Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Our New Travel Van

Looks good in our driveway!


I mentioned before that we decided to trade in our beautiful 33' 5th wheel travel trailer for a small RV.  We bought our 5th when we retired three years ago and while we loved it for it's apartment like living we missed being able to travel down any road and stop anywhere.  That's something you can't do when you are towing a large trailer.   Our trailer with our truck was 50' long.  We will miss our roomy trailer but sometimes we like to get off the interstates and ride the back roads and this little guy can do that.  So that's why we finally decided on this compact travel van (it's 20' 4").   

It's been too hot here the last few days to continue to pack our new travel van with the essentials....even with the A/C running.  So it's back in storage until this heat wave breaks. 

So would you like to take a tour? 



The lounge and bedroom.
This is the lounge and bedroom area.  The couch is electric so with the flick of a switch it rolls down to a double bed size.  We have the option to put a board in across the two cushions to make it into a large king size bed if we wish.

There's an HD TV (cable TV ready) enclosed in a  cabinet over the cushion on the right (above) along with a built in radio /DVD/CD player.  I didn't think to take a picture of it.

The kitchen.
Here we have lovely Corian countertops with a small sink, a two burner stove and a small freezer/refrigerator under the sink.  We don't have solid surface countertops in our "stick" home's kitchen but nothing is too good for our RV.

Bathroom.

Our little, teeny, tiny bathroom with sink, toilet and shower...and Corian countertops.

Kitchen, Lounge and Bathroom.

Our kitchen is on the left, bathroom on the right and lounge area in back.  The carpet by the couch is removable and we have already taken it out.  I'm so glad it's not carpeted.  It's so much easier to take care of without the carpet.

Dash with driver and passenger seats.


Both the driver and passenger chairs up front swivel around.  That was one of our "must haves"...comfortable chairs to sit in at night. 

The van dash came pretty basic with just a plain radio so we had it upgraded after delivery with a radio/DVD/CD/GPS/MP3/iPhone combination.     

There is a door in front of the passenger chair facing us to exit the van in addition to the driver and passenger doors.

Our little clothes closet is on the left.  You can just see the door handle for it.  On top of the closet is a combination convection/mircowave oven.  Something new to learn...how to work a convection oven.  Don't have one of those in our "stick" home either.  

Layout for Pleasure Way ExcelTS

Here's a view of the layout.    

Picking up our new travel van!

Two happy campers!  


We haven't taken any trips in it yet and it's killing us.  It's just been way too hot.  When we picked it up we discovered that the A/C wasn't working properly so we had to take it back to have a new unit put in.  That's done now.  

This is the second small RV we have had so we do know that we have to select carefully what we take with us as the storage is limited...and we have to be careful about the payload weight too.

  

It' s always easier to pack for Hubby than for myself.  I like to take several pairs of shoes and more clothes than I probably should for all the "what ifs".   So wish me luck..I feel like Cathy above.

We learned that everything we pack must have a place...it looks too messy if you leave too much sitting out on the counters and tables when set up at a campsite.  Plus when traveling down the road everything has to be put away anyway.   Trust me you don't want loose stuff flying all over the van.    


Hope you enjoyed the walkthrough! 


14 comments:

  1. What fun this van is, Sandy. I could be a stowaway if I was smaller! Is it easy to hook up to water,power etc.?

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  2. Hi Sandy,
    I love your RV tour. We have had a Roadtrek for years and LOVE it. We don't camp in it but it does make our road trips enjoyable. We have spent an occasional night sleeping on the road. It's great to have everything you need for comfort. I've posted several of our trips on my blog. I ckeck back with you soon. Visit me when you get a chance.
    Cheers and keep on RVing!
    Rita

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  3. I can't wait for us to take a trip again this summer. Any plans? What fun. Congrats.

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  4. Oooh, I could climb in now and just travel - looks wonderful Sandy

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  5. Sandy, your van is so nice! I bet y'all are already planning some neat trips with it. This is such a neat post, and I appreciate the Cathy comic :D I definitely pack like her!

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  6. I sure would not mind having one of these beauties to travel around Alaska in style. I know you will have fun with this.

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  7. Wow Sandy what a big change! It's all very neat and compact and really quite luxurious isn't it? I'm sure you'll enjoy using it and you sound quite experienced at it all.
    Hope you can hit the road soon1
    Cheers
    Helen

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  8. Yep....that travel van is perfect in size I think...and you two look truly to be a happy camping couple!!

    Where will be your first adventure?

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  9. I very much enjoyed the van tour! I want it. I bet you will enjoy it when you can finally get out there and the weather breaks.

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  10. It looks perfect for the two of you! I see many happy travels ahead!

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  11. Very nice ! We bought our disabled son a small Class B and had it outfitted with a lift. He loves the convenience of having the fridge (for meds) the micro ( for heating up coffee or snacks ) and the bathroom. It's small enough (It's a RoadtreK 190) for every day use, but big enough for fishing adventures and road trips with his friends and brother !

    I hope you enjoy yours as much as he enjoys his !

    gena

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  12. I have enjoyed reading your articles. It is well written. It looks like you spend a large amount of time and effort in writing the blog. I am appreciating your effort that about your New Travel Van
    Box Trailers

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  13. I remember when I was a young teen my parents had a van like this. My mom hit a huge 12 point dear and totaled the front end. (the deer lived) But it was great taking weekend trips to my grandparents in, I always slept on the bed all the way in the back. ����

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  14. Happy travels to the both of you! Well, that new travel van of yours seems to be relatively roomy. Have you tried using containers to get rid of excess space? A suggestion here is to place a set of similar items on the container, and anything that exceeds the storage should be thrown or given away. Aside from that, have fun with your trip!

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