We haven't gotten any further than being imaginative yet... but in researching the big coaches, I was SHOCKED at how much some of those things, the Prevost Marathons, Prevost Country Coaches, and the Newell Coaches actually cost. When I was on the way home from Portland last year with my Born Free 32RQ, I drove past the Marathon Prevost factory in Oregon and daydreamed about those coaches in the showroom parking lot. I've recently found that a new Newell can set you back as much as $2.3 million!!! Most new ones are over $1 million, with the average late-model used coach going from $500k to $800k! And, unfortunately, most of them are furnished and decorated like Victorian French whorehouses, with all kinds of "amenities" that are gaudy, stuff that no one really needs, and have GOT to be maintenance nightmares!
HOWEVER, I found a '91 Newell with 130k miles on it and a 500hp Detroit Diesel on RV Trader with an asking price of $49k!
Newell 1991 43 foot bus by Roger H, on FlickrSo just for fun, I emailed the place that has it for sale, and it's actually a yacht sales in Tennessee. The salesman called me back yesterday, and we chatted about it for quite a while. It's actually been donated to a charity, and consigned to them for reconditioning and sale. He thinks that $44k would probably buy it. Now, $2.3m is a little out of my price range, but I could probably do $44k... even though it's on a 25 year old coach! He tells me he'd be happy to do a Facetime video conference walk-through on the coach for me.
But it's a LOOOONG stretch to go from my first 1100 lb 1978 Scamp 13 that I towed with a new 1981 Jeep Scrambler
My 1981 Jeep Scrambler and 1976 Scamp travel trailer by Roger H, on Flickrto a 43' Newell motorcoach with a GVWR of 48,000 lbs! The Newell has six 11r24.5 tires on the rear axles alone... replacing all eight tires at $700/tire is something north of $5,000! And I have NO idea how I'd ever get a 43' coach in my driveway... EVER!
From the perspective of sheer practicality and the way we're traveling now, my Born Free 32RQ remains my dream coach for the forseeable future... The extra living room in a 43' coach would be nice for full-timing six months out of the year, but I keep thinking about what a friend with a Prevost Marathon told me about ten years ago when we were meeting him in the Black Hills. He found the drive VERY stressful once he got off the superslab because once he got onto the two lane highways, didn't know if he was going to get the Prevost up the switchbacks on the way to Rapid City because of it's length. He said it was a frightening drive for him.
20150825-DSCF8732-Edit (Large) by Roger H, on FlickrMy Born Free's curb weight is less than a third of that of a Newell or Prevost. The new Newell coaches have a GVWR of 63,000 lbs! Eek! My Born Free 32RQ is easy to drive and maneuver, and fits in my driveway and on the RV pad beside my house. Honestly, the only amenity that might be important to me that the Newell has that the Born Free lacks is the washer and dryer, and I've just not found that to be a problem. My Born Free is easy to maintain, and I replaced all six tires on it last year for about $800... a far cry from $5,000!!! I'd hate to think what ANY maintenance on a twenty-five year old 500hp Detroit Diesel would cost! And the Newell has a LOT more real-estate that needs to be washed and waxed.
But... window shopping is sure fun.
Ahhh... pipe dreams...
Maybe a trip to New Orleans could give both you guys some perspective on Roger's dilemma 
