“OMG! We did it!”
After years of dreaming, months of planning, and days of driving, we finally picked up our home on wheels!
THE DETAILS:
She’s a 27 foot travel trailer made by Outdoors RV Manufacturing, an Oregon company specializing in 4-season RVs and Travel Trailers. Specifically this is a 2013 Timber Ridge 270DBHS.
She’s insulated for 4-season camping, with a propane powered furnace (we started using right away), a roof mounted air conditioner (which we won’t need for a while) and an awning for sunny days (we won’t need that for a while either).
Inside we have a kitchen, bathroom, dinette, sleeper sofa, tv, stereo…
A queen bed in the front end:
And bunk beds at the back:
Alex made the bottom bunk his home as soon as we moved in! (and the cats took the top bunk shortly after!)
WHY THIS ONE? WHY TRAVEL TO BUY IT?
Early on we knew we wanted a 4-season trailer, so we wouldn’t be limited to where and when we traveled. We also knew we wanted a bunkhouse so Alex could have his own space (and not depend on converting the couch or dinette into a bed every night). And lastly, we wanted a travel trailer – instead of an A or B class RV or 5th wheel. This narrowed us down to only a few brands and models. We also know we want to visit a lot of National Parks and many have length limitations – so we didn’t want to get anything longer than 27 feet.
Making dinner in our new RV
We liked the Outdoors RV Timber Ridge with a bunkhouse best – but a new one was out of our price range, and there were almost none available in the used market. We found this gently used 5 year old unit for sale in Pendleton, OR a few months ago, but since it was so far away we kept looking for one closer to us in Southern California… We opened up our search to other brands, other floorplans, etc… but nothing felt right. So we were pleased to find this was still available… despite the distance.
BUYING A USED RV
“But how could you buy an RV sight unseen?” you may be thinking. I’m glad you asked. We had toured this exact model at an RV dealer previously, so we knew the floorplan, storage and whatoyuuuuuuuuuuu (sorry, cat walked on my keyboard)… what it was supposed to be like. The sellers also sent us a video tour inside and out.
Disconnecting before we hit the road!
Next we arranged for a local RV dealer to do an independent inspection of all the mechanical and structural elements. The inspection came back decidedly positive.
Our overall our purchasing experience couldn’t have been better!
When we arrived they had her all ready for us – even throwing in a bottle of wine and some local Oregon coffee as a “housewarming” gift! They had kept her in great shape, camping for weeks and weekends in and around the pacific northwest. They spent a couple of hours with us on Sunday afternoon showing us how to work all the features, how to hook up our hitch and how to set up at a local RV park…
AND THEN SHE WAS OURS!
Our rig is complete! (this beauty shot taken while we pulled over on the 97 in Central Oregon.)
Stay tuned as we will post soon about our first experiences living in, and traveling with, our new home on wheels!
Oh, and for those who want a little more info, here’s the floorplan from the manufacturer:
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I think we are all anxious to see an unedited video posted of you backing the whole rig into a camping pad between a couple of trees and obstacles.
So happy for you guys! Be safe though.. and take the roads less travelled… I hear that makes all the difference!
Thanks Josh! Taking those roads – unless they are too windy, or too steep, or dead ends where we have to turn the rig around!
You’ve motivated me, Brett..Really giving thought to acting on some dreams…Have a great adventure- loooking forward to following along!
Gibby – it’s scary… a roll of the dice for sure. But we had this moment in time where all the signs lined up and it was time to make it happen. Thanks for following along! Looking forward to your dream chasing!
Let me be the first to comment and wish you all the best of luck. I would love to make the plunge to at least part time RV life. I will follow your adventures so get out there and have a blast.
Your rig is a beauty!!! Love having the visuals so I can imagine you safely traveling on the road. How great you allow your cat to participate in your blogging. It was a lot of work getting your traveling home but it was obviously worth it, and soon you’ll be experts. Sounds like you bought it from some really nice people. Wish I could have been there for that meal. Won’t ever forget Cynthia’s delicious chili! Can’t wait to see you all soon. So happy for you all!
What a terrific layout. I can’t believe how smart you are in your shopping prowess. Great story telling. I keep learning every time I read one of your posts. You’re sooooooo smart! Miss you.