Our Trailer History

By Tamsin

Having idyllic trailer memories from my childhood, one of the first things I wanted for my own children was idyllic trailer memories!  I fell even more in love with my husband when he agreed that we could move forward with the purchase of a travel trailer.  The first thing we did was buy a truck to pull the trailer, a Toyota Tacoma that had decent towing capacity.  The same day we bought the truck we looked at trailers.  It was our first experience of how fun it is to look at trailers.  The salesman found out what we were looking for, loaded us in a golf cart and took us around to show us what he had.  Then he put the hard sell to us asking what it would take to get us into a trailer that day!  Well, our favorite trailer would have been a stretch to be pulled by the Tacoma so we kept looking.  From there I just did the research online and after an extensive search found what I thought was the perfect floor plan, found a dealer online and asked if we could get one.  I had NO idea at the time that you don’t pay list price for a trailer.  We lived and learned from that experience BUT the trailer turned out to mostly be great.  

It was a 2014 Rockwood Mini Lite 2504s.  The thing I liked best about it was that it felt very spacious.  It had a murphy bed at the front that folded up during the day to expose a sofa so we could have a nice living space during the day and a nice queen bed at night.  One of our favorite destinations was Armitage Park near Eugene, OR where we can camp in a wonderful setting AND head in to Hayward Field to experience the Prefontaine Classic or the US Track & Field championships.  

It is a joke among RVers that you are always looking for your next bigger truck or trailer.  Our Tacoma began to feel cramped and we upgraded to a Ford F-150.  It was a great truck and it pulled the Mini Lite very well.  But, our family had grown and the two “cubbie” bunks at the back would not accommodate a third.  By this time we knew that we would use a trailer.  We also knew what things we liked and didn’t like–we loved the open floor plan but we wanted more parent privacy than a curtain and that we shouldn’t be hitting our knees on the bathroom cupboard when using the facilities!  The Mini Lite was a bear to hitch and unhitch so we were intrigued by fifth wheels.  This would require a new truck and we traded in the 150 for a 350 and started shopping for our next trailer.  In the end, after learning WAY more about buying a trailer, we got our Grand Design Reflection 28bh in the spring of 2018.

We LOVED our 28bh, which was also spacious and efficient!  We had many wonderful adventures including a COVID trip to Houston where I discovered I could manage the kids and the trailer on a long trip by myself (though I was VERY grateful when David flew down and met us in Houston to take over trailer management!)  

As I started planning this sabbatical trip, I knew that having just a little more space in certain areas would be very helpful.  Our wishes included three individual bunks for our three kids and if possible a 2nd bathroom.  Having loved our Grand Design Reflection, we just decided to go with their next biggest bunkhouse, the 311bhs. 

The front bedroom layout is exactly the same as the 28bhs (we love the two entrances to the bathroom that makes it feel bigger than it really is.)  We knew we would want to do just a little remodeling to make it work well for us. As I was casually shopping for a good deal I found a used one with the remodels we were hoping for so we bought it in the summer of 2023. The family of 5 we bought it from had lived in it on the road for 9 months giving us a good idea we were on the right track.  We will make another post about how we have set up our ideal travel trailer.