Delivery! (written on March 19, 2023)

On March 7, we received an email stating that our van would be ready the following week for pickup.  Our delivery date was set:  March 16, 2023.

I can cover all of the prep purchases made in another article.  Let's talk about delivery day.

This delivery day almost didn't happen as I ended up with Covid the weekend before.  Fortunately it was a mild case (one day of fever and headeach, followed by mild cold symptoms).  We all agreed we could the pickup as long as everyone masked.  Done.

Our pickup appointment was scheduled for 1pm.  So we left around 11:45am from West Seattle and arrived at 12:50pm in Arlington. 

We quickly shuffled into one of their garages where she was parked.  All sparkly and new!  Absolutely beautiful.  We spent 10 minutes ooohing and ahhhhing at the outside and inside before diving into how the systems work.

Initial impressions:  She is gigantic!  She looks amazing.  Th quality was pure perfection.

Brian Wright spent the next 3 hours walking through the systems in a very orderly and methodical manner.  No one element is complicated.  But it's easy to miss a minor detail over the course of 3 hours (only time will tell). 

We started with the primary functions on the panel next to the shower.  This provides the Victron battery meter, Xantrex inverter/charger controller, the Rixen systems heating and hot water panel, and one of two water pump buttons.  All of these are pretty intuitive and simple to use (note, as boaters, we are already familiar with many of these type of systems).  This panel also has the buttons/dimmers for the 3 zones of lighting.

We moved through the main area discussing things like the boot wamer, laveo dry flush toilet, shower, location of plugs, etc.  Next we discussed our recessed multi-color LED lighting and the we-boost cellular signal booster.  Before exiting the main area, we got a tutorial on the new bluetooth audio system including amp, new speakers, and a subwoofer. 

Do you want lights?  We got lights.  From a touchpad on the console we can control our overhead lightbar (that thing hurts the eyes), grill installed white lights and amber lights, side load lights, and rear load lights.  The latter two can be dimmed. 

We then moved to the garage area for a briefing on the air compressor, external shower, AC/DC panel, battery shutoff, external power inlet, water, and sliding tray.  We also hopped on the roof to check out the we-boost antenna, AC, storage box and solar panels.  Also got a quick lesson on how to remove the maxx trax boards.

There were several other items we went over - awning extension and setup, gray water drains, pedal box controller, drone mobile setup (not yet complete - will happen soon), and any last minute questions. 

Then it was time to leave.  Perfect timing...driving south, through Seattle, at 4:30pm on a Thursday afternoon.  I was a tad nervous knowing how much we invested financially in this build.  But slow and steady was my speed. 

Once home, we parked it in our driveway - it's home.  Our driveway has a respectable amount of angle to it.  So sleeping in the van in the driveway would not be much fun.  But, I must sleep in it for the first night.  So out on the street it goes.  Just like a true Seattle-ite, I have slept in a van on Seattle streets. 

Check out the professional photos of Salish.