Thursday, October 21, 2010

Interior Photos of our 1978 Foretravel Motorhome 33ft

Camping at Chatfield State Park 2010

Rear window decal
Bucket seat and Recliner with pullout table

Looking from midship toward front of coach. Pull down bunk was removed by Foretravel in 1985 and interior was completely redone by Foretravel at their factory in 1985.

The coach was named after the previous owners wife, Harriet.
A very true statement that we like to keep with us in this coach. Every obstacle known to man almost prevented us from having this coach.


The side of the eye-level oven makes great place to keep our funny magnets. Note the wetbar.
Looking into the spacious bathroom for such an old coach.
This coach included a real tub, not plastic and real bathroom sink, again, not plastic.
We like to keep ourselves reminded of where and who our dream coach came from. Hall just outside the bathroom and gigantic closets opposite.
The queen size bed with generator access and water tank access and water line access beneath. Night stands on both sides with the night stand on the right side of the bed created as a make up counter from the factory.
Looking from rear of coach toward front of coach. Note enourmous closets and chest of drawers with overhead storage everywhere.
Looking at the right side of the bed and built in make up counter with more night stand storage on both sides of the bed in addition to more overhead storage.
Looking at the rear of the coach and master suite. Note overhead storage and there is a "hidden" laundry shoot under the rear window.
Left side of rear bed. Note more storage for the left side of the bed as well.
Another shot of the bedroom suite. Note gaudy wall hangings on either side of the rear window picked up at a thrift store from about the same period as the coach.
Looking toward the rear of the coach. Lots of interior natural lighting provided by alot of windows, everywhere. Electric and fuse box located at the base of the bed.

Looking at the hallway of the coach with the bathroom on the opposite side. Note the original and in like new condition frig. Yes, it works like new as well.

Wet bar of the coach with working and original blender with icemaker and small pantry beneath.
Built in blender that works like brand new.

View of the wet bar attached to the kitchen area.
View of the kitchen cooking area including eye level oven, microwave, ice maker, blender and stove. Also note overhead storage everywhere.
Kitchen counter space is at an alltime premium in this 32yr old motorhome. Why they don't do this anymore, I'll never understand. Note the gigantic kitchen window. Again, another nice feature only found on vintage coaches. Why? I have no idea. This area also features a max air fan in the ceiling right above the kitchen. Note built in garbage can built into the counter top. So much more convenient.
A view of the entire kitchen. Plenty of storage, counter space and lighting provided by gigantic kitchen window and overhead vent/fan along with quite a few 12volt lights. Original woven blind in perfect condition.

Lazy boy recliner. A feature in every Foretravel Motorhome even to this very day. There was even one in their smallest motorhome. Nice.

Looking at a view of the coach from the front toward the rear. Couch doubles as a bed. Carpet replaced 4years ago, right before our purchase.
Looking at the front drivers area of the coach. Note original sun visors and like new dash with no tears, scratches or dings. New captains chairs during the remodel done by Foretravel in 1985.
Front dash windshield.
That reads 141,641 miles on the house. Apprx 5000 miles on the new engine, tires, drive train, transmission, suspension and brakes.
Dodge 440 Chassis with immaculate drivers area.
Coach monitor panel able to check all fluid levels as well as batter conditions, black and grey tanks, outside and inside temp and operation of the generator from the drivers seat. Note CB raido that also came standard on Foretravel.
My new CD stereo with remote control and input for SD cards as well as being able to attach my cell phone to it to play music from it as well as my computer. Birthday present from Carl. Previous stereo and speakers were from 1978. Note dash heater and AC control beneath that. Yes, both work like new.

Looking at the front of the coach from the entrance door. Note the curtains on all windows are pull cord track controlled. Installed at the Foretravel factory in 1985 along with the entirely new upholstery and removal of pulldown bunk all performed by the Foretravel Factory in 1985.





































































October 2010

Me sitting in the coach on the very first outting in it almost 4yrs ago now.

Me looking around at all the clutter our camping group had drug out that weekend with our coach being the base camp. It was all I could do to just sit there and not clean. Note exterior camping "oven". Baking outside keeps it cooler in the coach in the summer. 2010
Carl prepping breakfast for the group using every inch of the expanse of counter space. 2010
Our friend Mike sealing the roof of the motorhome, summer 2010.

A nice moment. Rear corner of bedroom.
Sitting at Chatfield State Park summer of 2010.
Camping at lake summer of 2010.
Camping at lake summer of 2010. Note window covers and window awnings.
Immaculant 32 year old Motorhome. 1978 Foretravel 33ft.
A shot taken from around the corner of our house at a park overlooking the mountains.
Chatfield State Park Labor Day 2010.

Yogi Bear KOA campground just outside of Denver, 2010.

Nice relaxing day trip at Chatfield State Park not even 7miles from the front door of our house.

It's been a while since I have posted on this blog, but a few years have gone by and a whole bunch of trips and a few thousand miles have been logged on the Foretravel and she has performed as if she was a brand new motorohome...underneath I guess she is.

We have used the coach in the dead of winter with snow flying and temperatures in the single didgets and less and we have used the coach in the scorching summer heat. There is never a time of year when the coach sits in the driveway for longer than a month without being used in some way or another. Be it a quick jaunt around the block to work the engine and drive train to prevent damage from lack of use or whether it's a day trip to the lake or garage saleing or tailgating at the game or Drum Corps event, or sitting out in it in the driveway for a game of scabble followed by cocktails and dinner. Yes, in the driveway.

I've never understood when people would purchase a gigantic RV be it a fifthwheel with 17 slides or a 40ft motorized land barge with more amenities than most people have in their homes and slide outs galore just to leave them sit in a storage facility or their driveways unused!? I wish I had the kind of dollars to make payments on a second rolling condo just to leave it sit lol. We are usually barely making ends meet but by golly our coach is our "get-a-way", our escape from the everyday hum drum, our pride and joy and the biggest toy we'll ever own and it sitting there is just a plain waste of money...especially if it sits too long. Long term and very expensive damage can happen to the engine, drive train, roof, tires etc. Not worth it in the end. So, we'll plop in $20 into the tank (not too much especially in the winter), start it up (starts like a dream every single time - trust me, it wouldn't if it sat - it's a vintage Dodge - new engine or not they don't start right up everytime usually), pack a lunch (the icemaker pre-cooled the night before make a great daytrip frig for two), grab a light jacket or coat depending on the time of year, load up the dog and head out for the day...no where far, a local state park and take in the views, take a nice long walk and just chill.

I have attached today several more pics of the coach in all it's glory and in a few of our favorite places.

Our coach has been "homebase" for many a camping excursion with friends and family and while in the driveway has been used for a hangout spot for family and friends during cookouts or get togethers at the house.

To say this coach has been a joy, a blessing and an amazing treat would be an understatement. We have enjoyed it emensly and will continue to do so for some time to come.

Having a motorhome brings freedom, we've all heard that many times, however, when our pet dog also has learned that, it bears sharing.
Our dog, Scooter, was rescued from an abusive home by a friend and dropped off at our place. Since then, Scooter has "come to life" having been extremely shy, never held his head up and never "spoke" to becoming a lively part of our lives who loves RVing and knows when we're packing it up for an outing and knows the sound of the motorhome starting and darts out the front door of our home and heads straight for the motorhome and then runs right into the side of it....scooter is blind, but yet feels competely free to be when in the coach. He keeps his head up, sits at our feet or paces up and down the isle in excitement while the coach is in motion and then once to the campsite or day spot quickly jumps out to enjoy the new smells. He's a completely different dog when in the motorhome. He's as excited as we are and it's absolutely adorable.

Some of the things we've done to the coach over the few years has been to seal the roof all around the roof line where it meets the sidewalls, the vents, AC areas, front and rear caps and as a result, this 32yr old coach is still in prestine like new condition.
We also still continually, monthly, polish and wax the entire interior of the coach to keep the georgeous wood work like new. We also steam clean both the carpet and upholstery at least once a year. This past year we worked on the drivers side exterior of the coach removing all of the oxidation from the side wall and then polishing to a blinding white.

We have had a few mishaps but nothing too abnormal for any coach owner. The water heater blew this summer. It split at the bottom (like they can do). This was the first time in my RV owning life that something like that had ever happened. This was during pride weekend (An RV at pride is the perfect home base for the day) and in our rush to prevent any damage to the interior we completely bypassed the water heater with a bypass kit we already had tucked away in the coach for a future installment. It proved to be the perfect solution and allowed us to be able to use the pressurized water system the rest of the weekend without issue. The windshield also cracked this past winter while sitting in the driveway (the coach windsheild faces directly West while parked in the driveway and I hadn't had the windsheild cover on).
We plan on taking it out again within the next week or so. This time of year, fall, is one of our favorite times to camp. It's not too hot nor is it too cold during the day and waking up to a bit chilly coach (we NEVER go to bed without a ceiling vent AND window cracked) turning on the furnace to warm up the bones while brewing that oh so important cup of coffee while being surrounded by golden, red and orange leaves and deer grazing right out side the door...is simply amazing, comfortable, exciting and brings us such peace while the fast pace of the Christmas holiday waits patiently in the wings.




















Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Camping Aboard a Luxury Liner



This was the final outing of the 2007 season. We had just moved into a new home, started new jobs and Thanksgiving and Christmas were fast approaching. It was time we thought about letting Harriet sleep for a while.


This last outing was at one of the State Parks in the Denver metro area, Chatfield State Park. It was a beautiful weekend and the coach performed perfectly.
Camping aboard a luxury liner is a dream come true. This coach is by far one of the nicest coaches I've ever owned. The kitchen area is a dream with storage space in abundance and counter space aplenty for food prep and the cocktail prep area with built in ice maker and blender was a treat. Venting the kitchen was a breeze with maxair vent above and the enourmous kitchen window. I don't know why they stopped putting large kitchen windows in motorhomes but they really and truly are a God send while whipping up a three course meal in the middle of summer not to mention the great light they let in reducing the need for lights while food prep during the day.
We were really fortunate to have window awnings on every one of the windows too. Something else I'd never had before. It's nice while parked facing the rising or setting sun. In Denver that sun can be quite warm.
Storage. Where do I even begin. Any of you who have ever owned an RV know the importance of storage. My friends and family to this day don't get it. People tend to forget that once you get there your there so whatever it is you think you may need had better be there or your outta luck. The overhead cabinets abound with every turn of the head and are deep and easily accessable. There are even wrap around storage cabinets above the cock pit area of the coach. Great place for DVDs, CDs, maps, guides, owners manuels and such.
I may have forgotten in all of my excitement to mention the owners manuals to everything in the coach. The orginal owners manual in original condition in original binder was an awesome find in this coach. Everything. All of it. Every single paper that came with this coach from the factory was still wrapped in it's original plastic and packaging. Then there is the original brochure in off the press condition that I salivated over as a child found in the owners manuel package too. Roughly 10 full color pages of every floor plan Foretravel Produced in 1978. When I found that up in the over head compartment I think the earth stood still. No, seriously, I think it stopped. As I flipped through the pages of that brochure I wondered why it is they don't make coaches like this anymore. Such time and thoughtfulness was put into every single detail of this coach. Every where you look, you see originality and thoughtfullness.