We picked up the camper from Koops’ yesterday, and it is sitting in our driveway! It isn’t done, but it’s ready for us to get some of the things we need to do going, and we’re really excited.
The bed platform and slide extension is done. A queen mattress would have fit in the cabover with an east/west orientation, but by turning it 90 degrees and creating a slide, we created a lot of space for storage. Now that we have the exact dimensions, we are going to order a mattress in two parts which can be belted together, so we can pull out the slide and have a queen sized bed at night, but fold it up and slide in the drawer during the day. The mattress is on the list to be ordered when we go to Belize City on Monday, along with cushions and seat backs for the bench.
Koops’ put in a hatch over where the washer will be so that we can reach through and turn the gas lines off and on without having to exit the camper. This hatch is also likely to double as a cat door so our cat who thinks she is a dog can travel with us, and we don’t have to have a litter box in the camper proper.
The first thing Tom did when we took the camper was to drive it to Reimers to be weighed. We were delighted to discover that the total dry weight is a little less than 2000 pounds. This weight doesn’t include us or our personal gear, and about 150 pounds will be added when the solar panels are installed on the roof, but we are definitely breathing sighs of relief that we’re coming in at a weight that will be easy for this truck to handle. We also sticked it front to back and for total height, and found that the nose to tail length is slightly under 24’, and the height to the top of the rails is 11’8”. It could be slightly taller if we pump up the air ride shocks under the bed, but it will definitely come in at under 12’.