A couple of things that we’ll probably be adding to the Want List:

• A countertop dishwasher, oh, yes… if  we can make the space for it. (Amazon)

• A convection oven to replace the single-tasker models so common with RVs (Camping World)

• A suitable kayak/canoe carrier for the roof of the vehicle. (Thule?) If we’re leaning toward a TT instead of a Fiver, then it could travel on a rack atop the TT. The problem, of course, is that I haven’t built the kayak yet (or possibly this one). Oh yeah, and I’ll require a suitable location to construct such a vessel when the time comes. I’m sure somebody somewhere rents garage space.

Not much in the way of posting recently.

We’re working on thinning out our belongings and deciding what house projects to tackle first when Colorado thaws out in another month or two.

There’s heavy consideration for a fence replacement as it’s going to become a safety issue pretty soon and likely draw too much attention from the city. I’m not looking forward to the fence project as I know the city will want “their share” of the costs.

There’s also some possibility that we’ll be installing three doors in the basement along with some super inexpensive flooring to make it look finished. Cosmetic remodels don’t need permission from assorted authorities here.

I suppose they’ll both need to be addressed in short order, so after tax season I’ll be laying in supplies for both.

Daisy is working on selling off some of our canning supplies and kids’ toys that they don’t play with anymore. But there’s also the back and forth of “should we keep this…” or “should we store this…”

I’ve a garage full of tools and implements, obtained over the years, that only serve a purpose for the house itself. With very few exceptions, those things simply won’t be needed anymore if we’re in an RV. So, when the house is ready, we’ll have a couple of epic garage sales — nearly everything will go!

It’s a little uncomfortable, but for us the end result will be worth it.

So, we made it to and through the RV show in Denver. The kids took it reasonably well, but they wanted to go inside -everything-. We had to keep redirecting them to “we’re looking at bunkhouses”.

What’s worse is that we did have to check out the innards of some specific makes and model-lines to see if they were suitable, but even though the display models weren’t what we wanted. So, from the kids’ perspective, we weren’t following our own rules.

Then we spotted, way back in the corner, a Sprinter 316 bunkhouse. Can’t link directly to this model’s page on the Keystone site (Why, Keystone? Why?!?), but a quick Google will yield some examples.

Big bunk room.

Nice kitchen with island sink and work surface. A nice overhead cabinet that we seem to have missed in some of the web research and that clearly isn’t indicated on the plans.

I do prefer an en suite bath, which this doesn’t have. To get a nice en suite with a half-bath for the kids, we’d need to look more seriously at fifth wheels. But those features put us in a weight class that requires a notably larger tow vehicle. So, a single full bath will be fine.

One thing with which I’m not at all impressed was their microwave/range vent combination as its installation really seems like an afterthought to an otherwise well-considered arrangement.

Let me explain.

It has a large kitchen with a good counter and workspace. But when they got to the mass-produced, mini-microwave, they stuck it inside of an overbuilt cabinet, under which they’ve slapped on the typical range light and vent hood.

And?

The downside is that it leaves little vertical space for cooking. Even worse, if one tried to use it as-is, one will need to regularly slouch down to get a viewing angle on the pots on the rear burners… and I’m only 5’7″.

Methinks an early modification would be to find a competent installer to remove all of that nonsense and just put in one of those Dometic convection/microwave/light/vent units.

That one complaint aside, I think this could certainly become the next trailer to begin our full-time RV-living career.

The Colorado RV show starts at the Denver Convention Center this Wednesday. We won’t be able to make it to the less-busy weekdays due to work commitments, but we will be taking the munchkins with us for an early Saturday trip.

We still haven’t narrowed our list down completely — we’re still on the fence about TT vs. a Fiver. And I think my concerns are primarily the size of the tow vehicle I’ll need to locate to pull eight tons vs five.

This will be the first of three shows in Colorado that we’ll be hitting this winter. The second will be in Colorado Springs and the third back in Denver at the Western Center, which hosts the largest RV show in the Rocky Mountains.