When we began our camping adventures 2 years ago, we thought a 5th wheel was the way to go. We had a truck already to tow with and the 5th wheel had so much living space when all 4 slides were out and we were all set up. 3 short camping trips later, we came to the realization that we needed more space while traveling if we were going to make this work.
We started looking at Class A’s in January of ’07. When I saw the floor plan for the Winnebago Sightseer 35J (click here to see floor plan), I knew that could work for us. Although there are MANY nice bunk models out there, this one was the best fit for our family. It has enough storage for all 5 of us and enough room when we have to all be inside too. We’ve actually had 10 people comfortably inside on a couple of rainy occasions.
We made one modification as soon as we brought our RV home. We took out the hoop chair that was behind the passenger seat. We found it too tight to turn the passenger seat around to face the back. And the hoop chair did not have a seatbelt. So it became a catch all for our coats. In it’s place we put a Step 2 boot bench This allows a place to store shoes underneath, dog supplies in the storage drawer and an extra seat if we need it.
We bring along a crate for the dogs. They are in there whenever we are away from our site. The dogs are happy, the neighbors are happy, and we don’t come back to find a mess in the motorhome ! We set it up between the two captains chairs and it doubles as a table.
For sleeping- Our oldest daughter (14) sleeps on the sofa. We love that it opens like a futon. All of her bedding stores underneath and she can make up her bed in less than 5 minutes. The cabinets above the sofa hold 10 days worth of clothing and whatever else she brings along.
Our two younger kids (7 and almost 12) get the bunkbeds. Each bunk has it’s own privacy curtain, storage shelf, reading light, window and individually controlled tv/dvd player. There is a huge drawer under the bunks that will hold 10 days worth of clothes for both of them. The bunks are 30″ x 73″. They have just as much room on their bunks as they would in a sleeping bag or cot.
There are sliding pocket doors on either end of the bunk room so that the master bedroom (with a king bed) has privacy. In the evening if Chad and I want to watch tv or hang out in the front room, our older daughter goes in and sleeps on our bed and we close the sliding doors and the kids can all sleep while we are doing our thing. When we are ready for bed it is very easy to switch places with our daughter.
For eating inside- We find it easiest to put all 3 kids at the dinette while Chad and I use our Table Mate Folding Tables. We prefer to eat outside when the weather allows. We also recently purchased a Carefree Add-A-Room and I will feature that product in a future blog as soon as we have had a chance to use it a few more times.
Our outside storage compartments are full but there is room for everything we need. Beach toys, fishing supplies, family games like bocce ball and ladder golf, an extra 6 ft table and two heavy duty benches, an awning rug, Weber BBQ Grill, a small tv for watching the Detroit Tigers games, camping chairs, a 4 ft ladder, and various other useful and decorative items.
We’ve put 10,000 miles on the motorhome now and we couldn’t be happier with it. We have plenty of room for our family and everything we need for a fun RVing trip.
~Shannone