We had four good years in the Excursion. 405 nights, coast to coast, and everything in between. But our son was outgrowing the bunks, and we were ready for more space too.
The 2021 Entegra Aspire 44W is a different animal. Forty-four feet, eleven inches. Four slide-outs. It drives smooth, responds well, and inspires confidence behind the wheel. It's everything you hope for in a rig this size and don't always get. One test drive, and I was sold.
Finding the right one, though, took a while.
The Search
The search stretched on for months. There was a local option early on. Same story as last time: dogged out, not clean, and not happening. There was one in Minnesota that wasn't quite right either.
A few months in, I made an offer on one in Atlanta at NIRVC. They wouldn't come down below $30,000 over appraised value. I passed. Later, I found one in Texas and was planning to drive down the next morning to see it, and likely buy it. The salesman called me before I left to tell me someone had just put a deposit on it.
I drove back to Atlanta to look at yet another one at NIRVC. Made an offer. They accepted. I got in the truck and started driving home. My phone rang. They were backing out of the deal.
By this point, several months had passed and the search had taken on a life of its own.
The One That Found Me
I was in Florida, relaxing, not actively hunting, when it popped up on my phone. Right color. Right floor plan. Only 7,500 miles on it. After everything, it was just north of Charlotte. That was practically local to my home.
I made an offer slightly below appraised value. We went back and forth a few times. By the time it was over, I was the new owner of a 2021 Entegra Aspire 44W.
The drive home from Concord, North Carolina was also considerably more pleasant than the last rig's return from Dallas. There was no rain. There were no windshield wiper emergencies. There was no rerouting around winter storms. And there were no slushy parking lots. Just a straightforward drive home.
700 Nights and Counting
We've had the Aspire since December 2022 and have already put approximately 700 nights on it, with no end in sight. We've covered a lot of ground in those 700 nights, from the Florida Keys to Maine to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
But nothing we've done in this rig has topped Alaska. Alaska deserves its own post, or maybe several, or maybe several dozen. We were on the road for months, and it never got old.
We named her Wild Blue Yonder, and she's earned it.
Every rig we've owned has taken us somewhere new and taught us something about how we want to travel. The Binker Lee got us started. The Heritage Glen travel trailers built the habit. The Eagle showed us what long-haul camping could really look like. Wild Blue Yonder took all of that and kept going.
We have no plans to retire her anytime soon. There's still too much road left.
