In the summer of 2012, I was on a business trip.  Madrid.  Having trouble sleeping, and occupying my late evening time on Facebook.  At some point, I’m tempted into clicking on a advertising link for a sleek looking, small motorhome.  The Leisure Travel Van Free Spirit had caught my attention.

Over the next few years, I kept visiting the LTV website, checking in on new models, floorplans, features.  Considering the options that might be best for us.  If and when we ever decided to make such a purchase.  A new model, the Unity, seemed to have a great deal of storage and towing capacity, and were still very svelte.  These units were pricey, but seemed to have a reputation for quality and durability.  But it would be a huge financial commitment.

We knew our travel and vacationing style had changed in the 20-odd years we had been towing a travel trailer to various camping spots and, more recently, doing some road trips in our car and staying in small hotels/motels or B&Bs.  Adding to this mix, the trailer had been more or less given to our kids who have been living out of it in the summers at National Parks and Forest locations as Eileen worked various cool ranger jobs.

So, I started planting the seeds.  Mentioning, at the appropriate times, how great it would be to have a Unity “right now” – being able to have both a roomy and comfortable abode and being able to easily navigate and park it.   Sort of a blending of both our car-based road trips and trailer-based camping trips.

The seeds started to germinate, and in January of 2017 we had a chance to attend an RV show in Pleasanton where a local dealer was going to have some Unitys on display.  At this point, I had most of the specifications and features memorized, and was pleased to be able to answer questions from Barry that the salesperson from the dealer could not.

The in-person tour, albeit it lasting a whopping 12 minutes, I think it took away any concerns we had about the quality or usability of a Unity Island Bed.  Now, it was just a matter of swallowing the bitter pill of the cost, and committing to whether an “RV” was the right choice.  Versus, say, a camper on a new truck.  Another, maybe smaller trailer.

About six months later, we are having a conversation with a 30-something friend of ours who encourages us to ….  get the RV.  Not that Jake’s opinion was so important, but for some reason, it was a catalyst to moving from “should we”, to “how will we”?

We placed our order on September 15, having gone over the various options.  We were told it would be a  six to eight month wait.

In early December, our salesperson called us with an offer to buy a unit almost identical to the one we had ordered, with different colors, but basically the same.  A woman had taken ownership, spent one night in it, and decided “camping” was not for her. We indicated our interest, but suffice to say the deal broke down when the woman had to take title and then transfer title back to Wagon Trail RV…. and for some reason, this process drug out for months.  In early March, we let Jerry know we wanted to just go back to our original order.

In the “waiting period” – which, in some ways was like a pregnancy – we joined a Facebook group – “LTV Enthusiasts” – a wonderful collection of owners, people waiting for delivery and those still shopping.  So much information!  So many great photos of people enjoying their LTVs in the real world!  A great way to get an “LTV fix”.

We knew that our Unity birthday might come close to or during our annual Hat Creek fishing and camping trip at the end of June.  And, indeed, it did – exactly half way through.  The wonderful folks at the LTV factory had been sending us pictures of our rig on the assembly line, and *exactly* half way through our trip, we got the word it was available in Las Vegas for pickup.

The rest is The Journey.