Well! It’s the end of another chapter for us.
Lance, our beloved, screaming bright yellow campervan, is now all settled in at his new home in New Jersey with his new family. They even went so far to as get him personalized “Lance” license plates!
Lance’s old plates will be moving over to our new EKKO.
Back in March, the new owners spent a week in our southern Utah stomping grounds so we could show them the ropes. It was fun to be part of that process, seeing their excitement over little things about Lance we’d long ago forgotten about. Watching Lance get loaded up and carried away was such an emotional mixed bag.
It’s weird, but RVs sort of do become almost like a part of the family. They’re so intertwined with many of our best memories and adventures! It’s hard to see them go.
It’s like all those memories are rolling away, too; even though they aren’t.
So it’s probably no surprise James is having Lance withdrawals. With all the mods he’s done over the years, Lance was more James’ baby than mine. I loved Lance for the catalyst to adventures he was, but James’ love of Lance — well, if you’ve followed us a while, you know.
It’s a bit mind-blowing to us, looking back at the past 5 years. We had no clue Lance would end up not only being so famous and well-known, but also being such a significant piece of Winnebago history.
Lance was much more than just a 2016 Travato, he also paved the way for future campervans design!
When building Lance, Winnebago made lots of customizations of things they wanted to test out, things they were considering adding to future campervans… like the water lines inside, acrylic windows, etc.
Lance was also the first mass-marketed campervan in the US with an advanced lithium system. Back in 2015 when we bought Lance, those things weren’t happening. Now, they’re commonplace!
And of course, Lance’s most unique and famous feature: THE YELLOW! It’s another way he’s special, the only yellow Travato out there; not a wrap, not painted aftermarket… the yellow came straight from Ram.
All of that is cool and all, but our favorite part of Lance? His ‘penthouse’. Lance has a raised bed which makes it possible for bikes to be added under it with the bed in place. It’s the only Travato with a totally different bedroom configuration, all in the name of getting bikes inside. And since we RV to ride, well, that’s everything to us.
And of course we can’t close the Lance chapter without mentioning the little white furball who walked out of a magic tree and into our lives after our first year with Lance… Mel. Suddenly we found ourselves modding Lance for traveling with a cat. We weren’t seeking a pet, but cats have a way of finding the people who need them the most, even when they don’t know it. Mel makes RVing way more fun.
So! Here we are, between RV’s. Sort of sitting in waiting room mode, looking back, looking forward. We should have our EKKO in a few more weeks, so that’s good.
Then the circle starts all over again… the new RV honeymoon, the endless mods, RV trips and bike rides, round we go! I CAN’T WAIT!
When our last van moved on, I posted a list of all its major trips, from 2000 to 2018 when it died. I bet Lance would have a very impressive list.
Surprisingly, we never made a list like that! We really should, though. Would be fun to look back on!
Of course Rachel thought I should have also make a list of all the van fails over the years, mainly in the last years of its life. The year the back wheel fell off. The year the brakes failed in Teton NP. The year the left back spring broke in the UP (of Mich). The year the transmission started leaking fluid, out in CA.
Its final humiliation was our mechanic refusing putting it up on a lift because he couldn’t find a sound place under the van to support it!
Luckily, you never saw this side of Lance…
We hope you have a life of great memories of time in Lance and a future life full of time to make memories in ???your new EKKO!
Thank you for taking us along on the “ride”!
We are anticipating the day to meet you both in person:)
Howdy from Big D. I was wondering if Lance was named after Lance Armstrong, the cyclist?
Yep! It seemed a fitting name with the yellow, and our whole bike thing!
Let’s not forget that Lance also had more lithium than all the other Travato’s (that we know of).
Stefany and James – we are truly appreciative for your time, patience and generosity! We are so excited to have Lance and are grateful for all of the training and support you provided the week we stayed in Utah. How many times did we ask a question more than once? How many times could we not remember where something was located? Our journey in to the RV world started with you! Thank you for making it a joy-filled ride!! See you on the road!!!
I’m so glad you swung by here, Alexa and Jack! There are lots of Lance fans out there who’ve been curious about you two, and asking us for scoop! Please keep us posted on your adventures with Lance; and if you start a blog let us know! James and I will be your most devoted readers. ❤️
That was a bit of a sad farewell but oh the places you will go and the adventures yet to be. Moo!
Oh Gail lol!!! Thx, sister! Moo back! ❤️
What a wonderful tribute! We felt the same way in Feburary 2019 when we sold our Class C and bought our new 2019 KL. A purchase we made gladly because of your website and the tons of great tips and information. We’re excited to see your next adventures and how many people can ever say they had input into the design of a production RV?
Thanks, Tom! It’s certainly been a wild ride. Hope you’re still loving your T! And now that you’ve had lithium batteries, it would be hard to go back, right?! Happy travels!
Nice article closing your chapter on Lance! Also nice that he’ll have another life with appreciative travelers! Just curious, remind me what prompted you to decide to move on to a different rig. I’ve read your article about specifications you prioritized, but ultimately, were you just looking for a bigger rig, or something else? I don’t recall I’ve seen that in your posts. We have a 2019 K, and couldn’t be happier with it. Not sure we need or want more space, but understand everybody has different needs at different times in their lives.
Really, it all came down to being able to travel with both our bikes inside and our cat inside! In Lance, we had space for either the bikes or the cat, not both. If Mel was along, we had to pull the bike trailer. If the bikes were inside, we had to leave Mel with his cat sitters (and he likes them way too much as it is)! The Ekko solved that problem, and we can’t wait to get it! If we weren’t cyclists though, we would have happily rolled along in Lance for many more years! So glad you’re happy with your T, and I totally get why you are!