Hello. We’re Martin & Allen, and have been together for 27 years. We have lived in southern California since the early 1990s and met on a hike in 1997.
Allen, a Software Engineer, retired around 2017 due to health issues after over 30 years in the IT industry. Martin, a Construction Project Manager, retired at the end of 2022. Before retirement, we planned to hit the road in an RV as we had become dissatisfied with living in Los Angeles. LA has just too many people living in an area that is too small, has too much traffic, and has too high of a cost of living.
When COVID-19 struck in 2020, we figured purchasing a 42-foot 2020 Grand Design Solitude 375RES 5th-wheel made sense before retirement. Our Grand Design Solitude 375RES Gets Delivered describes that process. We had been renting for many years and couldn’t see ourselves buying a home in southern California. We paid less in RV lot rent and RV payment than in rent.
We were stationary at Rosewood Mobile Home and RV Park in Bellflower, CA, for the next two and a half years. We used this time to learn as much as we could about RVing. Since we were stationary, we did not need a vehicle to tow our RV. Martin retired at the end of 2022, so the time had come to purchase a tow vehicle.
Our research determined that we wanted a Ford F-450 for its excellent towing ability, stability, and magnificent turning radius, which is better than an F-350 or F-250. During this time, Ford F-450s were extremely difficult to find due to lingering parts shortages caused by worldwide manufacturing closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the Car Gurus App, Allen happened upon a used 2022 F-450 at, of all places, a Volkswagen dealership less than 30 minutes from our home.
We hit the road a few months later, so our RV travel story began.