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  1. #1
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    Howdy!

    Howdy all! I'm Mark and my wife's name is Mary. We are looking to start fulltiming in about 2 years. Right now, we have a brick and mortar in New Mexico, but, are planning on moving to the hill country of Texas after we are done with our leisurely tour of the US (and probably Canada). I have towed some kind of trailer, whether camper, coach, or horse trailer, for over 35 years.

    We are currently looking very closely at the Grand Design Solitude 344GK (2019-2121 or newer model). It meets almost all of our must-have and most of the nice-to-have lists. The biggest thing is the desk, or workstation area since I will be working remote, full time. The only detractor we have found is the coach is just a hair under 37', and that will limit what state and national parks we can comfortably stay in.

    Due to the lockdown, we haven't been able to actually take a look at one of them, but, we have consumed every video and picture we could on the 344GK.

    For now, we will be forum lurking as we browse around, but, that will change as we gather more questions.

    Ciao!

    --
    Mark and Mary
    Current Coach: 2016 Dutchmen Kodiak Express
    Current Rig: 2019 Ford F350 SD Crew Cab, Lariat, Long Bed, SRW, 6.7L V8 Diesel Engine
    Past Coaches:
    Past Rigs: 2013 Ford F150 SuperCrew, V8 Coyote Engine
    2005 Nissan Xterra S, 4.0L V6 Engine

  2. #2
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markhm View Post
    Howdy all! I'm Mark and my wife's name is Mary. We are looking to start fulltiming in about 2 years. Right now, we have a brick and mortar in New Mexico, but, are planning on moving to the hill country of Texas after we are done with our leisurely tour of the US (and probably Canada). I have towed some kind of trailer, whether camper, coach, or horse trailer, for over 35 years.

    We are currently looking very closely at the Grand Design Solitude 344GK (2019-2121 or newer model). It meets almost all of our must-have and most of the nice-to-have lists. The biggest thing is the desk, or workstation area since I will be working remote, full time. The only detractor we have found is the coach is just a hair under 37', and that will limit what state and national parks we can comfortably stay in.

    Due to the lockdown, we haven't been able to actually take a look at one of them, but, we have consumed every video and picture we could on the 344GK.

    For now, we will be forum lurking as we browse around, but, that will change as we gather more questions.

    Ciao!

    --
    Mark and Mary
    Current Coach: 2016 Dutchmen Kodiak Express
    Current Rig: 2019 Ford F350 SD Crew Cab, Lariat, Long Bed, SRW, 6.7L V8 Diesel Engine
    Past Coaches:
    Past Rigs: 2013 Ford F150 SuperCrew, V8 Coyote Engine
    2005 Nissan Xterra S, 4.0L V6 Engine
    Howdy Mark and Mary, Lurk Away
    The Texas Hill country is a very nice area indeed, course I'm partial cause we live in the area but we hope to go fulltime in October. If you get over this way there are some very nice parks in Johnson City, Fredricksburg and Kerrville. Lots of RV parks in and around Austin and the Hill Country.

    The Solitude would be great for fulltiming. Our Solitude 3350 is right at 37 feet long and 13.5 feet in height, and before that our Imagine was 35 feet. The Texas State, National Parks and the LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority) parks are very nice with $20 / night rates but some of them tend to be older construction with very narrow roads in the parks to turn and maneuver larger rigs. In some cases they do not keep the trees trimmed and this is a problem with low hanging branches and camp site entrances bordered with large trees, makes it difficult to get into sites. A lot of parks have polices against trimming trees as they want to keep the parks as natural as they can. Even with our Imagine we have had difficulty getting into sites. You just have to be selective of which of these parks you visit with large, high rigs.

    Enjoy your travels,
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
    2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
    Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel

  3. #3
    Long Hauler
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steven@147 View Post
    Howdy Mark and Mary, Lurk Away
    The Texas Hill country is a very nice area indeed, course I'm partial cause we live in the area but we hope to go fulltime in October. If you get over this way there are some very nice parks in Johnson City, Fredricksburg and Kerrville. Lots of RV parks in and around Austin and the Hill Country.

    The Solitude would be great for fulltiming. Our Solitude 3350 is right at 37 feet long and 13.5 feet in height, and before that our Imagine was 35 feet. The Texas State, National Parks and the LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority) parks are very nice with $20 / night rates but some of them tend to be older construction with very narrow roads in the parks to turn and maneuver larger rigs. In some cases they do not keep the trees trimmed and this is a problem with low hanging branches and camp site entrances bordered with large trees, makes it difficult to get into sites. A lot of parks have polices against trimming trees as they want to keep the parks as natural as they can. Even with our Imagine we have had difficulty getting into sites. You just have to be selective of which of these parks you visit with large, high rigs.

    Enjoy your travels,
    She likes the Fredricksburg area, so, that's what we will be looking at. We want to hit the road for a few years before settling down, but, we will be staying in the area near Fredricksburg occasionally to get an idea of what things are like in the area. Thanks for the info on the parks out there!

  4. #4
    Big Traveler Txfivver's Avatar
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    Howdy back at you both! C'mon down we'd love to have you, plenty of room in Texas for sure lol. You will love the Hill Country, lots of great places to see and things to do. Definitely get the Texas Parks and Wildlife pass, think it like $ 70 for a year but you get the park sites for next to nothing. They even have it online now where you can view the park site map and reserve a particular site, very nice. Welcome to the site and hope you get the 344 soon.
    2019 Solitude 375RES Onan 5500 Splendide W/D Samsung res. fridge
    2020 Ford F450 Platinum dually 6.7L 4:30 gears
    B&W Companion for Ford puck system 20K lbs
    Jeff

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