We took a trip of a lifetime and this RV was perfect for it! My parents, four kids (ages 6, 9, 11, and 13), myself, and occasionally my husband were all on the trip which covered 42 days, 24 states, and 8,376 miles.I know an RV can be intimidating at first if you've never driven one or cared for it. This was what we faced. However, Maria provided us with lots of material including YouTube videos to get us prepared. She also walked through everything with us step by step. The main things are hooking up electric, hooking up water, and hooking up and emptying the sewer and dirty water. Once you've done it once, it's a piece of cake.My dad, who is 75, was the primary driver. He had never driven an RV before. He said it was easier than he anticipated. Which says a lot considering some of the places we went were in national parks with sharp turns and steep inclines. The RV is not supposed to go over 65 so plan accordingly for it to take a little longer than what your GPS says to get places. My mother also drove a few times. I was relieved of driving duties since my parents thought it was better I take care of the kids!The sleeping arrangements worked perfectly. My parents slept in the back "bedroom" area, my two girls (11 & 13) took the "bunk beds", my boys (6&9) used the couch pullout (which takes all of 5 seconds to convert to a bed) and my husband and I slept in the bed above the cab. Maria has an extra mattress up there and it was extremely comfortable. The table also converts to a bed but we never needed to use it.There is much more storage than you would think. We tried to pack lightly, clothing wise, but we probably should have packed more. I ended up doing laundry about every 4 days. The bedroom area has a big closet and numerous drawers and cupboards. We brought a lot of food staples, paper products, etc and never were short on space. There is also a lot of storage in outside compartments that we used for fishing poles, scooters, helmets, and camping chairs.We loved being in an RV while driving! Some days we drove for 10-12 hours. The kids loved having a table and a handy bathroom. We spent a lot of driving time playing games, building legos, using iPads (of course), and listening to Adventures in Odyssey. I brought my wireless speaker which we sat on the table and I streamed it through my phone. This was also very entertaining for the driver!Suggestions for future travelers:
-Bring a box fan or other fan. If you're in a hot place and have been driving around all day, the body of the RV won't have time to cool before bed. There is no A/C except in the cab when the RV is not plugged in (unless you run the generator but you are only allotted 3 hours of use of this per day) so it can be pretty hot in the back. We experienced this a few times and I was very grateful to have my box fan.
-Likewise, we were in Colorado and it snowed (in June!) and we had to run the heat. We didn't want to run it all night so we turned it off before bed and then some of the kids got cold. I highly suggest bringing some extra blankets. They don't take up much room.
-Because it is hot in the back, the A/C up front needs to run on high pretty much all the time. The driver and passenger may want a sweater or coat.Maria was so quick to answer any of our questions. Any time we contacted her, she responded right away. It was always nice to know she was there if something came up. She was such a wonderful person to work with.Overall, I can't say enough about this RV and our experience. It was perfect for our needs and we all got a little teary eyed at the end of the trip because we had become so attached to our home away from home. We would rent this RV again in a second and in fact, I really hope we will!