The New Rig

TA DA………………. (click on any image to make it larger)

There it is  -- our new rig consisting of a 2016 Ford Expedition (of course it is a Ford) and a 2015 Forest River Rockwood Mini Lite 2504S Travel Trailer.  We bought our new home base in mid November and by mid February we had the new rig already.

We had notions of what we were going to buy and how we were going to do it, but some things changed quite a bit.  Our intention had been to order a Ford Transit Cargo Van as the tow vehicle. But it wasn’t going to fit on the property real well, and with the compromises necessary to make it fit, we suddenly switched gears from ordering a Tansit to buying an Expediton off the lot and had that accomplished in about a week in January instead of a six to eight week order.  The Expedition has 9,400 pounds of towing capacity and is far nicer on the inside than a cargo van.

We then planned to order a new 2016 trailer of the same make, model, and floorplan as this one and to pit a couple dealers against each other to negtotiate a better price.  While Gary was putting together the order and in reality procrastinating just a little, he happend to look on Craigslist.  About 30 miles away was a listing for the same trailer one year old and little used. The owner found that his kids were just too busy with other activities to go camping so he didn’t want to make payments anymore.  We were happy to let him absorb that first year of depreciation and we scored our new to us trailer in a week in February instead of a six to eight week order for it.

So on with the show.  Shown below is how it fits on our home base.  There is just enough space to make it all fit.  It will fit even a bit better once we move a post.  But this is why we waited on the rig until we purchased the house.  We can have our “guest quarters” right outside our front door.

Here is the floorplan.  Note that it has a couch and a Murphy bed upfront.  The couch jack knifes flat and the Murphy bed folds down over the top of it – no added length for a dedicated bedroom – 26 feet total length.

Now for some interior shots.

 

We targeted a model with bunk beds as we will be spending a lot of time in the Summer near our grandson and hopefully one day we will want to come sleep on one of those bunks.  Also, we see that as a good place to store some tubs of stuff as we plan to be traveling for 3 to 6 months a year.

So if you just have to know yet more about the trailer, here is a link that will provide features specs and more.

http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=204

And if you want to see more, here are a couple links for click and drag 360 degree tours from a companion Forest River model

http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=203&Image=5387&ModelID=899&TourID=2953#Main

http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=203&Image=5387&ModelID=899&TourID=2954#Main

The New Home Base–Interior

Took some pictures taken of the interior, so it's time to up load them (just click on any picture to make it larger).

Shown below is the floor plan. The port area is at the lower right which is where the main entrance is into the great room.

Shown below are a couple views of the great room. You can see the very high ceilings -- they are almost to the roof of the RV port. Now that we are out of the motor home, Gary wanted a much bigger TV. He found a 58" diagonal plasma on Craigslist for a great price with the only problem being that it didn't begin to fit in the corner cabinet. He says he knew that ....... Somehow with the help of a neighbor down the street he got it mounted outside the front of the cabinet. It kind of dominates the room.  There is a half bath off the great room as well.

Behind the great room is a laundry room with a washer and a dryer, not the tiny washer/dryer all-in-one of the motor home.

 

The kitchen is probably the best feature of the house as it is very large for the size of the house and features a lot of cabinets and counter tops. There is an area off the kitchen for a smaller dining table in addition to the counter seating. And there is a small desk near the entrance from the porch/screen area that constitutes my "office".

Next is the office Gary claimed. You can see who got the better part of that deal.

A quick shot into the bathroom (hard to take picture of that one).

And the bedroom with a king size bed with just enough room to get around it and which we already have dressed it up with some Florida motif.

Finally,  a shot of the smallish patio area which is probably just fine as it will be a hot area with the afternoon sun on it.

It should work as our winter time home base for our summertime travels.  It is probably not the place we would have it we didn’t have an
RV.  We already have something in mind for when the day comes that we stop RVing, but that will likely be in another five years or more.

Next blog -- the rig. Yes, we do have a new RV rig to report on as well.