On April 24th we picked up our new Keystone Passport Elite Ultra lite travel trailer. Some would say it's small. But, we think it's perfect for us. We wanted something that we could easily tow with our Ford F150. We also wanted a travel trailer that was well built and light weight. This one fit the bill in every way.
One of our requirements was regarding the bed and it's location in regards to walls. Marc is 6'2" tall. This fact narrowed our search some. We quickly discovered that many of the ultra lite travel trailers feature a wall separating the bedroom from the living room area. Many of them have very attractive entertainment centers on this wall including large flat screen TVs that can swivel to be viewed in either the bedroom or the living room. We loved this concept. Unfortunately, due to the close proximity of that wall to the end of the bed, which is about 2 inches, there was no way that Marc could comfortably sleep on the bed. Those short queen size RV beds are not designed with tall people in mind.
After looking at countless RVs we decided to go with the very first model we saw, a Keystone Passport Elite. It is well made, with a welded aluminum structure on a standard steel chassis frame. It has some high end features such as solid surface counter tops and a heated, sealed underbelly.
When we arrived at Floyd's RVs, to pick up our new trailer, we were warmly greeted by our salesman, and the dealerships business manager. Floyd's RV is the kind of place where everyone knows your name. They are located just outside of the city and have been there since the 70's. My dad used to do business with them when I was a kid. He had a very large cab over slide in camper for his truck. We had the best times in that camper. But, I digress.
Since we were having an weight distribution/sway control hitch installed, that was the first thing they did. Let me tell you, that hitch system is worth it's weight in gold. After towing the travel trailer in the Oklahoma 50 mph gusty wind, with the sway control hitch, I don't think I'd ever attempt to tow that trailer without it. I'm experienced in trailer towing. I tow a 14 cargo trailer, with a pet grooming conversion in it, on a daily basis. I don't have a sway control hitch for that trailer. And, the wind pushes it around. It's smaller than the RV and I just can't imagine trying to tow any distance without it.
Once the hitch was installed, and we were taught how it works, the next item on the agenda was to go through the operation of every aspect of our trailer starting from the outside. The service technician was very knowledgeable about all the different components and even had some helpful tips for us.
Marc was learning about proper bathroom operation and black tank maintenance in this photo.
It turns out that the refrigerator in our RV is cooled with Helium. The old style used ammonia as a coolant. Those can be dangerous if they develop a leak. Helium is much safer and has been found to be very efficient. This fridge seems to have a lot of storage space and I was happy to see that there are veggie and meat storage bins. There is also a nice size freezer above the fridge.
After we learned about the operation of our new RV we picked out a parking space in the storage lot. $30 per month for safe, secure RV storage is much less than most of the storage lots closer in the city. All around, we felt like it was a great deal. Once that was all settled, we were ready to hit the road and bring our new toy home.
After a brief adjustment of the trailer brakes, we were on our way. We decided to stop at Rudy's BBQ in Norman, just off Highway 9. If you've never tired the brisket at Rudy's, I suggest you do so! I took the photo below while we were sitting inside eating.
Once we arrived at home we decided to park the new trailer in the driveway, rather than the street. It's a little crowded since I also park my pet grooming trailer in the driveway. Thankfully, we have a 3 car garage and an extra wide drive.
Once everything was parked and unhooked we rolled out the slide and just sat in the trailer enjoying that "new RV" smell!
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| Marc enjoying the new RV smell |
The TV is a 32 inch LED and it's mounted on a bracket that can swivel for viewing from virtually anywhere in the RV, with maybe the exception being the bathroom.
Our hope is that we can train our kitties, Miley and Lenny, to enjoy camping. This may be difficult at first. They were very skeptical about coming out to see it. In the photo below Miley is keeping an eye on the AC unit in the ceiling.
Lenny, in the photo below, searched and searched for a place to hide. He wasn't able to find a hiding place, so he settled on the small shelf next to the bed.
We can't wait to be able to take our new trailer out on the road. We had hoped to be able to take it out this weekend. However, the weather experts in Oklahoma had predicted some very severe weather. So, we elected to just spend some time loading items into the trailer and making check lists.
Late Saturday afternoon we took the trailer back over to the storage lot and tucked her away, safely, in her spot.
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