The Perfect RV: How We Found the One for Us and How You Can Too!

Recreational Vehicle purchasing. It sounds so easy to just go out and buy one and use it, right? That doesn’t necessarily work for everyone! It certainly did not work for us! It took time, patience and dedication. We hope we can help you avoid the mistakes we made when we were looking for a new Perfect RV for us in The Perfect RV: How We Found the One for Us and How You Can Too!

 

 

First Things First When Searching for the Perfect RV

First of all, when we went out to find the perfect RV, we had a TON of “MUST HAVES”. These were not “wants” they were NEEDS. Our son, Aiden, has special medical needs and that becomes a big deal when looking for just the right RV. I kept telling my husband, Mark, that there was no way we would ever find all that we were looking for AND find it at a price that was reasonable. I was right. The first time anyway…

 

 

 

A Promise is A Promise

Because we promised our son, Aiden, after a very long hospital stay and getting a trach that as soon as we got out of the hospital we would buy him a brand-new RV Camping Trailer!

Therefore, we had to sell the boat we had just bought to use with him because the doctors said it just wasn’t safe for him to be on the lake with a trach. Boat sold within a few days, yay us!

Furthermore, we had to sell the RV we had. RV sold within a week, yay us!

 

 

Oh no! Now we don’t have anything to camp in!

Next, what we did that wasn’t such a good idea…

 

Momma Panicked

We panicked a little (or at least I did). We went out, found a nice RV with some things we wanted. It was a HUGE step up for us from our much older, very used RV. We’ve had many but this older one just wasn’t going to cut it with the issues it had for Aiden and his wheelchair.

So, we bought a new one, 2 slide-outs, decent space and we could all sleep in the bedroom. Well we never felt like it was the “perfect” RV for us but just one that would do. Besides that, we were getting close to the camping season.

 

 

“Just Looking” for an RV

We finally decided to start looking again. Mostly because my sister was looking for a new RV herself and we figured we would just tag along to see what was out there. Then it became more of a focus. We realized we jumped way too fast into purchasing something that would just be “good enough”.

We wanted to camp and camp a lot and just weren’t feeling that with this one. It would have done everything we needed shy of the bathing situation we had with our son. Some of the amenities we thought were amenities ended up being more of a need for us, like the washer and dryer.

 

 

This was our list of our 15 “Must Haves” and “Wants” in our “PERFECT RV”:

Exterior of our Perfect RV

• Outdoor kitchen (for me it was so I could wash my hands outside without having to run into the RV every time since we must be careful with germs with Aiden).
• Steps (not the new kind that fold up into the RV) because we would have to be able to install the wheelchair lift at the door and they would be in the way.
• The location of the door had to be at the back or front of the RV,  away from the tires because of how the amazing DREAMLIFT wheelchair lift is installed. This was a BIG issue with most!
• Mark really wanted automatic leveling jacks.
• Of course, it had to have an awning.

 

 

Interior of Our Perfect RV

• A shower that we could put Aiden’s shower chair in easily was a must. It also had to have the option of removing the shower doors, so we could use a 1/2 shower curtain to bathe him.
• It had to have a large enough bedroom that we could put a smaller bed at the end of ours for Aiden and have enough room for a cart that holds all his medical supplies.
• Storage was very important because the one we had at that time barely had any storage for medical supplies or much of anything!
• We really wanted 3 slide-outs (living room x2 and bedroom x1) so we would maneuver Aiden’s Wheelchair around easily in the living room.
• It had to be new because Aiden had a new trach and we must be very careful to ensure it would have no water damage, no leaks at all!
• It had to have 2 A/Cs because Aiden must stay very cool on those hot summer days and one AC wouldn’t do it and we really didn’t want to have to bring along a portable one anymore.
• The living room-we all agreed on this! The living room had to have dual slide-outs, so we could maneuver Aiden’s wheelchair around in it. My parents have this floorplan with their 5th Wheel, but we had only seen very small ones in a Travel Trailer. Of course, those were very hard to find. It had to have an extra bed in the living room sofa for guests and 2 rocker recliners because that’s just how we roll.

 

 

More Wants for Our Perfect RV

I really wanted a “window room” for Aiden. My Dad and Mark built one for him off the dining room of our home and he loves having windows all around him to look outside. He loves to have a place to do his Bird Watching and Photography when the weather isn’t what he can tolerate outside.

I personally WANTED a washing machine/dryer and a dishwasher. We wanted to go camping for long periods of time, not just a few days or a week and that would require a Washer/Dryer. I know, I was WANTING a LOT!

 

 

Did I forget to mention we had to have all of this in a TRAVEL TRAILER??

Did I mention we are a blue-collar working family, and our budget allowed us to spend $35,000 at the most!

Lastly, it just needed to be something we could make our own! We knew we wouldn’t be able to find something that would meet all our WANTS AND NEEDS!

So, we set out to look for something…

 

 

 

Where We Looked for the Perfect RV

We looked on RV trader and our local RV dealers. We really wanted to find something close so that if we ever had any issues, we would be able to take it to them easily and not have to drive far. Every weekend was dedicated to finding something we could “make work”. We would find something we liked but we always ended up finding more of what we didn’t like.

UGH! Why couldn’t we find what we NEEDED instead of trying to just find something we could “MAKE WORK” in an RV???

 

 

Is THIS the ONE?

FINALLY, we thought we found the Perfect RV for us in the Coachmen Freedom Express 321 FEDSLE! Here’s what we hadn’t considered, the front door width! For anyone who is looking for an RV Camping Trailer to add a Wheelchair Ramp to the door or even get a wheelchair through, this must be a consideration! The FEDSLE had a door width of 28” and our sons wheelchair required 28.5”.

Seriously, a ½” off canceled out that RV! We had already taken off our list “must have 2nd door” because everything else we needed made that practically impossible.

 

 

The Search Continues

We searched through hundreds of floorplans (again). We finally found a Rockwood 8324BS that we really liked. After really looking into it, we realized we had looked at this model a couple of years back but at that time one door was out. We also found that the floorplan was the same as the Flagstaff 832FLBS. This gave us 2 to look for!

However, they changed the floorplans for the 2018 edition to 3 slide-outs and guess where they put the front door?

You guessed it! Right over the tires!

UGH! Can you feel the frustration?!?!   Now we were back to either purchasing a used RV which didn’t sound like a good idea to us or start over. Plus, even if we did decide to get a used RV, there were none of either of these 2 in a 1,000-mile radius at the time!

 

 

We FINALLY Found the Perfect RV for US!

Finally, after hours of endless searching we finally found the RV that meets all our needs.

In April, Mark went out to look at an RV at our local dealer and came across an RV that had just been traded in.

 

   

 

It was THE 2017 FLAGSTAFF 832FLBS!!! Now he says I must say I was wrong!

It does exist and not even 30 minutes from our home! He says he is a genius now.

I kind of must agree because we DID find the perfect RV for us!

 

What we didn’t get in our new RV

HOWEVER, there were a few things that we didn’t get on our list…

The washing machine and dryer weren’t part of the package. The dishwasher wasn’t either which we assumed wouldn’t be. 5th Wheels, maybe, but Travel Trailers just don’t tend to have them.

 

 

What We DID Get in Our New Perfect RV

Window Room Makes it the Perfect RV for Us

We were able to convert the Slide-Out dining area into Aiden’s window room so that works great for us! The dogs love their bench by the window to look outside and bark at everything! I love my little desk area that folds down on the wall when I don’t need it. We just simply bring out a portable table (it folds flat and fits easily under the sofa) and folding chairs for when we entertain with meals.

 

Washing Machine and Dryer Makes it the Perfect RV for Us

I was able to find a smaller dryer that fit on a shelf in the bedroom and a washing machine that fit in the closet (it’s a top loading one and I do have use the ladder sometimes to stretch to get stuff out of it since the closet is high too). It is totally doable for me and worth it, so we can stay for a long time at the lake.

 

 

Outdoor Kitchen and Dishwasher Makes it the Perfect RV for Us

We got an outdoor kitchen, stairs that are far away from the front door to not cause any problems with DreamLift installation and Leveling Jacks.   We found a dishwasher and a cart that I use for much more than to just simply hold the dishwasher! It is especially nice for deep cleaning things we use with Aiden.

 

   

 

The shower is still a challenge, but we have modified ours that it works right now but we may be making changes to that in the future. So, stayed tuned for that!

 

A Bed for Aiden at the End of Our Bed Makes it the Perfect RV for Us

Sleeping is not a problem in this unit. Aiden’s Ottoman that unfolds into a single bed works great at the end of our bed, so we can monitor him at night.  We found a small cart that fits at the end on his bed for supplies too. There’s storage under the bed, 11 drawers total, the closet and 2 cabinets above our bed and that’s just in the bedroom!

 

 

All the Rest Makes it the Perfect RV for Us

This Perfect RV is only 1 year old (remember we had to get the 2017 because of tire location on the 2018) and has NO water damage, no leaks at all. The 2 air conditioners keep Aiden and all of us nice and cool. There’s plenty of room for us to maneuver Aiden’s Wheelchair around with the 2 Slide-Outs in the Living Room. Also, plenty of room for guests in the new Sofa that has a hide-a-way bed in it. We are all comfortable in our 3 new Rocker Recliners! That’s right, we ALL 3 have our own with plenty of room!

So, if you add them all up, it has a total of 4 Slide-Outs! One in the bedroom, 2 in the living room and 1 more in the dining room (Window Room)! The wheelchair lift fits great right in between the 2 Slide-Outs! We ALL got what we needed and wanted, and we also got it in our price range! We have taken many trips this summer and plan to go until it freezes here in KS!

 

 

In Conclusion of The Perfect RV: How We Found the One for Us and How You Can Too!

As you can see, finding The Perfect RV with EVERYTHING you need and want may not be possible if you have a long list like we did. BUT this is proof that YOU can create it if you have just a little imagination! Knowing WHAT you want and need before you head out to look is the key! We wish we had a list to go by but ended up creating our own! We would love to share it with YOU! Get Your FREE Checklist and Questionnaire to find the right RV for YOU!

 

Whether you are out there looking for Your Perfect RV or already found Your Perfect RV let us know!

We would LOVE to hear all about it!

What are your “Must Haves”?