My heart rate and breathing increased as I listened to Mick from Winnebago Motor Homes. I wanted to dance and shout for joy because the wait was finally over, and I would be starting vanlife! It had been over six months since I placed the order for a new Winnebago Travato on August 6, 2020. After hanging up the phone, I checked my calendar and was able to free up Tuesday, February 16, 2021 to take delivery. The anticipation was killing me! I was going to pick up Clarice!
There is a backstory here you might find helpful. I spent a lot of time evaluating Winnebago dealerships as I made my buying decision. It is important to me that I form a good long term relationship with a dealer I trust and who has a good service reputation. So after hours of reading reviews, I decided to buy my RV at a smaller dealer with stellar service ratings. Admittedly, there are closer dealers, and in retrospect this may not have been the best laid plan from a convenience perspective. But, I am very happy with my dealer! However, since they are located in Rockford, Illinois and I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan it is a four hour drive.
Travel arrangements
It was now necessary to either book a flight or get a one-way car rental as I was traveling solo. As most of you know, February weather around the foot of Lake Michigan is always a risk. For those not from the Great Lakes area, we call this “lake effect snow”. It snows along the I-94 corridor at least weekly and more like daily. So, I was hoping to fly to keep the stress lower.
After clearing Tuesday’s meetings, I looked at several booking sites and discovered there were no flights! Zero, nada, not a single commercial flight into Rockford that day! COVID strikes! Chicago was the closest airport I could get into. Unfortunately, flying into Chicago would still require renting a car to drive an hour plus the rest of the way. That would leave me paying for both a rental and a flight. So, coupled with Chicago’s notorious airport delays, I decided to drive to save the cost of the flight. I booked the car with ease.
The day of delivery
Tuesday morning dawned to the end of an overnight blizzard! Laying awake most of Monday night the wind howled and the snow fell sideways drifting the roads. When I crawled out of bed, we had a beautiful fresh twelve inches of snow…with more lake effect expected along, you guessed it, the I-94 corridor along Lake Michigan’s foot! Chicagoland was going to get another few inches this day. This was a true storm, not your basic lake effect. The schools had closed.
This picture is after I snow blew the driveway and I was heading out around 8am!
Now I will confess to some trepidation the couple days before as the weather issue became clearer. The dog had a bone, however, and I was not ready to give it up. The blizzard was not going to stop this Michigan winter warrior! I was going to go pick up my new baby and start vanlife! I had booked a hotel for that night in Rockford, as the delivery would also take a couple of hours; and, I did not want to drive back in the dark. So, I just had to get there.
The Drive
Cautiously driving to the car rental place, I parked in a snow bank where I could leave my Rav 4 and picked up the car. I had rented an SUV thinking it would be AWD or 4WD. What a silly girl I am! It was a Chevy Equinox and only had front wheel drive. No matter, I had learned to drive in the days of rear wheel drive, grew into front wheel drive all before AWD even existed. So I had this!
Ironically, since we had a blizzard there was very little traffic until I got into Indiana. Michigan had done a good job of clearing the highway and we had the blessing of some sunshine and no lake effect. However, when I hit Indiana, it started to snow and they had not even plowed! The semi’s and cars were driving down two track ruts with about six inches height of snow still between the tire tracks. That slowed everyone down, and changing lanes was a huge risk. Fortunately, people were patient and I progressed through Indiana into Illinois.
The snow stopped and the sun came out as I got to the west side of Chicago. After making the cut up I-294 and onto I-88, the traffic lightened and I was able to relax and stop at an oasis to eat a little lunch. The fields looked like they had been frosted with whip cream. The snow banks had little peaks of snow every few feet that made me think of putting cool whip on a piece of pumpkin pie. It was spectacular with a the robin egg blue sky and the bight sunshine. Unfortunately, it was also too dangerous to stop on the highway to take a picture. I could barely breathe for the beauty and excitement.
Meeting Clarice!
After signing all the paperwork, Mick led me to the airport where I dropped off the rental car and he shuttled me back in his truck. This took about forty minutes and my anticipation continued to rise. Finally, I got to meet Clarice! We are starting vanlife!
Happy trails! – er… highways! Take care of her and she will take good care of you!
I’m hoping so! She has so far.