Hurray for you, Lynn! That RV and truck look great!

Your new home is absolutely gorgeous! And the truck is beautiful, also. Enjoy!!

Very very nice Lynn and you look fab...love your hair! :)

Yippee!!! That's a very pretty "rig" you bought! :) You will have a lot of fun and I love the color, what a beautiful dining set.

So where is the maiden voyage going to take place?

WoooHoooo!!! You, RuthieTX and Nita can be travelling buddies! Don't forget to take your cats.

I love Ram trucks!

Yay! Another RV'er! I wanna know the answer to Zipper's question. Where to first? Hopefully ours will be on the road in a month, but DH got a jury summons yesterday, so I don't know if we will make the trip. I don't know details yet.

That's really nice. Hope you have some wonderful excursions and adventures.

Very nice!! Looks like you'll have all the comforts of home!

That looks fab! I would love to have that and travel all around the country. Best of luck, hoping to see pics soon!

Welcome to the Club! Glad to have another friend 'on the road'. Let me know when you hit the Pacific Northwest.

Congrats! You will have a ball. I hope someday my dh & I will have the money, health and time to do the same!

That was a funny pic with the Mini Cooper!

The RV looks very spacious! I admit, I have no knowledge of the product market out there, but that looks better than some hotel rooms I've seen.
With that truck's size, I think I'd need a stepstool to get aboard!

Happy, safe travels to you folks!

Now just come on down to Alabama!

Wow, that RV looks so roomy and comfy! And the truck looks massive!! You'll have a blast, I'm sure. Looking forward to your travelogues.

Congratulations, Lynn!!! That is really a beautiful RV!! Looks so roomy and comfy. I agree, I like the pic with the mini cooper "pulling" the trailer. LOL

My question is, will the kitties be joining you?

Happy Trails!!

Lynn, I love it!!! I like that it has so much light. I hate dark RV insides and we open all the curtains as soon as we are dressed in the morning. I don't care if people see what I am doing in my motor home.

You will be able to prepare great meals in that super nice kitchen. How many of the cats are you going to take with you? Remember to let us know when you are headed to Arizona. Just maybe we can camp together sometime.

Where will you guys be going on your maiden voyage?

that is gorgeous! congrats!

Thanks everyone!!! We are sooooo excited! And we love the rig, the trailer is a bit smaller than most fifth wheels but it is plenty big for us....and the kitties. Yes, they will be going with us, and they are a big part of why we did it as well as what we bought.

You poor folks with campers will probably get tired of hearing me ask questions! Do any of you belong to the RV clubs (like Good Sam) and what do you think?

I am sure that our first trip will be within a few miles of us. I actually asked the RV dealer if we could spend a night or two! LOL!!!

I fell in love with the kitchen and the light. That is what sold it for us. It is a used model but it is absolutely spotless and has so many add-ons that we could not have afforded otherwise.

Zipper, yes we loved the freestanding dining set as opposed to the booth type tho we sacrificed a bed. We really didn't care about the bed.

I think we should have KT Caravan!! Nita can lead!!! LOL!! Wouldn't that be fun? Ms. Glenda, you best bet that if I am within 100 miles of you I will make it a point to pop in!

WTG Lynn!! I think that is just the cats MEOW!! I hope someday to be able to do that...After jetting all over the country and not seeing much...It's time to hit the open road!!

You could be a model for that RV Company!! I wondered about pulling it with a mini but I soon scrolled down and the truck is da bomb!!

Congrats, it looks GREAT! Have fun.

Looks good--BUT, where the fridge is makes it hard to open unless you open the slide out. Our fridge was where the sink is, and the sink was on the back wall. That way we could always use the fridge and sink, now matter where we pulled in. Just my opinion. We traveled for many years with 5th wheels. We had a Monaco Lakota which had tons of room, but was big. 30 feet, but 12 feet high so we did have to watch bridges in the smaller towns, like Pierre SD. As to RV clubs? Sam's Club is fair, but we never used it much. We did enjoy Thousand Trails, membership park and you can get memberships cheaper on line etc. When Coast to Coast was first out, it wasn't bad, but I would not get a membership now. Unless you are at your home park, many of the parks treat their nom members not good, and you can only stay one week etc. Do NOT buy anything with President's Club (not connected with Camping World. We did have a card with Camping world, but you can get things at Walmart cheaper. Use RV tissue in the bathroom. Learn to check everything before you leave a site. There are neat adjustable brackets at Camping World to keep the stuff in the shelves and fridge from going all over. The one thing about Good Sam, is they do have alot of fun things if you join the right club and they do have alot of valuable information for beginning RV'ers. Books, seminars, maps, etc. We would be camping now, if it wasn't for DH's health.
And we started when our son was 9 mo. old, and he is in his 50's. Please feel free to ask about memberships and feel free to email me. There is one group, that does give you good discounts for a reasonable price, Enjoy and take pictures, and you will be amazed now much of the country you can see off the beaten path.
Marie

Lynn, we are Good Sam members and Escapee members. Feel free to email me. You might want to compare the Good Sam insurance to the insurance you can get thru your regular insurance company. We do not have ours thru them, but do keep thinking about it. I kind of wish DH would switch to them, but he doesn't want to. Personally, I wouldn't want to get a membership with anyone that is like a time share. Good Sam & the Escapees have nice discounts, even if it isn't at their parks some places. The President's Club thru Camping World is now combined with your Good Sam Membership, which makes it nice. Now you get it all for one price. And it didn't go up much, either. Definitely email me for any questions you might have. I will tell you to stay away from glass dishes, ect. as much as possible. Besides the breakage issue, you have more weight with glass. Try to load things so that the weight is evenly distributed. Front to back and side to side. You will have an easier time towing it and get better mileage. Go to the Good Sam and Escapee websites and take a look around. I can't answer many ? about Good Sam, but ask away about the Escapees. We are a great bunch and don't care what kind of rig you have, even if it's a tent! Some of the "clubs" get very exclusive.

Tami

It looks beautiful! Enjoy!

LOVE it! I was just looking at one of my neighbors new RV at lunch. They got a 27' with one slide out. Really nice, it is used but I don't think anything in the kitchen was ever used in it.

We have had the fever for a while now. If I could convince my husband to ease off on working so many hours and taking a little fun time away we would definitely have one. His truck is a 1/2 ton and he thinks he would need to move up to a 3/4 ton. I have a Hummer H3 also but he thinks the truck would be better.
We used to have a van that was like an RV inside and we loved it we traveled a lot in it and camped at so many fun places. I am really hoping to get one some day soon. Would love to get together with the RV gang LOL.

I only have one rule, "Buy one for the house and one for the RV!" :P

If you buy something that looks like you're going to love it, then you really need it in the RV too, lol. It's tiresome loading stuff and lugging it back and forth from RV to the house and vice versa.

For example, you really need a regular can opener just for those times you boondock, no electricity means no food from cans unless you have pull tabs. I have the same can opener in the house for the same reason, electric goes out I can still open a can. I bought a crock pot for the RV too - when you're camping somewhere for a weekend you can cook in that just like you do at home.

It's the little things that make it fun, so try the dollar store for some of the things you think you need, it's cheaper and if it doesn't work out you didn't spend much to try it out. Things like table cloths for the picnic tables outside are cheaper there and you can buy a couple extra for the benches leaving you with a nice place to sit instead of dealing with wood splinters or cement dots :)

I don't have glass dishes, I have some Texas-ware (I know it's collectible) that we use when we don't want paper plates and there are two glass coffee mugs because DH would rather drink out of that than plastic. The rest of the dishes are "bounceable" so I don't worry about breakage.

I guess I have two rules, the other one is to really really enjoy it because it's almost as much fun as tickling a grandbaby! My 6 yo DGS is here for spring break. HE IS HAVING A GOOD TIME!!! Lol.

Lynn, what are your favorite colors, please?!

Aw, Lynn, you made me miss our fifth wheel. Ours was very similar to yours as far as where the door is, BD and bath area, etc.

You two are going to have to much fun. You will never find friendlier or nicer people than you do when camping. Enjoy every minute of it!

Lynn, I meant to add this post I used to read a lot when we had our RV. If you click on RV Forums (located on the grayish-black bar toward the top of the page) you will get a ton of great information--even recipes if you're so inclined.

Here is a link that might be useful: Great RV site

In another lifetime (aka my ex and I) we had a smaller travel trailer, and tho we only took it out a few times before we separated I really enjoyed it. This is larger and much nicer. Of course that was 35 years ago, things have changed.

Tami, sage green and those muted colors (gold, wine, etc).....now I'm really excited! Thanks for all your info, Escapees is one we have been looking at.

Marie, thanks for your insights! We were aware of that but were willing to tolerate that for the camper. It may come back to kick us in the butt but I so loved the light and the kitchen that I was willing to sacrifice for it.

Zipper, thank you so much, tips like that about the can opener are so appreciated! I started a camper box when we first decided we wanted one, I now need to weed thru it. I do have a handmixer, coffeemaker, serving utensils, etc.

We can't get the 5th wheel hitch installed for 2 weeks. Geez, now I'm getting impatient!!

How did you (or your partner) learn to drive yours? Do you gals drive it?

Very roomy and comfy looking. How many cats do you have? That's one reason I don't travel..I don't want to leave my pets. Great they can go along.

Wow, nice!
You will enjoy RVing, it is so much fun.

Nice house...

Looks like we both have something new to us.... yours on wheels, and mine stationary. :)

Moni

Nice rig, Lynn. I hope you try it out soon and report back to us.

We have a travel trailer and it hasn't been used since last summer. DH wanted to sell it but since it didn't sell I'm ready to put all our stuff back in it (he took everything out of it. GRRRR!) and go somewhere.

Looks wonderful...I am sure you will really enjoy it.

Lynn, you bet I drive it! That is very important. You don't have to do it often, or like it, but you DO need to learn how. And learn to hook it up to the truck. It's a safety issue. You never know when you will be somewhere when DH gets sick and needs help with you being the only way to get where he can have it. DSIL's mother refuses to drive theirs. She even rides on the bed and watches movies while he drives. Oh, sorry, theirs is a motor home like ours. He got the flu on the way home from TX a few years ago. He wasn't so bad that he couldn't have ridden, but wasn't able to drive. They sat in a campground for a week. Also, they have been in the middle of no where many times. What if he had a heart attack? She couldn't drive it if she had to. Mind you, I am not wishing bad luck/health on anyone, but you just never know.

Have the dealer give you some tips. Has your DH ever driven towing? Learn to back it, too. Also, big empty parking lots are your friend while you learn. Open highway is easy. My first time was from the first rest area in KY out of OH going south. Umm, can you say lots of traffic to merge into?! I still want to put a big sign on the back saying "New to driving an RV. Thanks for your patience!"! DH says I drive it better than he does cause I'm still afraid of it. You may not want to know some of the places he's taken it! I think he's added to my grey hair!l Mind you, he is a pretty safe driver.

Another camping club to look into is Passport America. You get 50% discounts certain places, certain times of the week. It can pay for itself in two stays! I think it's $20/year, not sure. Gee, some campgrounds are $30/night! And KOA's are usually a lot more. Don't get me wrong, we do stay at KOA's but not often. You can be sure of a good clean place to stay with level spots. And almost always right off the highway. But they are expensive. Also, if you are going out west, look into Bureau of Land Management. Some places have free camping available. Be sure to check for safe areas. Also, some Walmarts offer free 1 night stays, depending on local laws, policies, and safe areas. Cabella's and Bass Pro also may let you stay one night free. Always check with the management first. In those cases, no leveling jacks, chairs, or grills are allowed.

I'll keep thinking!

Tami

Lynn, this was just in my free kindle book listing!
What not to do RVing! I'll post the link. Also, I sent you an email with my phone #.
Tami

Here is a link that might be useful: what not to do RVing

Yep I drive ours too, for the reasons Tami gives you. My DF had a stroke a few years ago that left him partially blind, my DM jumped into the fray and learned to drive their rig, (fifth wheel and truck) she doesn't go far but would if she wanted to. The only way to learn it is to just do it. I suggest you drive home from one of your camping trips, you have to go slow getting out of the campground and the twist's and turns are good for practice, but do the highway a couple times first. I never get over being shy driving ours but I do it and I'm glad I can.

Just remember they do not stop on a dime and rolling up to a stop sign or red light is much easier than the last minute panic stop which more than likely will send you out into the middle of traffic. The fiver will push your truck so you need to keep that in mind too when you are going down hill. The rest is easy peasy, you can do it, you just have to practice. :)

Love's truck stops and Safety rest areas are good places for overnight too. Keep in mind the truckers use those places too and some of them park next to you and run the engines all night.

The Safety rest areas usually have free wifi too so it's an excellent stop even for just an hour or two that will let you get online and check the KT and get your email lol. Oh and stretch your legs.

Some places have free campgrounds and you can find those online by googling them for the city you are headed too. Our outlet mall has camping but it's something like $15.00 a night, still in a pinch it would make a great place to camp,they also have free wifi, some hotels/motels offer camping but I don't get that one at all lol.

Wow Lynn! Congratulations! What wonderful adventures you and Andy and the kitties have ahead. Love those interior pics of the RV and that is one snazzy truck. You could make a short trip my way, and be home before dark, LOL We have a big driveway with room for practicing turn arounds.