can hardly wait

[Tyler Hoodenpyle]

Well, it's been about 2 months now of non stop Clipper on the brain.  My wife and I have been shopping for the right Clipper since falling in love at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park with a 77 rear kitchen party model.  Next to us in our rented Alpine pop up tent trailer was Don and Betty Dulac from Petaluma, CA. They invited us in after I mentioned how I liked the condition of his Dodge Sportsman motorhome.  I, myself have a  strong Mopar upbringing and notice all classic vehicles from Chrysler corp. Aside from these folks being one of the nicest, most hospitable couples we have met, we had also been introduced to one heck of a motorhome.  Since that day Oct.1, we have stopped and talked to every Clipper owner we see and every owner seems just as friendly and eager to talk about their rig.  This is right up our alley and we cannot wait to become official members.  We live in Vancouver, WA and have made several road trips in the last two months.  We drove southeast to central Oregon, south to Sacramento, then west to the bay area, last weekend up to Tacoma/Seattle area and tomorrow south to Eugene.
Every one has appeared to be well taken care of except for one in a used rv lot I just saw yesterday.  Reminded me of an old salmon ready to die, kind of hard to look at, and I know from experience that if it looks like a fixer-upper through the fence...
Anyway, we almost have all of the pennies saved that we want to spend and have a couple rigs that we need to revisit and decide between.  Please offer some feedback, We are split now after seeing some side kitchens, and some rear kitchens that are not party models.  We have decided that a bunkhouse does not offer enough room for four adults to hang out in when the weather is bad.  I would like to know if the party models included front cab swivel chairs as well as the barrel chairs.  Do you think one model offers more room to share with another couple?  We don't have kids, and we have a small golden retriever who will most definitely be traveling with us wherever we travel.  Please offer words of advice on what to look for when shopping for a Clipper. The one thing that most attracts us to American Clippers is their seemingly well documented history.  Being old car enthusiasts, we love to disect the written history and all literature involving American Clippers.  We were most interested a few weeks ago after meeting a couple in El Sobrante, Ca.  My wife and I were responding to an ad we saw on the Clipper classified page.  The ad turned out to be about a year old but that is another story.  Apparently, the seller is the chapter president and he and his wife now had a 24 footer for sale they have owned for over 15 years.  They showed us photos from if I remember right a national meet in 1982 with over 350 Clippers in a row!  We only hope to be a part of something like this in the near future.
I have been reading all I can about buying rvs and living the rv lifestyle but have yet to break away from the 9-5 week and weekend tending to the yard.  I can change the latter...

We'll be seeing you soon,

Tyler Hoodenpyle

[Horst]

By now, I have been in almost every Clipper floorplan, and all have their advantages - just depends on what you need.
On the bottom of the Clipper home page is a link to all the floorplans, and their designated code which I will use below.
I must say first, that I prefer rear kitchens, because that way the cook can still "hang out" with people in the campsite while cooking/prepping, etc., becasue you are right by the back door. Side kitchens do have the "tub" baths however, and some people prefer those.

If you plan on sleeping in the overhead queen, and won't be needing to "host" another couple as far as sleeping, then I'd go with a
821 FCIT, as it has the most  walk-about space. If you do plan on taking a guest or two along, who will be sleeping in the rig, then I would go with a 821 F - as you have three sleeping berths, and a dinette to eat at.

I have not seen any cab chairs that "swivel" all the way around. I have custom captain's chairs out of a 90s Ford Van that I can "turn" around by lifting them out and then putting them back in. I do this whenever we stay somewhere for more than a day - takes me about 2-3 minutes - I only do it to the passenger's chair.

I have an 821 F, and when I have it set-up for 49er football road  trips, I have had 6 adult males sitting comfortably in my rig watching TV, and anyone can get up an go to the bathroom with no problem - and it works like this:
-I flip the cab passengers captain chair around - now facing backwards - seats one guy
-Two guys sit on the dinette facing backwards (the table is removed, and my TV/VCR combo is mounted on the wardrobe wall)
-3 guys sit on the couch

Anyone can go to the bathroom without anyone else having to move, and more importantly, anyone can go get a beer!

Yeah, it's a bit tight - but try and find any other 20.5 foot Class C that can do that - hard to do.

Have fun with your new Clipper

[Sally Ann Healy]

Tyler:  I hope you go back to this page & read it.  Just saw an ad in the 11/28/03 Oregonian for a '76, 21 ft., rear kit., 440, rear air & awning Amer. Clipper for sale in Portland.  503-665-8909.  SA Healy