A Trailer for Our Next Chapter - Part VII: We've almost reached the top

The clock is ticking. We are 10 days from hooking up to leave and deliver our 5th wheel to its new owner and 16 days from arriving at Kingdom Camping to move into our new trailer. We'll need every one of those 16 days to finish up final maintenance chores on the 5th wheel and truck, move all of our belongings into a UHaul trailer, give the new owner of our 5th wheel a full day of RV bootcamp training, and complete the 1,900 mile trek to Millersburg, Indiana.

We've reached the point where all the major work below the roof is done and the many little details like a missing cabinet door or light fixture need to be taken care of.

There's a small 12v fan that continually aerates the water-free toilet. Combined with one small window, those will be the only "holes" in the bathroom envelope. No ceiling fan vents or skylights needed.

For the best insulation and ease of wiring/maintenance, it's advisable not to place outlets in the exterior walls of an RV. To achieve this in a bathroom where three of the four walls are exterior and the fourth wall is not suitable for wiring, we solved the outlet placement by using this nifty little pop up outlet in the corner to the left of the sink. It will live most of its life in the popped up position, but will be lowered/stored into the counter top as needed.

The nice big fiberglass shower with a metal detachable shower head. You can't see it in this photo, but there is a large cabinet to the left, between the edge of the bathroom countertop and the shower, that will make for a convenient laundry hamper and for towel/bedding storage.

Large kitchen sink and a lot of counter space. We'll be using portable electric cooktops as, and where, needed rather than having a cutout in the solid surface countertop with an inset permanent cooktop unit. This will give us a lot more flexibility in a small space and make replacing/upgrading a cooktop inexpensive and easy. Note the hole in the roof where the low profile 12v AC unit will be mounted. That's the only spot on the trailer where the roof is breached.

Testing the color for the kitchen backsplash. The copper/goldish look seems to work pretty well.

For those occasions when a 17" laptop screen isn't big enough, the wall mounted smart TV can be extended and rotated to face either the kitchen/living area or the bed. We added that neat little flip up solid surface counter extension at the end to give a little extra counterspace when needed (while leaving plenty of room to move round in front of and on that side of the queen bed).

Across from the kitchen we opted for a flip up bar table (made from the same solid surface material as the kitchen countertop) rather than the typical fixed in place dinette set up. We lose the extra sleeping area a dinette offers, but we gain a huge amount of living space. That will make it a lot easier for two adults and two dogs to maneuver around each other, work on computers, and eat meals. The barn door style sliding bathroom door also helps us maximize the open space in the center of the trailer between the bathroom and the bed.

We've been intrigued by the awning designs that extend out from the top of the trailer without using vertical guide arms attached to the trailer on either side of the awning. Those vertical arms can get in the way of entry doors you want to latch open, windows, outside outlets, basement doors, etc. These newer designs offer a much cleaner look. This awning has all of the usual automatic features and a motion detector to retract it in high wind. Regardless, everyone who travels in the West should always live by the rule that an awning can be damaged by the wind at any time. We've managed to guide our current awning through 11 years of use without a mishap and plan to do the same with this updated version. You can also see all of the various systems controls/monitors mounted just inside the doorway. 

What's a post without a picture of the fully articulating McHitch? Here's the truck side of the hitch patiently waiting for us to bring a truck to it.

The next step will be all of the build on top of the roof. The permanent "no maintenance" roof sealant/coating, the mounting frame for the solar panels, the solar panels with combiner boxes, and the 12v AC unit are all next on the to do list.