Well, we did it. We bought a vintage Winnebago. A 1978 Winnebago Brave, to be specific. After looking at a lot of different airstreams and another Motorhome, we found the Brave and loved it. This is the first experience with RV's either of us has had, and admittedly in the last couple weeks, we have learned so much.
After a thorough inspection and test drive, we drove it home (the first time driving such a large truck for Andrew) in the scariest way possible. The lights flickered on and off while driving, something that had not happened at all on the test ride. The parking brake was engaged most of the drive as well, oops. It was running on fumes when we pulled into a gas station after about twenty mintues of driving, we dropped ten gallons in, thinking it would be plenty to get it to the parking spot. Parked it at its current home, high fived each other for surviving the terrifying drive, and went home to de-stress.
We made it. Did our research, filed tons of paperwork, got it registered and plated and bought awesome insurance and even joined the Good Samaritan RV Club.
All this preparation didn't really change the fact that we are complete noobs at RVs and their electrical systems and oddities. We were so excited all week after we picked up the RV, waiting patiently til the weekend so we could go drive it around and experience its true glory in daylight, when we could actually see the gauges.
Saturday arrived, we drove out to visit our Brave. Walked all around it. Sat in all the different seats. Folded out the bed, ran the water, cranked up the generator, and cut all the lights on and off. Got into the drivers seat, and prepared for a real inaugural drive. And then it wouldn't start.

The learning curve is steep, my friends. We left the breaker switch on over the two days it was parked, and it drained the main battery. Whoops. The battery was reading 0 volts on the little dashboard meter. The backup battery, however, was reading 14, which is perfecto! For some reason, it would not start off the backup battery, which was very bizarre. We re-read the manual about ten times making sure we were trying the right things, and still nothing. We guessed that perhaps we had run it so low on gas that it would not start. Picked up another ten gallons to add. After a couple tries, it fired right up. EXCITEMENT! Drove it around a safe neighborhood with wide lanes and no traffic. Way less terrifying than Andrew's first drive. We honked the horn and made turns and avoided low hanging branches. We also noticed that the turn signals were not working (they'd worked when we drove it home) and the windsheild wipers wouldn't cut on. HM.

Got it back home, parked it, and hung out in it for a while running the generator. An hour or so later, we wanted to go get more gas in it and drive it around a little more. It wouldn't start again. Oh the frustration. The main battery was still reading 0 volts, and even with the correct switch engaged it would not start of the auxillary battery like it is supposed to. After several more hours finaggling and checking things over, we found several disconnected wires that we reconnected with no impact it starting. We realized that while we were driving it around we had not been charging the main battery, we had the switch that would permit that to happen cut to a different position. We called it a night.

Woke up Sunday with the complete intent to fix the problem. Turning the key to the start position produced the classic dead battery noise, click click click noooothing. Hooked up both batteries to a charger until they were completely back in the green. Topped off the water in them, even! Hooked em back up, cranked it over, and the engine still wouldn't engage. I wanted to cry. It was hot, and I was tired and not feeling particularly well, and all I wanted to do was go drive around in this incredibly exciting new toy we had JUST bought. The Brave started flawlessly every time its previous owner turned the key, why did it hate us so much? Because we hated its current carpeting? Probably, it is a spiteful thing.

The engine was back to making the same sound that it did on Saturday. It turns over, the fan turns even (meaning that the cranks are turning over) but it does not engage fully and run. It smells like gas. The carb is wet....so we have spark and gas...but it won't run. After we spent the whole day lamenting and troubleshooting, we gave up, went home, and hit the internet for answers. Four hours of hardcore googling later, we feel like we've hit a solution. There is a little ceramic resistor that comes directly off the distributor cap that tends to fail. Its failure results in the exact same symptoms we were encountering...running strong, no problems, direct to won't start, turns over but wont engage. The blinkers won't work, neither will the windshield wipers. Both worked before.

So, the part arrives today from Napa, and we will plug it in after work and try it. It is a double pronged ceramic resistor ballast, and it may make me the happiest person ever if it is truly the $10 problem.
There is nothing more frustrating and defeating that buying something that works flawlessly for someone else, then competely stops functioning the second you try to make it work. All is not lost. After this weekend, two 6+ hour days of exploring our new RV and every bit of its engine and chassis, I feel a lot less overwhelmed. I feel way less threatened by its mass, in fact now it seems like more of a benefit. You can just lean under the wheel wells to access the engine, the oil filter is super accessible and will be an easy change. Hopefully this evenings resistor change will solve our problem and we can devote a weekend to driving, not troubleshooting.