Well, it’s been a little over a month since Mrs. Av8r and I picked up our Superstar 4061 (Super C) in Napannee, so now seems as good a time as any to record our first impressions for posterity.
Both of us are Ohio kids transplanted to the West years ago, and we don’t get back nearly enough, so the drive from Arizona to Indiana was quite enjoyable, even in December. Since we were travelling by car, and thus had no coach to sleep in yet, we stayed for one night at the Amish Inn, right on the main drag (Rte 6/W.Market St) and only a few minutes from Camp Newmar. The place was very clean, nicely decorated for Christmas, and staffed with exceedingly nice people. I recommend it highly if you intend to stay somewhere other than Camp Newmar. Note: the Amish Inn has changed ownership recently and still has some renovations ongoing, but we never heard any construction noises. Due to Covid, the usual morning breakfast buffet has morphed into a sack meal of several choices of fruit, cereal, instant oatmeal, and baked goods, which you can eat in the seating area off the lobby, have delivered to your room, or just take with you.
Monday morning, (all Customer Pickups run Monday through Friday) very early, we showed up at the side door just to the left of the main entrance. There is a sign that says Employees Only, but you really are in the right place. If you’re in a car, the lot in front of this door is where you park. We went in the normally locked, but propped open door, and met the famous Sue, who took our temperatures, asked a few Covid-related questions, and admitted us into the facility. We discovered two things early: that, as Customer PickUp people, we didn’t have to appear at the 05:45 showtime that is required of normal service customers. They weren’t expecting us until 7:00, but our tech was already there so our early arrival wasn’t a problem. If you wait until 7:00am, you go in the main doors, but still park in the same lot.
We also learned that all the hype about how wonderful Sue is, does not do her justice. She really is the treasure you’ve heard that she is. They ought to just have her bronzed and placed on a pedestal in front of the facility right now!
Time to meet our new coach! As others have said, there really is nothing quite like the first sighting of your new RV. The facility itself is huge, spotlessly clean, and very impressive. And your new toy is front and center, also spotlessly clean and practically glowing! Dave, our tech, gave us a moment to pick our chins up from the floor, and the tour began. Day One is basically exterior, but it went quickly enough that we got most of the interior done also. Take WAY more notes than you could ever possibly need, because you’ll wish you had taken TWICE as many!
I had not yet paid my dealership for the majority of the purchase price of the coach, because I wanted to see it before turning over so much money. So, now that I had seen it, I had the money wired to them( TransWest in Colorado, one of only three places authorized to sell Newmar’s Super C’s.) They in turn notified Newmar that I had indeed paid, but due to time zone differences and bank wire timing, such notification would not occur until Tuesday. This meant that we couldn’t sleep in the coach as planned on Monday night. So, back to the Amish Inn?
Well, not so fast. The Inn closes completely on Mondays because of the ongoing renovations, so can’t stay there. The other place that had caught our eye is called the Countryside Inn, and it’s just up the road from the Amish Inn. It’s a step down in décor and ambiance, but still very clean and entirely acceptable. My first choice would be the Amish Inn, though.
Tuesday is test drive day. We’re complete noobs at RV’ing, so this was a little worrisome. I had driven once during a test drive; my wife had not. We needn’t have worried! The Super C places the driver behind the front wheels, not in front of them. So, much of the learning curve associated with learning to drive a Class A goes away. The “C” is much more like driving a big pickup. The wife drove first, and liked it enough that I wasn’t sure she would turn loose of it so that I could take a turn!
Finally, on Tuesday night, we got to sleep in the coach at Camp Newmar. Dave hooked us up, except for water. They turn that off in the winter, and just fill your tank inside before leaving the building.
Wednesday was sort of “cleanup” day; Dave worked on leftover items he’d already known about, and a few things we found overnight…like the thoroughly NASTY smell of the stuff coming out of the fresh water tanks. I was sort of glad for the opportunity to learn how to sanitize the tank.. who knew that you have to put chlorine IN by taking the filter housing off?
Thursday and Friday are usually more cleanup, and ancillary stuff like Newgle class, and visiting the Newmar Kountry Klub folks. Covid has resulted in Newgle class going online, and we had already joined the Klub, so we took the opportunity to leave town early, on Thursday afternoon.
If you are on the fence about whether to pay for a Factory Pickup, I would absolutely encourage you to do so. While some of the experience has been diminished by Covid, the core of the process is still intact, and still very helpful – especially if you’re as much a “tenderfoot” as I am! Do be aware, though, that the asking price of the Factory Pickup is just as negotiable as is everything else associated with purchasing your new coach!
This is getting long, so I’ll save the drive home and the ensuing “bad stuff” for the next post!
