The WBI Family’s New Camper

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

It seems like a long time ago that I asked everyone about opinions on buying an rv, but I’m finally able to announce that we are now owners of a new fifth wheel!

 

I think I mentioned it on another thread but after lots of shopping we ended up buying a Cougar Xlite fifth wheel!  We shopped all over locally but after we figured out we liked the Cougar Xlite we couldn’t find the model we wanted anywhere close by.  We talked to nearby dealers about ordering one but they wanted a ton to do that, so after some debating we decided to pull the trigger and buy one from Wholesale RV, which is Colerain RV’s internet branch in Cincinnati, Ohio.  On a side note has anyone noticed how hard it is to find a smaller fifth wheels in the south?.  It seems like everyone in the south wants them big!

 

Here’s a few pictures from the dealer, its a Cougar Xlite 26SAB:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After agreeing on price and figuring out everything, we set the pick-up date, we would drive up during CP’s spring break and camp our way home.  That meant we had to wait over a month to get it, and that wasn’t fun, but it did give me time to get my truck ready to go.  (I soon found out it needed lots of prep).

 

Ok on to the picking it story.

 

We left on  Thursday April 17^th after I got off work at 5pm.  It was me, and my Camping Princess (CP) and our DS who was almost 5 months old, yes we’re crazy to road trip with a 5 month old, but he is a great traveler!

 

We made it across Louisiana with no problems, then Mississippi and into Alabama (where I started to get sleepy) at some point, I think in Tennessee we stopped at a rest stop so I could take a 1 hr nap.  That rest stop was super nice, had a guard and everything.  We continued on, then CP drove for an hour.  Then between Louisville and Cincinnati I got pulled over for speeding (evidently my speedometer is off by about 5mph).  The cop was super nice and ran my info, then let me off with a warning and said to enjoy our new camper!

 

After writing above I have to say the drive was just as boring as it sounds. Lol

 

 

Ok we got to Colerain RV in Cincinnati, Ohio at 11am on Friday, 30 minutes late for our appointment.  All of the staff was great.  During the pre-delivery inspection our tech talked really fast but he had no problem repeating himself anytime I asked a question.  I thought we would go over more things or take longer but honestly I can’t think of anything we missed so I guess he was very thorough. 

 

 

 

 

I think we were there for about two hours, then we headed down the road 5 miles to a local park, Winton Woods.  It was a great state park right in the middle of town with lots of trails and level sites, we really liked it, not much privacy but perfect for a shakedown stay.

 

We got all setup with no problem, then headed out for some groceries and lunch.

 

Here’s the camper setup for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we drove down to Nashville, where we stayed at the KOA near the Grand Ole Opry.  The campground was ok but very pricy. 

 

Here's DS ready for a night out in Nashville!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed downtown to look around but found tons of crowds and streets blocked, we decided not to explore with DS so we headed back near the campground for dinner at the Cock of the Walk.

 

 

My uncle owned one of these restaurants when I was real young so I had some fond memories of the place, but I regret to say it did not live up to my memories.

 

Luckily to make up for dinner I found a little place with live music that was non-smoking and kid friendly, we were able to sit outside with a cold beer and listen to live music in a family friendly environment!

 

 

The following day we planned to drive to around Jackson, MS. 

 

 

This is a rocket at the rest area in Alabama:

 

 

Everything went great until somewhere in north Alabama while getting gas I noticed I had a leak under my truck.  Turns out my rear seal on my transfer case was shot and sprayed fluid all under the truck.  We made it to a Advance Auto Parts store where I bought a part and fluid and replaced it in the parking lot.  Two hours later we were on the road.

 

We called ahead to Roosevelt State Park in Mississippi and let them know we would be after they were gone for the day.  They said take any site we wanted except two that were reserved.  They were as nice as could be!

 

We pulled into the park at 7pm and after weaving around some narrow roads we found lots of beautiful lake front sites!

 

We pulled into a corner spot and here we are setup for the night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you believe it only cost $25!!!

 

CP & Mini-WBI  Selfie:

 

 

Family Selfie (Selfamily??)

 

 

 

Another try:

 

 

 

One more:

 

 

We settled in for the evening and decided to try bathing mini-wbi in the sink:

 

 

 

 

It's safe to say he approved! lol

 

In the morning we relaxed as much as possible, CP went for a run and I sat around drinking coffee while watching the sun rise over the lake!

 

All in all we really enjoyed this park and would go back!

 

Today was our last day on the road so we decided to take a slightly scenic route home and headed towards Natchez, MS.  We enjoyed the ride through Mississippi but when we crossed into Louisiana it was not as nice, haha.   Then while driving through the classy town of Ferriday, my alternator decided to go out.  Luckily we were right next to an Auto Zone, so once again I got to do some mechanicing in the parking lot and an hour later were back on the road, where we quickly stopped for some delicious bbq.

 

Then it was an uneventful drive home where we backed in the driveway and unpacked. 

 

Since then we’ve added a few personal touches to the trailer but still have more things we want to do.  For now though I have it stored at the family property ready to go on the next trip that will hopefully be in a couple weeks!

 

On the truck side of things, hopefully after this week of a few more maintenance type repairs I won't have any more break downs on the road.  Honestly it was due for something to go wrong so I can't complain too much lol.

 

WBI

 

 

 

 

 

 

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I'm in.

Love the new camper. Your prince gets cuter every time I see him.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Love the new camper! Very nice! 

 

And you aren't crazy to take a baby on the road. We had Z camping at that age and even took him hiking in Sedona, AZ just after his first birthday. The boy loves to travel and will sleep anywhere. 

 

Sounds like you had a great attitude about the truck breakdowns. Hopefully that's the last of them!

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I forgot to add something. Did you wave to Carol Judy and me when you were passing by the rocket rest stop area?

You were really close to us, me especially.

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Love the camper and wish you many happy trips! The baby just gets more adorable every time I see him.

[michele j 9]

Congratulations on the fifth wheel. It's beautiful!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Congrats on the camper!

[Beckers 1,136]

Congrats on the 5th wheel!! And good for starting him out young! Ds5 will sleep anywhere and does great in the car and I think it's because we started him early. So far we have had the same luck with Elizabeth

Looking forward to more adventures with your camper!

[Big Kahuna aka John 71]

Good Luck with the new camper !   What a beautiful state park and for $ 25.00 that was the deal of the week.   We had our daughter camping when she was 3 weeks old.  Back then we had a pop up.    She is another one that can sleep anywhere now.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Am I to understand you not only spent a night in Nashville, but then you drove straight through my hometown of Franklin without notifying me??  How could I have the mayor roll out the red carpet, not to mention meet you for a cup of coffee, if you didn't tell me??  

 

Nice looking rig, by the way.  Sorry about the truck problems!  

[LONE-STAR 370]

Congrats on the trailer. You will enjoy it as long as the truck will get you where your going. Oh nice family pics. That boy is growing fast. I have learned are camping activities change every year as my little girl grows.

[jmaul 65]

Congrats on the 5er.  Will make for many fond memories.

 

At first I thought 'holy crap, you gots yourself a big boy', but then I saw the pics of him in the sink.  Precious. 

 

Sucks about the break-down, but glad you could fix it up.

 

Jeff

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

Am I to understand you not only spent a night in Nashville, but then you drove straight through my hometown of Franklin without notifying me?? How could I have the mayor roll out the red carpet, not to mention meet you for a cup of coffee, if you didn't tell me??

Nice looking rig, by the way. Sorry about the truck problems!

The way I see it Dave, WBI now knows how to get Nashville. This means he, the CP and the little prince/mini WBI can join us at Defeated Creek in September.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

The way I see it Dave, WBI now knows how to get Nashville. This means he, the CP and the little prince/mini WBI can join us at Defeated Creek in September.

 

I like the way you think.  

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Congrats on the new camper, and it seems that no matter how much you prepare your vehicle always plan on something else to go wrong. Great idea starting your little one of young, that's what we did and it made going long distance so much easier.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Congratulations!

[dvccamper 32]

Congratulations on the new camper and the baby, he is adorable!!

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!

 

Sorry this was such a quick report but we didn't take many pictures.

 

I'm in.
Love the new camper. Your prince gets cuter every time I see him.

 

Thank you!

 

We really like the camper!

 

I feel the same way about the little guy!!!

 

Love the new camper! Very nice! 

 

And you aren't crazy to take a baby on the road. We had Z camping at that age and even took him hiking in Sedona, AZ just after his first birthday. The boy loves to travel and will sleep anywhere. 

 

Sounds like you had a great attitude about the truck breakdowns. Hopefully that's the last of them!

 

Thanks!

 

That's great to hear, so far our boy has been a great traveler too.  This weekend he'll actually be flying for the first time!!!  Hopefully it goes well.

 

It was tough to have a good attitude at the time of the first one, but for the second one I knew it wasn't too bad, so I was able to laugh about that one.  I agree hopefully I'm done with the roadside repairs.

 

I forgot to add something. Did you wave to Carol Judy and me when you were passing by the rocket rest stop area?

You were really close to us, me especially.

 

I didn't realize ya'll were from up there.  That was some pretty country, we actually stopped at that rest stop to enjoy the sunshine and stretch our legs for a while.

 

Sorry I missed ya'll.

 

Love the camper and wish you many happy trips! The baby just gets more adorable every time I see him.

 

Thank you, we can't wait to put some miles on it!

 

And thanks for the baby too!

 

Congratulations on the fifth wheel. It's beautiful!

 

Thank you!!!

 

Congrats on the camper!

 

Thank you! 

 

Congrats on the 5th wheel!! And good for starting him out young! Ds5 will sleep anywhere and does great in the car and I think it's because we started him early. So far we have had the same luck with Elizabeth

Looking forward to more adventures with your camper!

 

Thank you!!

 

I agree on the starting him out early, he's been going on car rides all his life (haha that's only five months but still) and he does great with it.

 

 

 

Good Luck with the new camper !   What a beautiful state park and for $ 25.00 that was the deal of the week.   We had our daughter camping when she was 3 weeks old.  Back then we had a pop up.    She is another one that can sleep anywhere now.

 

Thank you!

 

Yeah that was a great deal for such a nice state park!

 

Am I to understand you not only spent a night in Nashville, but then you drove straight through my hometown of Franklin without notifying me??  How could I have the mayor roll out the red carpet, not to mention meet you for a cup of coffee, if you didn't tell me??  

 

Nice looking rig, by the way.  Sorry about the truck problems!  

 

Sorry Dave.  That's a fail on my part.  I have no excuse, except that I was traveling on a very tight schedule, with a new trailer, and a truck that liked to break down, and we had a baby, and I didn't know where you lived, except for the TN part.  Other than that though it's completely my fault.

 

I drove through Franklin?  You live in Franklin?  Ok next time I'll let you know so we can have that coffee (or Russian beer if its in the evening).

 

 

Congrats on the trailer. You will enjoy it as long as the truck will get you where your going. Oh nice family pics. That boy is growing fast. I have learned are camping activities change every year as my little girl grows.

 

Thank you!

 

I think the truck problems are behind us for a while, honestly they were issues that weren't that bad and just from normal wear and tear, nothing to crazy.

 

Thanks, and I bet your right, things are going to change fast with our camping, but I'm looking forward to it!

 

WBI

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Congrats on the 5er.  Will make for many fond memories.

 

At first I thought 'holy crap, you gots yourself a big boy', but then I saw the pics of him in the sink.  Precious. 

 

Sucks about the break-down, but glad you could fix it up.

 

Jeff

 

Thank you, we really hope so!

 

haha yeah he can still fit in the sink but he's growing fast and I think he wants to bypass the crawling stage and start walking already, hopefully I have some more time until he starts.

 

The way I see it Dave, WBI now knows how to get Nashville. This means he, the CP and the little prince/mini WBI can join us at Defeated Creek in September.

 

 

I like the way you think.  

 

We'll have to talk about that, our fall is already getting booked up somehow, but maybe.

 

Congrats on the new camper, and it seems that no matter how much you prepare your vehicle always plan on something else to go wrong. Great idea starting your little one of young, that's what we did and it made going long distance so much easier.

 

Thank you!

 

I think you're right, no matter what you do something can always break.

 

That's great, hopefully he continues to do good with long drives.

 

Congratulations!

 

Thank you!!

 

Congratulations on the new camper and the baby, he is adorable!!

 

Thank you and Thanks!

 

WBI

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

 

Sorry Dave.  That's a fail on my part.  I have no excuse, except that I was traveling on a very tight schedule, with a new trailer, and a truck that liked to break down, and we had a baby, and I didn't know where you lived, except for the TN part.  Other than that though it's completely my fault.

 

I drove through Franklin?  You live in Franklin?  Ok next time I'll let you know so we can have that coffee (or Russian beer if its in the evening).

 

 

 

I'm glad we both agree that it was completely your fault. 

 

I mean, did you not see the giant billboard on I-65 pointing to my house? 

[Live4FW 30]

Congrats, way to start them out early!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Jeez, Nick.

 

Way to make the rest of us look bad.

 

You go straight from a tent to a brand new 5th wheel?

 

And you rebuild your truck engine along the way?

 

That Captain America shirt is quite appropriate.

 

I am going to contact the FF membership committee and ask for some kind of sanctions.  We can't have this.

 

Just kidding- congratulations and well done!

 

I know there will be a lot of memories made in that trailer.  You've already started!

 

Enjoy!

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

I know there will be a lot of memories made in that trailer.  You've already started!

 

 

 

To heck with making memories....how about Baby #2??  C'mon, Captain America.  Get busy. 

[Daverene 14]

We had a denali 32 rl all most the same rig tt style

[fortpartyof4 108]

Of course the baby steals the show in this TR, followed by your adorable wife……oh and then there's that beautiful new rig!

 

We got a Cougar XLite 32RBK TT last Dec.  Unfortunately we only got to use it once and had to leave it down in FL where we bought it since there was a bad snowstorm the weekend we had to drive home, we had no place to store it here in PA, and we'd never winterized a camper since we'd lived in FL all of the years we've been RV owners before buying this one.

 

But, we are in the process of making our plans to go back down and retrieve it and I can't WAIT!  It is so pretty and comfortable!  We have 2 teenage boys and the back bunk area is perfect for them.  I predict one day you may have a similar need!

 

One of my friends laughed because on the interior, the model name (Cougar) is carved into the wood trim above the bed.  As it happens I am just a little bit older than my husband.