The “Enterprise”
Sep 8th, 2007 by Jack
On a sad note, Hank the truck is gone - adopted by a new family - and so will the trailer it pulled faithfully to the track for almost 3 seasons of racing. On the positive side, ”The Enterprise” has landed in their place to accommodate us in style while at the racetrack (or perhaps even some other adventure trips). Although it looks big, this coach is actually on the smaller side for its class (less than 30′ long) which was the appeal of a Safari Trek.
Blame fellow racers with their treks who would invite us over and give us tours of their rigs. This would result in several questions from Suzanne like “why are we hauling that trailer when Jim (Racecraft who built my car and provides track services) is hauling your car to the track anyway?” ….good point…. ….or “that trailer is too cramped” ….another truism…. …and finally “couldn’t we just trade the truck and trailer for one of those nicer RV’s?” ….well, yes….
And so began my search for a used Safari Trek. Why a trek? The main selling point is that they tend to be more compact than “normal” Class A coaches with respectable fuel economy, decent handling and a lot of living space for the size. How do they do it? The key is they have done away with a conventional bedroom and instead use a unique queen size bed that stores in the ceiling of the living area when not in use and is well disguised. When it’s needed, you can lower the bed with the touch of a button. This works well for two people and certainly for our intended use. …and because of it you get all the amenities of a larger coach. This thing is a “Hilton on wheels”!
My search started with 10 year old models but everything I was finding needed some work or “remodeling” of the interior. ….and then there was the fact that the newer models had so much more storage underneath that would better accommodate all the paraphernalia that accompanies us to the track… I finally settled on finding an ‘04 or ‘05. After an extensive search, I found the perfect coach - a 2005 28RB2 - with the only problem being that it was located near Traverse City, Michigan. Yep - that’s about 2300 miles away… After many conversations with the owner, I decided that it was worth the effort to go pick it up so I booked a ticket and took the chance that my gut is usually right about these things and it would be OK.
As it turned out, it was more than OK. The owners were fantastic people and even picked me up at the airport (an hour away from their home). After a brief inspection, I agreed with them that it was in “almost new” shape and we proceeded with the transaction. …and after all, these people were losing something they had really enjoyed as you can see in their license plate:
We picked up a 14 day transit permit from their DOL, I picked up groceries at a store around corner, gassed it up (gulp!) and proceeded to head North to the Mackinac Bridge that connects the upper and lower peninsulas. As I left, I tripped the odometer just to see how long this adventure really was. Fast forward to my arrival into our driveway on Whidbey Island and I glanced down to see 2300.3 miles. Yep, it was a long drive…
During the four days it took to drive West back to the island, I ended up getting a new set of front tires (another “gulp!”), learned about these RV campgrounds (what an experience!), got comfortable behind the wheel of such a large rig (even in a 50 knot gusting crosswind near the gorge in Washington) and learned how easy it was to travel such large distances in such a comfortable coach. I got my fill of country music with such lyrics as “I’m so much cooler online”, crossed the Yellowstone River at least 4 times (don’t ask - I have no idea), visited lots of rest stops, figured out how to park so I could get satellite TV (even the Speed channel!) and rediscovered my singing voice (hey, I was by myself). In all, the Enterprise delivered. It was relatively easy to handle I looked forward to the evening when I could learn more about yet another bell or whistle that would make life more comfortable.
During its inaugural race weekend, the Enterprise came through with flying colors. On the way down to Portland I stopped at Brazel’s Performance RV Center in Centralia and had them work their magic with a reprogramming of the “chip” for increased horsepower and some other improvements. I highly recommend the folks at Brazel’s - the coach runs waaaay better after the upgrades. Life at the track was certainly more enjoyable and even though my performance was hindered by a poor running engine, everything was OK with a decent nights sleep. It was a warm weekend in Portland, but with a flick of a button, the generator was running and the AC was chilling things down. …and we have never been able to pack up and leave the track in such a short time. ….now if I could just figure out how to get the Enterprise to New Zealand when we race there in February….
