First trip in the 28RDB "hotel on wheels"

[vampress_me]

Last Tuesday I got our Companion hitch put in the truck, Wednesday picked up the camper from the dealer (holy cow, we own a camper!), and Friday after school went for our first trip. We only went about 3.5 hrs from home, but found a wonderful little campground.

For a first trip, it was great. Everything worked in the camper that we tried (after reading posts, I was a little scared). The only head scratcher is the electric portion of the water heater having the outside switch and the inside switch - weird, but we did know that at least. It stayed dry inside even though it rained Saturday afternoon/night. Whew! And, I figured out a few modifications that are headed our way - SmartTile backsplash, new shortened cupboard door so can have shoe storage by door, shelves in the closet by the bed, remodeling sheets to stay on the kids bunks better, and of course LED lights we've ordered. We also have a fairly short list of things we forgot on this trip, first of which is chairs for by the fire at night.

To wrap up the weekend, no accidents emptying the black tank even though I was videoing DH with my phone just in case...

[nano]

Congrats on the new camper and a successful first trip! We're heading out for our first trip of the year this Thursday and I'm very excited, even though the lake is still covered with ice. Lol.

[Kristi]

Always great to here about a great trip! Hoping there are many more in your future. Enjoy!

[Uncledavey]

Originally Posted by vampress_me

Last Tuesday I got our Companion hitch put in the truck, Wednesday picked up the camper from the dealer (holy cow, we own a camper!), and Friday after school went for our first trip. We only went about 3.5 hrs from home, but found a wonderful little campground.

For a first trip, it was great. Everything worked in the camper that we tried (after reading posts, I was a little scared). The only head scratcher is the electric portion of the water heater having the outside switch and the inside switch - weird, but we did know that at least. It stayed dry inside even though it rained Saturday afternoon/night. Whew! And, I figured out a few modifications that are headed our way - SmartTile backsplash, new shortened cupboard door so can have shoe storage by door, shelves in the closet by the bed, remodeling sheets to stay on the kids bunks better, and of course LED lights we've ordered. We also have a fairly short list of things we forgot on this trip, first of which is chairs for by the fire at night.

To wrap up the weekend, no accidents emptying the black tank even though I was videoing DH with my phone just in case...

Awesome! Congrats. We have the same model and will be taking our first trip next weekend (if you don't include the three day trip to get it home). Question for you...does your bathroom to bedroom sliding door close flush against the slide out? I posted about this last week but no one else has the same model. Just curious.

[theeyres]

Glad to hear all went well. You are going to love the lifestyle. Don't know what Smart Tile is, but if it's heavy, just be sure to watch your weight. ENJOY!

[vampress_me]

Originally Posted by Uncledavey

Awesome! Congrats. We have the same model and will be taking our first trip next weekend (if you don't include the three day trip to get it home). Question for you...does your bathroom to bedroom sliding door close flush against the slide out? I posted about this last week but no one else has the same model. Just curious.

Yes and no. It closes tight against the upper trim piece that is about 6" high above the closet/ linen doors and runs the whole length of the slide out, but that trim piece sticks out about 1.5" from the face frame of the closet, so it doesn't close tight against the face frame below the trim. So, we too have a gap from the bathroom into the bedroom the whole distance below the 6" tall trim piece to the floor. I was debating adding a trim piece of my own on the face frame to fill in the gap, but then realized the bathroom sliding door is offset from that vertical stile of the face frame and lines up more with the hinges of the closet door. So that wouldn't work. And, then also decided since we are the ones that sleep in the bedroom, I wasn't going to worry too much. But it is a design aspect that makes you go "huh?".

[vampress_me]

Uncledavey,

I just went looking at your post and photo. Our trim looks just like yours. Also, I got to pick ours from the three 28RDB that our dealer had onsite, and all of them had the same trim. If your dealer comes up with a fix or something, please let me know, I'm curious now too.

[Uncledavey]

Originally Posted by vampress_me

Yes and no. It closes tight against the upper trim piece that is about 6" high above the closet/ linen doors and runs the whole length of the slide out, but that trim piece sticks out about 1.5" from the face frame of the closet, so it doesn't close tight against the face frame below the trim. So, we too have a gap from the bathroom into the bedroom the whole distance below the 6" tall trim piece to the floor. I was debating adding a trim piece of my own on the face frame to fill in the gap, but then realized the bathroom sliding door is offset from that vertical stile of the face frame and lines up more with the hinges of the closet door. So that wouldn't work. And, then also decided since we are the ones that sleep in the bedroom, I wasn't going to worry too much. But it is a design aspect that makes you go "huh?".

Ditto. Kinda makes you scratch your head. If you look on the website for this model the pictures show something different. What's odd on ours is that the door doesn't align well with the flat spot on the face of the molding on top of the slide out.

[vampress_me]

Ours doesn't line up perfectly either. I figured who ever built it probably reads a tape measure like my mom (the tape has "tick marks" and it doesn't matter if it's a 1/16 "tick" or an 1/4 "tick", they're just "ticks" - drives an anal engineer (me!) nuts, but I love her).

I also think the photos on Keystone's website are for an older model (or photoshopped). The counter extension in the photos show the one that hooks on with an extra leg instead of the hinged one we have (and the other ones on the lot had), the backsplash wallpaper in the kitchen is the same strip like by the couch while in ours it is a tile/ basket weave wallpaper, the kitchen upper cabinets are different, the bedside table is different, and then of course the bedroom slide trim is completely different. Me personally, I love all the changes that ours has compared to the Keystone photos, except maybe the door trim. But, I'm so happy to have a bathroom and shower instead of an outhouse like when we would tent camp long ago, I don't mind.

[Uncledavey]

Originally Posted by vampress_me

Ours doesn't line up perfectly either. I figured who ever built it probably reads a tape measure like my mom (the tape has "tick marks" and it doesn't matter if it's a 1/16 "tick" or an 1/4 "tick", they're just "ticks" - drives an anal engineer (me!) nuts, but I love her).

I also think the photos on Keystone's website are for an older model (or photoshopped). The counter extension in the photos show the one that hooks on with an extra leg instead of the hinged one we have (and the other ones on the lot had), the backsplash wallpaper in the kitchen is the same strip like by the couch while in ours it is a tile/ basket weave wallpaper, the kitchen upper cabinets are different, the bedside table is different, and then of course the bedroom slide trim is completely different. Me personally, I love all the changes that ours has compared to the Keystone photos, except maybe the door trim. But, I'm so happy to have a bathroom and shower instead of an outhouse like when we would tent camp long ago, I don't mind.

I think you hit the nail on the head in your previous post...it just makes you wonder, "huh?" Lol

[jaitken0016]

Congrats on a successful new trip. A trailer from the dealer is never perfect. It also takes fidgeting and mods to make it yours and a home away from home.

[bsmith0404]

Lynette, you're thinking old school, lol. Flat screens are easy to fit in around the center style.