Hello peeps!
New to the forums so thought it would be a good idea to start here.
So guess I'll start with the "a little about myself"
I spent the first 44 years of my life working toward the typical "American dream" but right at the start of Feb this year (right before the pandemic craziness) I had a "life changing event" that pushed me into OR gave me the opportunity of (depending on your perspective) changing over to living a mobile life style.
I spent the first couple months is a '88 Gulfstream that was going to be a project before all this started and it needed a lot of work and was not in a place (or was a size) that would work for me for full time living. So I started looking online for options.
I'll be honest, I am a Maker at heart and I really liked the idea of building up a schoolie but due to needing a place to live "now" it was just not going to be in the cards at this time. So I shifted my gaze on to standard motorhomes.
Due to living full time in this, and also because I have 4 wonderful kids that I want to be able to have over/go camping with. I focused on the larger end of the spectrum. so right off the hop I was looking at the largest end of class C's as well as Class A's... Then I saw the price tag of most class A's and modified my looking to just the larger end of Class C's
OK so I guess that leads us into "A little about the Rig"
I ended up really liking the 3170DS because it checked all the boxes that I called necessity as well as many, if not all, the optional ones too. What boxes are those you may ask?
1)
Size: the 3170DS is 31' and the total area in the RV is about equivalent to a studio apartment+.
2)
Layout: Even with the slides in, I can still get to almost everything and still use the bed. This may seem like an odd checklist item but at the moment, I still work a full time job and I really cant afford to pay for space in some RV park in town which is about $900+ a month (mid-California cost) . So at the moment I am pretty much full time "urban camping" which means, finding a nice new street to park on every night. That means that I do not push my slides out but very very rarely. So having most things functional (like the bed) and accessible even with the slids in was an important check box.
3)
Sleep space: As I said, I have 4 wonderful kids and I am hoping to not only have them over to stay with me often, but also be able to take them on some epic journeys with me. What I really did not want to deal with was having to kick a lazy teen out of bed so that I can "set up the breakfast table". To that end. In addition to the over cab bunk and the master bedroom, the 3170DS also has a sofa sleeper and twin bunks! It also has the convertible dining table but again.. Meh.
On the more minor check list,
1)
Master bed-room: You can walk around the master bed so no climbing over a partner to get in and out of bed. Not currently an issue for me but I like to stay positive
.
2)
Nightstands: seems like an odd thing but I am a gadget guy and I like having my bedside tech fodder.
3)
Garage: A what now?? This is a term that was news to me when I started looking into the full time mobile life but put simply, it has a decently large storage access on one side which I have plans to convert into a tool shop so I can work on the RV as well as build other projects.. Again, I am a Maker at heart to tool shop is a big WANT!
There are other little things that may or may not have been on my check list before I found the 3170DS, but again, after finding it and seeing what it had, I just kinda fell in love with it to the point of maybe being at risk of being obsessed with it. So I kept my eyes out for one, looked at a few that were former rentals (eek!) and finally found a privet sale that had reasonable mileage (13,000) and was in really good condition. Additionally, the first owner had air ride installed. #Winning!
So here I am in my Rig. been in it for a few months now. Took some time to get to know him ( I named my Rig "Colossus" ) and have now started diving into modding projects and updates. But I will save that for another time.
So that's my story. I look forward to poking about the forums and getting to know the peeps here.
Thanks for reading!
-Jester
Later RJD
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