

That’s when I found two East-to-West Sprinter models within our price range—one in North Carolina and another in California.

The next day I called.

The first one? Already had a deposit and was in the process of being sold.

The second one? Sold.

Frustration level: rising.

Back to the internet I went. I couldn’t find a single East-to-West Sprinter anywhere in the country that fit our budget. So I widened the search.

That’s when I found two Jayco Melbourne Sprinters—one in California and one in Ohio.

When I checked the California dealer’s website, it wasn’t listed as in stock. That one was already gone.

So on the way to my Thursday morning bowling league, I called the Ohio dealer.

Mrs. Weeble was riding along with me, as she often does. I had planned to call after bowling, but before we pulled out of the driveway she said, “You should call them before bowling.”

Now, any smart married man knows that the worst phrase in the English language is: “I told you so.”

So I made the call from the car.

Fully expecting to hear, “Sorry, it just sold,” I spoke with the salesman. He said it showed in inventory. He offered to walk outside and physically confirm it was still there, then put us on hold.

I looked at Mrs. Weeble and asked, “What do we do if it’s there?”

Without hesitation, she said, “Sounds like a road trip.”

A few moments later, the salesman came back on the line.

“It’s here. And it’s available.”

Now the game had changed.

I asked if we could put some money down to hold it. We weren’t taking chances this time. He said it wasn’t necessary—he’d mark it sold pending our visit.

That was all the encouragement we needed.

Clyde, Ohio — Here We Come

Friday morning, I got home from work at 10 a.m.

Mrs. Weeble had the bags packed and sitting by the door. All I had to do was climb into the passenger seat.

Off to Clyde, Ohio we went.

We arrived at the hotel around 6 p.m., grabbed a quick dinner, and turned in early. Sleep came easily—though maybe not as peacefully as we hoped. I woke up at 6 a.m. to find Mrs. Weeble already awake. She couldn’t fall back asleep. The dealer didn’t open until 9.

Now neither of us could sleep.

We showered, dressed, and headed down for the continental breakfast. Then back to the room. And waited.

With our past RV buying experiences, we were half-expecting the phone to ring with bad news.

At 8:45 a.m., we pulled into the dealership and sat in the car.

After about three minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m going to look around,” I told Mrs. Weeble.

We wandered the lot until someone unlocked the front door at 9 o’clock sharp. Our salesman, Roger, greeted us warmly and made a little small talk about our trip.

Then he led us out to the service bay.

There she was.

He walked us through the features—the Mercedes chassis, the bells and whistles. We asked a few questions he didn’t immediately know the answers to, and instead of guessing, he went to find out. That scored points with me.

Then he asked if we’d like to take it for a test drive.

Was I going to turn that down? Not a chance.

He copied my driver’s license, backed the rig out, and handed me the keys.

I climbed into the driver’s seat and immediately looked for the gear shift.

There wasn’t one.

Apparently, Mercedes has replaced the traditional shifter with what looks like a little joystick on the steering column. After a brief moment of confusion, I figured it out, put it in drive, and off we went.

And let me tell you—she rode smooth. Surprisingly quiet. Solid.

That’s when Mrs. Weeble asked, “What are we going to do?”

So I asked her what she thought.

Truth be told, I had already made up my mind.

She looked at me and said, “I think we should take it.”

Now, who am I to argue with a highly intelligent woman like Mrs. Weeble?

We returned to the dealership and told Roger to start the paperwork. We put down our deposit and scheduled pickup for the following weekend.

Then we climbed back into our car and drove the 455 miles home.

This time, there were no doubts.

Just two satisfied smiles—and the feeling that maybe, just maybe, this was the one.

Next up: Pickup day… and bringing her home.

I’m beginning to understand what it must feel like to be a NASA astronaut.

Specifically, the Artemis astronauts — the ones who were all suited up, sitting on top of a brand-new rocket, ready to go to the Moon… until the rocket sprang a leak and the whole thing got scrubbed. Grounded. Again.

That’s pretty much where we were this week.

As I’m writing this, I’m waiting on an RV inspection report. The plane tickets to Tucson are booked and ready to go. If the inspection comes back clean, Mrs. Weeble and I are cleared for launch and heading southwest. If it comes back anything like the last inspection report, then just like those astronauts, we’re grounded — disappointed, frustrated, and wondering what just happened.

So yes, I feel their pain.

Continue reading “Grounded Before Takeoff: An RV Inspection Reality Check”

As I wrapped up last week’s blog, I found myself on the hunt for an NRVIA-certified RV inspector. So off I went to the NRVIA website to begin the search. My first stop was A to Z Mobile Services in Tucson, Arizona. Their Google reviews looked solid, so I reached out to schedule an inspection.

And that’s when the first speed bump appeared.

They told me they were booked solid until the 27th. That wasn’t going to work—not even close. I asked if they could recommend someone else, and they suggested Every Inch RV. I contacted them next. No luck there either. They, in turn, recommended Deb’s RV Services, and once again, I was back on the web.

Here’s where things got a little weird.

When I first looked her up, it appeared she was based in Michigan. That immediately made me wonder why an Arizona inspector would recommend someone from Michigan. As it turns out, the answer was buried a little deeper on her website—she was actually in Quartzsite, Arizona, and would be in Tucson during the second week of February. Mystery solved.

I sent her an email to see if she might be available. While waiting to hear back, I noticed she had a YouTube channel, so I watched a couple of her RV inspection videos. Let me just say… thorough is an understatement. That gave me some confidence, and once again, I crossed my fingers.

Debbie got back to me and said she could do the inspection on February 9th. That cut things close—especially if the report came back like the last one and I decided to back out—but she assured me the report would be completed the same day and that she’d walk me through it. That was good enough for me. I told her to go for it. Fingers crossed… again.

Continue reading “Finding an RV Inspector in Tucson: The Search Begins”

At some point during this RV search, it finally dawned on me: buying an RV online is nothing like ordering something from Amazon. There is no “customers who bought this also bought,” no easy returns, and absolutely no delivery driver showing up with a smile and a dolly. Instead, you’re placing a whole lot of faith in a handful of photos, a description written by someone you’ve never met, and the hope that the phrase “runs great” actually means something. After walking away from Florida, we pointed the compass west. I’ll admit it — I was starting to get a little jaded. Still, jaded or not, we found ourselves back online again, hunting for the right RV. If you’ve been following this blog, you already know we have a pretty specific set of criteria. I know what I want, what I don’t want, and what I’m willing to compromise on.

Continue reading “Buying an RV Online: When the Search Turns West”

Last week, we were proudly following the plan — sticking to it like seasoned RV shoppers who absolutely know what they’re doing. Where we left off, I had put in a bid of $60,000 on a 2018 Jayco Melbourne. The owner came back with, “I really want my asking price of $62,000.” Now, when an ad says “willing to negotiate,” you sort of expect… well… negotiation. In the grand scheme of things, I was only $2,000 shy. That’s barely a couple of accessories, a full fuel tank, and maybe one unexpected RV repair before you’ve even left the driveway. So instead of just giving in, I raised my offer to the halfway point and waited to see what would happen. Would he blink?

Continue reading “The Negotiation, the Deposit, and an RV Reality Check”

This week, we’re stepping away from trip planning for a bit. No maps, no mileage charts, no “what campground comes next.” Instead, we’re shifting gears and focusing on something a little more fundamental to the adventure: getting an RV.

Recently, there’s been a change in some family obligations that will give us more freedom to travel. After talking it through, Mrs. Weeble looked at me and said, “Let’s go find an RV and do some RVing.”

Now… this may not be exactly how that conversation happened—but it’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

If you’ve been following along, you know that in my October 24, 2025, post, “Thinking About What Type of RV I Want,” I laid out—pretty clearly—exactly what I was looking for in an RV. Floorplan, size, drivability, features—I spelled it all out so I’d have a clear checklist in mind. Since then, I’ve been keeping a close eye on RV Trader, waiting for something that didn’t just look good in pictures, but actually checked most of the boxes from that earlier list.

That casual browsing turned a little more serious this past week.

Continue reading “Stepping Away from the Map… and Into an RV”