"Why'd you buy such a big RV? Well, we didn't."

"Why'd you buy such a big RV?"

Well, we didn't. Not at first. Let's go back to the beginning.

I owned a GMC Canyon AT4 — a little truck. When Michele and I decided to pursue RVing, we were green. We had no idea what we were doing. The only experience I had was driving big trucks and pulling big trailers. What else did we need to know?

The joke was on us.

We bought our first RV, and right away I had to upgrade the truck. We went to a GMC 1500 and picked out our trailer — and we fell for the line every new buyer hears: "Your truck can pull this." Well, it could. It did. But we were at the very top end of the weight scale the whole time. We made it back and forth to Florida safely for our Walt Disney World trip — and the first thing we did when we got home was upgrade again, to a Chevy Silverado 2500. That truck pulled the trailer amazingly. We loved that truck.

As we got more familiar with camping and with our Forest River Surveyor, we started to realize this was a great idea — really, the only way we were going to be able to travel. But we were cramped. The trailer was 38 feet, and we still didn't all fit comfortably. That first year tested us as a family. There were some amazing times — amazing videos and pictures — but the reality was that RV was just too small.

So we made a decision. This was going to be our investment. We upgraded again — the second time in two years, going for the trifecta. We traded in the 2500 for a Chevy 3500 diesel and purchased the Hemisphere. The Hemisphere gives us the space — and the ability to handle private issues, should they come up. It has become J&J's favorite place to be, other than home.

That's basically the story of how we got into the bigger RV. All of it was for the comfort of J&J. We wouldn't need an RV this size just for Michele and me in a million years.

But it's what we do.