September 26, 2016

Changing the Course...Once Again



"Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end"
Robin Sharma

Our hopes have always been that our posts have inspired you to create your own adventures. You know...seduction isn't making someone do what they don't want to do...it's enticing someone in doing what they secretly want to do already. So for those that have had that inner desire "to be here now"...we hope BlaNicS Waypoints has seduced you.


Well our natural wonderlands are drawing us like the wisdom of an ancient sage, for the call of adventure has been the soundtrack of our souls. So it is not surprising that after months of listening to those lyrics, we have began composing another arrangement. 


After a brief 7 month hiatus, we are once again planning on traveling the byways of the West (of the Atlantic), sooner than later, for the best place I want to be is always "somewhere else". 


Months ago we decided to change our mode of exploration..the Fox was the best travel trailer we could have owned and our RAM 2500 the most beautiful steed to pull any wagon...but...we realized we are just and always will be "motorized" rv'ers. We are thrilled to report that the Fox was quickly adopted and embraced by a wonderful couple who specifically looked for Arctic Fox Trailers and that particular floorplan. She has already experienced several new adventures...a spoiled rig for sure.


We decided we wanted to downsize even more (you recall we started with a 40' Country Coach diesel pusher and towed our CRV behind it). The Fox and RAM combined length was close to 50' and although our trailer was able to get into almost all campsites, we sometimes still needed a shoehorn and multiple passes to get our trailer parked. 


So we decided to go back to our first love, Motorized, and chose a Class C Motorhome on a Mercedes Sprinter Chassis with a "short" 25 feet length. And if we decide to tow a "toad", we would still be less than 40 feet and can disconnect when parking the motorhome.  


Yeah, we gave up a lot of carrying capacity, gear and holding tanks, but we are pretty confident we can still experience our adventures quite comfortably. And knowing that this rig drives and handles like a small SUV will enable us to be even more aggressive in seeking out those hidden natural gems to camp in.


After some intense research, manufacturer dialogue, model walk throughs, price negotiations and then doing it all over again "we" decided on a manufacturer, model and floorplan. We chose the Isata 3 RW by Dynamax.


We were very fortunate to connect with the Dynamax West Coast Manufacturer Representative who not only has been able to answer all of our questions and provide technical strategies to the build, but also offered to send us photos of our rig being assembled through the production line. So here is a pictorial walk thru of our new rig.


This is how the chassis arrives to Dynamax after upgrades to the chassis were completed by MORryde Engineering. We were surprised to see how small it's "footprint" was. After having huge capacities on the Fox, the small black holding tanks will be an adjustment. 





The box was attached next. Included were cabinetry, appliances, plumbing and electrical.







Slides, frameless windows and aluminum storage compartment doors being installed. Interior living areas are coming along nicely.







Getting ready for Dynamax's legendary full body paint job, taping, color sanding and buffing. Side panel ghosted graphics are airbrushed over multiple times with the exterior color of choice. The front bumper is painted and all the rubber stripping is removed so the inside door jams can also be painted. We were told the entire painting process from start to finish alone takes two weeks to complete.







Painted, color sanded and buffed. Final finish is all that is left of the painting process.






Next a few exterior options were added, than the Pre-Delivery Inspection and the "rain" bay test. Our rig is now ready to be delivered to our dealer. We have already planned a two week "Shake Down Cruise" to make sure everything is in working order prior to driving it back to our Central Coast Hidey Hole. Here is the finished product!




Visualize this "big kids"...you life is a mirror of a vintage Disney Slide View-Master with every National Park slide at your disposal. Well soon, we will once again be the storytellers...creating memories and leaving our footprints within those beautiful realms.

At Waypoint 41.7223487 -85.9357524