Stocking the Inside of the Trailer

I don't even know where to begin this post. I knew that stocking the inside of the trailer was going to be a lot like stocking a new, albeit mini, home. I just wasn't prepared for how much we were going to hemorrhage money!

We needed things for the bedroom, kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. Not to mention storage and cleaning supplies.

Bedroom:
Sheets - JC Penny
Pillows - IKEA
Blankets - IKEA (and one I "stole" from our closet at home)
Alarm Clock - WalMart (I have a thing for needing to see what time it is... all of the time)
Clock Batteries (for wall clock & alarm clock) - had at home

Kitchen: (you name it in your kitchen, we needed it for the trailer)
Mini Keurig - Bed, Bath, & Beyond (gotta love those 20% off coupons!)
Eating utensils - IKEA
Various cooking utensils/gadgets - IKEA
Steak knives - IKEA
Cooking knives - IKEA
Cutting boards - Bed, Bath, & Beyond
Paper plates - Costco
Paper bowls - Costco
Ziploc bags - Costco
Aluminum cooking trays - Costco
Pots & Pans - pilfered from our camping supplies; bought at LLBean and REI last year
Collapsable strainer - Bed, Bath, & Beyond
Collapsable bowls - Camping World
Kitchen Mat - WalMart

Dining Room:
Napkin dispenser - IKEA
Place mats - IKEA
Cloth baskets (for things like fruit, etc) - IKEA

Bathroom:
Shower mat - IKEA (this was actually hard to find one that fit in the space)
RV compatible toilet paper (yes, there is such a thing) - WalMart
Shower caddy - WalMart
Shower curtain - JC Penny (Yes, there's one already in the trailer. It's also fabric... and we've been known to hit them while they're wet and then they'll leak all over the place.)
Towels - JC Penny and IKEA

Storage:
Silverware holder - IKEA
Knife holder - WalMart
Storage bins - WalMart
RV compatible closet hangers - Camping World
Collapsible hamper - from our house (bought at Target a few years ago)

Other:
Door Mats - WalMart
Outdoor rug - IKEA

Cleaning Supplies:
RV black tank chemicals - WalMart
Lysol wipes - Costco (also pilfered from my stock at home)
Windex - WalMart
Simple Green - WalMart
Dryer Sheets - WalMart

I'm not even sure if this is a full list - but you get the picture. I kind of wish I would've started buying things a while ago so that it would not have hit all in one month. I also recognize that some of this is purely "nice to have" and not necessary. We just wanted to have the trailer as stocked as possible before we went on a trip.

Why Lance?

As I previously stated, we had several features that we really liked in many of the RVs we walked through and/or had seen floor plans of online.

• Dry bath
• Walk around queen bed
• Bench dinettes
• Kitchen in the front or back of the RV
• Trailers around the "18" range
• Power awnings
• Flat, fiberglass sides
• Bathtub instead of corner shower
• Slide-outs

Over our many discussions, we also decided that we really liked these other things:

• Optional solar power
• 4-season rated to do cold camping, if we wanted
• Heat & air conditioning
• Power jack
• LED lighting
• Sink in the bathroom
• Stove
• Microwave
• Separate refrigerator and freezer
• Lighter interior

As we started to narrow down our choices (and kept dreaming), we decided that we needed to put things into "must have" and "nice to have" buckets. We looked at what we felt like was every. single. manufacturer. It was exhausting, quite honestly.

After going through a million and a half models at different RV shows, we eventually narrowed it down to a couple of Forrest River, Kodiak, Lance, Dutchmen, and Heartland models.

The one thing that made the Lance stand out was the 4-season rating. Another big deal for us was the construction that Lance uses: all aluminum framing, smooth fiberglass sides, and lightweight composite woods.

Beyond that, from looking at the pictures online, Lance just seemed to be the most high-end (outside of an Airstream, which we had decided wasn't for us, mostly because of price) of the "smaller" trailers we were interested in. The interiors were so light when the windows were open. So many of the other RVs were so dark.

We REALLY liked their layouts, trim, and color options. For us, the only debate we were really having was the 1885 or the 1985. When we decided to go look at the Lance, we both knew we'd be happy with any of the 3 interiors. That's saying a LOT. Most other companies, we were going to have to order our trailer so that it had the interior we wanted.

Lance 1885

Lance 1985

The day we went to look at the Lance's, we looked at the 1575, 1685, and 1885. We didn't even look at the 1985 (they didn't have any on the lot).

The main difference between the 1885 and 1985 is the door placement and where the fridge is. There's about a foot more in length and the storage setup is completely different. We ultimately decided that the shower tub wasn't worth the door being right next to the bed. There was just something about it that we didn't like.

Ultimately, the Lance 1885 was the right choice for us, for what we want to do with the RV now and for (hopefully) the years to come. We are really looking forward to the trips we are planning to take with it!

Narrowing Down the Trailer

As I mentioned before, we struggled to narrow down our requirements. We had visited a couple of RV shows in the area and saw so many things we liked and so many we didn't.

For instance, we found that we liked:

• Dry baths
• Walk around beds
• Bench dinettes
• Kitchens at the front or back of the RV
• Trailers around the "18" range (the interior being about 18 feet, not necessarily the exterior)
• Power awnings
• Flat, fiberglass sides (on the outside - easier to clean)
• Bathtub instead of corner shower
• Slide-outs

We found that we didn't like:

• Wet baths
• Beds with one side up against the trailer
• U-shaped dinettes
• Dark interiors
• Entertainment center at the end of the bed

These are all things we learned just by walking around RV shows. The biggest lesson we learned? That you'll have to make some compromises in the RV you end up buying.

From our list of "we like", we started to narrow down what were must haves, and what weren't. Many of these things will depend on what you can get in the trailer you can tow. Jon will write the tow vehicle post, but our "final" decisions came down to two we could tow with our V6 SUV and one we couldn't.

We went back and forth so many times about what to get and when. For us, it came down to the fact that I do triathlons and we're constantly traveling during the summer. We wanted something we could do together for long weekends & week-long vacations regardless of season, and we wanted something we could do with friends & family. (A few of our friends & families have RVs/travel trailers/pop-ups.)

We narrowed our choices down to four VERY different options (none of which we had seen in person before coming to the decision of these four):

Sylvan Sport Go - Tent/pop-up trailer that could be used as a toy hauler, could be kept in our garage, and could be towed by the SUV with NO problems. Also the cheapest option. The biggest compromise of all of the options.
Forest River R Pod 177 - Teardrop trailer with hard sides, wet bath, small kitchen, bed up against the side of the trailer, but could be towed by the SUV. The biggest compromise of the hard sided trailers.
Lance 1575 - The biggest of the trailers that could be towed with the SUV. We really liked the Lance brand when we saw found it online. The biggest draw-back to this one was the bed.
Lance 1885 - The trailer we really wanted, but meant we'd need a new tow vehicle. We weren't crazy about the u-shaped dinette or the corner shower, but the space inside meant the bed was turned around so that it was a walk around. Big plus!

We contacted Sylvan Sport to put us in contact with the people who live locally to see one of theirs. They don't have stores, so they use their customers to help make sales (essentially).

Shortly after, we went to a local dealership and saw the R Pod.

Dinette with the table down

Kitchen

Bed against side of trailer - dark linens

Wet bath

Fridge & microwave

We liked the unit enough that after talking about it, away from the dealer, we decided to go ahead and order one. We weren't thrilled with the dealer though. Well, they never got back to us. Their loss... and a confirmation that we were right to not be thrilled with them.

While we were waiting on the Sylvan Sport owners to get back to us, we decided to go ahead and look at the Lance 1575. Well, in the week between the R-Pod fiasco and going to see the Lance, we ended up talking a lot about the 1885 and our tow vehicle. We liked the vibe we were getting from our dealer, which was a good thing! After buying a new tow vehicle, we ended up looking at the Lance 1575, 1685, and 1885.

Here are some pics of the 1575.

Bed against wall

Kitchen with microwave below stove

U-shaped dinette

Fridge & freezer

We liked that the 1885 was all season, and has the ability to add solar panels to it to charge the batteries. Here's the Lance 1885:

With the couch out

Folding the couch down to have the bed out

Kitchen - with microwave & oven!

Bathroom with corner shower and sink

Kitchen storage under the sink

We decided that we would've been "ok" in the 1575, but we were glad that we had the ability to go up to the 1885. We've been looking for about two years and when we walked into the 1885, we just knew that it was the one. It was pretty much everything we've been looking for that we were willing to tow. We were able to decide what we were willing to compromise on. The biggest things we compromised on were the corner shower and the u-shaped dinette.

Sure, we could've found EVERYTHING we were looking for in a bigger model, but we didn't want to go too long for our first trailer. We have some room to grow into this trailer and we hope to have many adventures in it!

The Research Phase

As I mentioned, we researched the heck out of this purchase. Anyone who knows us isn't really surprised by this AT ALL. What follows is a quick brain-dump of the research process.

At first, it was more of a basic learning thing. We had to answer questions like:

• What kind of RVs are there?
• Are we thinking about towing or driving?
• What type of RV suits our vacation style the best?

Ultimately, we decided that something we tow would be best for us. We just couldn't see ourselves driving an RV and towing a smaller vehicle. Since a good part of the summer is spent traveling to triathlons, we needed the ability to drive a separate car once we got to our location.

Then, we started looking at floorplans. That led to another group of questions.

• Bed up against the wall, or walk around?
• Entertainment center at the end of the bed (separating the floor plan) or not?
• Galley kitchen or in the front/back of the trailer?
• U-shaped or bench dinette?
• Wet or dry bathroom?
• Sink in the bathroom or not?
• How much storage is there?
• Outdoor kitchen or not?

You get the picture. It's basically like buying a mini house.

Once we had the basics figured out, we had to figure out how we were towing this thing... and what length we'd be comfortable with. We had a LOT of discussions about whether we were towing with our SUV or buying a truck. Ultimately, we bought a truck. That's a different post though.

Then, it came down to brand, finishes, and things like that. There are SO MANY brands of RVs. You have to find something you like... and that's sold near you. We finally decided on three very different brands of three very different RVs. (Also another post.)

After the brand decision, you have to make sure that you like your dealer. You'll likely have to deal with them for at least a year after the purchase, so be sure to like them. Go to the dealers and get a feel for them. This is especially good if you haven't seen the RV you're thinking about buying (like the situation we were in). Be willing to drive a little bit to get what you want, where you're comfortable buying from.

We had a lot of fun doing the research. It was a bit stressful toward the end as we were coming close to making a decision, but that's just us being nervous about making the purchase.

Getting Started - The Decision

In 2011, we (Jon & Heather) started talking about getting an RV. We had NO CLUE that it'd take us almost two years to decide what kind (Class A, B, C, travel trailer, or pop-up) and what brand (who knew there were so many?!).

In January 2012, we went to the RV show near us and pretty much decided that a travel trailer would be good for us. One decision down! What length, what brand, and so many other decisions would follow... and be met with "well, what about this?" types of questions. We went back and forth so much,  and did so much research it drove us both crazy. 

Fast forward to January 2013 and we decided on a truck and travel trailer. Over the next few posts, we'll describe how we came to the decisions we made. We read so many blogs and forums to help us along the way; we hope this helps someone with their decisions one day.

Our Ford F-150 and Lance 1885

From the bed looking to the back of the trailer

From the door looking to the front of the trailer