Our Cabin-On-Wheels - A Sneek Peek

I promised to show you our new cabin-on-wheels but I'm not quite ready to show you what ours looks like. I need to take some photos to share what we've done to make it our own. I always decorate and make minor changes so our trailers don't look like every other one on the lot. Until I get a few more photos to share I'll give you a tour from the manufacturer's website. We ordered some changes but the footprint of the trailer is the same.

Our new trailer is made by Outdoors RV in LaGrande, Oregon. That's on the eastern part of our state where it gets real cold in the winter. The folks in LaGrande know how to keep things comfortable and warm in the winter. These trailers are made to withstand cold temperatures and for cold weather camping. There were several models we liked but this one had all the bells and whistles on our list. Since we've had two trailers before we already knew things we wanted in another trailer. We planned all along to upgrade one more time and this is the one we absolutely love! So, please make yourself comfortable and join me for a tour.

Our trailer looks like this. Two doors - one on the back into the main living area and one into the bedroom. We have a big awning that makes outdoor living comfortable. The square door toward the lower front of the trailer is a pass-through storage area that can be accessed from either side of the trailer.

The other side of the trailer looks like this. You can see where the slide-out 'room' is. Slides sure add a lot of living space to a trailer. Some RVs have multiple slides but we are happy with this one. You can see the door on the other side of the storage pass-through.

This is our floorplan. I'll explain some things as we go along.  The 'front' door is the back door. As you can see, it leads into the main living area. The floorplan shows a television in the bedroom. It's wired for it but we've chosen not to add it to our trailer.

As we step inside you will see a panel of controls on the end of the overhead cabinet to your right. Some manufacturers put all of the controls behind a cabinet door so they aren't visible and, honestly, I wasn't thrilled to have them here but they really do make it much easier to see and control things in and out of the trailer. With the push a button we can extend the awning or pull it back in. Our last two trailers had manual hand-crank awnings. This is so simple. Press another button and the dinette slide moves out to full extension on its own. When it's time to get ready to move down the road my sweetheart asks me to 'put the slide in' and I push that button and it comes inside the trailer and stops in just the right place. When I take photos of our trailer I'll show you what that looks like when the slide is in for travel. Other controls here turn on the water pump for sinks and bathroom water use when we're not hooked up to water. We turn on our hot water tank and can check the levels of our fresh water tank and our holding tanks here. We added a solar panel to the roof and one of these controls turns it on. It's really amazing that we can stand in one spot and handle everything we need to keep things running or ready to move. I mentioned that I wasn't thrilled to have the controls right here. That seemed like a prime spot for decorating - maybe a small bulletin board or a welcome sign. Or something. But not buttons and controls! My sweetheart had an idea and it was good. His idea made sense. I'll show you what it is when I share more photos.

We chose a different color scheme for our trailer. We have brown leather and different fabric on the valances and the dinette seats. You will see the difference when I show you our trailer.

The kitchen is on the rear wall of the trailer and it wraps around on the far wall. To the right is our refrigerator. This refrigerator is bigger than what we had in our last two trailers. Next is my stove and microwave. The sink is in the corner and I love the sink covers that are made from the same material as the counter top. They provide extra work space when I need more room.

We ordered our trailer without the back-splash you see in this photo. It's made of glass, has the company logo and has a space between the wall and back-splash that would be a nightmare to keep  clean. We have some great plans for back-splash. That will be added soon. The stove has a folding glass cover that is 'up' in this photo. You can see the manufacturer's sticker on the cover. The cover helps keep the stove top clean and protected from dust when we travel on back roads that aren't paved. When it's down it also adds work space.

I love the stainless double sink and the pull-out faucet. My faucet is bronze and matches all of the faucets in the bathroom area.

The trailer slide holds the dinette that is next to the end of the kitchen cabinet. We absolutely loved this big dinette. We could seat six at the table if we were all friendly and cozy. The table is bigger than most and the window on the side is very large. We've already enjoyed some wonderful views out this window. The smaller windows on each end of the slide are a good size, too. You can see a drawer under the dinette seat. There are drawers for storage under both seats. My last trailer had cabinet doors for the storage area under the seats and I almost had to lie down on my tummy to reach things inside. I was thrilled to see two drawers in this model.

Here's another view of the dinette.  You can see the skylight that lets in a lot of light. The pleated shade is closed in this photo but we keep it open most of the time, especially at this time of year. You can see our entertainment center just around the corner from the dinette.

We have a large TV and a great stereo system with surround sound throughout the trailer. When we ordered the trailer we made a change in the cabinet area below.  You will see that when I share photos of our trailer. The straps you see in this photo are used for security when we travel. I don't leave them attached when we live in the trailer.

Our seating area is across from the dinette slide. We chose two swivel recliners in place of the sleeper sofa. The recliners are comfortable and fit our lifestyle well. You can also get a glimpse of our dinette table top. It's made to look like repurposed wood. It fits the style we've chosen for decorating the trailer. The counter under the television and the bathroom sink counter are the same.

This photo shows a feature we really wanted in another trailer - lots of storage! And we have it. the cabinets beside the sofa are incredible. The pantry is next to the sofa and the two doors to the left of the pantry are a big closet!  Three big drawers underneath and two small drawers give us a lot of space, especially when we take long trips. We were determined to have enough closet space and storage so we can live in our trailer for a few months at a time.

You can see the pantry, closet and storage area well in this photo. The hallway leads to the bathroom and bedroom on the front end of the trailer.

 The bathroom sink is at the end of the closet, just across from the door into the 'powder room'.

Across from the sink is the door into the bathroom. It is a little room with the potty and bathtub/shower. Our first trailer had a tub that was so small I could bathe in a few gallons of water - with my knees up under my chin. While I won't be able to stretch out and lounge for hours in this one, it's much bigger and deeper than the first. A skylight in the shower adds height for tall people and it brings a lot of nice light into the bathroom without sacrificing privacy. The trailer came with this shower curtain. It's not my style and I quickly made a change there. Our new curtain is so much better!

 

The bedroom is at the front of the trailer. We have a queen-size bed that came with a very comfy mattress. We can walk around the bed which is the only way to go. Nice big nightstands are something we've not had and 'shirt' closets and storage overhead are great. There is storage under the bed where we put extra supplies and things we don't use often. I'll show you that when we tour our cabin-on-wheels. This bedspread comes with the trailers but it didn't stay long in ours! We had a new quilt ready and waiting to add some color and comfort to our bedroom.

I'm glad I could give you a tour of an 'on-the-lot' trailer like ours. Soon I'll take you on a tour of our new cabin-on-wheels. You may wonder why I call our trailer our cabin-on-wheels. Two reasons. I have a blog friend who has a wonderful cabin in the mountains of eastern Oregon. One day I commented that I wished we had a cabin, too. She replied, 'Oh, but you do. Your cabin is on wheels and it can go anywhere your heart desires.' She's right - this is our cabin. Our cabin-on-wheels. We've chosen to decorate this one in vintage cabin style. You'll see what I mean soon.

An Unexpected New Adventure

I’m a dreamer!  There’s no doubt about it and my sweetheart does a bit of dreaming, too.  Together we have begun to dream and plan for future days when we will be free to roam a bit farther from home than we can these days.  Our dreaming always includes travel to see parts of our continent we’ve never seen.  Those dreams also include a trailer – what I lovingly call ‘a cabin-on-wheels’.  In the past I’ve shared our sweet, little trailer that we’ve enjoyed for a few years.  I moved right in and made it a home away from home.  It’s been such a gift to us and, if the walls could talk, you would hear of adventures filled with joy and laughter and a few experiences that might make good comedy.

Over the past couple of years we’ve become more and more aware that we needed to have a trailer with some benefits our little one couldn’t provide – like a bed we didn’t have to make up from the sofa every night.  And a bed we could walk around so one person didn’t have to climb over the over (sleeping) person in order to get up.  Space was at a premium but we were fine with that.  We began to dream about the long-term.  In that quest we’ve attended every RV show in our area.  Two every year in Portland and two every year in Salem, Oregon.  In between the shows we’ve often stopped by dealerships to look and dream.  Some of the dealers began to recognize us at the big shows.  In our hearts we knew what we would like to have in the future but we didn’t dream about or consider what we needed now.  We just didn’t know how that could all happen soon.  But, it did!  And we believe God put it all together for us. 

When we go to the shows we don’t look at anything that we wouldn’t consider buying.  We tried to keep our attention focused on real possibilities.  At a recent RV show we had walked miles and miles through two humongous buildings that were packed full – and I do mean full! – of RV’s of every sort.  I don’t know how they do it but the trailers and motor homes and fifth wheels and toy haulers are parked just inches from each other.  You can go into one and look right into the window of another one beside it.  Rows and rows of RV’s with aisles in between can get pretty overwhelming.  Then when you’ve seen everything inside you go outside - there are more parked between the buildings and in the parking lots around the sides and back of the buildings!  Two weeks ago we went to the last RV show of the year.  We looked and enjoyed, stopped for lunch, and then looked some more.  We talked to dealers.  We talked to people who had models we saw and we talked to some who didn't have a clue what they wanted but were having fun.  Just when we thought we had seen the last one I looked around the corner and there were two more parked nearby.  I was tired, my feet hurt and I was ready to go home!  I hoped my sweetheart wouldn’t want to walk over and look at the last trailers.  But he did and I did, and we are SO glad we did.  In all of our looking, there’s one model that we’ve loved since we first saw it more than a year ago.  We began to compare everything else to that one.  When I stepped in the door of the first trailer of the two I called out to my sweetheart who was still outside.  I told him he had to come quick – he wouldn’t believe it!  This trailer had the exact floor plan of the one we loved.  It was a different brand but every square inch was the same!  I could hardly believe it.  We looked it all over and soon the dealer came by and noticed us sitting inside.  We talked with him and learned a lot about this trailer.  It had been gently used but in great condition and the price was great!  We looked and talked and looked some more.  All we could talk about as we drove home was that trailer.  The conversation continued through the evening and I was a bit surprised the next morning when my sweetheart said, ‘I really believe that’s our trailer!’  Would you believe we drove back to the RV show, looked it over again, found the dealer and bought it?  Yep, we did!  A few days later we picked it up. . . And took it home.
I can hardly believe it.  It still doesn’t seem real – it seems like a dream when I look outside and see it sitting where our little trailer was parked.   I have all kinds of plans for decorating our new-to-us home away from home.  Ideas fill my head and, at times, they just don’t stop. 

I’d love to give you a tour.  Here are photos from the dealer’s website so you get an idea of the space and how things are laid out.  This is a rear lounge model with big windows at the back of the trailer.  The sofa folds down into a bed if we have overnight guests.  Some rear lounge models have a pair of recliners where the sofa is.  We think we will probably replace the sofa with swivel recliners some day.  We want them to swivel so we can turn around the enjoy the views out the big back window!  The shades are down part way in the photos but I keep them up under the valances during the daytime.  I have plans to ‘remodel’ the window coverings one of these days.
Across from the rear door – which is really the front (entry) door – is the slide out with the dinette, which also makes down into a bed, and a roomy pantry.  There is storage under both sides of the dinette.  You may notice a blur on part of the valance.  It’s not deformed - I tried to erase a huge, red sale price sign that was hanging there when the photo was taken.  On the right you can see part of my little kitchen.  The counters are a composite with a granite look. From here you see part of the entertainment center, which is wonderful. 
This gives you an idea of the layout of the main living area.  This photo was taken from the middle of the trailer looking back into the living area.  I call it my open concept ‘great room’!From the back – looking toward the front of the trailer you can see more.  On the right is the kitchen – complete with a three-burner gas range with little oven, microwave, a nice refrigerator with freezer and, of course, the sink.  On the left next to the dinette is the pantry and – my favorite – the entertainment center.  The entertainment center has a nice TV and a surround system that includes a radio, CD and DVD player.  It sounds incredible.  There are speakers in the main living area, the bedroom and outside so you can choose which area – or all three – where the sound will be heard.  Give a musician (me) surround sound and she thinks she just may be in Heaven!  The big black ‘thing’ in the lower cabinet is a sub-woofer speaker, part of the surround sound.  It enhances the bass tones.  That’s the speaker you hear when a car goes by with loud booming music coming from inside when the windows are all closed.  We haven’t turned it up to make things rock and roll – but I just might try it someday when nobody’s looking.  Just beyond the refrigerator is a door into the bedroom ‘suite’.  There is a pocket door that goes into the wall behind the entertainment center.  It can be closed (and locked from the other side) for privacy.  The door on the right goes into the ‘potty’ room.  Yes – that’s what's in there.  Just the potty.  Maybe I should call it the powder room.  It’s small but quite adequate.  From here you can see the bed at the front of the trailer.  Let’s go into the bedroom and I’ll show you around.  Straight ahead, at the front of the trailer is the queen-size bed.  It’s a bed – a real bed – that we can walk around!  It has a great mattress that is very comfy!  No more pulling the sofa out every night to make up our bed, which we did in our little trailer.  The bedspread and shams are gone now – they are put in trailers just for show.  I imagine there may be people who actually use them but the spread is fitted and quite awkward.  They usually don’t go with the décor new owners envision for the room.  I’ve ordered a new quilt for the bed.  It should arrive in a few days.  The valances match the old spread and they will be recovered or replaced when I get inspiration from the new quilt.  The lambrequins (side pieces on the windows) are going away.  Not only are they too formal for me but they are fabric over a stiff cardboard-type material.  They are clumsy and, at times, seem to be in the way when we walk around the bed.  They will be replaced by a nice tie-back curtain that will give a softness to the window décor.  We will keep the day/night shades.  There is a lot of storage in this bedroom.  The end of the bed lifts up and there is a lot of storage space underneath. You can see the closets on each side of the bed.  Toward the lower right side of the photo you can see a little bit of another closet.  Between that closet and the window on the right is the back door (really on the front of the trailer).  In the lower left corner of the photo above you may notice a sink and a bit of counter.  Many of the new trailers have the bathroom sink outside the 'potty' room these days .  It gives access to the sink when someone else is using what my grandmother called 'the facilities'.  There is a privacy curtain that goes across the entire room on a ceiling track  between the end of the bed and the corner of the sink.   We won’t use it unless we have guests (grandkids) with us.  Next to the sink is a very roomy shower.  Above the shower is a nice skylight – opaque, not clear, so birds and people flying overhead can’t see in!  You may wonder why we like the sink and shower in the bedroom.  My sweetheart was adamant that the next trailer we bought must have a nice dressing area.  This accomplishes that and it works for us.  The pocket door is to the left of the shower, between the bathroom/bedroom area and the living area.  There you have it.  Our new-to-us trailer where adventures await.  We’ve already taken it to the coast and had some – should I say ‘interesting’? – experiences adjusting to life in a different trailer.  It doesn’t feel like home yet.  It still feels like I’m in someone else’s trailer but I’m told that is normal.  It won’t be long before it’s cozy and familiar and will feel like home.  I’ll share our first outing together at the coast soon.  It was quite an adventure!
Just so you know, we will be selling the little trailer and – before you ask – NO!  I will not be selling Daffodil.  She is my very own trailer.  She and I have more adventures planned together.