Yesterday we opened a new chapter of adventure in our lives; we are officially RV owners!
Owning an RV has been a dream of ours for quite some time. In our early marriage years, we used to tag along with my parents on vacations in their fifth wheel travel trailer. We have some great memories made on those trips, and we started debating if we would ever get one for ourselves. The years went by and we teetered back and forth on the topic. To get an RV or not get an RV….to get a trailer or to get a motorhome…the debate seemed endless.
A couple of years ago, we went on a trip to Idaho with my dad (by this time my mom was unable to travel, due to her brain disease), but this time we decided to get our own space. We had planned to rent an RV, but our good friends had just bought a Class C bunkhouse motorhome and insisted that we use it for our trip. They knew we had been going back and forth on whether or not to get one, and told us that this would help us to make up our minds. After weighing out all of our options, we decided to take our friends up on their offer of borrowing their RV.
There were lots of things that we loved about the motorhome (over a trailer), one of the top reasons being that the kids could space out while we traveled. Sitting them all three next to each other in the back cab of a truck is a nightmarish thought to me. Let’s just say that would be the opposite of a bonding experience for us! I loved that if a kid really needed to go to the bathroom just 15 minutes after our last stop, they could get up and use the bathroom. I loved being able to fix lunch while we were on the road and have the kids eating at a table rather than dropping food between the seats of a car. I loved being able to sit at the table and play games with my kids while we were on the road. Everyone has a different preference, and for us it was unquestionably the motorhome.
That vacation was one of the most memorable for us and for our kids. It was one of the first vacations where I was truly reluctant to go home at the end of the trip (and were gone for a solid 10 days!) It was fun to travel side by side with my dad, who also brought my nephews. I loved watching my kids playing games together; fishing and bonding around the campfire with their cousins. I loved that we didn’t have to pack and unpack at hotel rooms throughout our trip. By the end of the trip, our minds were made up; we wanted an RV!
The only problem was that we had been spoiled with our friend’s RV bunkhouse model. Before the vacation, we had certainly been open to any motorhome, but after traveling with a bunkhouse, we felt that was the way to go! What I love about the bunkhouse model, with our three children, is that everyone has their own space. Each of our boys have their own bunk, and our daughter has the overhead bunk. The dining room table and the couch both turn into beds, but we didn’t have to worry about breaking them down every morning for breakfast, or being forced out of the living room when a kid wanted to go to bed at night. I loved that each kid had their own place to keep their toys and blankets and the living space was clutter free throughout the day.
Finding a bunkhouse in our budget proved to be no easy task. Not going to lie, a brand new motorhome with a bunkhouse is a huge chunk of change. We decided it was smarter to go the used route, but that’s also difficult because we didn’t want to inherit somebody else’s problems. We searched and searched. We got close to buying one last year, but things never seemed to fall into place for us (looking back, it wasn’t the right timing). We got discouraged. We thought about giving in and getting one with no bunkhouse. We thought about getting a used with higher mileage. We thought about tossing out the dream all together. But the thing that I have learned over the past several years is that life is short. Too short. We never know when our time is up and when it is, the most important thing we leave behind to those we love is the memories we have made with them. I want to make the most out of the life I have, and create beautiful memories with my children and my family and friends who I love so dearly.
I won’t get into all the nitty gritty details, but over the past few months, things have slowly started falling into place for us. It has been nothing short of a miracle and the final miracle came when we stumbled upon a listing, just a couple of weeks ago, for a Class C bunkhouse. It had everything we wanted, was only a few years old with very low mileage on it (less than 5,000 miles!) and was located only 20 minutes from our house. We emailed the owners and got a response within 15 minutes. We set up a time to go view it the very next day!
We fell in love with it as soon as we saw it. Not only did it have everything we wanted, but it was in GREAT shape! It even had the “brand new” smell still! As soon as the weekend was over, we got our financing and everything else in order. Everything was smooth sailing and yesterday, we picked up our RV!
The kids were so excited that we ended up eating dinner in the RV. I had some fun organizing kitchen ware and other supplies that we’d been collecting over the past couple of weeks.
I’ve been a little busy this past week embroidering towels and pillows; I couldn’t resist! I’m not quite finished with the pillows, but aren’t these towels adorable? I think I may have to add these to my etsy shop!
And here’s a tour of the rest of the RV, beginning with a view of the cab and overhead bunk (which can easily sleep 2-3 people).
Behind the cab is the couch and table. Both spaces have seatbelts as well! The kitchen is a good size with lots of storage. I forgot to take a picture of the opposite side from the stove, where the refrigerator sits.
Next comes the bunk area. I love that this model has drawers underneath the bunks (not all bunks have this feature). It’s perfect for the boy’s clothes. Both bunks have their own TV and DVD players, with wireless headphones. Not that they spend a ton of time on the TV while we are vacationing, but it’s nice while traveling and for a quiet moment in the evening. Across from the bunks is the bathroom.
The master bedroom is separated by an accordion door that slides into the wall. I love the amount of storage that is in the bedroom. There is a lot of space to hang clothes and drawers for the rest. I am working on a quilt to go on this bed; hopefully I can get it finished up in the next couple of weeks!
Did I mention that my brother also bought a travel trailer last week? My husband’s sister also bought one last year, and of course my dad has one, as do several of our friends. I foresee a lot of fun and a lot of great memories being made in our near future! I can’t wait to share all of our RV’ing adventures with you! If you want to follow, don’t forget to click on that subscribe button! 😉
