As most RV'ers, my RV "career" started out simply enough. I started out in a 1965 Starcraft popup that my Dad purchased new in 1965. Being in the Air Force meant a lot of traveling. The popup made good sense for us. After all, in 1965 a young military sergeant couldn't afford motels with 4 kids! And believe me, that popup got used! Many times when transferring to a new duty station there was no housing immediately available and we LIVED in the little Starcraft for months at a time. I even remember spending two months in the upper peninsula of Michigan in the winter time. Yes, lots of snow on the ground and a family of 6 living in a popup! Dad had us all very well trained. Each of us four kids had a job to do when setting it up. We could put it up in minutes. Over the years as we all got older and my Dad retired from the Air Force the old Starcraft got relegated to the back yard and was finally sold around 1980 for $500, exactly what he paid for it new in 1965!

I got out of the camping hobby for several years, raising a family and making a living. As is the case with most folks, once the kids were older and there was more money coming in it was time to relive my childhood. In 1997 I bought a 1980 Class B motorhome. Although it was in good shape, the Class B doesn't leave much headroom. My wife didn't have any problem with it, at 5'1" she cleared the air conditioner with ease! We put a lot of miles on the motorhome but the upkeep and insurance was more than I wanted. Plus the fact that once camped, you had to pull up stakes just to have a way to go. (Nope, no tow dolly). So the motorhome was sold, and yep, you guessed it, another pop up! I searched the classifieds until I found a little used 1987 Coleman for a steal at $1800. Easy to pull with a small truck and small enough to park in the garage in the winter. Only problem was...no kids to set it up! They were out doing their own thing! We kept the Coleman for a couple years and decided to move up to something a little more "comfortable" for old folks.

I found a used '94 Jayco 21' Fifth Wheel for a decent price and the pop up was sold (for a tidy $600 profit!). A word of advice.. NEVER believe the salesmen when they say..."Sure, your truck will handle that camper...it's only a 21 footer!" He didn't mention (and I didn't ask) that the pin weight of a fifth wheel is tremendous! My little S-10 ZR-2 needed some suspension modifications to haul that baby! The Vortec V-6 had the power to pull it but the pin weight made it wallow too much...so...back to the drawing board.

By this time I had the itch for a new one. After looking at MANY floorplans on the internet we found one we liked. A call to a dealer in Nashville, TN confirmed they had the model we wanted. The Mallard (by Fleetwood) 25J is a light weight travel trailer that (with weight bars) handled very nicely behind the S-10. The weight wasn't too bad even at 5000 lbs the V-6 did a very respectable job. Although the hills were a bit rough!

We actually lived in the Mallard for a month while our old house was being torn down and a new manufactured home was brought in. Even though it was a bit small, we thoroughly enjoyed the month we spent in the camper and it sparked the "full time" bug in us. We camped right in the back yard. After two weeks the black tank was full and I towed it to the local KOA 20 miles away, dumped the tanks and brought it back and set it up again. Kind of like boondocking only we had water and electric from the shop.

Then the urge hit me to upgrade the Tow Vehicle. I bought a 2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 with the 6.0, automatic and 3.73 gear. Of course you all know what comes next...better truck...bigger trailer and we bought our new Sprinter Fifth Wheel in November 2004.

And as things go...the trailer proved to be a bit much for the Chevy. Even though it was within the weight limits, hills and headwinds made towing a chore at times. The new truck knows no hills and tows with the cruise control on.

On October 14, 2005, we took delivery of our new Everest fifth wheel. Our month long trip made us realize that for extended trips, the Sprinter was not going to be big enough.

In December 2006, we made the leap to a motorhome. Not knowing if we would even like one, we bought a used gasser. A 2006 Bounder 35E that had 3000 miles on it. The mindset was that by buying used, we could trade up to a diesel later and not lose our shirts. The decision was a good one. After traveling in the Bounder for six months, we traded up to our current rig, our 2007 Discovery and got what we paid for the Bounder in the trade.

Having owned both trailers and motorhomes I can say with experience that the motorhome is the best way for US to travel. Your experience may differ.

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