I’ve been asked many times about the place I call home, so I thought I’d share some pictures and informational commentary with details of the RV that I call my home.
I purchased a 2015 Grand Design Solitude 320x 5th wheel RV. It’s roughly 35 feet long, 8 1/2 feet wide, and 13 1/2 feet tall. It has three slides that when extended, provides me with a whopping 330 square feet of luxury living. The RV features a living area, dining area, kitchen/pantry area, coffee and wine bar, master bath, and master bedroom. All the things you would expect to find in a conventional home, and everything I need for a comfortable lifestyle. The Solitude line from Grand Design is their top of the line flagship product, made for and well suited to extended stay (aka full-time) living. This RV has 4-season ready Weather Tek arctic insulation with heated underbelly, large walk-in master closet, dual AC units, one-touch auto leveling, and extra tall ceilings and slide out heights – making this an exceptionally high quality RV with outstanding features and amenities.
I pull this 15,000 lb monster RV with a 2012 Ford F450 King Ranch big-boy truck. A powerful 6.7L diesel engine, dual rear wheels, commercial grade axels, transmission, and braking, and a payload capacity of 33,000 lbs, this truck makes for virtually effortless towing, and very safe travel. The King Ranch trim adds a host of features and comforts (e.g. heated and air conditioned leather seating) making the long hauls on the road rather comfy.
Complete with hardwood cabinetry and doors, solid surface countertops, a kitchen island, and extremely large pantry, this RV is nicely appointed. One of the slides holds the dining and theater/reclining seating area. I seldom use the dining table for actual dining so for me, it doubles as a computer desk. Besides reclining, the theater seating has built in electric heat – you know, for those cool wintry chilly nights. Nothing like heated seating to make you all warm all over.
The kitchen/pantry area is perfect for dinner prep, cooking, and dish washing (no dishwasher, so I need to do the washing myself by hand). It features a large 12 cubic foot side-by-side fridge/freezer, LP gas stove and oven, and large microwave. The pantry is huge, allowing for lots of food and other storage – well suited to full-time life.
The side bar is useful as it provides additional counter space – great for coffee prep, and also includes a built-in wine rack to hold lots of those adult grape beverages. Above and below cabinets and several drawers makes for ample storage for everyday life needs.
For entertainment, there is a 45″ flat TV, stereo/CD/DVD player with three sets of speakers that covers the living area, bedroom, as well as a set outside for outdoor tunes. Below the TV is a really nice electric fireplace – complete with 15,000 BTU electric heater. Makes for a nice homey feeling, while also serving to take the chill out of the RV on brisk nights. If it gets real cold (and I have NO intention of ever being anywhere that gets that cold), I also have a 30,000 BTU ducted furnace that will easily warm up the RV in well below freezing temperatures.
The master bedroom features a queen size bed (with underneath storage), a dresser, walk-in closet, and a TV. I’ve added a washer/dryer combo unit – which resides in the walk in closet. Not the cheapest upgrade you can do, but it certainly does make life way more convenient (I hate going to laundry rooms/facilities). Nothing like dropping in some dirty clothes, and coming back a few hours later to it being all clean and dry and ready to go.
The master bath has a nice size stand-up shower with a skylight and sliding glass doors, a sink, cabinets, and a nice home-style porcelain RV toilet. Dual sliding wood doors provides direct access to the master bedroom, and also to the living area to allow for guest access.
Lastly, I’ve done a bit of decorating adding just a bit of my own decor touches to the place. I’m not exactly an interior designer, so I’ve kept these additions light, tasteful, and relevant to the RV lifestyle. I don’t have a lot of empty wall space, so I’m only able to put up a few items. In lieu of pictures on the wall, I use a digital picture frame that has a lifetime collection of pictures of all sorts that I regularly enjoy watching and reminiscing over.
On the outside, it’s pretty much standard fare for any high end 5th wheel. Massive pass-thru storage under the bedroom, large front storage compartment, dual 30lb LP tanks, roof ladder, full water management area including filtration, fresh water tank fill, and black tank backwash, cable and satellite input areas, and the control panel for the auto leveling system.
As for accessorizing the outside, I have a bumper mounted Webber BabyQ that I use for all my outdoor grilling. I also just recently added a 16′ collapsable flag pole that is mounted to the rear ladder, and is complete with a solar light for night time flag illumination. I’m flying both the US flag, and Air Force flag. Gotta show my pride!
Well, that’s about all there is to say about my home on wheels. I hope you enjoyed this little introduction to my living lifestyle. Happy to answer any questions anyone has – just drop me a note.