In the 1960s, there was a movie called The Yellow Rolls Royce that followed the stories of all the owners and life of a very nice car. That story inspired me to find out more about the history of a vehicle that has recently become very important to my family, especially important to my son.
You see, when my son Joel bought his RV in December of 2020, I became fascinated with the history of his vehicle, so I did some research. I wanted to find all the previous owners. I wanted to learn where the RV had gone and what adventures had happened while using it. What wonderful stories have occurred in this vehicle’s life? After all, it’s almost 30 years old….
I called Woodside Motorsports, the place in Hailey, Idaho that had serviced Joel’s “new-used” RV and learned that including Joel, they had records of three previous owners and the owners lived and still lived in the local Wood River Valley, Idaho area where Joel bought his RV!
Joel’s RV is a Ford 1994 Calista Cove. It was manufactured in Lorain, Ohio, USA. From there, it somehow got to Arizona where it probably was sold new and then sold to a second owner when it had about 26,000 miles on it in 1998. I have not been able to find records of the first or second owners.
I learned that these Ford Callista Cove RVs were very nicely manufactured Class C Recreational Vehicles and that those who owned them and purchased them ended up with a very good investment and a high quality vehicle.
From what I can tell from the records, Kim Anderson, a painting contractor in Ketchum-Hailey, bought the RV at a used RV place in Arizona when it had about 61,000 miles on it in about 2003. He eventually brought it to the Wood River Valley, Hailey, Idaho in early 2007 and sold it later in 2007 to Art and Pam West. Mr. Anderson told me that the original awning broke during the time he owned it when he drove into a streetlight or wires or something that were hanging too low. The entire awning was ripped out. I met Kim Anderson on April 22, 2021, when I was getting my second COVID-19 Moderna booster shot at St. Lukes Medical Center in Ketchum while I was waiting the required 15 minutes after the shot. I heard him say his name to another person waiting and introduced myself and told him my son was now the owner of the RV he owned 15 years ago! I even showed him some photos of my son Joel with the RV and later mailed prints of those photos to him.
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| My family smiling with my friend Perry in front of Joel’s who managed the Meadows RV Park during the summer of 2021 |
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| Pam and Art West smile with my family in front of Joel’s RV - Late June 2021 |
The Wests remodeled some of the vehicle. They put in new countertops, backsplash, tile work, and carpeting I think. Art told me that they took good trips in it to places like Arizona, Lake Powell, the Sawtooth National Forest, and to Stanley, Idaho. They took it to the San Juan Islands (near Seattle) with their bikes. They replaced the broken awning. They are now full time RVers and have owned eight different RVs! We met them during the early summer of 2021 when we stopped at the Meadows RV Park to say hello to my friend Perry who was managing the RV park at the time. They recognized Joel’s RV and introduced themselves! We took them inside and they showed us the remodeling they did! And..then we all took a photo together!
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| Photos from Art and Pam West - remodeling |
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| Art West with the RV and their tandem bike |
Art and Pam West lived in the Deer Creek area of the Wood River Valley and when they put it on the highway near their home with a “for sale” sign, GeeGee Lowe of Hailey wanted it, but by the time she made up her mind about making the purchase, Miner and Sara Harkness, an older retired couple who lived in the area, bought it. That was in 2015. Art and Pam mentioned that it just seemed “right” to sell it to Miner since he was at the time of life he could not enjoy such a vehicle later.
Sara and Miner Harkness (a retired nurse and insurance business owner) owned the RV for only a few years and sold it to GeeGee Lowe in July of 2017 due to the fact that Mr. Harkness was just getting too old to enjoy it.
GeeGee put us in touch with Brian Hamel, another Wood River Valley local, who installed a back up camera in the RV for Miner Harkness. Brian is passionate about RVs and showed Joel a lot of the special features in the RV when we went to his home to learn how to operate the back up camera. He is also another Wood River Valley long time local and when we told him Joel played hockey, he told us he will probably see us during the hockey season since he does the security at the Hailey Ice rink during the games.
It is just amazing that we have met so many locals in the Wood River Valley that are connected to this RV!
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| The day Joel first saw the RV at the Hailey, Idaho ice rink’s parking lot - September 22, 2020 |
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| Can you tell Joel was excited! |
Joel saw the RV parked in the Hailey Ice rink’s parking lot (after he played some hockey) in September of 2020 and we contacted GeeGee. She was at work at Hailey’s Chamber of Commerce, but when she had some time off, she showed us the RV and Joel even got to drive it and test it out. (We got to know GeeGee at bit then. She’s lived in the area most of her adult life and raised her children there. She is a widow. Her husband was a pilot. She does numerous things in Hailey including work on the rodeo and on the Herding of the Sheep festival and everyone seems to know her there.) GeeGee and Joel met and Joel gave GeeGee a $3,000 deposit before we left Sun Valley in early October 2020 with the idea that the final sale would occur in early December 2020.
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| Joel’s covered spot in Gooding, Idaho (March, 2021) |
The vehicle was stored at a covered RV storage area in Gooding, Idaho until the day Joel bought it. We drove out to Gooding with GeeGee and took it immediately to Woodside Motorsports for the water heater repair and then finalized the sale at Shorty’s Diner in Hailey and Joel and GeeGee went to the courthouse for Joel to get it titled in his name, pay the sales tax, and get new license plates.
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| The day Joel Bought His RV From GeeGee Lowe - December 1, 2020 |
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| One New Happy Camper! December 1, 2020 |
When GeeGee sold it to my son Joel on December 1, 2020, she told us that the owner before her, Miner Harkness, was and is disabled and quite old and that he may have broken the driver’s side seatbelt which we had replaced and repaired. We also had to replace the water heater, repair the cigarette lighter, get a new membrane for the vehicle when we discovered after the sale that the roof was leaking, and Joel also bought new tires. I bought a new mattress for the little bedroom in the back and a new shower curtain for the bathroom. I also bought Joel new bedding and pillows. (I recently slept on that bed on our trip from Sun Valley to Colorado in early October, 2021 and the bed is so comfortable!) Joel has added a second television, a new DVD player, a couple of generators, and a portable heater. We also made turned the dining area into a couch-bed and bought a portable table and camp chairs and even a step stool! Gigi left Joel some kitchen items, some sleeping bags and games, and even a tent.
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| New mattress and pillows! |
What is remarkable is that all the latter owners of this vehicle lived or live in the Wood River Valley! As far as I know Miner and Sara Harkness, Kim Anderson, and GeeGee Lowe are still there, and Art and Pam West spend some of their time in the Wood River Valley each summer. (Pam grew up in the Sun Valley area.)
GeeGee described her wonderful family trips in the RV. They stayed at campgrounds and hooked up there, so she never bothered to repair the water heater. Miner Harkness said he remembers a very good RV that he and his wife enjoyed very much. Kim Anderson had a hard time remembering much about it since he sold it over 15 years ago, but remembers that he did enjoy it. The photos Art and Pam West shared with me show very happy campers!
It would be so fun to find out more about the first owner and how it ended up in Arizona. I am thinking that as a new vehicle perhaps, after the RV was manufactured, it may have been shipped to Arizona and probably was purchased at a new RV sales place in Arizona.
I ordered a vehicle history report and can’t find out much more, but I think all that I have found out is pretty good! I hope my son Joel enjoys this motorhome for many years to come!
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| Joel truly is a Happy Camper! |
