New (to us) Camper

[mamaloya]

We are picking up our new camper tomorrow. We started out tenting and then went to a popup (with FW on our minds), decided we needed bigger so bought a hybrid with a set of bunk beds. Well, we bought a 2000 model and it had water damage that we did not know about. Been working with the dealer and Dutchmen to get it fixed. Dutchmen agreed to replace the bunk end doors (yes, BOTH failed), so we go to return it and pick up our new one tomorrow!!!

This time we are getting a 2006 Kodiak Skamper 26QS. It has 2 sets of bunk beds in a room for the kids. It has a hard walled slide out queen bed for dh and I. I keep having dreams of it set up at FW. The bathroom in it is bigger as well. The first thing that dd6 said when she saw the bathtub was "you can fit TWO of us in there!!!" No more taking down the dinette for someone to sleep!! It also has a sofa that folds out.

We have our first trip to FW in it scheduled for Feb. Downside is that dh will be in Iraq, so it will just be me and the kiddos. Not looking forward to driving 14 hours by myself, even with an overnight stop, but hey, I will keep my eye on the prize. dh figures that a trip to WDW and FW will keep the kids occupied and break up the time that he is gone for them.

Here is a link to pics of our new camper. http://www.holidaykamper.com/cgi-bi...lery.asp?boatid=909844&vehicleType=A&picpos=0 If anyone knows of any reason why we should NOT get this camper, speak now or forever hold your peace!!!

BTW, we are getting it tomorrow and the movers come Wednesday!!! We are moving back to Louisiana. dh is being stationed at Ft. Polk.

I will let you all know how it goes!!!

 

[cyberdeb]

Congrats!!! The only thing that i didnt like about the hard sided slides for the bed is that you usually cant stop at rest stops and sit and eat in the trailer because the slide is usually in the way. You will have a blast.

 

[Gatordad]

Nice rig...... Hope everything turns out great on your trip, and God bless your husband.

 

[AuburnJen92]

It looks like you are going to have a great time! Make sure you bring a spare tire for the trailer! Our prayers go to your DH and all the guys and gals over in Iraq.

 

[mamaloya]

Thanks for the well wishes, I will pass them on to dh.

We talked about the pulling over at rest area thing before we decided on it. The bed will not interfere with the kitchen, so that will be fine. The bed goes over the dinette and sofa. The kids say they can have a picnic on the bed. LOL Also, it is an electric slide, so with the push of a button, we can just slide it out and use the dinette and sofa. Plus, we usually do the eating outside thing at rest areas, so as long as the weather is nice, we will eat outside.

As for the spare tire, there is one mounted on the back just begging for a FW tire cover. That will be my first purchase when we get there.

The kids are so excited to each have their own beds, well, the youngest 2 girls will be sharing anyway, but they are excited about that as well.

dh is picking up our current one right now for us to empty out. We leave in the morning to swap em out. I can barely contain myself!!! I have already figured out where everything is going to go.

 

[fldisneymommyto2]

congrats on the new camper... looks real nice!! God bless your dh while he is in Iraq

 

[kmccain]

Congratulations!

Thanks so much for the link! I love to look at campers! It looks like you will have a great time! I love not having to take the dinnette down so we can have coffee in the morning!

May God be with you and DH while he is away!

 

[Tomskatt]

I am so happy for you all! I hope you have a great time camping with your crew and thank you for sharing your husband with us and for all the sacrifices that entails. May God bless you and him while he is gone.

 

[4daubers]

Congratulations on your new rig and I bet the kids are excited. I love the can do attitude and have every confidence that you will successfully take the kids on the WDW trip.

Do your kids know your husband is a hero? And because of his heroism, my family gets to enjoy WDW and many, many more freedoms? WOW and double WOW!

 

[mecamper]

Congratulaions Mamloya. It looks like a great camper. We did the same sort of thing. Started with a tent, got a pop-uo, then a small 22ft TT, and just this year we bought a 2 year old 27 ft with bunks. I'm also thrilled that we won't have to fold down the table every night.

Thanks to your family for making sacrifices for the freedom for all of us.

 

[JPG]

Sandra,

Congratulations on the new camper! I am sure you guys will enjoy it.....Also....Welcome to the DIS! Glad to see you came over from the "other" forum.

 

[LuvMV50]

Beautiful! I am sure you will have a wonderful time with your new camper!

 

[CottontailCurl]

Hey there! Congrats on the new trailer! That's one of the models we were considering because of the weight and all the extra sleeping places (is that a jack-knife couch?)

Will you be able to do a long weekend somewhere before your husband deploys? I think it would be fun to have your first new camper memories with the whole family. He can take a mini vacation while you drive there and the gang sets up without him as a test drive for your Disney trip.

Tell Papaloya we all say 'Thank you, and take care'.

Oh, and good luck with the move!!!

 

[mamaloya]

"Papaloya", I kinda like the ring of that. Can't wait to tell him he has a name here now.

We picked it up yesterday!!! Funny story about the "numbers game". We had agreed on a number before we arrived there. We go in, do the PDI (I went over it with a fine tooth comb), and then sat down to sign. The guy comes in and the numbers are higher. I am the bookkeeper in our family, so I immediately called him on it. He pulls out another paper with more details and they were charging us $784 for the dealer prep fee. I have seen $350, but $784. I nicely and sweetly in my sweetest southern drawl said, "What is that for?" They explained it to me, like I didn't know. And then I just acted like that was silly. I then explained that we had agreed at a number and we would not go over it. The difference came out to $35/mo in the end, but we just did not want to pay it. He said, "let me talk to 'so and so'" He came back and they refused to change the prep fee, but lowered the price of the camper. Whatever!! We then looked at the monthly amt and it was still higher. We said "we agreed to $xxx.00. We do not want to go over that." They came back in and it was $xxx.10. Dh and I looked at each other and both had the urge to grab the hot sauce for sassiness. We are not the type to get into peeing contests, so said "fine". As soon as he walked out of the room we were We thought it was so funny. They just could not bare for us to win. We were not going to fight over a few dollars in the long run. When all was said and done, the final number was $xxx.09.

BTW, I am glad I brought my PDI checklist. I went over it well. Found that the smoke detector had not battery. Also pulled out the kitchen drawers to check for leaks and found that the water filter for the drinking faucet was broken. They fixed it on the spot. Also the hose for the outdoor shower was gone and they replaced that. Other than that, it was perfect.

dh said it was a little scarier to tow in traffic, but after we were on the open road, he was fine.

As for breaking it in...We have a 3 day journey to Ft. Polk ahead of us. dh will also be getting some block leave before he does his pre mobilization training. We plan on doing some traveling then. He will also get some leave right before he deploys.

As for me, I need to practice backing it in. I was better at backing up the popup than him, but the bigger camper I could not do. I just need some practice I am sure. I know FW has pull thrus, but they are so open and close to the main road. I don't want to have my kiddos running around there. Maybe there will be some kind strange who will pity me and help . I am sure we will do fine. ds16 will have his drivers license and can help some, although I don't think I will be fully comfortable with him driving. He is bigger than my dh and quite responsible, but still not experienced at driving.

Well, gotta go load up our new camper and get the house ready for the movers tomorrow. After tomorrow we will be sharing dh's laptop, so I won't be around too much. Luckily I get up an hour before him when he is on leave, so I will have that time.

Thanks again for all of the well wishes, each one has made me cry and touched my heart.