I don’t think we have ever formally introduced our rig, our home, our humble abode. Unlike others, we haven’t named her..him..it. We just aren’t those who would consistently call it Nelly. Or Helga. Or Tom. Really, we don’t even consistently call it anything.
It goes back between the “RV,” or “camper,” or “home/house.” We probably call it the “RV” more than anything. But in my head I hear Cousin Eddie saying “that there is an Awrrrr Veee.” So I can’t even take that seriously. But for whatever shortcomings we have with struggling what to call it, its our home and we love it.
Ironically, after looking online at rigs all over the country, we wound up finding one in Austin, not terribly far from where we lived.
When we started seriously searching for our RV, we made a list (it was more a mental list, we aren’t that put together) of what we knew we must have in an RV we were going to live full-time in.
-Diesel engine
-Bunk house
-Class A Motorhome
-Nothing over 10 years old
-Lots of storage
You get the idea. We went back and forth between a Class A and a 5th wheel. Well we did but not really. From the beginning, we leaned more toward a Class A Diesel pusher. Many families go for a travel trailer or 5th wheel, but for us and our needs, a Class A works for us.
My husband is disabled due to a parachuting accident from 2008. So the comfort of traveling in a Class A opposed to a truck was a no brainer. Also the ease of parking and setting up/tearing down a motorhome compared to a 5th wheel is just easier. We love traveling comfortably together with nothing blocking the views from our huge windshield as we travel.
We pull our Ram behind our motorhome and its seriously a 5 minute or less process to hook it up and unhook. Which is great because for some reason, it loves to rain on our tear down and leave days.
There were certain brands we just decided were a “no-go” from the beginning, so between the brands we wanted, needing a bunkhouse, and a diesel, that narrowed our search down quite a bit. We would find out there are not a ton of diesel pushers with a bunkhouse. We also, did not want to spend an arm and a leg on a brand new rig. Being debt-free was and is a big deal to us on this full-time journey of ours!
Initially we wanted to stay between 34-38 feet. So we found a bunkhouse plan in a Winnebago Itasca that we really liked. We also liked the Newmar Allstars we found that were actually a mid-engine diesel, but they were 40+ feet.
Long story short, we found a 2009 Newmar Allstar mid-engine diesel in Austin for sale and when we looked at it, it was like, “yep! This is it!”
We actually have a “basement” in the back, allowing for a lot of storage. The bunk area has drawers underneath the beds, an armoire across that holds our clothes and shoes and the kids each have a shelf with their “stuff.” While our fridge isn’t a residential size fridge (which I really wanted) it really holds everything we need. I can do a pretty big grocery run and fit everything.
I will do a blog post in the future with how we have everything situated and some redecorating.
Until then, feel free to post any questions!
~Enjoy the journey
I really like the layout of your RV. It’s quite spacious, and I think you made a great choice. When Mike and I had our fifth wheel, we began to wish for a motor home. We haven’t been blessed with one, but we are so abundantly blessed we can’t complain. I’m excited for y’all, and look forward to following you in your adventures!
Thank you! It definitely works for us!