About Us

We are the Claytons – Dave and Terry – and we started our journey with our RV in August 2016. We decided to start this web blog to document our experiences and travels with an older Class C Motorhome. We live on the western slope of the Continental Device in the town of Mt Crested Butte, Colorado at an elevation of 9300 feet. Terry and I have always enjoyed the outdoors and both camped when we were younger so being able to get back to the outdoors has always been appealing. So, let me tell you about how we made the decision to become part of the RV community –

How We Made the Decision

We were taking a automobile trip in June of 2016 through eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota. It was the usual tourist trip, seeing the sights at Devil’s Tow, Mount Rushmore, the buffaloes at Custer State Park and much more. Except for three nights in a cabin in Custer, SD, we stayed in different motels every night. Each morning we would pack our stuff and move it to the car, travel and visit places during the day and then move into a new motel in the afternoon. We could never relax much because we had to stay packed and mobile and all in the confines of a Subaru Outback.

In traveling, we so multitudes of RVs on the road. We talked about how having an RV would be an interesting way to travel and see the country while allowing us to live in our place every night. So when we got back, I started looking at what would make a good choice for a first RV for the two of us. It was a dazzling array of choices but because we don’t have a large truck so towing would mean an RV and new vehicle. I was intimidated with the size of Class A coaches and was more familiar with the workings of automobiles so I gravitated toward Class B or C vehicles. Being in our sixties, we wanted some of the comforts of home and one of the most important comforts was at least a queen bed without having to crawl over the other person to get out. That meant we were in the 28+ foot range. We thought that we wanted to be able to camp in smaller campgrounds or in state and national forests so not having slides seemed the way to go. Finally, being the first RV and not knowing if we would continue long term or take many trips, we didn’t want to spend money on a new or late model unit. So the search was on and we found our coach, a 1998 30 foot Gulf Stream Yellowstone Country Club Class C motorhome at was for sale near Chattanooga, TN. It was 18 years old but with low miles on the chassis. I knew it would need some work but if the price was right it would work for us.

So here we are, starting a blog about our experiences. I hope to make it about the trials working on the coach, what we found as needed upgrades and equipment, trips that we have taken and how we live in “The Beast”. Yes, we named our RV “The Beast”. It seemed appropriate with regards to its personality and needs (read Bringing the Beast Home to Colorado for more on the early days).

I hope that you will enjoy this journal of our travels. The following sections provide more on our journey:

General Musings on The Beast
Upgrades, Repairs and Maintenance
Journeys and Travels
Cooking Tips and Tricks
Other