Decisions decisions

Our cat, Baxter....you know her as She Devil in the blog

First of all we want to tribute our cat for making this new dream possible.


Because she is diabetic and arthritic she requires four injections a day, making it hard to leave her for more than a very short period of time.  So, much of the reason for buying the canned ham was to be able to travel and bring her with us.  This caricature art quilt is made in her image and will have to find a way into our new larger rig when the time comes.


One of our first questions was do we buy a motor home like we had in the past, or purchase a fifth wheel, something we've never had?  Both have excellent options.


We tend to be leaning towards the fifth wheel as they depreciate less than a motor home and are supposed to be very easy to pull.  This way we only have to insure it and one vehicle.  The advice we had found was to purchase the fifth wheel first and then find the vehicle needed to pull it.


Our major considerations are in only a few areas and we agree on them....which is remarkable...I mean great.  I am insisting on a well appointed kitchen with a microwave convection oven and a standard oven below, dual sinks (preferably one much larger than the other), as much counter space as possible and excellent storage capacity.  These seem to be almost standard in rigs we've looked in in person and online.  Whew.  One of the rigs we're considering has an outdoor kitchen that would be a very nice feature since we cook outside a lot due to the heat.  But that would not be a deal breaker for either of us.


My second concern is the bedroom having a king size bed so we can use our sleep number mattress on it.  This eliminates the bouncing that one partner feels (that would be Left Brain) when the other (that would be me) tosses and turns and does nighttime gymnastics.  It also helps to keep the body cooler which we both like, especially since we will tend to be in warm weather areas.  There needs to be adequate storage in the bedroom for clothes, linens and junk.  Left Brain wants a TV in there, something I've fought for years, but am ready to embrace the concept....especially when he said he could watch football in there.


We both like the living room areas where the TV is view-able from both the chairs and the couch.  It's amazing to me how many arrangements are set up that look pretty, but no one really has a good view of the TV.  Due to the smaller size of the rig in general it would also be seen from the table and chairs as well as the kitchen, which is a plus. Sorry to say this is a big part of our lives, but there you are.


The bathroom is an easy choice for us, we're both in favor of having one.  I enjoy a nice hot tub bath, but after being spoiled by the hot tub nothing is going to be adequate for me anymore in that area.  We usually shower and our stall at home is not overly large, so we're used to that.  Add to this the fact that we are living in a tiny rig now  where the toilet is in the shower and we're used to stepping on a wet floor sometimes and occasionally bumping the faucets and spraying ourselves, so just having these separate is good enough for us.  Ample storage for supplies and towels would be nice but we can work around that if necessary.


Storage is in constant demand, so having the biggest amount of under belly storage is important.  This is more or less his domain although I'm going to want some of that space also. Our belief is the more storage space the more junk you carry around that probably isn't needed.  Part of the beauty in this new lifestyle is the paring down of things and living a much simpler life.


Our newest concern is having the rig as heavily insulated and protected from cold as possible with heated storage tanks and the like.  This will allow us to stay longer in the northern areas to enjoy the earlier spring and later fall that we love so much.  Maybe we'll even be able to watch the snow start to flutter down as we laugh and drive away! Oops.  Sorry, that last part was just mean, and I apologize to my northern friends.  


This we learned from our cat walking friends across the street and I thank them for it as we would not have really considered this as much before.  Oh, those Canadians...they don't miss that kind of detail!


Long Live the Queen of the Road