2010augusta
Well-known member
I just wanted to take some time to share a recap of our experience as Heartland owners for the first year.
Well, one year ago today I was in Elkhart eagerly awaiting the delivery of our Landmark to RV Capital Wholesalers. The delivery had been delayed several day due to paint shop issues, and now on that exact same day one year later, we are waiting the release of the Landmark for another paint booth. This time to fix my little mistake
, but We will get it back today. Hopefully this will not become an annual tradition.
The unit was brought to the service center at 6:00 PM, where the staff was staying late to get the unit prepped and my Dad and I did a very quick 45 minute PDI. Now I know we should have stayed one more day and done a much longer PDI, but we had already been delayed three days and needed to get back to Colorado. We drove that night From Elkhart to Indianapolis to a Wal-mart for a quick over night then made it to Salina KS for the next night where it was 20 degrees with a 30 mph wind and at 1 AM the single battery died and the furnace quit. Luckily we were in another Wal-mart parking lot and bought a second battery, wired it in and got the generator running to power everything for the rest of the night. We made it to Colorado Springs the next day and my wife got to see the Augusta floorplan for the first time. Yes, we bought the Augusta without ever stepping foot in one. We had walked through a Landmark Cape Cod and a Bighorn 3670rl but not an actual Landmark Augusta.
We spent one month preparing the unit for our full-time use and getting everything moved out of our S&B and putting it on the market. We moved to Brownwood TX for a contract from Jan. 3 thru March 10. We took a nice trip back to Colorado through New Mexico, and visited Guadalupe Mountains NP, Carlsbad Caverns NP, White Sands NP, Three Rivers Petroglyph Site NM, Valley of Fires NM, and Petroglyph NP on the way
We spent most of Spring and Summer in Colorado, where I help my parents with a lot of landscaping and painting the entire outside of there house. Lucky our house sold while we were in Colorado, so I was able to take care of the closing and final details myself. My brother got married on the 4th of July and on the 7th of July we moved to Uvalde TX for another travel nursing contract.
Spending July, August, and the beginning of Spetember in Southern Texas, is not a pleasant experience for a Colorado boy. I have never had to live in 100+ degree temperatures for so long every before, Lucky, I guess, we were on the night shift, so I got to enjoy the nights when it was only 90 degrees. As the Uvadle contract wrapped up we got a position in Gig Harbor, WA.
For the trip to Washington we took a very scenic route to hit many more NPs. We were able to explore Big Bend NP, Petrified Forest and painted desert NP, Sunset Crater NM, the North Rim of Grand Canyon NP, Cedar Breaks NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Sequoia NP, Kings Canyon NP, Yosemite NP, Redwoods NP, Crater Lake NP, and Olympic NP. all of that in only 14 days of travel. It was on this trip while in Garberville, CA, that I hit the post the required the Landmark to go to the body shop. We are going to be in Gig Harbor until at least September of 2010, due to my wife's work contract.
We have had several issues with the trailer over the past year and the beginning I was frustrated with the problems and that a brand new unit was having leaks and such, but with the help and support of this forum and Heartland customer service, I was able to fix everything myself and in the course of doing so became VERY familiar with the inner workings of the basement and the rest of the trailer. Besides the leaks the issues we have had were 2 12 volt converters have been replaced, a new shower mixing valve, the radio antenna adapter replaced, one leather recliner replaced, the quad entry steps are being replaced.
I have also done a lot of work to modify our trailer to make things better for our use. Some of the changes I have made are: Installed a tool rack above the range to hold cooking tools, Threaded the four legs of the range grate to allow fine adjustment and level the grate and use washer to prevent it form falling through the rubber grommets, installed a craftsman 125 psi 2 gal air-compressor behind the wall in the basement, installed a hardwired 50 amp EMS with remote display, rewired the porch light to come on the the step light instead of the scare light, recovered all the the box valances with a nice blue fabric to limit the amount of midnight pattern throughout the trailer, Built a table top for our large dog kennel and a storage ottoman for in front of the couch, I add a small shelf next to the couch to hold remotes and drinks and a large shelf under the cabinets in the kitchen to hold bread and other items. I removed part of the front bulkhead wall in the basement to allow for a ladder to be stored on top of the enclosure for the generator. Plus many more small things.
This past year has been absolutely great and I know we are extremely luck to be able to live a lifestyle like this at such a young age. It is a bit odd when our "older" neighbors Find out that I'm only 28 and we are full-timers with a very nice truck and trailer. We can not imagine stopping this full time RV lifestyle any time some.
In our travels we have seen several heartland products on the road and in campgrounds, I have talked to about three couples in campgrounds and told them about the forum, but have only meet one couple that is on the forum, and that was J.D. and C.J. Wigley while on a short weekend trip to Ft. Collins, CO, in June. We are hoping to make it to the Oregon Rally next summer, so we can meet more owners from the Northwest.
Hope to see more y'all in the coming years and thank you to Heartland and everyone one this great forum.
Well, one year ago today I was in Elkhart eagerly awaiting the delivery of our Landmark to RV Capital Wholesalers. The delivery had been delayed several day due to paint shop issues, and now on that exact same day one year later, we are waiting the release of the Landmark for another paint booth. This time to fix my little mistake
, but We will get it back today. Hopefully this will not become an annual tradition. The unit was brought to the service center at 6:00 PM, where the staff was staying late to get the unit prepped and my Dad and I did a very quick 45 minute PDI. Now I know we should have stayed one more day and done a much longer PDI, but we had already been delayed three days and needed to get back to Colorado. We drove that night From Elkhart to Indianapolis to a Wal-mart for a quick over night then made it to Salina KS for the next night where it was 20 degrees with a 30 mph wind and at 1 AM the single battery died and the furnace quit. Luckily we were in another Wal-mart parking lot and bought a second battery, wired it in and got the generator running to power everything for the rest of the night. We made it to Colorado Springs the next day and my wife got to see the Augusta floorplan for the first time. Yes, we bought the Augusta without ever stepping foot in one. We had walked through a Landmark Cape Cod and a Bighorn 3670rl but not an actual Landmark Augusta.
We spent one month preparing the unit for our full-time use and getting everything moved out of our S&B and putting it on the market. We moved to Brownwood TX for a contract from Jan. 3 thru March 10. We took a nice trip back to Colorado through New Mexico, and visited Guadalupe Mountains NP, Carlsbad Caverns NP, White Sands NP, Three Rivers Petroglyph Site NM, Valley of Fires NM, and Petroglyph NP on the way
We spent most of Spring and Summer in Colorado, where I help my parents with a lot of landscaping and painting the entire outside of there house. Lucky our house sold while we were in Colorado, so I was able to take care of the closing and final details myself. My brother got married on the 4th of July and on the 7th of July we moved to Uvalde TX for another travel nursing contract.
Spending July, August, and the beginning of Spetember in Southern Texas, is not a pleasant experience for a Colorado boy. I have never had to live in 100+ degree temperatures for so long every before, Lucky, I guess, we were on the night shift, so I got to enjoy the nights when it was only 90 degrees. As the Uvadle contract wrapped up we got a position in Gig Harbor, WA.
For the trip to Washington we took a very scenic route to hit many more NPs. We were able to explore Big Bend NP, Petrified Forest and painted desert NP, Sunset Crater NM, the North Rim of Grand Canyon NP, Cedar Breaks NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Sequoia NP, Kings Canyon NP, Yosemite NP, Redwoods NP, Crater Lake NP, and Olympic NP. all of that in only 14 days of travel. It was on this trip while in Garberville, CA, that I hit the post the required the Landmark to go to the body shop. We are going to be in Gig Harbor until at least September of 2010, due to my wife's work contract.
We have had several issues with the trailer over the past year and the beginning I was frustrated with the problems and that a brand new unit was having leaks and such, but with the help and support of this forum and Heartland customer service, I was able to fix everything myself and in the course of doing so became VERY familiar with the inner workings of the basement and the rest of the trailer. Besides the leaks the issues we have had were 2 12 volt converters have been replaced, a new shower mixing valve, the radio antenna adapter replaced, one leather recliner replaced, the quad entry steps are being replaced.
I have also done a lot of work to modify our trailer to make things better for our use. Some of the changes I have made are: Installed a tool rack above the range to hold cooking tools, Threaded the four legs of the range grate to allow fine adjustment and level the grate and use washer to prevent it form falling through the rubber grommets, installed a craftsman 125 psi 2 gal air-compressor behind the wall in the basement, installed a hardwired 50 amp EMS with remote display, rewired the porch light to come on the the step light instead of the scare light, recovered all the the box valances with a nice blue fabric to limit the amount of midnight pattern throughout the trailer, Built a table top for our large dog kennel and a storage ottoman for in front of the couch, I add a small shelf next to the couch to hold remotes and drinks and a large shelf under the cabinets in the kitchen to hold bread and other items. I removed part of the front bulkhead wall in the basement to allow for a ladder to be stored on top of the enclosure for the generator. Plus many more small things.
This past year has been absolutely great and I know we are extremely luck to be able to live a lifestyle like this at such a young age. It is a bit odd when our "older" neighbors Find out that I'm only 28 and we are full-timers with a very nice truck and trailer. We can not imagine stopping this full time RV lifestyle any time some.
In our travels we have seen several heartland products on the road and in campgrounds, I have talked to about three couples in campgrounds and told them about the forum, but have only meet one couple that is on the forum, and that was J.D. and C.J. Wigley while on a short weekend trip to Ft. Collins, CO, in June. We are hoping to make it to the Oregon Rally next summer, so we can meet more owners from the Northwest.
Hope to see more y'all in the coming years and thank you to Heartland and everyone one this great forum.
