When we first decided to sell our house and travel the country full-time with our kids in an RV, we didn’t have any idea which type of RV we wanted. When you will be traveling with kids, your options are a little more limited, especially if you want your kids to have their own room — which we did.
We knew we didn’t want a Class A (the motorhomes that look like large, fancy busses). Not only are they extremely expensive, but if they have a “bunk house”, it’s basically just a closet with bunk beds inside, and nothing else. We also wanted more room than a travel trailer or Class C would give us, since we would be living in it full time. That same reason steered us away from a Schoolie (converted school bus) as well.
Enter the 5th wheel! The perfect RV for any family with younger kids. But there were SO many brands and floorplans to choose from! We went to several different RV dealerships all over Florida, and narrowed it down to either a rear bunk house 5th wheel or a toy hauler. But which RV manufacturer should we choose?
Steve is much better at this kind of thing, so he did tons of research on the different RV manufacturers, joined Facebook groups and forums specific to each brand, and finally narrowed it down to Grand Design, Alliance, and DRV Mobile Suites.
Steve found a deal on a brand new Alliance Valor 42V13 toy hauler in Texas, so we visited a local dealership in Jacksonville that had the same model so we could take a look at the floor plan.
We loved the floor plan, and that the kitchen and living room area were separate. The side patio was also a huge bonus, that would allow us to have an additional outdoor living space.
We decided to have Steve fly out to Texas to have an inspection done on the Valor they had (this dealership in Jacksonville couldn’t give us as good of a deal on the same model). We were really excited, thinking this would be our new home on wheels! Unfortunately, when we got the inspection report back, it turned out that there were several problems with that brand new unit. The biggest one being that the main slides in the living room and dinette didn’t work properly. Slides are an essential part in almost all RVs. It’s what expands your interior space so that you can actually walk around and USE your RV!
We were super bummed that that particular rig wasn’t going to work out for us, and after more and more research and reading some of the posts in the Alliance Facebook group, it seemed that although they had amazing customer service, their quality control was a bit lacking.
So we were back to square one on our search for an RV for our family.
In the mean time, we moved from Florida across the country to my parents’ house in Southern California. They were kind enough to let us live with them while we waited for our truck to be built, find an RV, and renovate that RV.
While we were in that holding pattern of waiting, Steve flew across the country 4 different times to look at used RVs that were being sold via private party. But none of them were in as good of condition as they were portrayed to be.
Finally, while looking in a Grand Design Facebook group, I came across a post of someone who had a 2021 Momentum 397TH-R (R stands for residential fridge) for sale in northern California, only about 5 hours from us. I contacted the seller, and the next day we drove up to look at it.
It was in great condition, and found out that they had only taken it out twice in the 10 months or so that they owned it. We talked it over, and decided that this was the RV for us! The sellers were even willing to drive it down to my parents’ house to deliver it to us, since we didn’t yet have our truck.
Watch the video below to see what happened on the day it arrived.
It took about 30 minutes for the previous owner to back the 44 foot RV down my parents’ long, thin driveway, and another 45 min to an hour to figure out how to unhitch it from the truck at such a sharp angle. I’m glad it all worked out and we don’t have to do that again any time soon!
We spent the next 2 months completely renovating the inside of the RV from nose to tail, and converted the garage area into a master bedroom and office, and the original master bedroom into our boys’ room.
Stay tuned for future posts all about our renovation!
~ Joanna
McVeycations 