About two weeks ago, we traded our Forest River Sierra fifth wheel bunk-house in for a Forest River Sunseeker Class C motorhome. The decision to trade our rig in for a motorhome happened over a period of several months, but the process only took a week.
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Here is a link: http://www.rvamericainc.com/rv/aurora+co/forestriver+classc/429/forest+river+sunseeker+3170ds
It boiled down to a few issues. Namely, the finances are cheaper with a Class C as opposed to a truck and trailer. For the same monthly payment a decent truck costs, we have both our home and our means of transporting it. RV America also gave us a good value for our trade-in.
Other reasons for buying a 32' Class C: Ease of parking; with a shorter rig, it is easier to get a spot and park in --especially if we are staying at a state or national park. Flexibility during the drive; the kids and I relish the idea of being able to use the bathroom or stretch out during those long hours on the road. And my husband likes the fact that he can get to where he is going without stopping every couple hours for a "potty break".
Mind you, the difficulty in paring down to a smaller space was much harder than I anticipated. I've been preparing for the move since January. Going through boxes full of papers, that you would normally gloss over and toss aside for another day, and purging old picture albums was tedious. I often find that we fill the space we occupy. In fifteen months of living in the 40' Sierra, we packed the cabinets to overflowing. As I slowly and meticulously combed through each nook and cranny, it amazed me to see how many bags went to charity, a friend, or the dumpster. I pulled at least a hundred bags and boxes out --on top of the items we sold on craigslist or ebay.
Finally, after longs weeks of cold winter weather and the ever-present goal of "preparing, packing, and purging," finished in time for our move (which happened in between heavy spring storms).
We had previously scouted mutiple rigs online and visited at least four different kinds of class C motorhomes with extra bunks. We settled on the Sunseeker because it had a nice balance of indoor cabinet/counter space with decent storage underneath. It also had linoleum throughout the rig, except for the bedroom in the back. I prefer this because it's easier to clean (especially under the table after dinner).
View inventory for this floor plan.
RV America provided us a very smooth transition, between the finances and being sensitive to the fact we were fulltimers. They parked both rigs side-by-side, with the doors facing each other about six feet apart. We are expert packers and movers, so had everything emptied from the fifth-wheel to the Class C within an hour.
I drove our Kia behind the rig (which barely had enough room to sit and maneuver with all the boxes and bags piled) and called my mom, crying. My long-awaited birthday/anniversary/Mother's Day/Christmas present finally arrived.
It took us a few days to get settled in and a very depressing fact became apparent. I had too much stuff. No matter how much I reshuffled and stuffed, we didn't have enough room. So I resigned myself to packing up those things that we wanted to keep, but could live without --like the kids' lego sets, expensive camping gear, books and keepsakes. We stored the excess in the rafters and shelves of my mother-in-law's garage. After purging anything we didn't absolutely need, we finally fit.
I don't regret this decision because our family wants to taste life through experiences and adventures; not be defined by our stuff. The rig fits us perfectly, albeit a little snug.
Now that I have means to move my home; I can't wait for the next adventure around the corner!
