A big part of our retirement plan is relocating to the Reno, Nevada, area where we used to live, where our daughter and her family now live, and where we have some very good friends. Our daughter and our freinds love to camp so the germ of an idea started to form. It's a two fold plan I suppose. I love to camp but never have been good at tent camping. Because we always have a boat to tow tent camping is a must. But when I threw out the idea of a travel trailer Larry was actually pretty excited about it. When it does come time to relocate to Reno we will also have a place to live while we are house hunting or building. We started out by looking at used, both from private sellers and at RV lots. We decided early on that we wanted the rear lounge floorplan. Then it needed to be a light or ultra light. We ended up buying new in the end as we got a pretty good deal on this Keystone Cougar 25RLSWE:
Here is the floor plan:
We brought it home 3 weeks ago. We are planning our first outing this coming weekend to Mary Hill State park which is just over an hour away and should be an easy drive on the interstate. I'm so nervous about the towing aspect of all this. Larry isn't, just me. Praying for no winds which is asking a lot in the Columbia Gorge. This last weekend we took the advice of more seasoned RV'ers and camped out over night in the driveway. I cooked dinner, we slept, showered, etc. just to make sure everything is working properly and see if we are missing anything. I took some new pics of the trailer as I was getting everything ready. Some I took to catalog the mods we have done so far. A "mod" is a modification you make to the trailer.
First thing we did was put up this cheap towel bar we found at Wal Mart. Cheap is good as it's also light weight and the lighter the trailer the better. I also found these smaller bath towels at K-mart. Again cheap and light.
The matching hand towel ring. The next thing is something I saw at a RV forum I go to and had to have it. Thinking about getting one for the house.
I got this one at Bed, Bath and Beyond
with a coupon. I deliberately did not fill it up as it adds more weight. I need to figure out what to do with my razor and scrubbie next.
I found this over the door hook at BB&B too and it will work well for robes or extra towels when needed.
I found the soap dispenser, toothbrush holder and cup at Kohl's. I was so mad when I discovered my extra 15% off coupon was expired, but all were on sale so it wasn't too bad. I bought 2 of the soap dispensers and the other one will go in the kitchen.
The next pic is my closet. I have a feeling it's going to be a work in progress for awhile till I see what works and what doesn't. I bought 3 drawers for each closet for unders, socks, etc., and there is still room for hanging garments.
The bed is all made up and ready. I'm going to miss my electric blanket but I have a heated throw I plan to bring along. You can't see them but our pillows are behind those roll pillows. I sleep on the right and I have my clock and book ready to go!
One of my fav finds for the kitchen is this towel bar I got at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I just LOVE BB&B!!!
One of the main things I love about the Cougar is outlets!! I can't tell you how many trailers we looked at that didn't even have one outlet in the kitchen. We have to have coffee and we use our toaster a lot. This trailer not only has one outlet in the kitchen it has two!! One is behind the roll of paper towels and the other is behind the coffee pot.
I found this utensil caddy at Wal Mart. I'm not in love with it and may still be on the look out for something else. But it does the job and it's light weight. I found a stainless one at BB&B but it was kinda heavy so I passed.
I am in love with all the Command Performance hooks and picture hangers!!! So far they are also very sturdy. This one is for Sage's leash and I stuck the fly swatter there too for lack of a better location at the moment.
They make some of the hooks in metal but this one is actually plastic. So happy the finish is in the brushed nickle like the rest of the trailer. Below is Sage's new bed and also her new ducky that she has already destroyed pretty much in one day!
I bought the couch pillows at Kohl's but not sure I like them. Keystone does have pillows that match the couch but they didn't come in this model. I'm so bummed. So I may be returning these. There is that color in the couch fabric but not enough for these pillows. Black might be better.
Here's our mom and pop chairs. Just like in our family room.
And below is a real fav. I found these dishes at Target. Was going to get some plain white Melamine and then saw these. So glad too as I think we can really use some color. Found the silverware at Kohl's 50% off and it's kind of a chocolate color. I bought 2 place mats too but they don't fit the table very well, they overlap. That's one of them off to the side there. Everything is Melamine or plastic, even the wine glasses. But you really have to hold the dishes to tell!
These are fun for now but I'm sure it will be back to paper plates in no time. I hate to admit we use them a lot in the house even!
We ended up having a good night in the trailer. The movie we rented, Couples Retreat, was pretty bad and I fell asleep. Larry stayed up and finished watching it though. I went to bed and tried reading but couldn't stay awake for that either. One thing I noticed was the reading lights are way too bright and we need to see if we can find some lower watt bulbs. That morning I discovered a leak in the shower so that was a very good find. Larry just needs to re-silicone around the edges. Larry made a yummy breakfast and I made the toast. I have discovered that sometimes you get what you pay for when you go cheap. The toaster I got for about $6.00 would not go all the way down...or this was all the further it would go down! As I view the pic it really does look cheap doesn't it? Look at the big gaps on the ends!
Granted this bread is a bit wider than most but this is ridiculous!! LOL! We had to turn it about halfway through and the middle section was pretty well done! But we slapped some jam on it and it was pretty darn yummy! I got onto the Jimmy Dean Breakfast Skillets when I had a really good coupon on them and they are really delicious. You add your own eggs.
I think this will be a camping staple for us. It would be great to cook on a camp fire or stove too. After breakfast we did a quicky version of getting the house ready in case someone stopped by to look at it while we were gone and headed out east. We stopped by 6 campgrounds going about an hour and a half away both on the Oregon side and the Washington side. As I mentioned before Mary Hill State Park (WA. side) will be our first official outing. I'm really getting excited especially since I now have a new toaster and the bread goes all the way down! LOL!
ETA: I'm remembering a few other issues I had. I was worried about how to store my razor but I don't think it's an issue anymore as I'm pretty sure I'll be leaving it at home. I don't think I'll be shaving my legs in this shower stall!! Ever been on a cruise? Well the shower still isn't much bigger than the one on a cruise ship. Also I was so excited to use the new shower soap/shampoo dispenser. Everything worked great except the conditioner. It's way too thick to be dispensed evidently. So I might try adding some water to it or I'll have to find a rather runny conditioner. My freiend who has the same dispenser in her TT uses Pantene. Also the bed was a bit on the hard side but this really was no surprise as many at the RV forum I like to frequent said the same thing. Most have bought toppers for theirs or in some cases bought a new mattress. Of course it didn't help that Sage had to be on the bed too! Guess she didn't think it was too hard at all! We also need to buy a better quality wine bottle opener or as some suggested get the boxed kind. Leaning towards doing that.
I think we are off to a good start all in all but we have a nice list going of other mods we want to do as well as other upgrades. I am so glad we bought the TT now vs. later so that when Larry is retired we will be more comfortable with it.
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