Its April of 2004 and we haven't seen an update to The Rolling Home since December of 03.

They are WORKING!  Oh no!

In January, Libby and I met up with the Emonds,Holders,and bunches of other RV America friends and headed for the Florida RV SuperShow.  Before the show, we met our buds, Pappy and Cecile Doughty and the Emonds in Orlando where we all went to La Nouiba, the Cirque de Soleil show at Disney.  We had a great time and then caravaned with the Doughty's, Emonds, Big John and Run Around Sue and Stan and Betty Bobber over to Tampa to the RV show.  Before the show, we met in Orlando with a bunch of folks from the RV America crew.

At the show we had a great time and ran into many other folks we have met on the road over the last five years.  When the show ended, we moved to the Encore park in Sefner while our friends the Doughty's moved into their new class C Shasta motorhome.

We spent about 10 days in the Tampa area before returning to Okeechobee and settling back in to our lot at the Big O.

One day, I went to a new RV dealer here in Okeechobee and spoke to the owner about doing satellite dish installations for them.  Instead, the owner hired me as an RV sales guy.  A couple of days later, he hired Libby.

Since our cash reserve had hit an all time low, we were trying to decide how to handle our travels this year.  Bottom line, we didn't have enough reserve to feel comfortable traveling this year and doing the things we want to do as fulltimers.

Instead, we apologized to our friends in Utah and decided to just sit here in Okeechobee for at least a year and gather our resources.  We both are selling rigs at the Great American RVs lot here and will continue to do so until we feel comfortable with our cash accounts again.

At Great American Rvs, we are selling Alfa See Ya motorhomes, Damon Ultrasports, Georgetown class A gas rigs, Forester Class Cs, Conquest and StarCraft Travel Trailers and various used rigs. We also handle Teton Fifth Wheels and the Weekend Warrior line of toy hauler fifth wheels and travel trailers.

At this point, Libby and I have sold about 20 rigs including a 5 Alfas, two Alfa Golds, five class A gassers, a number of travel trailers and some used rigs. Libby has a nice Teton Fiver sale.  We have earned more in a month than we did all summer in either of our workamper jobs the past two summers.  We intend to simply stay here and put money away for a while.

We are also contemplating buying some dirt as it is getting pretty pricey here in South Florida.  It won't be any cheaper than it is right now so we want to have a place to put our anchor down someday.  We might not buy a house, but we will at least pick up a couple of acres to have a house on someday and a nice barn for the RV. (and enough room for my ham radio antennas)

Our current plan is to buy the property, pay off our RV lot and maybe pick up a new Alfa See Ya before we resume our travels around the country.

Next quarter, I will relate some tales from the other side of the RV purchasing business.  Just like workamping, we have learned a great deal from being on the sales side of this industry.

We have seen the other side of service, the good, the bad and the ugly of customers from a very different perspective than many of us who have purchased RVs.  It should be interesting.

Just for something to chew on, do you realize how many people try to buy a $200,000 RV and have filed bankruptcy within the last couple of years?  (a lot!)

Anyway, we are having a fun time selling rigs, but we do miss the call of the open road. We will be here as long as it takes for us to feel comfortable with our cash reserve and no longer!

John and Libby
www.TheRollingHome.com
The Big "O" RV Resort Lot 73
Okeechobee, FL