TOADS!

For those of you who don't speak RV, a "Toad" is actually a vehicle that is towed. Get it? Towed - toad?

So we are looking for a toad for our MoHo! If we don't get one, we'll have to either not go anywhere from our campsites, or we'll have to drive the whole RV, and that just seems like a pain either way. If we were just planning for weekend camping, no toad necessary, but a year-long sojourn on the road? Well that's different. Most "full-timers" wouldn't be without one.

This is one of the places where the choice between Vehicle + Trailer and Motorhome + Toad came into play - both probably use as much gas and space driving down the highway, but the vehicle that tows a trailer gets much worse gas mileage than a small toad that is pulled behind a MotorHome.

And parking - backing a trailer into a campsite isn't appealing at all. The MoHo has a rear view camera with sound that makes it SO easy - it's great! I get out to spot, and can just talk to Devin as he maneuvers in. And the MoHo has a really surprisingly good turning radius! Parking just has NOT been a problem for us. But we've watched Fifth Wheels with trailers really struggle with it quite a few times already.

When we get the toad, I'll just jump out, unhook and drive it to park in front of the MoHo or wherever. We have a good tow bar that came with the RV, a Blue Ox, that is supposed to be very easy to hook up and unhook. And hopefully the gear disconnect will be easy to deal with, too, and the braking system we choose (oh, there is a lot to think about with setting up our toad safely and conveniently!)

The other factor for Motorhome vs. Trailer is just the convenience of the bathroom and kitchen on the road - when we were in Alaska, if one of us had to go, we could just pull over and walk back there. Or when we got hungry, we'd find a scenic turn-out and go back and eat. It was all so easy - no set up required.

Back to the Toad.

We want an automatic - Devin can drive a manual, but it's not easy for him, so an automatic is best. We would love a 4wd vehicle, with a transfer case and REAL 4WD, so we can go exploring in those remote areas we love, like the Colorado Rockies or the Panamint Mountains, to name two places we've already explored a bit.

Those two choices together, along with the capability of being towed on it's own with 4 wheels down (no tow dolly), really limit our options. One of the only choices we have is a Jeep!

Now, I have to admit, I'm kind of excited about this!! I like the idea of driving a Jeep anywhere! We rented a car when we went to Hawaii last Christmas, and at first we had a convertible - a Chrysler Sebring: It was comfortable, top opened and closed at the touch of a button... but it just wasn't us! We felt like we should be wearing Izod Shirts and be on our way to the country club and call each other Biff and Muffy... SO not us. Ha! So we traded it in on this funky green Jeep convertible! It was loud and rattled and had plastic windows that flapped, and when we first got it, we went to take the top down and it's a complicated process!! Some wonderful local came to our rescue, saying he had one just like it once. He explained it and helped us make it work - that was really nice. Later that day, it started to rain, and it was quite a challenge getting it back up! Did we regret it or wish we had kept the Sebring? NO WAY. We loved it. And we didn't even use it off road - we looked at the map and thought about exploring the back side of Haleakala with it, but we weren't there very long, and so we spent most of our time snorkeling instead.

So I think a Jeep is for us. And I still want a convertible. And when we get where we are going, it will end up being MY car! YAY!! I will just feel cool driving a Jeep. Yep - Ms. Practical car has fallen for an image... :-)


So we think we want a Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited. Rubicon because it is the "real" 4wd - can go anywhere - model. Did you know that they are starting to make Jeeps in 2WD?? Isn't that weird?? It's just wrong, IMHO! We want the Unlimited because it has more room for all our camping gear. I kind of like the green one in the photo!

Devin really likes the new 2007 model that has 4 doors and a hard top that can come off in sections:

I've never had a new car of any kind before and my tendency is to want to save money and buy a used one that we can beat up. Devin is a new car kind of guy, and thinks of resale value and that it will be our main car and should be nice...

I wonder who will win? :-)