Winnebago???

Really?
We are both retiring now, one year earlier than planned. With all the activities and hobbies I’m into, this will be fun. I am not at all concerned that I’ll have too much idle time on my hands. I can spend half a day days on end simply researching a topic of interest.
For instance, we are taking a cruise of the Greek Islands next year and I’ve been reading up on each of the ports of call. We are also joining a whale watching trip friends have organized for next spring. I’ve been planning a trip to Alaska from Seattle for 2016 in a motor home. The most time consuming topic I’ve looked into is motor homes: which size, model, manufacturer. What features are available and which are necessary? Alternate supplies of water? Rainwater harvesting and filtration? Water heater, tank less?
After many hours chasing my tail, I think it’s a Winnebago View for us. It’s a moderately expensive diesel class C rig, nominally 24′ in length (25+ in reality), with a functional interior for two people on extended trips. We will not be going on an extended trip between now and our spring/summer trips next year. Therefore we’re putting off a purchase until next August-October when the 2016s are available. That should help bring down the price on a 2015 either new or slightly used. We will consider older Views if price, interior, and model came together. For now, I’m “just” researching coaches.
The class C is a natural choice for us. Based on past camping experience, we like to visit state and national parks. Many of them have a size limitation of 30 ft. We also want a very drivable coach, but one that does not sacrifice interior space and comfort. A class B is too small for us for extended periods of time. There is too little exterior storage for us.
The View is not optimally setup. We will swap in a tank less water heater, carry a rainwater harvesting system and additional water “cans”, and carry solar panels: all useful for boondocking. Friends of ours are getting a Leisure Travels Unity class B+ van. It has a Murphy bed that folds down over the dinette and looks out the side window and door. It has a number of unique and well conceived features not available in a typical RV: a tank less water heater standard is standard for example. Both the Leisure Industries and Winnebago View are built on the Mercedes Sprinter chassis with a 3 liter turbo diesel engine.
RV pricing is very confusing for both new and used. Prices are all over the place and it is hard to know what’s a good deal. There are a few great deals that go by, but they’re snapped up quickly.
Now to stop researching RVs until next year… but I’ve learned that Mercedes is introducing a 4 wheel drive version of the Sprinter.

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