Newbie Here & Very Excited

**rwatts77** · 03-18-2021, 05:08 PM

Thank you for welcoming me to join the fun with this group! My husband and I camped for years as our kids grew up (we have 17 yr old twins and 16 yr old). For the first year we tent camped, and then got a 2006 Outback Sydney Edition TT quad bunkhouse and we enjoyed that while our kids were in Elementary School and starting Middle School. At that point our kids seemed a little less interested in camping so we sold the Outback. After a few years, we realized how much we missed camping. My husband said no way would he tow again (our tow vehicle for the Outback was just "barely" safe and the towing part was always stressful). He had a very specific picture/idea of what he wanted, so in April '20, we got a Fleetwood Jamboree Class C. It was nice, king bed, full body paint but here's the shocker, the kids always wanted to come and bring friends. Sleeping arrangements sucked. We always had to bring a tent and portable a/c so the ones in the tent were too ticked they weren't in the Camper. After much discussion (aka fighting

we realized that no matter how much my husband didn't feel like towing again, motorhomes didn't offer us the floorplan options we needed for kids and friends and our new pet required a lot of room (see pic later).

We decided (aka I won the fight

on a 5th wheel. Never had a 5th wheel but I’ve ALWAYS wanted one. Did A LOT of research and RV Consumer Group's buying guides and decided we wanted a GRAND Design!
We got the truck on Feb. 22 and on Feb 27th we picked up our 2021 Solitude S-Class 3740BH.

We aren’t new to camping or towing but are new to 5th Wheel towing. The Dealer was awesome (shout out to Beckley's RV in Maryland), very thorough delivery process. Everyone told us that 5th wheel towing is easier than a travel trailer but it's been years and the Solitude is a big one at a hair over 40’ so we were nervous. Well we made the 1hr15min trip home without incident. We got it parked in our spot at our friends place we're storing it and we brought our 30amp generator got the heat fired up and had a blast starting to get it all packed and set up. We even grabbed pizza down the street and had our first family dinner in the camper. Really reminded me why I like camping so much. When we were leaving I realized what a beautiful full moon it was... couldn’t resist the pic 😀.
We leave tomorrow for our first trip. 3 nights "pre-season" to get the kinks worked out.
I don't know if it will be in the right format but I'll include stats below

And pics... the Truck is actually my daily driver! I'm really loving it.

Rachel

2021 Solitude S-Class 3740 BH w/ residential fridge, King Bed and Super Sofa option
2021 Ford F-350 Lariat Premium Package, Diesel V8 Power Stroke, DRW (and OMG am I glad we got the DRW!)

**geotex1** · 03-18-2021, 06:53 PM

Welcome fellow S-Classer! Watch out, we will help alleviate your pockets of cash here...

**Jerryr** · 03-18-2021, 11:06 PM

Rachel,

Welcome to the forum. It’s nice to have another traveler with a parrot. Out 45 year old Amazon loves to travel with us. Here he is in his traveling cage that we use when we go glamping. We set it up at the back window when camping and he loves to look outside.

He and our dog are the is the primary reasons we bought our RV, so we could travel and not worry about them.

**Captcolour** · 03-19-2021, 08:46 AM

Welcome fellow newbie to Grand Design. Awesome truck by the way!

**Steven@147** · 03-19-2021, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by rwatts77

Thank you for welcoming me to join the fun with this group! My husband and I camped for years as our kids grew up (we have 17 yr old twins and 16 yr old). For the first year we tent camped, and then got a 2006 Outback Sydney Edition TT quad bunkhouse and we enjoyed that while our kids were in Elementary School and starting Middle School. At that point our kids seemed a little less interested in camping so we sold the Outback. After a few years, we realized how much we missed camping. My husband said no way would he tow again (our tow vehicle for the Outback was just "barely" safe and the towing part was always stressful). He had a very specific picture/idea of what he wanted, so in April '20, we got a Fleetwood Jamboree Class C. It was nice, king bed, full body paint but here's the shocker, the kids always wanted to come and bring friends. Sleeping arrangements sucked. We always had to bring a tent and portable a/c so the ones in the tent were too ticked they weren't in the Camper. After much discussion (aka fighting

we realized that no matter how much my husband didn't feel like towing again, motorhomes didn't offer us the floorplan options we needed for kids and friends and our new pet required a lot of room (see pic later).

We decided (aka I won the fight

on a 5th wheel. Never had a 5th wheel but I’ve ALWAYS wanted one. Did A LOT of research and RV Consumer Group's buying guides and decided we wanted a GRAND Design!
We got the truck on Feb. 22 and on Feb 27th we picked up our 2021 Solitude S-Class 3740BH.

We aren’t new to camping or towing but are new to 5th Wheel towing. The Dealer was awesome (shout out to Beckley's RV in Maryland), very thorough delivery process. Everyone told us that 5th wheel towing is easier than a travel trailer but it's been years and the Solitude is a big one at a hair over 40’ so we were nervous. Well we made the 1hr15min trip home without incident. We got it parked in our spot at our friends place we're storing it and we brought our 30amp generator got the heat fired up and had a blast starting to get it all packed and set up. We even grabbed pizza down the street and had our first family dinner in the camper. Really reminded me why I like camping so much. When we were leaving I realized what a beautiful full moon it was... couldn’t resist the pic ��.
We leave tomorrow for our first trip. 3 nights "pre-season" to get the kinks worked out.
I don't know if it will be in the right format but I'll include stats below

And pics... the Truck is actually my daily driver! I'm really loving it.

Rachel

2021 Solitude S-Class 3740 BH w/ residential fridge, King Bed and Super Sofa option
2021 Ford F-350 Lariat Premium Package, Diesel V8 Power Stroke, DRW (and OMG am I glad we got the DRW!)

Hey Rachel, Welcome to another S-Class, we love ours. Absolutely the right truck for the job! My wife drove our dually to work at her hospital for awhile before she retired. Your hubby will find towing your rig a breeze, accept maybe turning and backing that big thing! It will not be anything like your old travel trailer.

**rwatts77** · 03-19-2021, 04:59 PM

Steven,

Funny you said your wife drive your dually to work at a hospital. I work at a hospital too. I park in the top level in the very back and comfortably take up two spots, front to back. Obviously I will have to park at the back of any parking lot. I’m hoping to lose a few pounds. Lol. And yes, practicing so far has made us realize how different backing up is. But the towing is a dream!
Thanks for the Welcome!
Rachel

**Steven@147** · 03-19-2021, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by rwatts77

Steven,

Funny you said your wife drive your dually to work at a hospital. I work at a hospital too. I park in the top level in the very back and comfortably take up two spots, front to back. Obviously I will have to park at the back of any parking lot. I’m hoping to lose a few pounds. Lol. And yes, practicing so far has made us realize how different backing up is. But the towing is a dream!
Thanks for the Welcome!
Rachel

No problem Rachel, she could sympathize with you. Our DRW was to high to go through the parking garage so she had to park it near where the ambulances park when not in use on the lower garage floor. She drove our truck into downtown Austin on 32nd street everyday. She retired last October after 30 years in the health care industry in Central Service, Instrument Sterilization and Processing. She doesn't miss it! The wife drives our rig also but I take over going through big cities or backing / parking on a site.
Good Luck to you and make some memories!