Front-Lounge Retirement

Last summer, we bought a 1999 5th wheel camper.  It is in excellent shape for a camper of that age, so we don't have any desire to upgrade to anything newer in the foreseeable future.  Still, it can be fun to look at newer models, which is something we had a chance to do at an RV show over the weekend.

Big or small, after looking at a couple of dozen RVs, they all began to look the same.  None really seemed to offer anything we didn't already have, except for updated color schemes.

That was, until we saw this one:

What's special about this is that the living room is over the hitch in the front of the camper.  Most 5th wheels have a bedroom and bathroom over the hitch.  The effect is amazing.  From the moment you walk in, this space feels more like a small apartment than a camper.  From the show's entire selection, this was THE ONE that impressed us.

If our future goes as planned, we'll be spending a lot more time in an RV during our retirement years and when that time comes, we think would like to upgrade to one with this type of layout.  It's definitely a space we could call home -- or at least home away from home.

A Look Inside

Pretty.

Ford F250 V10.

Room for Kat.

Nice and clean...for now.

It rolled to 37,000 during the test drive.

I don't remember planting this.

Looking out the rear window.  Very roomy. 
As large as some studio apartments.
(Not sure what happened to the second swivel rocker.)

Hide-a-bed couch and real wood dinette set. 
I stretched out here while packing; woke up half an hour later.  :)
This passenger-side wall slides in for transit.
Entry door is just out of frame on the left.

Entertainment center and edge of kitchen. 
This TV stays for now, in case we find ourselves stuck inside on a rainy night.

Roomy kitchen with real hardwood floor.
 Kitchen and entertainment center are on the driver's side
of the camper and the entire wall slides in for transit.

Refrigerator and steps up to bathroom and bedroom.
Entry door is directly across from refrigerator.

The bedroom is in the part of the camper over the hitch.
Queen bed slides in from driver's side for transit.  That bedspread? 
It's out of here.  I don't care if it does match everything else in the camper.

Vanity table across from bed; middle section flips up to reveal mirror and
jewelry/cosmetic compartment.  The TV is as gone as the bedspread.
We won't use it, and can use the space for something else.

The bathroom is between the bedroom and kitchen.
It is a split bathroom, with the sink and shower on one side...

and private toilet and also a clothes/utility closet on the other side.
There is a small hallway in the center.  You can't see either in these pcitures, but
there is a vinyl folding door between bath and bedroom,
and a wooden pocket door between bath and kitchen/living room.

The Evolution of a Camping Family

Have I ever mentioned we like camping?  We camped in a tent the first year or two we were married, making all kinds of fun of the suckers who "camped" in RVs.  We were into "roughin' it", rain or shine.

When Kat was old enough to go with us, we took her on exactly one camp-out in the tent.

Then we promptly bought a pop-up camper and a porta-potty.  Camping became a lot easier; it was a lot like tent camping, but up off the ground and without the hike to bathroom in the middle of the night.  We could hitch it to either the van or the truck and away we'd go.

We camped in the pop-up for a few years until we stumbled on our hybrid trailer.  It was set up on the side of the highway and we stopped to look at it on a whim.  It was a decent step up from a pop-up, like a hard-side camper but light enough to pull with our truck.  It was also just what we needed to catch the RV bug.  We were still camping, but it sure was nice to have a shower on board and a real flush toilet.

Unfortunately our truck, a 6-cylinder, wasn't quite up to the task of pulling it.  If we wanted to keep camping in the trailer, we needed to look for a bigger vehicle on our own terms before we blew the engine and were forced to get whatever we could find.  Our search had hardly started when we found this.

Goodbye minivan. Hello truck!  Can you believe it's a 1999 with only 37,000 miles on it?

And although we weren't planning to at all, we also bought this to go behind it.  What??  They made us an offer we couldn't refuse.  The truck and camper were a pair from Day One.  Who were we to break them up?

BTW, this isn't camping anymore; it's RVing!  It's not about roughing it anymore; it's about getting away, getting set up ASAP, and relaxing. 

And trying not to make fun of the suckers in the tents.