Hi!! We're Pop up Newbies looking for first Pup!!

[orangepridepopup]

Hi!! We are the orangepridepopup family.  We looking for a used pop up ( I know- just like every other person posting huh!! LOL) This will be our very first  pop up/ folding camper/ rig/ rv purchase and we have tons of questions!! We have always been tent campers but now we are in need of a more enclosed unit.  We live in South central Kansas.  Anyway...we would like to keep our price between $3000-4000 as I am a stay at home mom with a 1 year old and a 2 year old...We are willing to drive if we find what we want but prefer driving less than 8 hours with the two little bitties. We are interested in a pop up that sleeps 7-8, refrigerator, A/C, Furnace, Prefer inside toilet and shower as well as the outside utility shower for medical reasons. Slide out is a plus but not a deal breaker and we would like one with an awning and screen room. If you or anyone you know is selling a pop up that fits this description or even has a few of the amenities that we are looking for please feel free to email us at kjosupride@sbcglobal.net

Year is not a problem but condition is a must!! Thanks for reading and thanks for helping us find the pop up of our dreams!!!! ( In Advance)  We are looking forward to hearing from a lot of seasoned vetrans in the pop up world to help us make a good decison!!!  Thanks!!

[orangepridepopup]

Chris (DH)
Kari (DW)
Karstyn (02) Kamryn (04)
Skeeter (96 Brussels) Aggie (97 Yellow Lab)
No pop up yet...we're still looking and dreaming!

[startx]

Hi orangepride, you guys were also looking for advice weren't you about features?

We have little ones like you, but we haven't ever looked for an inside shower.  I have watched many other families deal with the grey water hookups, etc and it seemed like a lot of hassle.  I don't know how much of a shower you could take either with that small water heater, but then there are people here who say it is invaluable for the little ones.  I also didn't want that much water being used inside the camper.  I have to fight the older kids to keep them from flooding the full size bathroom at home, I can only imagine the damage they could do in a popup shower.

Inside potty, great option if you can get it, otherwise invest in one from Wal-Mart!  We've always had a potty, our first two campers we bought the cheap one from Wal-Mart, and just used bags in it to make cleanup easier.  Our current camper has the cassette potty, which is GREAT!  Very good to have around with the little ones especially once you hit potty training.

Size - the rating for the number of people one will sleep I think are based on small children or people who REALLY like each other!  Ours is rated I think to sleep 10, but I have it advertised at 8, and half of them should be kids.  You have to remember too that one bed can be rated to sleep more than two people, hence the saying that they have to really like each other.  We've had up to 10 in our popup, but it was all family that didn't have issues with sharing their bunks, but it was a very cozy fit.  Essentially get what sleeps the most for your dollar, if you have to you can add a potty.  I would go for the larger size if I had the option of a 6 sleeper with potty or 8 sleeper without.  I could deal with the $30 Wal-Mart potty to have the extra room.  Remember too on those unexpectedly rainy trips that extra room inside is always a good thing.

Screen room, I know people who set them up every trip, but we just didn't get that much out of ours.  We have used it, and it does help on especially buggy trips, but ONLY if you can get the kids to keep the door zipped, and ours weren't great at keeping it zipped.  The setup really isn't difficult at all, just we didn't see the point most trips.

Outside shower we enjoyed for cleanup, and I built a dish stand to use back there for washing dishes.  If we didn't have the water heater though, the outside shower would have gone unused.

Some people don't care about this, but I HATE climbing over a table or seating area to get into bed.  Others will tolerate climing over something to get more seating space.  That would probably be a personal choice for you, but I did find our side dinette was perfect for setting up a pack and play for a traveling crib, and it made it where it could be setup all the time without being in the way.

Have you guys toured many popups?  You might consider going to a dealership and just checking them out to see what features are available and what you do/don't like before you buy for sure.

Best of luck, and welcome aboard.

[tlhdoc]

Welcome to PUT.

It sounds like you know what you want in a PU.  You might want to list this information in the classified area of the forum.  People selling and buying post there.  Good luck on the hunt for a PU.  
 
My PU has what you want except for the slide out, but it is not for sale, sorry.

[orangepridepopup]

Thanks to both startx and tlhdoc for the warm welcome and encouraging words.  We are still out there searching for our pop up, though we have a great lead right now.  We are anxious to start making memories with our daughters and get them out camping asap.  We look forward to making new friends along the road of pop up fans as well!! Hope everyone is doing good tonight.  Thanks again!
orangepridepopup

[cyclone]

Just wanted to add my welcome to the board, too.  This is my second year in a pop-up; tented for years before that.  And, I've been a member of PUT for nearly 4 years (I think) so I was a wannabe for quite a while.  I agree with the "I hate to crawl over a dinette table, bench, whatever to get in the bunk-end.  The new to me pop up has a great floor plan.  I love it!

[orangepridepopup]

Thanks cyclone for the warm welcome as well.  I don't know that I will mind climbing over dinettes/ sofas as my guests will but that will all depend on which pup the lovely bank gives up "permission" to but  either the 1984 Jayco Cardinal Deluxe for 1500 OBO or the 1999 Jayco Eagle 12 UDK for 2800.  We are waiting.bitng our nails, waiting anxiously, sitting on the edges of our seat as we wait to get an asnwer..its funny bc/ both pups have about the same features/ amenities as the other minus a few years lol..so anyone want to jump on this discussion before we sign the paperwork to finalize this deal??
Thanks!!

[ilovecamping]

Welcome and hope you find your dream soon.  We just bought a new 04 PU and it fits your description pretty much exactly.  It has the slide, potti/shower combo, outside shower, HWH, sleeps 8 and a must for us-no climbing over to get in bunks.  In my opinion the shower was a must have, for dh it was the slide and for the both of us it was the no climbing over.  The downside of ours is no cabinet space.  We have one drawer, under dinette storage, and under couch storage, and VERY little counter top.  I agree that you would have to be small or like closeness to sleep 8 in ours.  We got the AAR for ours and are trying to get it set up and put up the velcro asap.  With the AAR it has rain flaps and they also are solid so it makes it private if needed.  You could also sleep some out there if the need arose or like us you could use it for putting things that you don't want in the PU taking up valuable space.  This is our third PU but our first new one.  This is the first one we have hooked the water up to and we had a lot of things to learn, felt just like a newbie.  If you need any further help, just ask away, there are lots of very nice helpful people here.

[orangepridepopup]

Well, DH is scheduled to go to Dallas Friday afternoon to pick up the new to us 1999 Jayco Eagle UDK 12 foot box pop up..  We are so excited we are about to go crazy with sheer anticipation!!! We will surely spend next weekend playing with her and getting to know her and can't wait until the maiden voyage Memorial Weekend.  We are going to Osage Cove at Kaw Lake in Oklahoma..Gonna have a blast!!!!  So now it is just counting down to picking up the pup...only 5-6 more days!!!!
OP