The Open Range, traded in
We loved our Open Range fifth wheel, a.k.a. “Patience.” But some of the reasons that made it right for us – the bunkhouse to house the grandchildren being at the top of that list – are no longer relevant. And it was relatively dark and had a number of maintenance issues – most notably the slide cable unreliability, the persistent blowouts and the leak in the bunkhouse slide – that made it a less-than-ideal place to live. With the sale of our house we felt justified in looking for an upgrade.
So what kind of RV would be better? Well, we were still committed to a fifth wheel as we believe they provide the most comfortable and economical living space of any RV type. We also needed the one-and-a-half baths; Jett would divorce me if I asked her to live in an RV with just one bath. Those were the only “must haves” but there were a lot of other desirable characteristics which could be boiled down to this: more living space. We wanted something that was more comfortable for full-time RV living than the Open Range. Something brighter and cheerier. Maybe a larger refrigerator and a ceiling fan. More storage. A real sofa on which I could nap. Comfortable seating for four in the “living room” and at the table. Better outside lighting. An automatic leveling system. Hydraulic slides (with no cables!). Two air conditioners.
Also, based on some models we had seen at an RV show, the “front bath” layout was very attractive. By putting the full bath in the front of the RV, the space wasted by the hallway was eliminated and the bathroom became much larger and more comfortable.
So I started by constructing a list of fifth wheel models with a bath and a half with the full bath up front. There were about 10 such models. I then conducted a nationwide search for used RVs from this list. And I found… nothing. Well, almost nothing. I did find some used ones in Minnesota and Oregon and maybe a few in Texas. But I wasn’t about to travel 2,000 miles to buy an RV.
One of the reasons for the dearth of used RVs of this type is that they didn’t exist prior to the 2012 model year, which meant that an owner would have to have held if for less than 3 years to be for sale used now. I suspect that the few who had these models liked them and didn’t feel like dumping them so soon.
So I looked for new 2015 models. And found… damn few in New England. But Camping World of Berkley MA had two Heartland Bighorn 3875FBs in stock. So we decided to go take a look.
Of course we fully intended that it would just be a scouting expedition, but the trip down there was over 60 miles, so we weren’t eager to make many of those trips. Between some aggressive selling and the model selling itself, we were hooked. So, in late March, while the Open Range was still buried under tons of snow, we signed the contract, trading in the Open Range for the amount we owed on it.
We took possession on May 6, hauling the Open Range down to Berkley and hauling the Bighorn back up to Littleton. And that was the end of our Patience. I hope it finds a good family.
The photo is our last view of Patience as she sat in the Camping World parking lot. I felt more emotion leaving her than I did leaving the house that I had owned for 10 years. So many memories…
I could try to describe our new RV, but I will instead suggest that you find a YouTube video (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsfkBR5lLT4). The model shown here is not identical – we have stainless steel appliances, for example – but it is very similar.
I can tell you that it is as nice as it looks.
Executing the swap was an ordeal. More on that next.