How insane is this?

[LO_Sherwood_OR]

My DH of 31 years & I have spent the last 13 years in our 5,000sf "dream home" on a 1.5 acre mountain property in Sherwood,Oregon and are finding ourselves weary of too much house,lawn, weeds & rain. Love to camp, but it's always been "tenting"; and finding ourselves quite drawn to the possibility of fulltiming in a 5TH wheel! So far the Trilogy line is the favorite we've seen; but concern for lack of reviews on this line and need for dually's to tow this big boy is daunting! $ and sheer size!
Questions: Anyone else ever go from this much house to FT without killing each other?
2. Learning to maneuver on that much 5er as first timers, but also not wanting to waste money on something we won't be happy with for 2 shakes like s TT to pull behind the 2000 Expedition?

I'm still new to these boards and finding myself thankful and haunting them for all the wonderful info so many take time to share; so forgive me if these are oft repeated questions. I haven't seen it, if so. Scared and excited all at the same time.
The house went on the market April 15, but the big houses not exactly flying off the shelves, so this will take awhile!
Thoughts or ideas, anyone?
LeO in Sherwood,OR

[tonyandkaren]

tohare wrote:
we fulltimed for 3 years. Have an exit plan, for sure. Then I have a question for the 2 of you, what does living full time in an RV mean? Does it mean finding a place to park one for extended periods of time? does it mean traveling constantly? define it. Once you understand what you will be doing other things fall into place.

This is very important. Each fulltimer has a different style. Because you love to camp but have only been tenting, think hard before buying the largest RV that is available. Driving backroads and getting into public parks is much more difficult with a large RV. We have a pretty small RV because that's what fits our living and traveling style. We love it. We have fulltiming friends who just traded their older bus conversion for a huge class A with full side outs and all the bells and whistles. They love it. Neither of us would want the other one's RV. They can't figure out how we manage to survive in such a small space and we don't know why they need so much room!

It might help to read some more fulltimer blogs - http://www.hitchitch.com/links.html It's a very diverse group with completely different RVs and traveling styles.

[tohare]

we fulltimed for 3 years. Have an exit plan, for sure. Then I have a question for the 2 of you, what does living full time in an RV mean? Does it mean finding a place to park one for extended periods of time? does it mean traveling constantly? define it. Once you understand what you will be doing other things fall into place. We bought a house for winter, found we did not like to travel in the US in winter months and living in the rv sitting still for 4-5 months not our idea of freedom, more boredom. Now we have a house, northern friends come visit and then when the weather warms up off we go! Different strokes for different folks.

[WoodGlue]

Rocky2 wrote:
Floor plan is the most important consideration

Where do you place actual trailer construction and materials?

WoodGlue

[Rocky2]

My sister in law lives outside of Sherwood also, up on SW Neill road. I can appreciate the extra work of taking care of the acres. She has a John Deere to help out. Anyways, renting a unit is a great idea. We rented Class C, Class B, and a couple of Class A's before we bought. We found out what we did not like and how to live in one for an extended period of time. My brother in law has an old Alpenlite which he loves and upgraded many of items. Floor plan is the most important consideration.

[LO_Sherwood_OR]

Bless you one and all who responded I appreciate so much! My lengthy reply apparently lost in cyber space, Make it an awesome weekend
, wherever and whatever you are doing! LO

[WoodGlue]

I so totally get your statement on the stuff owning you and not the other way around! There is a great feeling (so I'm told LOL) when you manage to divest yourselves of all your "junk and stuff" and go carefree into the sunset in your RV! I'm working on getting rid of belongings that I haven't touched in 20+ years LOL!!

I don't know much about "orphan" RV lines, so I can't help you there.

Good luck with your decisions and whatever you choose and I hope you and yours have a great and safe weekend!

WoodGlue

[LO_Sherwood_OR]

Oh Wood Glue, I confess we are way over thinkers; so this may be a real challenge for us! But I am so tired of feeling my things own me instead of the other way around. DH goes in an out of being ready for this; really liking Trilogy has helped him. Knowing a quality product exists; that would fit our needs and wants!
I am the DW and confess also that DH prefers not to ride with me as I tend to lead foot! So Pappappy will see if that church lot practice will help me. Lord, please protect the churches when it's time!
Thanks one and all for so many good tips. NuWa was on my list to check out before we make our final decision, but is a 3 hour drive to do so and hadn't exhausted the possibilities in Portland metro as yet!
So when a mfg goes orphan, if your still under your 1 year warranty, I assume tough luck for you and your depreciation hit on your unit doubles am I right?

Have been considering a Cruise America rolling into Arizona deal ($30/nt to try out the lifestyle, then get a rolling out of Arizona deal ($12/ngt to get back home, but timing didn't work this year ( an units avail bigger and grubbier then we liked and now the convenient choices are gone and it's hotter in the dessert at this time then I like anyway. I prefer 70-85 degrees when I can get it! We might be rolling oftener then I like to keep close to tthat small range, but suppose you figure your circuit with time and experience; and laugh along the way when the plans fall short of expectation. A good blog I follow is Aroadlesstraveled.us. Bet everyone has their favorite blogs?

Make it an awesome day one and all and thanks again for the encouragement and wonderful ideas! It's another rainy Memorial weekend in Oregon, I'm surprised! NOT! That being said there is hope for a sunbreak today and tomorrow; we learn to subsist on those. God's blessings to everyone for a joyous day! LO in Sherwood

[doxiemom11]

Go for it. If you don't like it you can buy a smaller, easier to care for home wherever you want. If you don't try, you'll never know what this freedom is like.

[Valkyriebush]

Go for it with a good exit plan to return to a stick home if it doesn't turn out to be as you'd expected. We full timed for five years, and would have continued if the housing market had not gotten to a point where it was a buyers market and started feeling like having a home again.

[SCR]

When people ask me about full timing (Been at it for 16 years) I tell them there are two choices.. either you love it or you hate it.. and you both better have the same opinion. kind of liking it just doesn't work when you full time.

[Devonm2012]

We went from a 3,000+ square foot home to fulltime in a large, 43 foot, Class A diesel pusher. However, due to home owner's association, we sold the house about five years before going fulltime and lived in a 1,000 square foot apartment. That allowed us the time to downsize (twice) and get used to smaller spaces. We both have been camping since we were very little, in everything from tents to trailers to Class C motorhomes, so we knew what to expect on that front! Good luck to you!

[WoodGlue]

X2 to what eycom said:

You can't put too much thought into the construction of any RV. To my way of thinking, it should come above and beyond floorplan! Afterall, it will be your house!

And no, I don't think it's insane to want to hit the road after being stationery a large part of your lives. It will be the most rewarding chapter, if you hang around this forum and keep reading up on all the finer details on RV ownership!

WoodGlue

[The_Mad_Norsky]

Just for clarity purposes here:

When a brand name is identified as an orphan, means they are out of business/production and no longer made.

Mind you, in many respects, that has no bearing on the quality of the product they did make. Many of these higher quality manufacturers simply just could not sell enough of these high end, higher costing fifth wheels to make ends meet.

Add Nuwa to the list as an orphan also.

[Eycom]

Full timing isn't for everyone. That said, it offers a freedom unlike anything I had ever experienced in my adult life. I would simply offer the advice of looking at RV Consumer Group. They rate new and used RVs with regards to safety, economy, and reliability. Some folks don't place much stock in their evaluations. The fact that they've been around for 20+ years is a testament that many find value in their information. It does cost to acquire that information, as they receive no funding from advertisement in the RV industry. But, it's a pittance relative to the overall investment you will be considering.

As an aside; New Horizon and DRV are probably considered "top-of-the-heep" full time 5th wheel manufacturers today due to their offering of semi-custom work and quality. A little lower tier would include Excel, NuWa, Carriage (orphan), and Travel Supreme (orphan), to name a few. Teton, also an orphan, would fit in there as well. Those manufacturers have enjoyed a reasonably good reputation over the years and have been popular amongst full timers. A gently used unit will cost less than new. All will require a stout truck.

You might want to look at some full timer's journals or blogs for your edification. A good one to start with would be RV-Dreams. The Payne's are pretty forthcoming in their lifestyle and expenses as full timers. Of course, yours can vary. Good luck. It's an exciting time for you.

[PapPappy]

As far as towing is concerned, Practice, Practice, Practice, and you'll be an old hand at it in no time. Find a big parking lot (a Church, during the week, for example), and bring some things such as lawn chairs or something to try and maneuver around. Have DW help you with backing (Walkie Talkies are handy, but you should also learn hand signals)
Remember, everyone that you might consider as an EXPERT with these rigs, had to learn, just as you are going to have to learn.
Finding someone (a friend?) who has one, or has towing experience will be helpful too.

As far as trying not to kill each other....well, a large 5er, will give you plenty of room, even two bedrooms, if it comes to that:) The fact that you've been with each other for 31 years (I just passed the 33 year mark:)) means that you can probably work around a small "home"....even if you have been used to much larger. Was your first house/apartment 5000 sf?? I think not. You'll do fine!!

Good luck with the sale.....