Dear, its time to start shopping

[bdm 47]

Those were the exact works spoken by my wife as we were headed home from a long weekend trip this last weekend.  Currently we have a 2014 Keystone 333mks and we really enjoy it but since buying it our family has grown by one, and we hope to adopt a 2nd child this fall winter.  

In talking we dont think we want a full Bunkhouse trailer, but just something with bunk beds.  A quick search really didn't find a floor plan we liked.  Currently we have a 5th wheel and that works very well our how we operate.  I can hook and unhook by myself as my wife tends to the boy at the playground.  Not having a backup camera on the truck and having towed boats forever I've never been great at "hitting the hitch" with a traditional bumper pull trailer.  So I'd like to stick with a 5er.

Seems like there are a lot of bumper pull style campers with suitable floor plans but no fifth wheels

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Not sure how big of a unit you might want but I like this floor plan as you have a separate room for the kids and still have a nice living area. Other brands tend to have the same floor plan so if you have a dealer or certain brand you like check for it.

http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=207&Image=5033&ModelID=1764#Main

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

50 minutes ago, bdm said:

Those were the exact works spoken by my wife as we were headed home from a long weekend trip this last weekend.  Currently we have a 2014 Keystone 333mks and we really enjoy it but since buying it our family has grown by one, and we hope to adopt a 2nd child this fall winter.  

In talking we dont think we want a full Bunkhouse trailer, but just something with bunk beds.  A quick search really didn't find a floor plan we liked.  Currently we have a 5th wheel and that works very well our how we operate.  I can hook and unhook by myself as my wife tends to the boy at the playground.  Not having a backup camera on the truck and having towed boats forever I've never been great at "hitting the hitch" with a traditional bumper pull trailer.  So I'd like to stick with a 5er.

Seems like there are a lot of bumper pull style campers with suitable floor plans but no fifth wheels

Don't rule out a bunkhouse until you have walked around in one, we initially didn't like them but after having one we have changed our minds. We love ours for the separation it can give us if the kids need a break from us (or us from them)  They are sleeping far enough away that we can still "entertain" in the living area and not worry about waking them. And, if we have someone come spend the weekend with us it gives them their own "room" to stay in and we can put the kids on the fold out beds for that time.
 

[bdm 47]

On 9/6/2016 at 1:22 PM, Helmsey......Todd said:

Don't rule out a bunkhouse until you have walked around in one, we initially didn't like them but after having one we have changed our minds. We love ours for the separation it can give us if the kids need a break from us (or us from them)  They are sleeping far enough away that we can still "entertain" in the living area and not worry about waking them. And, if we have someone come spend the weekend with us it gives them their own "room" to stay in and we can put the kids on the fold out beds for that time.
 

We don't hate the bunk house, but with a 2 year old and a new born in planning we don't think we will "need" a bunk room for 4 or 5 more years, and it could be time for another new camper by then.

The biggest problem we have with bunk house floor plans is the lack of windows in the family room / kitchen area.  We camp at a lot of state and federal parks and love to see the out doors if we are stuck inside.   We are also currently stuck looking at campers in the max weight range of 14,000 lbs due to limitations of our tv

[PGHFiend 140]

The coolest floor plan I have seen for families is the forest river wildwood heritage glen 368rlbh. My buddy has one and it has a little bunkhouse side mid ship and a really nice full living room.  Very unique and practical. 

[LONE-STAR 370]

Look at toy haulers 

[bdm 47]

46 minutes ago, PGHFiend said:

The coolest floor plan I have seen for families is the forest river wildwood heritage glen 368rlbh. My buddy has one and it has a little bunkhouse side mid ship and a really nice full living room.  Very unique and practical. 

This is one of our current fav floor plans.  We looked at a Montana or Grand Design that had the mid bunk with a loft bed over it.   But at 2000 lbs dry hitch weight we may be really close on our trucks cargo number :-/

[caveat lector 181]

Don't limit yourself, now or in the future, by your choice of trucks.

[bhall 115]

3 hours ago, bdm said:

This is one of our current fav floor plans.  We looked at a Montana or Grand Design that had the mid bunk with a loft bed over it.   But at 2000 lbs dry hitch weight we may be really close on our trucks cargo number :-/

You might like this one a little better for the hitch weight. 

http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=169&ShowParent=1&ModelID=2767#Main

 

This is a candidate for us because I wouldn't have to upgrade my truck.  Even if all the weights were maxed, which they wouldn't even be close to, I could still pull it safely.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

So... here's what we're learning.  This is our 3rd year camping, and we camp a good bit (we're hitting night 48 and 49 this weekend... with an additional 24 nights through the end of the year).  If your truck can handle it, get the bunkhouse.   Our kiddos are older (4 and 9), but we are learning that an actual "living room" would be nice.  We try and spend as much time outside as possible however... mother natural does not always agree with us.  You may not think you'll want a bunkhouse now but, if you plan on keeping this rig for the next 4-6 years, I can almost guarantee that:  you will.  

We currently have a bumper pull that I actually love, but we are toying with the idea of a 5th wheel at some point (yes, I know... several fiends warned me of this  ).  Fact is, we are getting too old and it's too uncomfortable to sit/lay in our bed at night and watch tv (our only option if the weather, or bugs, outside are too much to be comfortable).

Best of luck on your search!  I'm sure you'll find a great fit :) 

[Duane 152]

I agree with Nacole on this as well...  I know your kiddos are very young at the moment, but as they get older, the amount of "stuff" they want to bring along will grow too.  Another thing to think about, depending on how long you plan on keeping this new rig, the kids are going to want to bring their friends along with them on camping trips. Just something to think about.  "It's better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it!" 

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Plus a bunk room with a pack n play makes a great nap room.

[bdm 47]

On 9/8/2016 at 11:01 AM, Duane said:

I agree with Nacole on this as well...  I know your kiddos are very young at the moment, but as they get older, the amount of "stuff" they want to bring along will grow too.  Another thing to think about, depending on how long you plan on keeping this new rig, the kids are going to want to bring their friends along with them on camping trips. Just something to think about.  "It's better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it!" 

We went looking on Thursday, and the wife said "In two years we are getting a mid room bunk room".   We walked through about 4 different models of midship bunk room trailers and the one she liked the most was the Grand Design 377MB.  She said by then our truck will have 250k miles on it and we can replace it too.  So mama spoke, and Daddy will have to do...

On 9/8/2016 at 11:36 AM, dblr....Rennie said:

Plus a bunk room with a pack n play makes a great nap room.

This is one of the reasons we have set our sites on the floor plan we did,  it has the extra bedroom for the kids and the loft if our son when hes old enough to sleep there.

 

I'd guess this timeline will be greatly accelerated to next fall if the addition of our 2nd happens this fall and we do some spring time camping before our 2 1/2 week trip to the fort in October 2017. 

[bdm 47]

Well since Sept 2016 till Feb 2018 we looked, and looked and looked and looked...  I bet we walked through 100+ campers the list was narrowed down to two we really liked that were with in what we wanted to spend, and how much we could tow.  In the end the Grand Design 28BH had everything we wanted.

Picture from our First Offical Camping Trip.  4 Nights at a KOA just over border in West Virginia.  All went well.  Dealer is going to resolve a few issues.

1) One of the basement doors isn't closing properly and is rubbing on the door frame.

2) When moving the RV at the dealership the employee got to close to another camper and put a little tear in the awning.  

 

The floor plan...

Never thought I'd like an outdoor kitchen, turns out I do.  Just ordered the kit to convert my Q grill to use the quick disconnect and a Y adapter so I can run both the grill and burners at the same time.

One of the things we wanted most was no slides on the entry side of the camper.  We found this gives us tons more outdoor living space and a 21' awning.  The 12 cubic foot fridge / freezer was also a huge upgrade.  

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Looks great, enjoy and best of luck with it.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Nice floor plan

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Looks like a great floor plan. Congratulations

Is the shower as big as it looks?  It seems bigger than most.

WBI

[bdm 47]

5 hours ago, WannaBeImagineer said:

Looks like a great floor plan. Congratulations

Is the shower as big as it looks?  It seems bigger than most.

WBI

Its smaller than the shower in our previous Cougar 333mks, but not the snallest i've ever been in.  I'm 6'2" 190lbs and I have plenty of room to move around

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Beautiful!

congrats!

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Very nice and congrats.

 

[TN22.....Brady 22]

Be sure and signup for the Grand Design Owners forum. Lot's of helpful information ......

 

https://www.granddesignowners.com/forum/index.php

 

 

[caveat lector 181]

Bunkhouse units are great!  Enjoy and CONGRATS. 

[Starbuc71 162]

Just remember.  Bigger is not always better. When we had our 40 ft TT we ended up spending more time inside the RV instead of doing what camping was all about. Being outside, playing with the kids and enjoying the hammock. I know you folks with the big rigs will say I’m full of it, but the new little 19ft we bought is turning out to be the most fun we had in a camper in a long time. It pulls like a dream and super easy to park. No swearing at the fort trying to get a 45 ft 5er in a tiny site here. 

[LONE-STAR 370]

2 hours ago, Starbuc71 said:

Just remember.  Bigger is not always better. When we had our 40 ft TT we ended up spending more time inside the RV instead of doing what camping was all about. Being outside, playing with the kids and enjoying the hammock. I know you folks with the big rigs will say I’m full of it, but the new little 19ft we bought is turning out to be the most fun we had in a camper in a long time. It pulls like a dream and super easy to park. No swearing at the fort trying to get a 45 ft 5er in a tiny site here. 

I have told people for years bigger is not always better when it comes to rv's. It's a give and take our old toy hauler was bigger with plenty of room but I never liked towing it, this one is nothing to tow or back up into a site but I wish we had more space inside it. For now I am keeping what we have but I keep finding myself looking at bigger units. The smallest rv we had was our first camper 26' 5er just me and the DW in our early 20's we had a lot of fun in that camper.

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

No argument from me!! I love my little 12'  T@B (16 ft total). Now granted hubby and I will go somewhat bigger with a Class C when I retire, but I will always have the little T@B for solo travel.