When we decided that we wanted to travel full-time in an RV, one of the first steps was to find the perfect camper. Because we would be traveling with two young kids, we knew that we wanted something with a lot of space.
We knew that we needed beds for four people, a kitchen, a TV, and lots of storage space. Beyond that, we wanted a washer and dryer hook up, a good-sized living room area, and a separate space for the kids to play.
So how did we choose our RV?
First, we looked at a LOT of campers--both online and in person.
We kept a running list of campers that interested us and watched walk-through tours of those units online multiple times. Each time, we tried to imagine what it would be like living in that camper. Where would we put our DVDs? Was there enough room for our dishes? Where would we all sit for family movie night? Where would the kids play?
After many months of looking around, we finally settled on the Montana 377FL.
The Montana 377FL is a 42' long 5th wheel. It has four slide outs. Because of its size (and how far we were going to be hauling it), we upgraded Brian's truck to a 2016 GMC 3500 DRW. It has definitely been an adjustment becoming a single vehicle family during our travels! Brian and I have always had two cars (even before kids), so the extra planning necessary when we share a single car is new to us!
Here is the new truck and new camper (with all of the slides in) at our first campground in Florida:
The big selling point for us for the Montana 377FL was the huge living room! It has two pull-out couches, two recliners, a TV, a fireplace, and lots of storage space. All of the seating means that everyone has their own space to sit and relax. The pull-out couches give us extra beds for when any friends or family come out to visit!
The large floor space also gives us space to sit down and have family game night or play Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch. We bought a rug to make the area look more home-like and to make sitting on the floor more comfortable!
The quilt you see above was a BEAUTIFUL going away present from our incredibly sweet next-door neighbors, Bob and Sharon. Sharon is an AMAZING quilter!! The quilt is a map of the United States with patches for all of the National Parks. Sharon stitched the borders of all of the States, so that Brady (who is blind) could feel the borders of all of the States.
Here is a close up of the quilt, which is now one of our most prized possessions!
Many RVs have a single, open-concept area for the living room, kitchen, and dining room, but the Montana 377FL created entirely distinct areas. The living room is set apart by two stairs and is its own distinct room.
The kitchen is set apart from the living room and dining area and has an island with two stools. This not only gave us plenty of room to cook, but also another seating area where the kids could do schoolwork or Brian or I could do computer work.
The dining room area is in a separate slide. Although small, it was nice to have a separate dining room space where we could all sit and eat together. We eat most meals there, and the kids do almost all of their schoolwork on that table.
Next to the dining room table, we hung a whiteboard calendar and a metal folder system. On the calendar, we write what we are doing each day, as well as what's for dinner. This lets the kids know what's coming up. (Brady is a Braille reader, so Lauren will read the schedule to Brady.) In the metal folders, we store the kids' schoolwork for the coming week.
This is our first time using the Ninja Foodie and let me tell you--I am OBSESSED!!!!
The cabinets that divide the kitchen and living rooms serve as a pantry, as well as a place to store the kids' schoolwork. That includes their textbooks, Lauren's computer, Brady's brailler*, and some of their art supplies and sensory toys (play dough, kinetic sand, etc).
*A brailler is like an old-fashioned typewriter that lets you write in Braille. When the paper is removed, the Braille letters are 3D and able to be felt tactically.
One of the downsides of the Montana 377FL is that there is only one bathroom (some of the other rigs we had considered had two) and it is TINNNYYYYY! At the end of the day, we decided we would rather have the extra living room space than a larger bathroom.
Even with a wide angle lens, there's just no way to capture the bathroom because it's so small!
The master bedroom is a good size and has plenty of storage, as well as a washer and dryer.
The other major selling point to the Montana (after the living room) was the kids' loft!!
In most other campers with loft areas, the loft is accessed by a ladder. When we toured campers with the kids, we noticed that they were scared of climbing up and down the ladders. The LAST THING we wanted was to have to help the kids up and down a ladder every time they wanted to go to get into or out of their loft or use the bathroom. (It would be like letting a dog in and outside. The second he's outside, he suddenly decides he wants to be inside LOL!)
The Montana has CARPETED STAIRS that go into the loft. The stairs have a handrail and automatic lights that go on anytime the kids go up or down the stairs. That means that if one of the kids has to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, they automatically have a light on. It also means that the kids need no help from us to go to and from their loft, which is now officially their favorite place in the camper!
The loft doubles as the kids' sleeping area and their play area.
We bought tri-fold mattresses that can either be folded and stacked on top of each other or easily stacked on top of each other as they are. That way, the kids can create more floor space to play if they want.
To store the kids' toys, we brought some of the storage cubes from their playroom at home. Lauren and Brady each got to choose what toys they wanted to bring to fill the cubes with. For their books, we bought 3M shelving units and attached those to the walls. I was a little worried about whether they would stay on the camper walls, but so far we have had no problems and they are awesome!!
Lauren also has a shelf above her pillow for her photo albums (including the album given to her by her friends at school before she left!), her alarm clock, sunglasses, and perfume.
For anyone who's interested in seeing a video walk through of a Montana 377FL, there are some great ones on YouTube. See here!
If you have any questions about the Montana 377FL, let us know!! If there is anything else you want to know, email us!
Thanks for checking out our new home. We can't wait to share our travels with you!
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