I’d like to show off our “rig”: the 2018 Open Range fifth-wheel trailer, the kayaks, the bicycles, and the 2016 Ford F350 tow vehicle, all giving some idea of how we live.

This photo was taken in the evening before our overnight stay in Gila Bend AZ on 30-December 2018, showing the rig ready to head off first thing next morning…

This shows the trailer from the utilitarian driver-side with three of the five slideouts extended and water/sewer/electrical all hooked up. Kellyn’s e-bike and my road bicycle are still loaded and covered on the aft rack (right side of photo) and the kayaks are staying on the roof of the Ford (left side of photo).

This photo is the following morning, with everything buttoned up, hooked up, and ready to go.

Dimensions: The F350 itself is 22 ft long and weighs 8,950 lbs (6.7m and 4,060kg), the Open Range fifth-wheel is 42 ft long and weighs about 16,000 lbs loaded (12.8m and 7,250kg) with the bike rack and cargo tray on the back of the trailer extending another 4 ft (1.2m) from the rear.

When traveling, the whole rig stretches about 64 ft (19.5m) and weighs almost 25,000 lbs (11,340kg), which is just a touch shy of commercial 18-wheelers in both length and weight.

So much for the exterior of the rig, so now moving to the interior of our rolling home, here is the original floor-plan of a 2018 Open Range model 370RBS…

To the left, at the aft end of the trailer is a bathroom with a full-size shower with sliding doors, throne with foot-pedal flush, floor-to-ceiling storage, and a vanity with sink, separated from the bedroom by barn doors. Yep, there is a handy ceiling fan for that small (and occasionally toxic) airspace so close to our bed.

The bedroom contains a king-size bed in the driver-side slideout with under-the-bed storage, along with a closet and credenza. Kellyn put a memory-foam mattress on top, so this bed welcomes you, accepts you, grips you, and won’t let you go. In the evening, this is a wonderful thing, but in the morning, this is sheer evil. In hot weather, there is a ceiling air-conditioner which can cool down the room in about 5 minutes. In cold weather, we use a free-standing 1500 BTU electric heater.

In the middle is the kitchen, with slideouts on both sides of the island with the kitchen sink. The driver-side slideout contains the stove/oven with overhead microwave oven, alongside the full-size residential refrigerator. The passenger-side slideout contains a dining area in the floor plan, but Kellyn re-purposed instead with a big work table with power, printer, and oversize monitor. To the aft side of the kitchen is a pantry with a washer-dryer stack. In the ceiling, we have another air-conditioner for hot weather, and we have another free-standing 1500 BTU electric heater for very cold weather.

To the right, in the front end of the trailer, is a raised living room. Here the ceiling is just 6’3″ with a 50″ LCD-screen TV, stereo, and an electric fireplace. The floorplan depicts carpeting with leather sofas in both slideouts as well as a pair of leather lounge-recliners facing the TV, but Kellyn lightened this up spectacularly by sending the leather furniture back to the dealer and getting lighter furniture from IKEA. She also ripped out the carpet and applied vinyl flooring to depict wood flooring, and she refaced the fireplace with tiling. We also painted all the walls flat white to get rid of the darkened faux wallpapering installed by the manufacturer. The electric fireplace is really an electric heater, and we use it almost continuously in cold weather.

In addition to all of the electric heaters, the trailer also has a propane furnace with ducting under the floor, controlled with the air conditioning. The under-floor ducting also heats the freshwater tank as well as the gray- and black-water tanks, to some extent. We rarely use this system, partly because we rarely encounter seriously cold weather, but also because it uses propane, and for RV life, electricity is essentially free with the site fee.

Here are three interior shots, from bedroom/bathroom aft, to kitchen middle, to living room front..

This is everything we want or need. If I was pushed for a wish list, the only things I miss might be a bathtub and maybe an automatic dishwasher. There are evenings when I’m chilled to the bone for some reason and I really love to soak up the heat of a hot bath. We don’t dirty many dishes so I don’t miss an automatic dishwasher at all, so that’s not so much a wish as an observation. This rig has everything else we need and want in a home.

So finally, here is an external shot of my happy place, with the rig parked, slideouts extended, toys ready for use, dogs enjoying the sunny weather on their tie-outs and cushions, all windows and doors thrown open to capture the lovely salt breeze under the cloudless blue sky, whispering palms behind birdsong, a drink in hand, and my lovely wife at hand…

This is Galveston TX, at the northern end of the seawall, behind Stewart’s Beach, on 24-January 2019. The previous day had been gray, cold, rainy, and downright miserable, making a day like this all the sweeter.

Life is good!