As Christians, Katie and I celebrate Easter, which is one of the most joyous events for Christians. When I was a kid, I remember having Easter egg hunts and coloring Easter eggs, although I never got into the coloring of the eggs much at all. Kinda boring and stinky, if ya ask me. But I really loved the hymns sung at Church worship services, and as I got older, the different choral works also. As I've grown in my Christian faith, I've come to appreciate what Christ did for me many years ago, as well as his resurrection. Each Easter brings more meaning to my faith, so it is with joy that I look forward to Easter celebrations.
We've been with Amanda and her family now for three weeks now. Wasn't sure how long it'd been till I looked at the calendar and computed when we left Tucson, Az. It's been long enough now that we had to drain the tanks yesterday, and in the same trip filled up the gas tank so we'll be all set for our journey on April 27th when we head up to Medora, ND. The weather here was great the first few days, but this last week the nights have been cold in the 30's, and the days not much warmer with the highs in the 50's. One day it was very windy which made the cooler temps that much cooler. Maybe spring is just trying to get back to normal temps rather than going back into summer temps so soon, ya think? We try to take walks in the morning, and this is what it looked like one of those days looking east on a cloudy day.
Our days have been filled with making things easier for Amanda and Shelby with us taking care of some household chores, and me taking the boys to and from school. That's been a fun time for me as we've been able to talk about a few things, particularly RV's. There's one RV lot we go by, and I always tell Avery that there's motorhomes there, to which he replies that "he knows" they're all trailers. Riley is supposed to help me out as he's older and is able to see the motorhomes, but he's just gone along with Avery. They've even come up with a theory that motorhomes are bad, and they've had an effect on Katie and me. It's all in fun with many laughs along the way though. I made popcorn for them, and they've determined that I make the best popcorn, even better than movie theater popcorn. There's really no secret to it except that it isn't microwave popcorn, but the real thing. Then last week, I made waffles for them, and I'm now the best waffle maker also. Can't take credit for that as Amanda got the mix and the iron, all I did was mix it up. I guess my point being that actually "making" things to eat is better than using a microwave or toaster to heat up food. Like they were many years ago before convenience food was invented.
We did go up to Meridian, ID., for a memorial service for Katie's niece, Allison, who was involved in an auto accident earlier in March. While it was a somber even, it was good to see Katie's brother and sister in law, Ken and Lori, as well as her sister, Karen, and her husband, Bill, also. Ken and Lori's great grandson, Mikey, also celebrated his 2nd birthday so the trip was good for that also. On the way up there, we went through a wind storm that brought up many, many tumbleweeds from along the highway, and points beyond it seemed like there were so many of them, I didn't try to avoid them and our car wound up with a moustache.
A couple of blogs ago, I spoke about getting a different rig for us as our mighty Chieftain is ...not as it once was. As much as we've been for RVing in a moho, the time has come that we're believing that a 5th wheel trailer would give us more usable room than a moho as there's space taken up at the front end of a moho that can't be utilized easily. Plus there's the added expense of paying for the running gear of a moho which usually isn't used that often, especially if we go somewhere and just sit for weeks to months at a time; I mean it's an extra engine and drive train that we'd have to take care of. Registration fees tend to be less for a 5th wheel than for a moho also.
This represents quite a change for us as there's a few things that don't occur in 5th wheels that occur in motorhomes. In particular, they usually weigh more than the dinghy that is towed behind the moho which is used for traveling around when the moho is setup at the campsite. The vast majority of 5th wheels will weigh more than the truck that pulls them. More than half of the mohos made will have fiberglass roofs, where they're available only in the crem dela crem of 5th wheels (the rest of the 5th wheels have a rubber roof, or something similar). Setup and tear down at a campsite is usually easier and quicker in a moho by far. When traveling, food can easily be procured from the refrigerator, and heated up if needed, for all the passengers of the moho. Bathroom stops aren't necessary, except for the driver, because the bathroom is traveling with the driver and passenger rather than in a vehicle behind them. These are some of the reasons that we've always thought of having a moho rather than a 5th wheel, it's just always made sense to us.
5th wheels can cost upwards of $150,000, such as this one. As with just about anything in life, ya gets what ya pays for with very good quality and high end features being found in the rigs at the upper end of the price spectrum. We're not looking for those rigs as they don't always have what we want anyway, but more the ones that are at the middle part of the price spectrum instead. In my opinion, any RV that is made at the lower end of the price spectrum is made for young families that want to get started in the RVing experience, and not for the rigors of full time living in it. So we'll be paying for something that will hopefully be able to stand the test of time in that middle zone.
There's a few different genres of 5th wheels in the market now. The most common would be the one with the bedroom in the front of the rig, followed by the bathroom as we go towards the back, and finally the living area which includes the kitchen and eating area as well. Lately, another style has come out where the living area and bedroom are switched so the living area is raised above the kitchen in the middle. In a few models like this, the bedroom is also raised in the back of the trailer enabling the manufacture to allow for a hefty amount of storage under the bedroom as well as the living room. Another trend is to have a large bathroom in the front of the rig with a half bath amidships. Toy haulers are another style which offer an abundance of space in the back of the rig for toys such as ...bikes and trikes clear up to cars and lots of things in between. On most of them, there is one or two large bunks that come down from the ceiling allowing for sleeping in the garage as well. Many toy haulers have the ability to turn the tailgate into a patio for outdoor seating on the same level as the rest of the rig so ya don't have to got down steps to get to your outdoor chair, or up them to get another piece of chicken. Another style would be the rigs with bunk rooms, which are usually placed either amidships or in the extreme back. Having the bunk room in the middle still allows the living room to be in the back, which seems to be a little more desirable for us. Although with the bunk room in the back, it's larger and there is a possibility of more bunks, or often times there will be an abbreviated outdoor kitchen under the upper bunk on the curb side.
Having said that, as far as we're concerned, the floor plans in 5th wheels come in two different styles: the ones with the dining area on the curb side, and the ones with the dining area on the street side, and this includes toy haulers. We prefer to have one with the dining area on the curb side, which just happens to be the side that would have our campsite on it. These floor plans also can allow for seeing who might be coming to your door a little easier as well. We also want the living area to be in the rear of the rig if possible. That criteria narrows down the field a bunch.
As you may recall, one of the reasons for the change in RVs is to have more room, mainly for Katie's painting. If there is a bunk room or garage available, it could be used as Katie's studio, in addition to providing extra storage space which sometimes happens when paintings are made and space is needed for them. Plus if other folks choose to stay with us, we'd have extra space for them to sleep. Without the bunk room or garage, Katie would have to set up her easel somewhere in the rig, probably in the living area where a recliner would be removed. She's not too keen on this idea, wanting the ability to close things off when needed. In considering toy haulers, it seems as though they aren't always set up for full time RVing, although they have pretty good construction. Their interior storage seems to be set up for the occasional weekend outing or vacation still the same, and their TV viewing angles aren't optimum with it usually being 90 degrees to the right or left of how folks are sitting. They're very heavy, and have no slides in the garage, although they do allow for extra sleeping with extra beds. But their cost is higher than we want to spend, and they weigh more than we want to tow. That leaves a bunk room 5th wheel as our choice.
So, that's where we're at right now in that we know what style of 5th wheel we're gonna want to get. We've narrowed the field down further to less than 10 rigs, but as they 2016s are coming out soon, the homework we've done so far may very well be for naught if there are new models with more of what we want in them. Might have to do a bunch more research, ya think?
Have a blessed day!
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