What does Ikea, Melvin's Tires and Camping World have in common? Our money.

Chevy dually rims

After the clean-up, flooring and cleaning the rims we decide that it's probably a good idea to pursue some new tires before we have another blowout. We visit the local tire shop; Melvin's Tire. Melvin's Tire is the best place to get tires in California, hands down. The service and price is what I am most thankful for. Bill Melvin and his son run the show and worked hard to locate tires that would actually fit the old rims. He said they would take a week to get there and would run about $1600 total for a set of 6 tires. He put his creative hat on and suggested I go a different route though. The tires are rare, and if we ever needed to replace one we'd go through a process to get a hold of one. They had the inside track on a set of rims from a Chevy dually. If they fit, we'd be able to get replacement tires very easily and the tires would have a higher load capacity and mileage on them. We ended saving a couple hundred dollars, have new shiny rims and more confidence in a better tire. If you're any where near Porterville CA and need a tire, call Bill Melvin.

 Next step is replacing the mattress and futon covers from the items we had to dispose of. One stop at Ikea and we get two futon mattresses, two down mattress toppers and a futon cover set. All total; $600. Very comfortable, just need to 'adjust' the length by 3 inches or so and we're ready to go. You can wash the cover, just don't try and dry it or you'll melt it. And yes, I am speaking from experience.

It's time to have some experts look into the status of whats working and whats not working. Or as I like to call it; paying a lot of money to heat water. What would you pay to have hot water in the great outdoors? Was that $5,000 you said? Why yes, that is what I am willing to pay! We have a new internally accessible water heater, new water tank and city water hook ups all installed There's more we can do according to the 45 point inspection, but this is what we choose to start with.

Camping World in Bakersfield has a scientific formula for calculating how much you are willing to pay based on your age, body fat percentage and last known address. April and I are fairly young, skinny enough to freeze in the woods and spoiled rotten by the Southern California sunshine. All these factors are dollar signs at Camping World.

What I quickly realize while in the lobby at Camping World is there is a significant age gap in the RV'ers lined up to have work done on their vehicles. I imagine that the patrons parked outside are driving a wide variety of vehicles based on their driving habits and specific needs.  The real variety of vehicle ownership is based on a relation of what you can afford and what you need to be comfortable. I imagine the million dollar rigs pulling up makes me feel a little more rugged and less worried about paying so much for the luxury of hot water. I see myself as the Grizzly Adams of the RV world; roughing it in the wild sans jacuzzi hot tube and satellite TV. At least a Grizzly Adams that can shave with hot water if he wishes it.