When we began our search for a camper, we idealized what we could fit in our budget (very limited). We imagined a beautifully renovated air stream that fit all of our wants, or a brand new Jayco North Point ($80,000), but in reality these were outside of our means.
Thats when we began thinking about buying an older fifth wheel that still worked great but could be renovated on a budget ($1500). Van already has a diesel truck that can pull a fifth wheel so we didn't have to worry about that cost.
We searched high and low for weeks. Some days we thought it was a great idea, some days we thought we were crazy (we are crazy). We spent hours looking at Facebook marketplace as well as RVtrader.com and Craigslist.
We recognized the spaciousness of a fifth wheel with opposing slides, and added that to our list of wants as well as a bedroom slide for wardrobe space. We also knew we didn't want a bunkhouse or a rear kitchen as we felt it was wasted space, too large, and too heavy for us.
Now you may be thinking, "what about Piper?" Yes we have a cute little 4 month old girl who is such a champ. She is such an adaptable little girl who has come along for the crazy wild ride her parents are taking her on. While we've been here in our one bedroom apartment we converted our large walk in closet into her make-shift nursery. She told us she loves sleeping in tiny dark rooms (no really she did). So, when considering her needs we knew she would just need a small space to call home for the next year on the road.
The last and final desire we had was to have a kitchen island. In our minds this would create more storage as well as provide more counter space for cooking!
Behold: the 2004 Keystone Everest 343
1. opposing slides
2. Rear living
3. Kitchen Island
4. a large closet big enough to convert into a crib for Piper
You can see more pictures of the inside of the RV here: https://www.thearrowanglers.com/keystone-everest
