2. Vegas

Step 1 was done. We decided what we wanted: a Grand Design 5th wheel with a bunkhouse for the kids. Now to find it, IRL. TJ is the master of research & never ruling-out any option. He found our new dream-home-on-wheels in Vegas, an easy 4-hour drive from LA. It almost seemed too good to be true. We video-chatted with the seller, David. The video chat went well, & we made plans to see it in person. 

We set out for Vegas at dawn in our brand-spankin’-new-to-us truck – a 2019 F350 turbo diesel crew cab extended bed big freakin’ loud truck. (Cool detail – we bought this truck from our friends who moved to CA from MT and lived in their toy-hauler for a few years. They were a huge influence and help to us in this whole new journey, & we will always be grateful!) 

At the CA/NV line, we needed diesel. At $200, the pump shut off. Did I say every step of this process is new? We learned gas stations will automatically shut the pump off at a certain point – and that point is random. This one was $200 (our truck’s tank holds 48 gallons). Replace nozzle, & repeat until full.

I’m telling you, every single step of this process is N-E-W to us. 

We made it to Vegas & breathed a huge sigh of relief when the 5th wheel was actually there & the seller was the human we’d video chatted with. He was such a nice guy, & he even hired his RV tech friend to come out to help us learn how to work everything & go over everything. (The 5th wheel had been delivered to & parked at an RV park outside the strip for extended vacations by the owner – besides the initial delivery, this puppy hadn’t been moved in almost 2 years). 

We did the initial tour & going-over, moved in for the weekend (toothbrushes & sleeping bags), made plans with the owner to meet up the next day for another walk-thru, & then we hit the strip – which meant parking our insanely gigantic big-ass truck in a parking garage on the Vegas strip. David advised us to go to The Mirage to park, as it has a higher clearance. We easily made it through the first entrance, which led us to the next clearance that was – get this – lower than the first. 

Why why why wouldn’t you post the lowest clearance FIRST. Why? At this point, I hopped out of the truck & tried to do an eyeball-check as the cars piled up behind us. The valet in the next lane asked, “Does it have a lift kit?”

“…um…we’re new to this and no I don’t believe it was lifted it’s just a big truck on it’s own wait a minute lemme call my friend…”

The valet said, “You should be fine!”

Always willing to trust a teenager with nothing to lose, we went for it. Our antenna snagged every single beam in that parking garage. I almost puked. I think we had 5” of clearance. Now, to park… we need 1.5 parking spots of length to park this beast. We happened upon a row of cars with a metal barrier behind them. TJ said, “Hop out & move those barriers.” 

What? The barriers are there for a reason. You want me to Break. The. Rules? Now you drive a truck & we just break rules? How quickly I succumbed to peer pressure, & we had ourselves a perfectly-sized parking spot for our insanely big ass truck. Check. 

The kids, TJ, myself, and our chihuahua mix, Stout, headed to the strip. I wore that little guy in his doggy backpack all through the casinos & even at dinner (albeit in a food court). Not a single person asked anything. Note to self: act like you know what you’re doing, & people won’t ask questions. Even with a chihuahua strapped to your back. 

We ended up walking 6 miles that night, & the kids loved every second of it. They got virgin frozen margaritas & took it all in. We left the parking garage, snagging our antenna on everything overhead, drove back to the 5th wheel & prepared to spend our first night in our new home. As Chase brushed his teeth, he came running out of the bathroom – “There’s water coming out under the sink onto the floor! I didn’t break anything!” TJ is super handy & had the toe kick of the vanity off & everything dried-up quickly. The drain had separated under the sink – which makes sense since that portion is on a slide-out. We’d heard things frequently break on RV’s, but come on – we’d owned this thing for like 5 minutes. 

The next day was Sunday, & the plan was to leave by noon. Since 5th wheel hadn’t been driven in two years, TJ & the seller went over all the details – checked tire pressure & installed tire sensors, checked the lug nuts, etc. And they fixed that bathroom issue I mentioned above. Meanwhile, the kids had a picnic & found ways to keep themselves busy.

As we pulled out of Vegas, it was 5:30 pm. The seller offered to follow us out of the park & down the freeway since this was TJ’s first time – for the love of god – ever towing something like this. 

I was getting the RV-safe navigation going, & we missed our first turn. It rerouted us to the next exit… the one for the strip. David, following us from behind, mentioned that this exit is under heavy construction & it could get dicey. Suuuuper. We sat at the exit, looking ahead at a narrow line of construction barrels leading us to a tight left turn onto a bridge followed by another tight left turn back onto the freeway. I said, “I don’t think we can make it.” David, from behind, calmly said, “Ok, here’s what we’ll do. We’ll take a right & go down the strip.”

TJ calmly spoke up. “Nope.”

He went for it. He made those left turns like a pro. And when he got back on the freeway, the kids & I clapped and cheered.

Jesus. We all laughed. I was laughing through tears. But he did it! He drove us all the way back to our house on Almidor Avenue. Our hope was to keep our trips to 2-3 hours – in daylight. This maiden voyage took us 6 hours – in the dark. We went through the semi checkpoint at the NV/CA border. We spent $50 at a truck stop on slurpees, chips, and slim-jims. And we parked it on our street in the middle of the night, & our adventure continued!