Escapees May-June 2023

The couch we do use is a loveseat that folds down from the driver’s side wall. Two lightweight recliners can also be moved anywhere easily. When we’re parked, we place the recliners in an orientation that faces the view. When traveling, we place the recliners in front of the RZR facing into the kitchen. Although it sounds time-consuming to set up the furniture each time we park, it only takes a few minutes. BYOF—Bring Your Own Furniture! Although our rig also came with removable tables, they are heavy and cumbersome. So, we bought two small folding tables that can be regular-table height or coffee-table height. This gives us each a “desk” or, if we have company, a coffee table or two, something we never had in our full-timing fi fth wheel. We are both photographers and we spend many hours on our laptops processing our photos. We love having the laptops (and pen and paper) on a table rather than in our laps! We also found two small storage ottomans with drawers so we have storage for of fi ce supplies, etc. Besides the awkwardness of driving a large toy into our living room, the other disadvantage of an open-box design is that we have to take the side-by-side out of the rig in order to use the living room. This is not always convenient. If we park overnight in a rest area, we can use our full kitchen, even with the RZR loaded, but it’s very tight and obviously not a happy situation for more than one night! So, whenever possible, we unload the RZR and park it nearby. Likewise, if we are going to stay in a camp site for only two or three nights, we often leave the folding tables stowed away on the Happijac bunk bed and fl ip the storage ottoman tray tops over for coffee mugs, pen and paper. This kind of fl oor plan fl exibility has been fun, and we’re still learning. Loading and unloading the RZR seemed daunting at fi rst, but we soon got the hang of it and can now do it in a few minutes, largely because of the Cargo Buckle straps we described in the Jan/Feb 2023 issue. We like to scout out boondocking locations with our side-by-side, and we’ve found it is really easy to park the rig, unload the RZR and go hunting for a campsite.

38

ESCAPEES Magazine May/June 2023