On September 6, 2013 we added a new "member" to the family. Her name is Bella. Sometimes, though, her name is The Beast. It depends. She's a little old - built in March, 1994 and a little Italianate with gold braided cord on her window dressings -- thus the Italian name. She also has flashy glow-in-the-headlight striping that's purple and blue -- and a little faded. An old dame.
Bella is a 1994 Damon Ultrasport LE, a 22' Class C motorhome, though a 22' RV barely qualifies as a "motor"home. She's built on a Chevy 350 Chassis and comes with some standard 1994-style equipment such as crank-up windows and non-power brakes -- no ABS on this baby! She's a little heavy in the chassis, built solidly. She has plush padding and mirrors on many of her surfaces and was probably quite the looker, and expensive, in her day, but like all old dames, she's a little faded.
We enjoyed our
RV trip in Oregon so much that we decided this was the way to enjoy the outdoors with our two grandchildren, Evan and Evangeline. We might even invite their parents along! Bella has room enough for 5 or 6 people if the kids sleep two to a bunk, or if one of them sleeps on the floor like Nate used to do when he was little.
We found Bella on consignment at an RV dealer in Hammonasett, CT via craigslist. She was a good deal; we knew we'd have to do a fair bit of work to get her in good shape, but we like do-it-yourself projects and learning as we go along. There will certainly be a lot to learn on this baby.
Our first challenge was just simply figuring out how to get her from CT to MA. It took several trips -- First, Jan had to go to the bank to get a certified check. Then Paul had to drive to CT to seal the deal and get the title and bill of sale. Then he had to drive back to MA to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get her registered and get license plates. The next morning Jan and Paul drove back down to CT to get Bella from the storage yard of the RV dealer, screw on the plates, and head for home in MA.
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