We thought it would be several more years before we owned a new RV, but ol’ Thistle just keep falling apart. Upon arriving in Red River, New Mexico, she practically gave up the ghost, so we began looking for new RV’s that could still be towed with our current truck.

We landed on a 2018 Crossroads Volante, made by Keystone. The rig is a 35’ fifth wheel, has two slide-outs, and extra room in the master bedroom. This wasn’t our dream rig, it was just one step down, but still gave us much more breathing room for our now family of five.

Thistle, though she provided us lots of great memories had LOTS of problems too. The new RV is night and day difference. Below are just a “few” things I love about our new home on wheels.

For faster reading I have italicized  my favorites.

  1. Window treatments – For the past two years we have been covering our bedroom windows with towels and/or foil bubble wrap. We finally have pull down blinds!
  2. A light above my bed – Simple, yet extremely satisfying. I will now be able to read in my bed without having to strain my eyes.  We were never able to get the light above our bed to work.
  3. A place to stand up and change clothes – in both our bedroom and the bathroom. The “Master Bedroom” has standing room to change, as well as the bathroom. This means more privacy for all!
  4. Not having to wake Kristy by clothing pulling bins down at 5:30am – In our old RV we stored most of our clothing in whicker baskets above the bed. If I forgot to get my running cloths ready the night before I would make a lot of noise early in the morning pulling down bins, but we now have dresser drawers across from the bed to store our clothes!
  5. Bluetooth stereo! – No more tiny bluetooth speaker. We now have speakers inside and outside the rig that pair directly to our phone an iPads!
  6. High ceilings – Simple, but you won’t believe how much more roomy it makes the RV feel.
  7. Kids will have more room – I mean a LOT more room. Ever since we got the rig they have been pretty much playing in their room that has a slide out. This gives us more privacy and keeps our shoeless kids from dirtying up our bed (this used to be where they played)
  8. Perfect sized fridge – Upgraded from six cubit feet to eight. It makes a huge difference, plus the outdoor kitchen has a mini fridge as well. No more playing Tetris to fit items into the fridge.
  9. Outdoor kitchen for cooking on warmer days – Summer’s in Texas are miserable. The last thing you want to do is heat up your oven and stove top on a 95 degree day. The outside kitchen will be a welcomed addition on hot days.
  10. No more leaks (at least we hope). It’s been raining every afternoon since we got back to Red River. And so for, no leaks.
  11. Power awning – This was even better than I thought. It will withstand up to 25mph winds, previous model started rattling your nerves with 12-14 MPH winds, and on top of that it has a DUMP feature that empties water that collects on top.
  12. Comfy couch and sleeping area for guests – The couch and seating in the dinette area are SUPER comfy. Ol’ thistle poked you in the rear with metal rods, even our 5 year old daughter preferred a pillow under her bottom when sitting. Even today she commented on how she didn’t have to use a pillow on the new seats.
  13. Drawers under seating – We now have drawer access to the storage under the dinette seating. It’s now the location we store pots and pans…rather than inside the oven.
  14. Cupboard storage – Not just the cupboard storage….it’s ALL the storage. We have so much more of it now. SO MUCH!!!
  15. Bathtub that doesn’t drain down the side – In ol’ Thistle water would just run down the front side of the tub straight down onto the floor. So far it seems that isn’t happening in the new RV.
  16. Shower sprayer – The new shower sprayer has a cut-off feature on it that allows you to soap up your dirty bod so you don’t use all your hot water.
  17. Solar ready! – We haven’t been much for boon docking yet, have only done it once, but with a solar ready unit we just might start. All we need to do is purchase a portable solar panel, plug it in, and our battery will stay charged.
  18. Ease the fear of “what will go wrong next” – Thistle, as much as we loved her, just kept having problem after problem. According to the dealer the roof was also falling apart and they were going to have to send it to auction. This makes us even more glad we made the decision to get a new rig.
  19. Doors that don’t slam open or shut – The new RV has friction hinges, so the doors stay right where you place them. Whether that is fully open or just half way open. So you don’t have to worry about the door hitting you on the back side as you walk into your home.
  20. No more super noisy vent hood – cooking is such a joy…except when the noise of the vent hood drowns out your loved ones voices (although this can be nice when the kids are unruly). The new vent hood is much quieter and you can still carry on a conversation while coking.
It’s amazing how just a few things can make life in a tiny space a bit brighter. Now, some of you may be asking…”how did you afford such a fancy home.” Well, we decided to finance the rig, seeing as how this is our full time home, and Thistle was good as dead. Look for a follow up post with more details about the difficult decision.
For those wanting to see what our floorpan and the inside looks like, check it out on the Cross Roads website.