I’ve gone on and on about our boating adventures over the past 2 years. What a saga that has been at times! I think the reliability issues have been solved by replacing the boat, so boat stories should become fewer and further apart. I have some improvements I want to do to it, but we will see what happens.
So, what’s the next hobby? What all-encompassing thing will occupy our free time? Maybe some radio control? How about archery? Building a hot-rod? Learning didgeridoo?
Would you believe Camping?
When my wife and I were kids, our respective parents took us to the great outdoors. Her family was in a slide-in truck camper and mine used a pop-up tent trailer. We each had many great memories from these times and we wanted to give our kids these same kinds of memories.
Since neither of us is a 20 something, we decided tent camping was not going to happen. Momma isn’t going to sleep on the hard ground. We needed something with real beds, someplace to cook meals, and some form of bathroom. Air conditioning was high on the list, as was heat. Many of these things would be absolute dreams when we were camping as kids. They bordered on necessity for our middle-aged selves.
There are many options for this. We also have a budget to consider and maintenance and storage costs. I don’t currently have a truck that is reliable and would fit the whole family, so a slide-in was nixed from the list. We really couldn’t swing the cost of a camper van or anything larger. It would need to be a trailer, more specifically a travel trailer, but not a fifth-wheel.
We looked at many many designs and concepts. How would we camp? Where? What will we tow with? What kind of bed arrangement?
It came down to the following:
- Queen bed for grownups
- Bunk beds for kids, preferably full size
- Kitchen, with refrigerator. Microwave nice to have. Oven nice to have. Sink required.
- Bathroom, with toilet. Tub/shower or just shower.
- Under 25 feet long
- Under 6000 pounds
- Under 600 pounds tongue weight
The biggest restrictions are the last 3. It really reduces the number of available trailers down to a manageable level.
The first one we discovered was a Coachman. The Apex Nano 208bhs. It is a really nice trailer! I liked the Azdel wall construction, so it will not rot. It offers many cool features, such as an outdoor kitchen. We were pretty much sold on this one.
Until, that is, I did some more research into slightly more expensive trailers. Oops. In fairness, we were talking about adding about $2000 of various options to the Apex Nano above, so it kind of moots it out a bit. What if we can get a trailer with those options as standard?
Enter the Grand Design Imagine XLS 21BHE. This trailer has the options the Apex Nano has, and more. Two propane tanks. Electric jack in front. All season insulation. Larger interior, with no slide-out. Solar prepped.
We decided this was the trailer we wanted. Now here is the next problem. Nobody has them. There are no trailers towable by a 1/2 ton truck available on any dealer’s lot. Covid caused many people to consider camping would be a good idea. It is socially distanced, and the kids can do school remotely. They just need WiFi or a cellular hotspot. Why stay home?
I called our local Grand Design dealer and he said he would call us if one came in. It was almost 2 months before we got the call. The dealer called at 1:00pm, and we were at the lot at 3:00pm to see the trailer. We did a walk-through and found it met our needs. There was a brief haggle session, but it was pretty much pay our price or we will sell it tomorrow to the next folks. It was 15% under MSRP, so not horrible and within budget. They included a weight-distribution hitch and a $200 gift card. Sold.
Our next issue was that we were in the middle of refinancing our home due to the excellent interest rates available. (If you are in KY, IN, or OH, let me know. I can get you a great rate). We didn’t want to add a new vehicle loan to our credit reports, and maybe mess up the refi. The dealer was more than happy to work with us and he parked the trailer out of the weather in his maintenance building.
Here it is the day we signed the papers:
It was an exciting day! We could hardly wait to get it home. Unfortunately, the refinance took forever. We were not the only ones taking advantage of the awesome rates available. It was another month before we just decided to complete the deal, make the down payment, and get it financed. We took it home the following weekend. Thankfully, it made no impact on the refi.
Here it is at home:
We had to driveway camp in it the very night we brought it home. The heater worked great in the 22 degree overnight. The only real issue is that the queen mattress is hard as a rock. We will figure something out for it.
Just like with the boat, this thing has been winterized and is patiently waiting for warmer weather.