The Search Continues but Down to Two Specific Manufacturers

After much thinking and having discussions with a few full-time travelers and others that have/had truck campers ... I have ruled out the truck camper as a full-time option. I would love to travel that way, I would love to think I would spend ALL of my daylight hours outside along with the hounds and I would love to think we would have enough room when the bad weather hits ... but as someone told me that is full-time traveling in a trailer, you have to be able to separate what you want vs what you need. In my lifetime those two have never matched. So it's something I have to be aware of while continuing my search.

I feel the only option that I will be happy with ... with be a trailer between 18'-24', high clearance for traveling down a two track road if needed, and a big back window.  I know that last requirement might be a little different but it makes a world of difference to me after the trailers I have looked at and sat in and those trailers not having enough windows.

A couple of manufacturers come to mind and are at the top of my list.

After my return trip from Camping World in Indianapolis last Friday I knew there was nothing there as far as new, used, or by brand name that I liked ... nada. It didn't matter if it was a 5th wheel or a travel trailer. That was one very important realization because now I had cut out a lot of possibilities when looking online in the future. The only trailer that I stepped into last week that was made with good quality materials was the Sunny Brook trailer I looked at last week, down at a small dealership 50 miles SE of me at Monroe City RV. It was a 'new' 2012 but while sitting on the lot for two years it had floor damage under the couch, water leaking in the slide out area. They were in the process of repairing the damage. They were also adding some repairs that they thought would prevent the damage from happening again.

I spent time since my last post, looking at forums, talking to people, gaining more information on what would be possible with me and three hounds traveling at least six months out of the year if not nine months. All of us knew no one that full-timed in a truck camper. Most of us agreed on the length of trailer I needed and most of us disagreed on whether a slide-out was good or bad. All of us agreed that trailer ground clearance was important. All of us agreed that I should keep my house until I had experience traveling, even if I were to spend only three months out of the year at the house.

Another reason I chose to move away from the truck camper option, was the use of my truck bed as storage. Otherwise I may have had to tow a small trailer with the truck camper for additional equipment/storage. Yes, the pictures of truck campers being tucked away off the grid, or traveling down 4x4 roads, with beautiful views were very magnetic. I wanted all that but knew long term it was not a valid possibility.

Northwood Nash and Arctic Fox are the two trailers that I am focussing on.

A Trip to Camping World to Look Around

Early morning thunderstorms woke me about 4am. I have all my windows open, so it was windy and things got a little wet. The rain and overcast clouds almost talked me out of my trip to look at rvs, trailers, 5th wheels and truck campers. By 11am the sky had cleared, it was sunny and even though later than I wanted to start ... I decided I needed a road trip. I knew Friday would have heavy traffic. From where I live there is not a direct route to the nearest large rv dealership.

The largest dealership closest to me is Camping World in Indianapolis. They have a large selection of all different kinds of rigs to look at and it's pretty nice when you do not have a sales rep following you and you have no intentions of buying anything. I wanted to go see a few used and new 5th wheels, also some used and new trailers in the 24' range. I really don't have any desire for anything longer than that, so my truck may be a little overkill. I bought the truck basically for 4x4, crew cab for the hounds to travel comfortable and the price it was offered at. 

It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to arrive. I said it last time I went but this time the parking spots to camp overnight were packed, the spaces on the lot waiting for service of some kind was completely full, as well as the service bays. Maybe it's normal to start the camping season, with most schools not out yet for summer vacation.

I'll not go into detail on what I saw or didn't see, except to say NOTHING I looked out, sat in or thought about excited me. The used ones were either priced too high or were in bad shape. I was surprised in some cases that some rigs were actually for sale due to their condition. Mostly trade in's I guess. Of all the trailers and 5th wheels I sat in I can say the truck campers felt the best. Small yes, livable yes, room for the hounds yes and hard to believe yes.

So I decided to take the long way back to drive around any possible city rush hour traffic. I stopped to eat inside a restaurant instead of drive-thru. Combine with my time for my meal and the time it took to drive home I had a lot of time to think. Based on what I have looked at today and last Monday and in previous months, I have a few that stand out that I like more than others. That includes all types of vehicles to live in.

By the time I got home, fed the hounds and did the daily walk ... the yard has grown enough to be mowed tomorrow for the second time this week. 

Have a good weekend everyone, wherever you are located and be safe traveling. 

Is a Fifth Wheel a Possibility?

First of all, not related to the title but a pretty important event happened today. I had a call from my company's HR department asking if I would like to move my exit interview from tomorrow (Friday) to to today? I thought about sprinting the 10 miles to the office but decided a shower and driving a vehicle might be a better alternative. So it's official ... I am retired, no longer on personal vacation nor working. My job now is to let my dogs in and out a of the house a million times a day because they know a good deal when they smell one.

Like now, I am stepping away to let Winston out, where the other two hounds will follow.

A comment on my blog post yesterday brought up an option I had never looked at, because I want to boondock most of the time I am on the road. I always pictured this option as not doable. they always looked too big to be driven out into the boondocks. Nan asked if I had ever considered a 5th Wheel? I have a couple of local friends that have them. One friend lives in theirs full time, even in this past Indiana winter where there were winter storms one after another. The other parks theirs at a SP for the summer as a weekend getaway. They told me they were easier to hitch to, back up, to maneuver and would give me and the hounds a lot more room. They never looked like the rig that would be used for boondocking. So I of course had to start looking at whats available, anything near me? What forums are available to discuss this option? I wanted to find some images with the 5th Wheel in a boondocking location or a lot of locations.

After going through the "for sale" websites, now it was time to find some images and information. I found out I could do all of this research on ONE website. Ray and his wife have been traveling for over 3 years in their 30' 5th Wheel with some pretty favorable reviews. Ray reviews, teaches, and his wife photographs some fabulous places. They also started their travels with two beagles. So I started my research here last night and am getting ready to read more, look more after the sun goes down tonight. The weather is too nice to be inside these past couple of weeks, so my computer desk time is either first thing in the morning and after dark.

In the meantime I have found one that I want to go take a look at tomorrow. The pictures look nice but you never know until you can see and touch in person. The end photographs concern me, looks like the skin of the rig is rippling or bent? Please post your experiences or comments about this option. I know that Dave from Flip Flop Vector suggested this set up last year before they pulled off the road.  The one I am looking at is only 25' long.

2003 Forest River Sierra 25RLSS

The ripples in the lower end will be the deal breaker

So I will get an early start after people leave for work tomorrow, drive up to this dealership to take a look around. Large range of inventory, so I can not only see this rig but other options. 

The Sunny Brook "Harmony" 21FBS Trailer

Since having time off, I no longer multi-task. It's one project per day. Today was borderline because I did two or three things to get them out of the way. I started the morning off by taking the newly purchased truck back over to the dealership twenty-five miles away to pick up the title. The plan was to transfer my plates from my 1994 Chevy truck to the 2006 Chevy truck since I had just paid for new truck plates for 2015. That did happen without a problem later in the afternoon which is a surprise because nothing is easy at the BMV. While at the dealership I was talking to the owner about his experiences in towing trailers and truck camping trailers. He normally will use them on hunting or fishing trips for a couple of weeks in the year.

He said an interesting thing about trailers, campers, Class C and even the huge Class A. It was something I noticed while I sat in the Class C while it was covered in snow this winter. He said "the longer you stay in them the smaller they FEEL" ... no matter what the RV is. I made note of that. The 2500 HD 4x4 truck rides nice, is quiet and very comfortably cruising down the highway, so I decided to multi-task, go on a mini-road trip.

I decided to go about 50 miles further south of my house to check out a trailer I had seen on the internet. This place was out in the country, small town and I can't say if the highway it was on was a major one? It was out in the middle of nowhere, very little traffic but this place was servicing Class A's that cost $250K to $500K. They had a good selection of trailers. The person showing me the trailer was not only honest but possibly a little too honest to be in sales ... if you know what I mean.

2012 Sunny Brook Harmony 21FBS

One of the admins on the rvforum dot net, mentioned that Sunny Brook made good quality trailers and might be something to check out. As far as the quality of components, flooring, couch material and bed mattress he was right. This 22' trailer had a small slide out which gave the trailer enough floor space to get me to consider this. It had much more room than my Class C and it was a "new" 2012 model, no longer made. Then he said something interesting that was a deal killer. "We have had some water damage to the floor under the couch due to a leak in the slide out". They were repairing it and correcting some things to prevent it taking place a second time but I didn't want to take that chance.

The ground clearance was another issue. Standing back looking at the trailer, the ground clearance looked acceptable for what I am wanting. When I looked at the leveling jacks that were retracted, a lot of the ground clearance was gone. But the deal breaker happened as I turned around the corner from the rear. The gray and black tank connection for dumping was exposed by design to the edge of the trailer but the problem was, from the bottom of those connections to the ground was only four inches.

I could not see this trailer surviving long on a dirt, gravel or uneven roads. I probably wont go to the extreme of staying in place like Sebastian does but similar to AL & KELLY, Paul & Nina and RVsue. At times I'd like to do what Chinle does over at the Spotted Dog Ranch leaving the trailer at the camp and tent camping further off the grid for a few days in good weather.

As you notice this post is about a trailer, not a truck camper. I was kind of leaning this way after I got an accurate measurement of the bloodhound while she was sleeping last night, snoring through the measurements I took. I quietly got my Stanley tape measure out and went from the tip of her nose to her hips ... she's long ... LOL.  I went from top of her hips to the bottom of her feet as she laid on her side, she's taller than the truck camper isle is wide. She would take MORE THAN the majority of the floor space in a truck camper. That doesn't include the other two basset hounds which are also long, even with extremely short legs.

So dogs win ... it has to be a trailer.

Two that come to mind ... Nash and Arctic Fox. A couple of the bloggers I follow travel full-time in an Arctic Fox while Sebastian full-times in a Nash Trailer.

The choices are decreasing and the options are down to a couple I believe.