The ALBATROSS Has Landed!

Well, this has been an eventful month. On the 9th, we went out to the factory in Montclair and picked up our new LazyDaze motorhome. Spent about 4 hours getting the nuts&bolts tour, about 15% of which I retained. Now, is this the fresh water intake or the waste valve? Hmmm. Good thing Loni was taking some notes. After spending hundreds of dollars on "extras" in the LD store, we were on our way. I'm amazed that they can just hand anyone the keys to something as big as a bus and let you drive away without any training. Ours is the smallest they make, but it's still 8'3" wide (go measure a city bus) and 23.5' long. LD's other two models are 26.5' and 30'. It's not the length that is a pain, but rather the width. It takes up the ENTIRE lane, and the mirrors stick out even further, adding another foot of effective width. Yikes! We left at about 12:30, and went about 60 miles across the heart of L.A. on a Friday on the 60 and the 10 freeways. L.A. cognoscenti will appreciate the "Yikes." I pretty much picked a lane and stuck to it. Let the other drivers evade ME! Here we are picking it up. (Click on photos for larger views)

They give you about enough gas to get off the lot, so the first stop and first grimace were at the gas station just before the freeway. Don't know what gas is going for elsewhere, but California might as well be Hawaii! Gas is well over $3/gallon for regular. The Albatross holds over 50 gallons, so, well, Yikes again!

We temporarily parked it across from us on a small deadend street, but it can't stay there permanently as it would be a nuisance for our neighbors. Our driveway can't handle it either, so it'll be in storage about ten miles away (as the crow flies). Storage, even outside and without any services like we have, is not cheap in L.A., especially on the West Side. The "Albatross" name is only partially tongue-in-cheek. :)

Loni's spent the last week or so shopping for things to put in the thing, so we're now loaded up with cookware (better than we have had all these years at home), dishes, cutlery, silverware, linens, towels, containers, etc. etc. Not to be outdone, I've been out "investing" in hoses, power inverter, tools-for-the-road (love those sales at Sears), leveling blocks, etc., etc. Amazing how many things you just can't do without. Of course, since we sprang for the satellite dish on the roof, you have to get a new LCD t.v., right? That one's on hold for a while, since we want a small one (about 17" or so), and the current small ones for the most part don't have digital tuners, which will be de rigeur come January 2009 (I think that's the latest demise date for analog broadcasts). We don't yet have Direct TV anyway, so its not a priority item.

We chose the layout of this model because of the wrap-around picture windows in the rear. If we have to be inside because of weather, at least the view will be great (assuming I've parked it in the right direction). The windows are heavily tinted and from the outside it just looks black-- can't see anything inside during the daytime. There are two 6'+ couches along each side, that convert into either twin beds or pull together to make a king-size (the back-rest cushions form the balance of the bed). There's also a queen bed over the cab. The kitchen has a 3-burner stove, a microwave, and a small oven for road-cookies. The bathroom has a real porcelain toilet, and there is a nice stall shower with an integrated sink. Ahhh. No more freezing our buns off in a tent in the rain and wind and hoofing it in the dark to the public facilities! (See our post re Yosemite!)

We haven't spent a night in it yet, but will take our maiden voyage this week for five days to Lake Perris, which is out in the boonies near Murietta Hot Springs. It's a state campground adjacent to a manmade lake (which, I understand, is shrinking considerably in our current low-rain cycle, the worst in recorded history for these parts). We'll be joining a LD "caravan" of other LD owners, probably a hundred or so. I'm sure we'll be the newest of the new, and we'll take advantage of the experienced owners to figure out how to operate everything. No laptop yet (the previous one died after only two years), so we'll have to post about the trip when we get back. After that we're scheduled for a long (6 weeks or so) outing to the Utah parks, which I've never seen.