Big Country 3700FL

To start out I have to say that we are not buying this beast.  Not now anyway...  It's always fun to poke around and look at what might be someday, and after shopping at our local Camping World we stopped in the showroom to see what was new and fun.  I'm posting this one because it has a lot of the features and floor plan that we would like if we were to go full-timing.

This fifth wheel is made by Heartland, and appears to be one of the larger varieties they make in the Big Country series.  From their website it would appear that this is a new floor plan for 2015.

One of the main things we like about it is the living area in the front and the sleeping quarters in the back.  I'm not sure if it's just how the rig is divided up, but we like the use of space. The front end of the trailer usually never has a window so having the TV/fireplace area there makes sense.  The slide on the left of the picture gives you some extra light with all the windows, and you could still sit in there even with the slide in. I'm not sure about the carpet, but I'm usually never sure of carpet in an RV.  Only pseudo-complaint is that it only has one reclining chair and there might be arguments over that - although the cats would love all the room on the couches.

I also liked the bedroom area with it's large king bed and ample storage space.  It doesn't look like one would run out of drawers any time soon.  It also had some nice MCD shades in there so you could sleep in as long as you want.  There is a large closet with a washer/dryer prep so that would be nice as well.  Looking back through and comparing what I remember to the floor plan online, I don't think the bedroom would be easily accessible if the kitchen slide was in (if accessible at all).  I think an important factor for full-timing or even traveling in an RV is how usable it is in a pinch without the slides out.  Not sure this would work so well...

The kitchen was quite nice with a full size fridge, nice layout, and a table with chairs (vs a booth setup).  It has all the comforts and conveniences of home including an oven.  Not a ton of counter space, but with the covers on the sink it starts to make up for that.  I think there was also an area by the table, but I'm not sure if it was useful for kitchen prep.

Like I mentioned this fifth wheel was a beast.  It weighed in at almost a dainty 13000lbs with a GVWR of 15500#.  This would require a serious truck to tow with.  It is billed as a 4-season trailer with R-38 in the floor and roof, R-11 in the walls.  Looks like dual pane windows are an option.

Overall a very nice fiver - nice layout, residential feel, and all the amenities one would want.  And if it's not included in this specific trailer it's an option.  Although the lack of access to the bedroom with slides in would give me pause, with them all out it would feel like quite a home.

Mosquito Lake

This past weekend we stayed at one of our favorite Ohio State Parks - Mosquito Lake State Park.  Despite the name there are no more mosquitoes here than any other park.  We lucked out and were able to reserve site 201 - our favorite!  It's in the campground loop that is very treed and many of the sites actually go back into the woods.  They're also far enough apart that you have some privacy from your neighbors.  It was a quiet, relaxing weekend, and the only thing wrong with it was that it was too short. :)

So far we're up to 15 nights in the camper, and the summer's just getting started!

Reminders: Save Water, Save Yourself

Remember to turn the water off when you leave your campsite.

We were reminded of this during our last camping escapade.  We happened to notice that the water pump was running every so often, but didn't think much of it the first few times.  Sometimes there's air in the lines - no big deal.  Well it kept running so we started looking for why.  I happened to look in the toilet, and lo and behold it was full of water.  Had we not noticed it would have overflowed all over.

We thought about it, and had this happened during our last trip when we were hooked up to city water we might have come back to a flooded camper.  No bueno.  Trailers are subject to constant earthquakes as we haul them around so unlike your house, things are a little more likely to go wrong.  It just happened that some plastic in the lines came loose and went through into the toilet valve causing it to stick open.

Turn off the water, turn off the potential flood.

Steel Drums in the Sink

During our last camping trip I apologized to our camping neighbors.  What had I done, you ask?  Something that so many campers do in their trailers - run their hideously loud water pumps!  Luckily she was understanding and said that her camper does the same thing.

I'm not sure if that water pump, being configured the way it was, couldn't have been louder if they had attached cymbals to it.  Every time it came on it was like a steel drum band was full force, and we felt like every camper in a 5 mile radius must be looking our way wondering if our little trailer was about to explode.  Just a quick flush of the toilet could wake the dead.  Heaven forbid anyone take a shower!

But all that has changed with just a few simple pieces of piping.  Jon built what is commonly known as a pump isolator.  Just a few pieces of pipe on either side of the pump to keep it from transferring it's nasty gyrations to the rest of the trailer.  And he did it without even buying the kit which makes it that much better (and cheaper).  When we turned it on tonight we didn't automatically cringe and cover our ears.  Amazing!

Why RV manufacturers don't include this as part of the standard install I don't know.  It's almost like they try to make it as loud as possible running pex tubes through steel holes that double for a percussion instrument.  I had read somewhere that these isolation kits don't work all that well, but if you are having problems with the full band water pump I whole-heartedly recommend trying one out.