2013 Thor Majestic: Drive Review, Part 3

Conclusions, contusions and collusions.

Bye for now, big fella. Photo: REVolution

We left in an unseasonable surprise blizzard; great, just great. The Thor was surprisingly steady. Once I learned to trust it a bit more, it was rock solid. Wind gusts were intense and we never really felt them on the road. Once we arrived in our RV campground, the winds picked up even more and my SO remarked, “I wasn’t aware that we would be sleeping in a boat.” It was bad but the motorhome stayed glued to the ground and nothing was torn off the roof. It was cold outside, in the 20s (F) but the little electric heater we ran inside kept us cozy and comfortable and we never fired up the propane-fueled motorhome heater, saving us additional rental costs. Once again, there are cheap alternatives to running a complex system like the one installed in the Thor and that’s the route I’d choose to go. Besides, we’d most likely not go anywhere in our motorhome in the dead of winter or at the absolute height of summer temperatures, so that’s not a concern of ours anyway.

So overall, the RV itself was a huge success. We were worried that the dogs would have trouble getting in and out but they figured it out eventually. I probably would build some sort of ramp. I did, out of an old closet door, but it needed some sort of carpet attached to it and the dogs figured out how to jump in (instead of just walking up the steps), so I didn’t bother. The Thor has steps that were inside the vehicle instead of the typical metal extending steps on some motorhomes. They were covered in non-slip rubber, which was really nice too. We’d much rather have this setup; no worries about forgetting to retract them and damaging them as you drove off.

Renting from Cruise America was interesting. It’s a nationwide franchise and probably does very well I’d imagine. We’d highly recommend it if you’re interested in a motorhome. The units were awesome, clean and in excellent condition. It is a rolling advertisement though and we got stopped often. People were amazed that you could rent such a nice motorhome and at the price we paid, which was under $100 a night. If you go to the Cruise America website, you can find special one-way deals that are incredible, down to just $20 a night. Thor is in the Chicago area and Cruise America needs to get the vehicles to locations around the country, so they give screaming good deals to do so. Fly in, drive to wherever they tell you, but take two weeks to do and go wherever you want. That would be a lot of fun. The lady that ran our local franchise was a real character; she talked a mile-a-minute and all about herself, as if she’d been kept in a cage and finally let out to converse with other human beings. She didn’t seem like the sort of person you’d want to get on her bad side, so we didn’t and it went smooth as silk. Judging from what she told us, people try to get away with outrageously stupid things when they return their rental motorhome. No surprise there; dealing with the public is a nightmare, no matter what business you’re in. Scary.

"Can we do it again real soon?"

So it was a great adventure and worth every penny. We would have spent as much or more staying in a hotel or renting a small house (if we could find one – we have in the past, but not lately). We learned a lot about what we liked and what we didn’t. For example, I don’t really want to drive a bigger motorhome. It also made me realize how exactly I’d build out our motorhome and  what did or didn’t work for us. If we could also use our motorhome to also advertise our business, that would be a huge bonus in multiple ways, which would be extremely doable with a vinyl wrap, lettering or something along those lines. Converting a Dodge (Mercedes) Sprinter definitely looks like a possible way to go. I’ve already laid out a rough floorplan that would be optimal for us, with maximum floor space for the dogs. It’s all about the dogs, really.

One thing that occurred to me was that I and my SO in the front passenger seat had airbags in front of us, ABS and a host of other safety features that just doesn’t exist on older motorhomes. That’s unacceptable. Motorhomes are not safe in the extreme, with what amounts to an eggshell on the back, but the front passengers are not in a much better place on vintage examples. Again, a Sprinter would be a much safer vehicle in every conceivable measurement. Score another point for that direction.

More research is necessary and we’re looking forward that journey!

“I'm a man of means by no means, King of the Road.” - Roger Miller