RV. — annie hauser

We got an RV!!!! Okay, technically it is a travel trailer. But we call it an RV, or a camper. And we are so obsessed.

Why did we get it? Well, a few reasons. We love to travel. LOVE IT. But right now, flying isn’t an option for our family, because we won’t mask our children.
We also own our dream property in Oklahoma, and it’s much easier to drive there. We bring our dogs, we bring all our comfort stuff from home (ummm like my espresso maker lol) and we didn’t want to have to stay in hotels each time we drove out there - it’s 20 hours! (Here is a blog I wrote on road trippin’ with kiddos!)

So after doing months and months of research - there are so many options - did we want an Airstream? A fifth wheel? A travel trailer? - we settled on the Jayco Flight SLX 8, 267 BHS. We got it from Fretz RV - mention my name for a discount. Their service is amazing, and they always had lots of smiles when we went in. WINK WINK.

While we REALLY loved the Airstreams, and I still dream of owning one, they just didn’t have the space we needed with the kids, AND they are much more expensive, and very difficult to find right now. There was one Airstream layout that would have worked for us, the Flying Cloud 30FB Bunk. But being brand new RV owners, not knowing if we were gonna love this or not, and just knowing that we had never trailered anyyyything before….we decide to go with the more affordable option - the Jayco. The thought of making a mistake and breaking or bumping the Airstream made me wanna throw up lol. The Airstreams also have wait lists into fall and winter, and we needed to travel NOW.

We thought about a fifth wheel, which has more space, but after looking into it more, we just didn’t think we needed something so big for the amount of time we were using it. For us, this was more of a traveling hotel for short trips, versus a home for a week long vacay. Also, they are much taller, and I am still not sure a fifth wheel would fit through our gate in Oklahoma.

The layout we chose has bunks for this kids - they need their separate sleeping spaces - and the beds are nearly full size. It has one slide out, giving us plenty of room to walk around, and both the dinette and couch fold down to give us more sleeping space. There is a separate room with a queen bed for me and Chris. I have a highlight called RV on my instagram where I walk through the trailer!

THE TRUCK.

One of the other things to decide is what to pull your trailer with. We went with the Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel Megacab. Chris says it doesn’t feel like he’s pulling anything. We used this guide and spreadsheet from Keep Your Daydream to determine if the truck we were looking at could handle the trailer we were looking at.

We had Fretz put on a Blue Ox Sway control system on the RV before we picked it up also! They showed us how to hook up to the truck as well. We also had a backup cam installed on the trailer but we haven’t used it yet, so I don’t think we needed that.

When we travel, we are using the CoPilot app which only takes you the routes your RV can safely handle! We also belong to Harvest Hosts and try using some of those spots to stay this summer.

THE EXTRAS.

When you get an RV, there’s a list of supplies you’ll also need. It’s also really important to have a checklist so that you don’t miss a step. I made a setup and breakdown checklist you can download!

I got some big bins to keep everything organized in. I have a bin for:

Water (hoses, pressure regulator, elbow fitting, filters, splitter)
Black tank (sewer hose kit aka stinky slinky, holding tank treatment, hose support)
Electric (surge protector, extension cord, adapter, adapter)
Level/Chocks (leveling blocks, levelers, levelmate pro, x-chocks)
Grey tank (gray water hose, treatment)

I said we weren’t going to do much to it inside, butttt yeah I couldn’t help myself. We painted, replaced handles, added stick on tile to the kitchen, replaced the faucet, and added some new lights! We had a consult with WeAreDanandSam for reno tips and tricks! I linked all sources here! Oh, and we replaced the outside lock with this keypad version!

We got these comfy chairs and outdoor rug to put under the awning outside too! And a SoloStove for roasting marshmallows!

Here are links to all the decorative stuff we got! And we used these soft bins, and these hard bins in different sizes to organize the inside of the camper! And this cute hanging bag too!