JoAnne and I had always eschewed the idea of having any sort of RV.  However, getting older makes you do funny things.  We have always enjoyed camping along the northern California and Oregon coast.  We never tire of the beauty and grandeur of the meeting of land and ocean, and there is a never ending supply of new and exciting places to explore.  We have never been able to get enough, and camping there brought us that much closer to it.

Our last trip there was in July & August of 2003.  Living in northern California - San Francisco Bay Area- has taught us to never expect the expected in the way of weather along the Pacific coast.  We had the misfortune of an inland heat wave that sucked the marine fog over the entire coast for more than a week.  Wind, fog, mist, and cold were our constant companions for that trip.  We had a lot of fun, ate well,  and had many great adventures, explorations, and discoveries.  What we didn't have, particularly JoAnne, was warmth and the comfort that accompanies it.  Sleeping on the ground, once our friend, became a dreaded chore.  I think we could have gone first class in hotels for our firewood bill! Fortunately our last two stops included a cabin (with heater) at Cape Blanco (incidentally the most western point of land in the lower 48 states), and a motel in Gold Beach.

After that trip, the die was cast, and we were in search of a better (and warmer, drier) way.  We decided that a "tent trailer" would be the thing for us, and began searching for the right one.