Long story short, We found THE RV. THE 5th wheel we were looking for. While we were in Pennsylvania, I spotted this baby in Tennessee on the RV Trader and jumped on it like an excited dog after a milk bone. After many repeat visits to the Hershey RV show, again, looking at new RVs just wasn’t fitting well. The prices were too far out of our budget for comfort. Meanwhile, we were keeping an eye out for an older RV that needed some renovations. I’m a handy guy and both my wife and I enjoy home renovations. So, if we came across one that had good bones and the right layout, we’d jump at it. We found JUST the RV we were looking for.

This 2016 Open Range Roamer 376FBH had EXACTLY the layout we were looking for. You might imagine, 2016 is older than we were hoping for, but here’s the thing; It’s been kept in a warehouse since 2017! Most of the RV, especially the outside, is basically show room condition. The inside, while dated, was also in good condition. The owners were asking $35K. I couldn’t have asked for a better deal, so after an inspection, I paid them what they wanted.

Next stop was to change out the, basically unused, 2016 factory Westlake tires for fresh rubber and repack the wheel bearings for the 12+ hour trip back to PA.

The above photo is shortly after arriving back in PA. The autumn leaves were spectacular on the drive. As you can see, on the ground to the right of the RV, I barely got it unhooked from the truck before my wife and kids started gutting the interior. Check out the video of the moment I caught them in the act below .

Instead of a bunkhouse, one of the primary features of this layout is the forward den, which has a door to separate it from the kitchen area, 2 equally sized closets, a 1/2 bath, and a mini fridge. It’s basically mobile Shangri-La for a couple of kiddos.

After the dust settled, the couches vanished. The girls put up some wallpaper, pastel yellow on Eva’s side, and pink on Ana’s. They installed their twin mattresses and far too many stuffed animals. This was enough to get us through the rest of our summer/autumn season in the North. I plan on building bases for these twin mattresses that doubles as storage, because no RV can have too much storage, right?

Now that we’re back in FL for the winter, its time to get the fillet knives back out to gut the rest of this beast. There is a single biggest problem with this year range in the Open Range line of RVs, the floors. They are notorious for soft spots, and our RV is no exception. I noticed it right away during my inspection. To get through the season, I threw a piece of plywood over it, and a rug over that, which worked well to firm it up and avoid any further damage. Basically, the floors are made of a ~3 inch piece of Styrofoam sandwiched between a 2-ply and 1-ply piece of plywood on the top and bottom, respectively. What could go wrong?

Looking on the bright side, we wanted to change the floors anyways, especially the carpet which is holding onto the faint smell of cigarette smoke from it’s previous owner. Even after days of airing out and an ozone treatment that my wife wanted to try out, there’s a tinge that remains. But, I’m pretty confident that will be gone with the carpet. So, BYE BYE carpet!

I’m incredibly thankful for the RV we found and bought. I don’t think there could have been a more optimal outcome. I tend to thank God for that kinda thing. Thank you Lord.

Well, I think we’re “kinda sorta” caught up. I’ll attempt to keep the blog updated as I work through these renovations. For real, this time.

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We have decided to start out in our existing RV, which is only 28 feet long and has a single slide. This space needs to house two adults, two children and a dog, as well as, all of the essentials needed to do life. Enough housewares, computers, and educational materials, bicycles, tools, etc. Everything you need to stay productive, functional, and comfortable while traveling the country.

Besides that we had a major setback. 3 months ago, I owned a Ford F-150 ecoboost. I bought it new, upgraded it to be a better tow truck. It was a great truck. Though in order to eventually pull a bigger RV I needed to upgrade to an F-350 which has much larger towing capacity. So I went shopping and made a trade. I almost instantly regretted it. After only 400 miles it had a catastrophic failure. The 6.7 Powerstroke, the motor in the F-350, has an Achilles Heal, its fuel pump. The Bosch CP4 is designed to be lighter and smaller and less expensive than previous fuel pumps put into diesel engines. But it has been found to be unreliable, specifically in the US. When it fails, it fails big. It shreds itself, then metal flakes goes through the entire fuel system contaminating every other component along the way. The injectors, other pumps, the fuel lines, everything needs to be changed out! Fortunately, the truck is still under warranty and the repair was honored otherwise, the bill could have been north of $10,000! The whole experience was extremely suspenseful for me. Throwing our plans and my expectations out the window. I often wondered if God was sending me a message that I’m doing the wrong thing. The truck was in the shop for over two months. Delays getting parts, unreliable technicians, and other hold ups brought our departure plans to a halt.

In the meantime, Tracy and I continued sorting and moving our things, one load at a time, out of the house. Some of it went into our parents attics, spare rooms, and open space. Some of it was given away. Some donated, or simply tossed in the trash.

Finally, in the last couple days, we are seeing an end to the clutter. We’re completing our last tasks in the house, to get it ready for rent. Our departure date has been set back time and again. But finally, we will be getting on the road, ironically, on Independence Day.

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