6 month on the road assessment introduction

Since I can't figure out how to put an introduction at the top of the nicely formatted Word document which is a table, here is the paragraph before we get to the official assessment in the next post!

We've actually been living in the RV since August 15, 2016 when we picked it up in Michigan but we don't consider our "travelling" to have started until we retired and left the Pacific Northwest after Thanksgiving 2016.  So this assessment is based primarily on December 2016 through May 2017.  Weather and the places we went of course would impact this assessment.  So, here are some of my (Ellen's) thoughts of our experiences so far!  For most of you this will be TLDR (too long didn't read!) but if I could tell my earlier self some things, this is some of what I would say!

6 months on the road assessment

Size matters but not as much as we thought	Because we unexpectedly love boondocking, size doesn't really matter.  Since there is so much open space, if you can drive it there, there's lots of room.  However, we do appreciate the shorter length for maneuvering in most of the other places we've been and for more choices of campsites.  And when we're back home, it will matter again since there are fewer accessible boondocking sites in Washington.  Also because we pull our toad, we don't pull off to places along a route very often because we're too long to maneuver in many roadside attractions/markets/views etc.
After all the struggles to find the perfect RV, is this the right RV for us?	So far, I think yes!   BUT I still envy smaller and simpler (like vans and small trailers and airstreams with lots of windows and no slides).  But I love the room the double slides provide in the living area of our RV where we spend most of our time when we're in camp.  But the windows are so small and have bars across them so it doesn't feel like you're "out in nature".  The only window that is always wonderful (unless you're facing the sun!) is the front window.   I also hesitate to remodel and make it our own wondering if we might decide we want something else and resale value will be impacted if we aren't careful with the changes (or even keep the original furniture).   I think we're ready to remodel (change the things we don't like) but it's so much work to figure out what we want and research how to make it happen!  So until the pain of what we have outweighs the work, I think we're staying the same for awhile!   We are loving using the economical car to make day trips with.  We can't imagine doing this in a real gas guzzler.  We spend enough on sightseeing gas as it is!   I think the biggest regret of what we ordered as options was getting the upgraded sound system because of the following:   1.       It's huge - between the receiver/amplifier and  the subwoofer we've lost a lot of usable space for something we aren't using due to the following... 2.       We don't really use it for TV and it doesn't do what we really wanted which is to bluetooth from our phones to the surround sound speakers. 3.       We often don't have hookups (to electricity) so we are using a portable battery boombox anyway and they make quite good sound.
What are some of the issues you wish you could solve or hope to solve with this motorhome?	Here are some things that I wish were different about our motorhome (not in any particular order).  Also, I don't think we'll actually change (or be able to change) some of these! 1.       Smaller TV - the current one is something like 48" and covers the whole window!  So it feels oppressive when it's up (it's on a televator - which is good!) and just feels huge for the room. 2.       Replace couch with reclining love seat for more comfortable seating but retain ability to lay on the "couch" (our couch space is pretty short!). 3.       Booth dinette is uncomfortable and sticks out pretty far.  Would prefer cupboards and rolling table with chairs for more flexibility. 4.       Better linen/pantry space - it works but all of the cupboards (or restricted openings) make it a challenge to put anything wide and/or tall  into the cupboards.  I miss having one large cupboard that is flexible to make it a space that works best for your needs. 5.       A place to put the kitchen garbage.  Because we really need the cupboard space under the sink, we don't want to remove the shelf in order to put the garbage can there.  So it sits in the middle of our very small kitchen space! 6.       Need some sort of shade for the front window to keep down the heat!  The black shade seems to attract the heat rather than block it!  We'll probably invest in an outside windshield cover.
Pace	We have travelled as quickly as nightly (rare) and as much as two weeks (also rare).  We seem to like 5 - 7 days as the most relaxing but we mostly move on as we feel like it.  Sometimes we're happy to just hang around and not worry about where and when to go next and sometimes we are itching to move along for one reason or another.  If we are paying for a campsite, we'll often only pay for two nights at a time to make sure we don't commit to longer in case we want to move on due to boredom , weather or meeting up with friends somewhere etc.  We try to average around 120 miles per move but it's often shorter than that unless we're trying to get some place faster then it will be farther.
Lonelier than we thought	Of course we knew we'd miss our family and friends.  And before we started this venture I worried how we'd make friends when we're constantly traveling.  Others (on the forums) assured us we'd make many new friends along the way.  I think that will be true some day but so far we've made a lot of "could be" friends!  But you have to be with them in order to go beyond acquaintances  and  become friends!   When we stay at Thousand Trails, we meet a lot of friendly folk - for minutes at a time then they move on or we move on.  And we often feel out of place between the "older" retirees and the young working couples or families.  Within the last month or so, we've started connecting with Instagram "friends" which has been the best because we have an instant affinity (boondocking and living full time on the road) and we can stay in touch as we each travel our separate ways and reconnect when we're close again.  Even those we haven't met in person seem like friends as you discover what you have in common and personalities are revealed in posts.
Not camping in State, County and National Parks like we'd hoped	There are four main reasons for this 1) cost of state parks (in CA/WA at least!)  2) Many were  full or closed due to snow or off-season or you have to have a reservation   3) Plenty of free beautiful boondocking spots (in the SW)  4)  When Thousand Trails is nearby, it's easier and cheaper to just use that as a home base   Because of the cost in Washington State parks, we don't think we will stay extended times there when we're back home.  You pay a premium for peak season (when we're home) and for "popular" campsites (which seemed to be all the ones we want!).
Not spending time outside in our camp as much as we thought we would	This could change as we move into summer BUT I'm surprised we don't use our camp as a living room as much.  Usually it's because of the weather or bugs but another factor is convenience.  Everything we want is inside the motorhome so you end up going In and out a lot and it's just easier to do everything inside unless you're ready to settle for awhile to read or take a nap on the hammock.  When we're travelling more frequently, it takes more time to set up and take down the outside area so we don't do that as much as well.    And this is an odd statement - the motorhome is so high off the ground, you don't feel like outdoors is an extension of your home like walking into another room.  It's like going from upstairs living area to downstairs family room.  Hope that makes sense but it surprises me how much difference that makes mentally about your space.
Managing weather and routes and places to stay takes more time and energy than I thought!	Because we don't like to drive in heavy winds and we prefer to not go up and down mountains if another route is available and not too far out of the way, we do spend a lot of time trying to find the wind and elevations on our planned and alternate routes.  Not so easy to do!  Not to mention where should we go and what camping options are available (preferably free, quiet, beautiful easy to get in and out and has data!).   And all that is nearly impossible to research without data (now I really admire our full-time RV pioneers who did it without cell phones, email and internet!).
Boondocking is so peaceful and RV parks are not	I always knew that my "space" was important to me.  From the office to home to the RV to camping spots - I need light and nature and privacy.  RV parks drive me crazy - everywhere you look, you see white 5th wheels and trailers and motorhomes (for some reason the darker ones are easier on the eyes in nature!).   When we boondock out in the middle of no and where with a few relatively distant neighbors, the fresh air, views, birds, and quiet are so relaxing and peaceful.  Every window produces a stunning vista or at a minimum of rocks and bushes!
Not as many bugs as I feared	At least not in the motorhome.  Flies every once in awhile and same with those darn stinkbugs.  But so far no ants, minimal spiders, no earwigs, and no mice.  Mosquitos outside in some places.  And I know when we're back in the NW and other parts of the country I'll get to deal with them again!
Colder and hotter and windier than I thought	It seems like we went from unusual (much needed) rain to much colder than normal (so we're told) and straight to mid-80's and skipped the part about low 70's!  We seem to be either too hot or too cold most of the time.  But almost always it's windy!  Southwest I guess!  And season?
Managing solar with a residential fridge, 48" TV and DISH with DVR recorder and laptops and phones takes more power than we thought!	Since we've never measured this before I don't know how we could have a preconceived notion but I guess based on others stating they have all this stuff and their solar/batteries handles it great.  The problem is there are many folks with minimal electrical needs but we are on the mid to high end.  While we don't plan to use microwave or blow dryer on batteries (and we always knew A/C was not an option except on the generator), we did hope we could last days boondocking before we'd need to charge the batteries.  Now we hope to recharge them daily via sun or generator.  We don't have enough experience on the new golf cart batteries and solar (especially in the NW with all the trees) to know if daily solar/generator will work.  Stay tuned!
Solar is good!	We didn't even wait to research solar like we usually do.  We just went to a place several people recommended and said let's do this!  So as we read and learn more about the different options, we wonder if we have the right setup but we're glad we didn't wait.  If it works, then all is good.  If it needs tweaking, then we'll get it done!   Before solar, we ran the generator 2 hours in the morning and 2-3 in the evening.  Now it is quiet unless we want to use the microwave or it's been unusually cold and we've had to run the furnace a lot.  Or cloudy days!
WIFI turns out to be not as important as we thought	We wish we had purchased a cell phone booster instead of a wifi booster.  It was great at first - we would not have had wifi at several parks without it.  But over time we found many parks claimed to have wifi but it didn't reach even our booster or you had to pay extra for it or it limited the sites we could choose.  When Verizon offered unlimited data, that was it.  We now feel so much freer and relaxed about internet.  It's a tool to use when we need it instead of monitoring to see if we have enough data to do the things we needed or wanted to do.
Gas prices are great in Arizona	And bad in CA.  And probably bad back in the NW when we go back for the summer.  This is still painful to pay when the prices go way up but if we continue to budget it pessimistically then we at least won't go over budget!  Oh, and I never paid attention to gas taxes in other states before.  I recently looked at a chart and Washington is like the second highest in the nation!
More crowded than we expected	Once spring hit, we are continually surprised at how busy and crowded places are.  We're talking about the middle of the week.  Someone said "rolling spring breaks" and that was part of it but now we're at the end of April and it seems everywhere we turn there are so many tour buses and visitors from other countries.  We think it would be very quiet otherwise as we haven't run into that many other Americans traveling mid-week.
Still trying to figure out what we want for this season of our lives	We are very grateful we can have this kind of exciting and awe inspiring life to see the wonders of this beautiful country and meet so many great people.  But its hard not being back home to help family as they go through moves and trials (and joys!) of life.  And to contribute in some way by volunteering etc.  I know we've said this lifestyle allows us to go where we want when we want but in reality, the distance makes it impractical unless we stay close (and/or in one place long enough) in which case it would make more sense to live in a house in a community and make shorter trips for family or adventuring.   So, it will be interesting to see how we reconcile these somewhat  conflicting desires as we move through the retirement years!

 

Video tour finally available!

Well, we finally posted a video showing our new home.  I'm sure we'll learn a lot about how to do a better job of these videos, but for now it's a start!!


Come see it here...  2017 Newmar Bay Star 3009 tour

The next big step - check!

We feel so official now!  Not only do we have our tow car but now it's connected!!!  Thanks to Graham and his superior tow equipment selection and installation.   This is a whole new world for us as we have never towed a car.  So much to remember and scared we'll mess something up!  Hopefully we'll be pros in no time!

Here we are on it's maiden journey with Graham pulling forward so we could see it "set" as the tow equipment fell into proper place.  Test drive completed and towed the car to the RV park and unhitched!

Whew!  Another item on the checklist complete!!

It was meant to be!!!

We FINALLY have our tow car!  And it's the perfect color - maroon to match one of the swirls on the motorhome!

Low miles (28k) and the last year that Honda CRV's can be flat towed (2014).  We got it last Friday and we are thoroughly enjoying it!  Next step:  getting it ready to tow!

My sis said it's hitched up backwards... :)

Other impressions of our new home!

Finally, the last in the 4 part series we posted to IRV2!

This is part 4 of a 4 part series on our new Bay Star.  See my earlier posts on driving, weights and how we came to choose this motor home (with this timing and purchasing it sight unseen)!  

I'm starting with a quick recap,  then "the list"!  I hope there isn't a word limit here(!) - this is crazy long but hopefully it's helpful (or an interesting read) for at least some folks!

Our plans: 

Full time for as long as it works for us.  We generally like to "travel" rather than "park", we prefer state/national parks and really dislike RV parks with rigs close to each other (i.e. more like a parking lot - oddly enough that's exactly where we are through October until we retire - cheaper monthly rate close to town!).  

We used to boondock regularly so we think we'd like to continue to do that so we'll probably have a solar setup for longer term (dislike generator noise and exhaust).  We loved our previous 1987 27' Pace Arrow and that size worked for us other than not having a walk-around bed so we're comfortable with shorter gas coaches.  Just not sure if we will like it for full time but we'll find out!

Must have list:

Short (preferably around 32 ft), preferably gas

At least 2k CCC after full fluids and our two bodies (would love more CCC but hard to find in short) so sticker CCC should say 3k or more

Highest quality 

Passenger side windows (more than the typical small kitchen window)

Very usable with slides in

Really wanted or preferred:

Back window

Residential fridge

Split bath with pocket doors to separate living from bath/bed and another to separate bedroom

Linen closet

Pantry

Buffet with table/chairs (instead of booth)

Ability to replace furniture fairly easily (we didn't think most RV furniture would be comfortable for full time)

All outlets wired to the inverter

Solar

Fireplace (we love to take off the chill in front of a heater)

Two (instead of 3 or 4) slides, preferably on the drivers side

Did not want:

Longer than 35' (shorter gives more choices for camping and easier parking) 

Full wall slide (concern over slide mechanism with weight, often too open to bedroom for privacy, harder to place in campsite if tree or post is in the way vs. two slides where tree/post could be in between)

Passenger side slide (preferred more room for lounging under the awning and fewer slides to maintain or go wrong)

The List - what we got (+ good, - not so good, ~ so so)

GENERAL:

+ 31', 22k chassis, F53 6 speed, 22.5 tires, 2k+ net ccc for stuff (after us and full fluids but empty grey/black)

+ Passenger/driver chairs most comfortable we've tried yet (on Bay Stars)

+  2 AC's (good if one fails and more flexible)

+ Very usable floor plan with the slides in with minimal loss of a couple of cupboards and the usual drawer access in bedroom with Bay Star slides

~  We were concerned about the walking space between the two living area slides but it is very workable and comfortable but definitely not spacious!

- None of the outlets are wired to the inverter except the fridge (we got the impression that this was not something Newmar would do).  Not sure how we'll address this one.

+ Having two opposing slides in the living area means no reclining of passenger seat for husband naps on long drives (just to be clear I (wife) usually drive!).  On the other hand, it's great for feeling spacious when open.  Overall we decided this was a win despite not originally wanting it. 

- We did not care for the 2017 "gold" paint scheme.  It was too busy, the white seemed out of place (with the gold/black/maroon and it looked like a smiley face on the front which isn't bad but I guess we wanted a more elegant look which isn't normally us!).  We don't like a lot of black which shows dirt and retains heat.  They wouldn't let us change the graphics  (to last years for example) but we changed out the colors as a special order (made the white portions black and the black portion "Fawn" which was used in 2016).  I wish I would have spent more time on this part.  I actually used Photoshop to see what it would look like but I probably would have spent more time looking at a lot of different schemes but instead we wanted to be "safe" and stay as close to the original as possible.  But we were getting really tired of "research" and really wanted to get it ordered so it would get here in time for retirement.  I do like what we have better than the original so I guess that's good! 

- pump seems noisier than our old motorhome but we've gotten used to it

- not impressed so far with the "upgraded" sound system.  I think we need to figure out how to make it work for us.  I wanted to bluetooth to it from my Android phone and play music over the surround sound speakers.   Apparently the next model up had bluetooth in the receiver (but that wasn't an option offered by Newmar).  We were able to work around it by screencasting to the TV from the smartphone and turning on the sound system speakers to the TV.  But that's overkill having to have the TV on in order to play music through the smartphone (wirelessly).   I can bluetooth to the dash radio but haven't figured out how to make the radio go through the surround sound speakers.  

Update:  When we first tried the surround sound it was with the radio in the receiver.  The sound is much better with music on my phone (screen cast to the TV which is wired to the sound system).  We also figured out how to adjust the subwoofer which initially wasn't working so we had no bass so it sounded terrible.  We can't figure out how to update the settings using the TV and apparently we're supposed to be able to do that.  The whole setup is just really clunky and seems old (and the receiver is HUGE!).  I think there are a couple of separate threads on the sound system that we'll have to read to see what others have done.  Sounds like it isn't just with Bay Stars.

- we also got the Sirius satellite upgrade but we didn't realize it's almost $20/month and that's probably not something we'd spend.  We thought it was closer to $10 and we thought there would be a huge amount of programming that we'd like but at a quick glance we're not so sure.  Some day we might look at this more closely.

- blemishes and anomalies in the cupboards and tile floors and woodwork are hard to assess.  You don't notice them at a glance but as time goes on, we find more and more "huh" spots.  We know we will add a lot more so probably not a biggy in the grand scheme of things but when it's new (and a lot of money!) you want it to be perfect!

+ the extra insulation and construction is great for sound dampening.  The AC is not quite as silent as we'd like (but much much better than our old rig) and we can hardly hear the generator (inside at least) and it is quiet driving it (unless it's a really bad road!).  We did have to tie something around one of the slide locks because it rattled during driving (even locked).

- speaking of air conditioning, the front A/C doesn't seem as efficient as the back.  We get good air flow in the very front but the middle doesn't have hardly any air coming out unless we turn on the back A/C too.  I guess we thought the front would cover the living/kitchen (remember we're really short!) and the back would cover the bedroom but that doesn't appear to be how it works.

+ the fantastic fans are great but the bathroom one seems ultrasensitive to moisture in the air and will not turn on unless we override the rain sensor.  Which we eventually did anyway on both fans because we added the cover so they could be operated in the rain (live in the NW(et) you know!) and while driving down the road.

~  The frameless windows are great but there are also some traditional slide-type windows that are a pain to open/close and lock.  The back windows open only for emergency so can't use them to get air flow.  I still would like to do that, but I've been impressed that we get lots of air at night for sleeping by opening the windows on each side of the bed and turning on the bathroom fan to around 65 degrees.  So it stays on until it's colder than 65 then turns off.  Perfect (we like to sleep in cool rooms).

Note:  we were concerned the frameless windows would be too small and not open enough but they have been fine (mainly using the kitchen fan at low speed and it draws in lots of cool air).  I think when frameless first came out for the Bay Stars (2015?) the windows were smaller(?) so watch out for that if that's a concern to you.  We love using them in the rain!

~  the LED "mood" lighting in the living area seemed silly but it's actually nice early in the morning.  The kitchen has a fluorescent light above the sink - yuck.  At least we think it's fluorescent because it's a bright white but maybe it's white LED whereas the rest are warm white LED's?  We'll have to look at that.

- a lot of noise comes in through the vents (when you're parked next to a freeway at least!).  We purchased fan cushions for insulation from heat so we can use those if it's too noisy.  It's not really a problem but noticeable when the rest of the coach is nice and insulated and quiet! 

~ love the automated front black out shade but wish there was one we could see through.  Doesn't cut out heat though.  Would love a Magna-shade but struggling with the cost.  Or maybe other internal see-through heat barriers would be better.  An upgrade in our future on that I think.

+ roller shades day/night are wonderful and work well but you have to remember the one version is see-through at night when it's dark outside and light inside and sometimes we forget and think it's the blackout shade that's down!

- with few exceptions, everything is smaller than the equivalent house counterpart.  Table, couch, drawers, and especially cupboards (not as tall or as deep).  Kind of makes sense but it was challenging to fit our bigger things in logical places!  Our old smaller motorhome had bigger cupboards so we weren't expecting that.  For example, the cupboards above the cab are shallow and have a shelf in the middle so nothing tall or wide can fit there (we used to keep our road atlas up there in the old motorhome!).  I think it would have been more functional and would have looked better to make them at least as deep as the tech cabinet (so they would align as well).  But maybe that would have intruded into the cab too much.

~ we were concerned that the passenger side slide doesn't have a slide topper (apparently Newmar thinks the awning would be sufficient or there wasn't enough room in how they implement the two).  There are many times we don't use the awning so that doesn't really work for us.   After reading advice from others on the forum, there are advantages/disadvantages to both (having and not having toppers) so since we have both, I guess we'll find out which we prefer over time!

Living/Dining:

+ LR passenger side windows (3 sides of windows in slideout!).  I knew I would love this and I do!

+ two short living area slides gives lots of floor space in the LR

+  But does have the passenger slide into camp with the awning over it which is something we didn't think we would want.   But we can always put the slide in when we want to have a larger group under the awning so a win after all!

+ Mid door entry with interior entry rail (better to see outside in your camp from living/kitchen/dining (like having more passenger side windows!!) and a more homey feel with the rail (and it's handy!)

+ Speaking of entry, we were super excited to see that one of the steps opened for more storage (we had that in our previous motorhome and loved it)

+ TV on a lift across from couch so doesn't block window and easy to view (except from dinette - but we watch news that way while we eat dinner.  Probably looks really silly)

-  TV is too big (for us) at 48".  We would have preferred smaller and more counter space on top and storage on each side of the TV (underneath) with the table/chairs instead of booth.

+ Window next to dinette is nice and large with another small window facing front.  (Windows!)

-  I find the couch and dinette to be barely tolerable for comfort.  However we knew this based on our experience with testing other Bay Stars.  I get around it by moving around a lot from the sofa to the dinette to the driver/passenger chairs (probably better for me anyway!).   If we decide we like the full time RV life (and this coach in particular), this is likely one of the first things to replace.  But it will be a tough decision wanting to keep seatbelts and some child sleeping areas!

-  Speaking of couch, we knew 68" was barely acceptable (and includes the narrow arms!) but it's one of those compromises you accept with the length and floorplan.   We were happy it has three cushions and works for 3 average people if the space is needed.

+  We weren't thrilled with the price of the folding cockpit table as an option but it sure is handy (as a console - we don't think we'd use it as a table much because we'd have to move all the stuff off the console!)

~ New this year (I think) is the passenger foot rest.  Just like others we tried, they aren't really comfortable for us (hit us in the wrong spot).  We got a small square storage ottoman and it works very well!

- heat registers are under the front seats so not as effective as they could be!

- For me, but not DH, I find the arms on the driver/passenger chair too high and they aren't adjustable.  They are also not quite wide enough apart for me.

+ However, the driver chair is power adjustable which is fantastic

- But I wish the passenger chair was too!

Kitchen:

+ Residential fridge - we love it so far!  The smaller one (10 CF) works just great for us  and we're hoping it won't use as many amp hours for boondocking!

Would have preferred one more shelf in the door (there are only two).

-  Convection/microwave is not what we expected and I'm not crazy about it - but it works

- The one we had at home had grill top/bottom, this doesn't have any grilling feature

- Don't care for how it closes (latches in lower right only and seems cheap)

- It vents inside the motorhome right into the slide fascia and ceiling (really?!)  

- Flip door under the sink (for sponges/brushes) had a 3" tray at one end of the 32" flip drawer (we think they goofed and put the sinks too close to the flip door so the longer tray wouldn't fit).  Ours was the first model 3009 model built and we saw one later that was done correctly.  Lesson learned - don't get the first model ever built!  We saw other improvements they made to this model when we took the factory tour on our way home.

- A lot of the under the sink storage was taken up with the subwoofer (weird place for it!) and water heater and pipes so storage is limited and NO place for garbage can without cutting a shelf.

~  They added a vertical skinny side door under the range (for cutting boards,  cookie sheets) which is cool but made the drawers beside it narrower.  Not sure which I would have preferred.  Update - it's actually really handy to have the skinny door and drawers are sufficient width and depth for our pots/pans.  Decided it was a nice addition we hadn't seen in Bay Stars before.

+ Drawers under stove area are plentiful (since we declined to have the gas oven knowing we'd need the space in the small kitchen with no pantry).  The 5 little ones are pretty narrow though (5 inches).  We managed to find things that worked for those.

- Not a lot of counter space in the kitchen (but we knew that was a compromise area for us with the shorter length).  We are thinking about removing the stove cover because we don't use it as a counter and it would open up the space behind it (when it's in the "open" position it blocks the counter space behind it).

- Didn't think about carpet directly under the stove (it's on the slideout).  Not sure what we'll do about that one to keep it clean and protect it.  Same with couch and dinette area.

- kind of tacky to have the microwave plug coming out of the cabinet and plug into the wall but it's a monster so it would have protruded more if it were behind it.

- hate trying to clean the black plastic on the fridge and micro.  Haven't figured that one out yet.

+ I have TWO silverware drawers!  The one that came with it (except ours was missing so we got one when we saw them during the factory tour) sits and slides on top then we have our other one underneath (drawer is really deep).  Didn't think I'd need two silverware drawers but our knives (regular dinner knives) didn't fit and it's actually come in handy to have two layers!

Bath/Bed:

+ Split bath with lots of storage in bathroom!  Shower and bath not especially roomy but not uncomfortable.

- Hate the shower doors on most of the Bay Stars with the rectangle shower.  3 separate doors on 3 tracks - YUCK on the cleaning!  So we purchased a shower rod and curtain and use that just behind the regular doors so we don't have to clean the doors or the tracks.  Works well.

- toilet has only one pedal.  In our previous motorhome, we had two where you could just fill the bowl with water with one pedal and release the water with the other.  Now we use a cup to add water as needed.

-Don't care for the plastic seat/lid.  Wonder if we can replace that part.  The pedestal part is porcelain(?). 

+ Linen closet - generally great

-  3 out of the 5 shelves they didn't go as deep as expected due to "stuff" (wiring?) behind them, partially due to residential fridge we think.  Update:  we later removed the barriers so now we can go all the way back and just work around the tubes etc.

- Narrower opening than I'd like so hard to get "containers" in there.  The cupboard is wider than the opening.

+ The shelves are very sturdy and able to hold heavy books and bottles.  They are quite tall as well.

+ Passenger side window, back window and two bedside windows  (windows!!!)

+ 6 drawers in bedroom

But one of them was half high because for some reason they chose to put the heat register below the drawer on the wall instead of the floor (first time I'd seen that in the Bay Stars we'd looked at - most had 6 full drawers).  Still trying to figure out what can be put there since it's so skinny (height wise).

+ Tile throughout - we did a special to have the tile extended to the bedroom which we really like.

+ I was lying on the bed with my head over the side looking around underneath and noticed another cubby for storage!  9"x10" and 25" deep toward the head of the bed!   The other side had one too but it was only 6" instead of 9".  We keep finding crazy places to store things in creative ways!  But containers are a challenge (especially with this newly found space!).

~  I thought I would like the single handle shower knob and it's nice to turn on with one handle but I'm having trouble adjusting the temperature.  The slightest movement and it's too hot then too cold.  Also, it sticks out pretty far and I keep bumping it therefore adjusting my carefully sought after temperature to too cold or too hot again!

~  I think I'm vent-toilet challenged in the bathroom.  Turn on the vent to clear the humidity or get cool air but don't forget to stop it when you flush and then resume it otherwise you get a nasty whiff of things underneath! 

- disappointed that the fantastic fan model we got didn't have a remote.  That would have been handy when you're in bed and it's getting hot.  You can turn on the fan remotely and open your window to get a little breeze.

Outside

~ Bays are ok I think.  I was worried they'd be too small or two few and taken up with "other" things and that's true BUT I think there are just enough bigger ones (or pass through) that it will work.  DW was able to get a table, ladder, and two chaise lounges in the pass through (barely)!  I am bay door challenged - I can never seem to close them without slamming it multiple times (that seemed to happen on most coaches not just this one).  DW does ok with it!  Super happy with side opening which was new for 2015 or 2016.  DH is surprised at how much they hold in general.

+  Can't remember if I mentioned the side cameras in the driving portion but I'm surprised I use them (still getting used to looking there but when I'm not sure if it's clear, it's nice to glance there for assurance!) 

+  Love the "hidden" compartments in the bays.  They aren't actually hidden but at first glance you don't notice them.  The space above the generator, the really long narrow spot on the drivers side that fits our pop-up canopy perfectly.

+  Battery slide out tray, drivers side, with all 4 coach batteries was a nice surprise

- disappointed the generator exhausts to the passenger side (really?!) So we'll probably move it.  Or not, perhaps we'll be inside anyway (cooking, A/C).  Never mind our guests at the picnic table or around the campfire.

- we were disappointed we couldn't adjust the back-up camera to look further behind the coach like other models we'd test driven.  It's probably fine because the side mirrors seem to cover it well but not sure if we have any blind spot between the back-up camera and the side mirrors.  Will test this over time.

Warranty list(?) really small list so far…  We're keeping track of things that don't seem to work correctly and we'll try to determine if it's human error or there really is a problem.  Keep in mind, we've been living in it a month (as of today!) so we'll probably discover more! 

Left dinette booth drawer is hard to open and close
Can't seem to get the front thermostat set for the right temp (furnace or A/C) and we wonder if the thermometer is set correctly.  We don't even know where the probe is so we can test it (it doesn't appear to be near the controls because if it is - it's way off!).
Having a lot of trouble closing the entry door in order to lock the dead bolt.  And oddly enough we discovered it popped open while we were driving one time.  We assume it just happened because someone would have honked at us (right?).  But we're not sure how long it was open before we noticed it because it's back behind the passenger slideout (didn't notice air temp or sound change).

We did have a couple of issues with the slides that we fixed ourselves or that are intermittent and not frequent (a bolt issue and the front driver side randomly stops as we're bringing it in but resumes when we try again etc.).

One last thing I would like to say to those of you trying to figure out what you might want.  We love this forum and how helpful everyone is as it makes us consider things we hadn't thought of.  But please remember only YOU know how important something is to you so don't worry if your gut level feeling seems different from some or even most folks.  For example, we feel like we're the exception being content with gas and a short coach for full time (and insane desire for windows).  So much of the advice just didn't seem right for us but it makes you wonder if you will regret your choice (since there were so many voices of (their) experience!).  Only time will tell if we will come back in a year or two or three and change our minds but for now we are really happy with our choice.  We love not having a lot of space to carry more stuff we don't use!!   It has everything we need with enough wiggle room for two!

Good luck to all and safe travels!

Ellen