Update for anyone interested:
Not going forward with the Alpine. Going to stick with my current travel trailer a bit longer.
The Alpine DID get me thinking, and it did make me appreciate 5er's now. It did make me think through the advantages of a 5er over a TT and what is really different. I'm not so hard-nosed against 5er now. Actually, they are pretty cool.
About loosing the shell on my truck. I was prepaired for that anyway. My shell is being to age pretty good. Aluminum welds are beginning to fail and I'm using pop rivets to hold things together with it now. It's aging and been well, well used. Been considering a new one for a couple years now, but keep nursing the old one along. So, loosing the shell for a 5er is not traumatic.
We did look at several front living room 5er models, from Mobile Suites to Alpine to Montana to Cougar's. We ran into the same problem with ALL of them that truly is a deal breaker for us.... with slides IN, things are blocked. And with slides in, you can't access the front to the back. Something is always blocking passage. Not good. This became very, very discouraging and the true reality check. We use our current camper too much with slides in. We would absolutely miss this feature. This rulled on this specific model types,and they all fell into this same category.
Second reality check was the price. Our current camper has a loan, very affordable, and doesn't crimp our current life style at all. But adding another $300-$600 a month in loan payments is something we simply cannot do at the moment. In 3 years, when I'm ready to retire, we'll have the John Deere completely paid for a couple years then. The car and truck will be paid in full. The camper will have a few more years to go on a loan, but will be about 50/50 and should be over the hurdle of being upside down. Being upside down doesn't bother us. But 3 more years would put us in a better advantage.
Then, in 3 years, with everything paid, then sell it all -John Deere, Car, and house, eliminating house mortgage, utility bills, property tax, and house insurance-, selling the house, and using the equity and the trade in for Outback TT, we'll be able to buy straight out a new camper and be completely debt free.
However, if we add another 10 year RV loan now, three years from now will not be possible. We've done the math.
So, our strategy is the do all we can to upkeep and maintain the current travel trailer. There's nothing wrong with it. It's a great trailer and we love it. We love the floor plan, we live how functional it is, we love the windows everywhere, rear living room with opposing slides and it tows manganficent.
Either way, we need to maintain the pick-up truck. Its a diesel with 47,000 miles and most of that was towing the trailer. Being a duly, I now need 6 new tires and due for an oil change. So, we are biting the bullet and getting the new tires now and oil change at the tune of $2500 -six tires - Michilans. Keeping the truck in tip-top-shape is our #1 priority now as it will be our primary vehicle some day.
So, we have no regrets at our decision. It WAS fun pipe dreaming for a while. It was a lot of fun thinking about all the possibilities with a new 5er. But really, in 3 years, when its really time... then it will all fall in place.
Meanwhile, we still sleep in our Outback every night! Going out again to a private campground next week-end. So, it's getting well used!
