Greetings! After a few long drives left my wife and I rather stiff, and our dog rather hyper, we thought of buying a Class B as a very comfortable way to drive. Hopefully to visit the US as well as escape a little of our MN winter.
After looking at a few, we were both drawn to the rear-bathroom layout, as it seemed so open and spacious. One of us can lay down while the other drives.
Based on what was available locally, we went with a Coachmen Beyond 22RB. It's the AGM/generator version. I'm actually surprised what we can do with the AGM, make meals, run the 12V refrigerator for days, watch the 12v tv, etc. We have the generator set to come on with AC at the moment. The 12v AC unit is very quiet inside the van, and rather loud outside! The 2800i generator is really quiet, so if both are running you hear the A/C but not the generator. But I doubt we will be running the A/C without access to shore power. (One bonus of the 12v A/C is that I can turn it on when driving if it's really hot and the Ford A/C does not make it to the back.) We were also drawn to the AWD dually aspect of the van. Finally, the headroom in this is great. I'm 6'1", and you can leave the overheads open and walk under them.
Made our first long drive to visit Mount Rushmore and stayed in Under Canvas tent hotel. Fun experience, but we liked the Beyond more than our other accommodations. We really liked the ability to pull into rest areas, make a nice lunch, have coffee, and take off without looking for restaurants.
Just a few inside photos:
A nice vertical roller door to close off the bath area. Makes it easier to keep cool when parked too. We set the two cushions towards the front and have a great diner-like experience.
If you have not seen this layout, just a couple extra photos of the bath area.
And, just for practice, we parked our RV in our horse pasture and spent our first night. Watched a movie, made dinner, and had a nice experience.
First time owner: Greetings from Minnesota!
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