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Old 09-07-2013, 06:48 AM   #21
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Just an FYI, we live in bear country and a few years back, 15 miles ftom a young boy about 8) was mauled to death by a bear st a USFS campground in his tent.
The tent will not work here for us as an everywhere solution. In the desert, it will be fine. Cougars are here in the desert but not to worried about them.
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Old 09-07-2013, 07:34 AM   #22
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Toothy Critters

Yes, everywhere that there are large, toothy critters, the kids always have been inside. Period. Unless we were backpacking - and then I was in the same tent with them.

One thing we always did from the time our kids were big enough to walk on their own for reasonable distances: we got them a backpack sized to their frame, and told them they could bring along anything they wanted, BUT a.) it had to fit in the backpack and be IN the backpack whenever it was "house cleaning" time, and b.) they had to carry the backpack. So they learned to make choices and live with the consequences of those choices, and they were responsible for picking up their own "stuff." This works in RVs, cars, and planes as well.
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Old 09-07-2013, 09:51 AM   #23
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A pickup bed with camper shell can serve as the "annex" with sleeping bags and air mattresses for the younger folks....
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Old 09-07-2013, 10:04 AM   #24
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We have a 5 and 3 year old. My 29" ambassador has center twin beds. The current plan is to add bunks above the twins, that will second as storage. You can always add bunks if its the correct set up. I saw one post where they had a removable bunk over the dinette. I think that was one of Bart's post.
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Old 09-07-2013, 10:08 AM   #25
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My parents had the twins in the rear bath Silver Streak, my sisters the fold out sleeper sofa. Yours truly slept in the aisle. Happily. The conveniences of a self-contained best quality travel trailer make "space" a non-issue where -- as mentioned above -- personal example, a bit of discipline, and that we are camping (life lived outdoors) more than makes up for any perceived discomfort.

One read the National Geographic articles on the Caravans that such self-containment meant that one was possibly better attended by services of heat, light and water than those in countries one traversed . . and not only Africa.

Keep the big picture in mind. Without plug-in electricity one can still keep the family warm, well-fed and clean for days or even a few weeks due to owning/operating such a vehicle. The anxieties of children are not to the point, here or elsewhere in life.
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Old 09-07-2013, 12:14 PM   #26
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Replaced Front Couch with Custom Bunkbed

For us, it is very important. My son is 8 and daughter 13, and they do not like sharing a bed anymore.

Our trailer is a rear bedroom. I don't want the kids sleeping in there with me. That's for my wife and I. They get the front. I guess we're "glampers" . Growing up, I'd walk into the woods with the bowie knife and come back three days later. My wife's parents stayed at the Hilton. The trailer was a "meet in the middle." And, after sleeping on a queen size Simmons Beautyrest, that sure beats the heck out of the ground with a root in your back all night. I don't want to rough it anymore!

So, the 34 footer had the gaucho couch across the front, and we've got the TV set up so that we can sit on the gaucho and watch movies facing aft. Every night, we'd fold the couch out into a bed, make it up, and the kids would sleep on it. Or fight, or argue, or giggle, etc. If we left it set up all the time, it ate up all the room in the front. But I got sick of making it up and folding it back down all the time.

Same for the dinette. Didn't like folding that out all the time either.

My solution was to take the couch out and build a custom bunk bed arrangement across the front of the trailer. The bottom is setup with a backrest so we can use it like a couch during the day, but it's a bed at night. The upper one is set up the same way.

I got a kid's bunk bed folding thing from the Goodwill for $5. I modified it so that you could just pull it out of the sockets and store it elsewhere when not needed. My daughter loves to sit on the "top couch" and watch movies from up there. My son has the bottom and it's his own space. Both have a cabinet drawer for their stuff.

I could not find one commercially made anywhere that would fit the space I had, so I went full custom. Round trailers are tapered, so the mattreses aren't rectangular; but rather trapezoidal in shape. It's wider in toward the center of the coach...just trying to maximize the room. The biggest expense were the mattresses. I've got about $330 in the foam mattresses. I found a place that makes a knock off of Tempurpedic foam (foamfactory.com) and the stuff is incredibly comfortable! I've fallen asleep on this bunk myself on weekends. I used their 5lb density foam on the bottom because it's longer lasting, and the 4lb density on the top. They're both really comfortable. I also used the 4lb stuff for the backrest. Mattresses are 4" thick and the backrest is 2" thick. In the photos, the sheets are off because we recently got back from a 2000 mile run (bed worked spectacularly....it was its first trial) and we washed all the sheets and don't have them back on yet. I cut the foam with a big carving knife to the shape I wanted. Had a little left over so made some pillows out of it. Amazingly comfortable stuff! It's a little tough to cut, but nothing you can't handle.

But at any rate, I would say it's very important to have a space for the wee one who eventually won't be so wee. Yes, we try to be outside as much as possible, but we also like watching movies at night, and even a 34 footer gets tight after a couple rain days. The bunk bed in front really helped us out.

Anyway, just one idea for you.

Best of luck
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Old 09-07-2013, 10:20 PM   #27
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I had thought about a mid 70's coach that was still in great working order.
I would want a new bathroom (modern looking) like the newer model airstreams.
Hubbie is afraid that it could add up quickly only to be at or near the same as a mid 2000's model.
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Old 09-07-2013, 11:39 PM   #28
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A smaller trailer is going to be more versatile in the long run. We didn't get our AS until our kids were adults, but we've camped a lot with them along. Our 25' works with the two of them along and isn't too big when it's just the two of us. Shorter trailers are easier to tow and park and fit into more campsites.

When all four of us are at Burning Man for 10 days, we use a removable bunk that we added above the dinette I built in the back room. Son gets the dinette, daughter gets the bunk, we always sleep on the dinette I built in the front. When a tent is possible, they use that for sleeping space and the back dinette is available for indoor meals or social space if it's raining out. We do a lot of living under our awning.
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Old 09-08-2013, 05:08 AM   #29
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I have two children, 10 and 8, and they sleep on the table and sofa of our 27FB. This arrangement works for now but has a few drawbacks. The sleeping area has to be made and unmade twice a day which tends to be a pain, with storing the bed linen in the day and the unused cushions at night. We find that kids seem to find other kids and travel in packs of 6-10 or so when camping and it is not uncommon to be alone in our trailer one minute and then bombarded with children everywhere the next. Lots of fun but it would be nice if there was an area that was theirs alone which would provide the sleeping, storage and play space for all the electronics, legos, movie watching, etc. Not to mention theirs to keep clean and organized as well.

So my two cents - buy something that has dedicated sleeping space for your child and enough space for what children of this generation do with their time. If that isn't an Airstream right now, there is always time for one in your future when you child is an adult.
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Old 09-08-2013, 05:15 AM   #30
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Shorter trailers are easier to tow and park
Not sure I agree with that. Our 34' tows like a dream and is acknowledged to be one of the best towing Airstreams ever made. It also turns and backs up easily, on those six wheels.
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Old 09-08-2013, 05:18 AM   #31
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I had thought about a mid 70's coach that was still in great working order.
I would want a new bathroom (modern looking) like the newer model airstreams.
Hubbie is afraid that it could add up quickly only to be at or near the same as a mid 2000's model.
Go mid-to-end 80's. Similar price, but better built quality. Bathroom, just clean it, perhaps a new white toilet and you're good to go. If you feel like doing a reno, you can do that sometime in the future.

We just had new flooring put down and the upholstery redone. Next year we'll tackle the conversion to composting toilet and additional solar. The year after...who knows. I don't like the speckled effect on the interior walls, so we'll either paint or replace these.
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Old 09-08-2013, 05:22 AM   #32
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Webspinner,

Could you post a picture of two of the bunks you made? I'd like to see that. I had thought about doing something similar with mine. But the way my cabinets and all were laid out, I didn't see a good way to do it.

To DMT's point, we looked at some big 5ers (fifth wheel trailers) that had really super kid friendly layouts. They had separate bedrooms for the kids. Some even had two bathrooms. One that I really liked had the kid's bedroom in the back. There was a slideout on both sides, a huge dresser right in the middle that divided the room into two, and then two sets of bunkbeds; one on each side. Plenty of room for four kids in there with their own 26" flatscreen and lots of floor space. They even had a second door off it that led into their own half bath. I forget the brand name, but we saw two or three that were similar. Another had the kids up front in the raised area, but was similar just with the ends swapped. It may be heresy to say on here, but 5ers have way more room in them. I think all of these were built by Keystone, under a couple different sub brand names.

Personally, I like the Raptor 300 toy hauler. it's the biggest one I can "legally" pull with my truck. But with that you get a whole back room that once you pull the Harley and Schwinns out, you hit the button and beds drop down and the kids get a whole big room (like 11' long) that they can do whatever they want in.

We looked at these after getting and fixing up our silver tube. Truth is, none of the box trailers seemed to be built as well as my older one. But you take the good with the bad I guess.

For Airstream, sometime in 1985 they deepened the frames and made them stronger. So if you want a longer one (say more than 26'), I'd recommend a 1986 or newer.

Anyway, best of luck with your search.
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Old 09-08-2013, 04:03 PM   #33
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Webspinner,

Could you post a picture of two of the bunks you made? I'd like to see that. I had thought about doing something similar with mine. But the way my cabinets and all were laid out, I didn't see a good way to do it.
I made the back dinette to fold down into a twin size bed. The bunk is on a removable board and holds a bunk size (30"?) trifold foam mattress. Both the board and the mattress are stored in our house when not in use, so it isn't a self contained sort of bunk.

Some pictures can be seen on our blog, here.
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Old 09-08-2013, 04:05 PM   #34
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Not sure I agree with that. Our 34' tows like a dream and is acknowledged to be one of the best towing Airstreams ever made. It also turns and backs up easily, on those six wheels.
Airstreams are by far some of the easiest trailers to tow. I won't argue with that.

But some of the campsites in the older National Parks, like Yosemite, have driveways built in the time of tent camping. Fewer than half of them will hold our 25' Tradewind, so our reservation options are limited.
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Old 09-08-2013, 06:58 PM   #35
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August, 1973 - my brother and me in our pop-up (w/mom). Eventually, we graduated to our own sleeping bags on one side of the trailer. Otherwise, we were OUTSIDE playing. Because we were camping, and that's what you do. When you're camping.
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Old 09-08-2013, 07:26 PM   #36
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August, 1973 - my brother and me in our pop-up (w/mom). Eventually, we graduated to our own sleeping bags on one side of the trailer. Otherwise, we were OUTSIDE playing. Because we were camping, and that's what you do. When you're camping.
Good stuff...
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Old 09-08-2013, 08:36 PM   #37
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August, 1973 - my brother and me in our pop-up (w/mom). Eventually, we graduated to our own sleeping bags on one side of the trailer. Otherwise, we were OUTSIDE playing. Because we were camping, and that's what you do. When you're camping.
That's where different points of view come in. I've said this before, for us the Airstream is (very) luxurious camping. For others, it's a house. Then there's everything in between.

Whatever works for people.
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Old 09-08-2013, 09:13 PM   #38
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We spent last few days with granddaughters in our. 34'AS.

It was amazing. Three girls, 9, 7, 4, literally exploded into every conceivable available space. The 34 was cramped within 3 hours. We tried to manage the chaos. With moderate success.

Key was having "kid space" where all their entourage put things. Once the "bad cop", me, PopPop started being very quiet they got the message.

It was hard because they were so excited and they are moving to Aransas Pass, TX, next week which means more work on corrosion maintenance on the AS because Nana will want to go. I can tell because she is really quiet.
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Old 09-08-2013, 10:51 PM   #39
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We bought an Avion as our first ever camper. Our only child, would turn 13 a month later. The Avion had twin beds in the center, which worked out nicely when friends would go with us on weekend trips.
Last November we decided to let go of the Avion. (I wanted a bed to sleep in......I was tired of the blow up mattress on the couch.) We looked at all kinds of trailers,( I wanted a toy hauler because we like to take our golf cart with us), including AS. For the amount of money we were going to put out for a toy hauler, even compared to our 30 year old Avion, the new SOB's were poorly made. We decided to trade our 30' Avion for a 34' Airstream.I love the rear bedroom, and the dinette/couch are very comfortable for our soon to be 16 year old. She still takes friends with her and they have the " living room" to watch TV, talk, listen to their ipods etc. while we can watch TV in the bedroom. The only regret I have is not getting the AS sooner!
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Old 09-08-2013, 11:15 PM   #40
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Does it have to be an Airstream?

We bought a 1966 Streamline 26' with twin beds as they were significantly cheaper than similar style Airstreams, and we're very happy with it. We have a rear bath, bedroom in the middle with twin beds, and a dinette up front that converts to a full bed. There is a curtain/door between the kitchen and bedroom.

As for kids, we have a 6 year old, and a 24 month old. The 6 year old mostly sleeps on the dinette, and we put the 24 month old in a pack and play on the floor in the kitchen. As long as she had the same space every night, she was fine. The first night out is always "fun" as she wants to play, after than she settles down quickly.

On really cold nights I slept in the dinette with her, and the older girl slept in one twin bed, my wife in the other.

We bring books and a few toys, but since we're usually out and about, we don't need much. We have never filled all the cabinets, even on a 2 week 2900 mile trip. You don't camp to bring everything. When the girls are older we will sleep up front, so we can stay up and work/talk/eat then set up the bed. We will let the girls take the twin beds.

You will be fine with 27'. The extra you spend on an Airstream you will likely get back when you sell. As others have said, the quality is way better. Our trailer is nearly 50 years old and still incredibly solid. Plus it's paid for, and cost us less than $5k so far.

Good luck, and personally I would err on the side of smaller and cheaper and figure out how to do without. It's camping, not a second house.
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