We’d made it to Denver; it was time to put some serious effort into our search for an RV. We knew we wanted a Class A diesel pusher motorhome. With three girls and one guy, the toilet needed to be in a separate room from the rest of the bathroom. We also knew we wanted to remodel, so older didn’t matter to us. In fact, we preferred older. Tom spent a lot of time and made a spreadsheet of the Class A’s built better for full-time living. We had our price range, our brands, and we were ready to buy. It didn’t take long before we found a 2000 Newmar Dutch Star for sale just outside Dallas, TX, and started a conversation with the owner. It was definitely still available, and he was agreeable to allowing us to send an inspector out. While Tom was on the phone with the inspector to schedule an appointment, the owner called to inform us that a couple from San Antonio were on their way with cash. The RV was sold. Feeling a little beat down and defeated, we asked him to call us if anything changed and started our search again.

Mid-morning the next day, the owner was back on Tom’s phone. He’d sent the people from San Antonio packing without the RV, and it was ours if we wanted it. We immediately scheduled the inspector, who went out the next day. On the first day of the inspection, we received news that the RV was in good condition cosmetically. It was stored inside their shop for the last 17 years of its life and escaped weather damage. With only 60,000 miles on it, the inspector said if we didn’t buy it, he and his wife would, after finding no significant issues the second day of inspection. He sent us the report, and we booked tickets for the following Wednesday to fly and pick up our new home. In the meantime, we discovered that the credit union we use required you to go into the branch to start a wire transfer. That was a problem since our credit union was in California. We had met a branch manager through our networking while living in California, so we reached out to him. He said he would help us get the wire out without requiring us to show up in the branch.

Wednesday, January 27, 2021, Tom and I were sitting in Denver International Airport waiting to board our flight to Texas. We received a call from the branch manager who would help us, and one of his employees had tested positive for COVID. They were all locked out of the branch until further notice. He wasn’t going to be able to follow through with his plan. We ordered another margarita while looking at flights for Tom to fly from Houston to San Diego and back to Houston after starting the wire transfer with the credit union. We landed in Dallas, rented a car, and drove to our hotel, Tru by Hilton in Frisco, TX.

We awoke early the next day with anxiety over how to make this work and hoping the owner would still allow us to make it work. We were going to look like flakes walking in with some excuse. Before our 2:00 PM supposed pick-up time, we had to figure out how to get a wire. We spent the morning on the phone and came up with a plan. We would priority overnight personal checks to our friend, David, who banks at the same credit union. David would take the checks to his local branch. Our branch manager acquaintance would call and remove the standard holds. David would immediately send the wire. The owner of our new home was understanding when we showed up. He showed us around the RV, and we made an appointment to pick it up at the same time the next day. Friday.

We dropped our checks at FedEx and searched for a fun hotel to book for the night as our last night before moving into the RV. We enjoy quirky hotels and stay in them whenever we need to book a room for a night or two. The Grand Hotel and Ballroom in McKinney, TX, did not disappoint. The room was excellent and, the bathroom was super cool. We’d noticed a place called Sugarbacon across from the hotel, and we are all about anything bacon. If ever you are in McKinney, TX, Sugarbacon is the place for dinner. We had the candied bacon appetizer, of course! I had the thickest, most enormous, most delicious pork chop I have ever had for dinner. Tom had a delightful steak, but that pork chop was to die for!

The following day we checked out of The Grand Hotel and Ballroom and went for lunch. All the while tracking our FedEx package that should arrive in California by 10:30 AM PST. In Texas, we were two hours ahead in Central Standard Time. About 12:35 CST, our FedEx tracking went from delivery by 10:30 AM to ‘delivery by the end of the business day.’ WHAT?!?! NO!! This cannot be happening. The wire has to be sent by noon, and David has another commitment. Tom gets on the phone with FedEx and tells them it can be delivered to David’s office or the credit union, it doesn’t matter, but it needs to get somewhere fast. Finally, at 11:00 PST, David has our checks in his hand, but now he’s in the middle of his other commitment and can’t make it to the credit union for a bit. I was freaking out. The wire went out at 11:52 AM PST, just before wire cut-off. We could breathe easy again.

We show up to our 2:00 PM pick-up, and the wire isn’t there. We’re confident it will show up soon, so the owner’s son takes us out and fills the fuel tank. Shows us around a little more, and by the time we get back to the shop, no wire. The son, who got stuck with us on Friday afternoon, wanted to leave early but had to confirm the wire before handing over the keys. By 5:00 PM, I had blown up David’s phone, and I was in tears. 5:22 PM, the son, came walking out, keys in his outstretched hand, and informed us the wire was showing pending in his father’s account. We were free to leave with our new home.

Now the adventures could begin!

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