Upgrading to new quarters

[GoldenRivet]

As many of you know my job takes me all over the country, i spend a bit of that time in hotels however some 90% of my overnight stays takes place in my 20 foot travel trailer.

I originally purchased the 20 footer to tow with my V6 pickup because it fell within the towing capacity of the V6, but shortly afterwards i upgraded to a V8 truck. Additionally, at the time i purchased the 20 footer a majority of my stays away from home were often in 4 or 5 week spurts broken up with time at home. for the past 2 years however, my assignments have seen me park in one city or another for 8-10 month stretches! After living in that 20 footer for about 19 of the past 24 months i have concluded that it no longer meets my needs as far as comfort goes. I call it my "Type II U-boat", it clutters too quickly, and there is no way to separate myself from my work. Often, my work space is cluttered in with my living space and the only place to relax is quite literally the bed. additionally, since there is only one queen bed... so if the family visits while im on the road, or we simply take a weekend trip with the wife and kids while i am home cramming the four of us into the 20 footer is out of the question unless we wish to be a quadruple homicide statistic

So i have decided to upgrade... this will be like going from a Type II to a Type VIIC, i pick her up Monday morning, we will be spending next weekend at a state park in West Texas in it, and im stoked.

The new camper, with 17ft more livable space, has a private bedroom with full queen size bed (no more sleeping on a "Queen short" with my feet trying to hang off the end), and full bathroom located forward. there is a private bunk room and half bath aft, the central section is the kitchen, dining and living area. the kitchen, dining and living areas have hydraulic slide-outs which makes these areas quite spacious

to top it off, there us an outdoor kitchen with sink, storage and mini fridge, and a TV wall mount with full TV hookups on the exterior wall starboard side.

the jacks and trailer tongue jack are electric - no more cranking by hand!

the storage space is amazing, there is actually a full pantry in the kitchen space, so no more storing canned goods and misc foodstuffs in my bathroom cabinets!

i particularly liked this layout because the bunk room in the aft section has fold away bunks, and a built in entertainment center. The bunks can be folded upward against the wall so the small room can then be used as an "office" while i am out on business, and then quickly converted back to a bunk room if needed by the kids in the event that we use it for recreational purposes or if the family visits while i am away on business.

finally! an area which can be closed off from the living and relaxation areas of the RV while i am off duty in the evenings. (out of sight out of mind) I will no longer have to eat, watch TV and relax while surrounded by paperwork, laptop, printer, shredder, files etc - it also creates a space where the kids can play games or sleep without having to bicker over sharing a bed, additionally there is no arguing over bunk beds because there are two sets, so no claiming top bunk! they can both get a top bunk! and because this bunk room also has its own exit door, no more disturbing adults in the living and dining areas if they wish to go in and out to play

in a pinch, the sofa folds out to a bed, the dining table folds down to a bed, bringing the total sleeper capacity to 10 people if necessary - weekend visits or vacations should be a breeze for 4 in this hoss

Here are some pictures


Starboard Side profile


Port Side Profile


Starboard Quarter


Outdoor Kitchen


Kitchen and Entertainment Center


Living and Dining Area


Forward bedroom


Bunk Room Sofa, Top Bunk Combo


Bunk Room top bunk/entertainment center combo

*While this is not the Actual RV i have purchased (i dont have any pics of her yet) this one has the same floor plan, color scheme and trim and options as the one i am picking up monday