Dreamin of the Country Coach Veranda - The One With The Deck

Back in August, we visited the Seattle Fall RV Show. The highlight of the show was the Country Coach Veranda class A. It's the new coach with the patio that folds out. You may have seen it on the cover of Motorhome Magazine a few months ago. I remember thinking "Oh brother...that's not a very practical feature for a motorhome. Why would you need that?" So, after walking through a few of the super class Cs at the show, we asked the dealer who was standing nearby hoping for a sale "Hey...where's that RV with the deck?" He kind of rolled eyes and pointed toward the center of the event center. He indicated "that's what everyone wants to see...they even have a red rope and carpet around it."

We wandered that way and, sure enough, there it was, guarded by a young woman who made us provide our contact information before she would let us inside the rope. We wrote down what she believed was our contact information and were escorted inside.

Before I take any coach too seriously, I usually search for the sheet that has the MSRP listed (not that anyone pays that price). Well I found it in the kitchen, and priced at around $570,000 that baby was the most expensive rig in the building. Not a surprise, right? So immediately I was thinking "Man...who would pay this much for an RV just to get a pop out deck?"

Once inside, the kids head for the deck and start watching TV. Like most of us guys, I start grabbing the railings and hardware to see how sturdy it was. Surprisingly, I notice that it appears to be pretty well constructed. The deck is fully covered and separated from the living room by a full size sliding glass door. The optional plasma TV outside, however, is probably unnecessary though. At this point I started to think "hmmm...I could do this...all I need is to win a couple of lotto jackpots, strike oil in my backyard, or sell the kids." Ok, I'd keep the kids. By the way, when I was a kid, my dad had this Arab friend who offered to buy my brother and I for about 100 bucks. But I digress, that's another story.

Once I got past the deck and living room, I found my wife behind the back bedroom in the master bath with her mouth open laughing "Oh my god!!!". There was a huge master bath, complete with glass corner shower, dual sinks and washer/dryer. I have to admit, it was the nicest bathroom I've seen in an RV. The bedroom was pretty nice, but was overshadowed by the super cool deck and master bathroom.

Let's Get Real or Get Rich
Unfortunately, however, a coach like that is pretty much out of reach for most of us. Unless you're a Washington Mutual CEO or among the five percent of American's that Barack O'Biden promise to raise taxes on, you're probably not going to buy one of these 2008 rigs. Well maybe if you could buy it as an old rig in 2025. By then though rigs will probably be powered by 450 recycled deep cell batteries or some kind of super-duper bio gooo. Only losers will be driving those ancient gas/diesel powered rigs and polluting what's left of our environment. You'd be the Cousin Eddie of the 2020s. "Hey Clark, shitter's full...and the deck's busted!" you'd say.

Have Hope ... A Solution

But I wouldn't be spewing all of this negative energy unless I had a solution. If it's an RV with a deck you want today, then I've found the rig for you in Port Townsend (click on photo right).

It lacks most...ok all...of the creature comforts we've become accustomed to. Nevertheless, you can just walk out on the deck of this bad boy, kick back on the your plastic lounge chair, stick your left hand in your waistband and wrap your right hand around an ice cold beer while you watch the kids play in the WalMart parking lot. Life doesn't get any better than that. Plus, it will probably only set you back a $100 or so. Hell, you could buy a couple of hard working teenagers in Saudi Arabia for that much back in the 70s.

Oh yeah...forget about staying in your favorite "RV Resort". They won't let you in.

I never saw the driver of this gem so I wasn't able to find out what the crane thing on the tail end was used for. I'd probably hang a big ass cooler full of beer from it. Of course, I'd put a big 'ol reflector on the back of my cooler so no one would crash into it. Duh!

Is there anyone out there looking to buy the Country Coach Veranda -- or -- maybe you have one? Was the pop-out deck the selling feature? You would definately be the envy of the RV park the first time you popped that deck out. Ooh! Aaah! Point...whisper.... I'd love to hear about it.