What a View!! (Winnebago View)

 I'm seriously thinking of changing my name of the blog to "What A View" . 

This is why:

We picked up this lovely 2016 Winnebago View 24G model. We bought it from a private seller up near Antigo, Wisconsin.  This was after a few weeks of researching and searching again and looking at many different brands models and types. We took some for test drives and kicked some tires. This happened to be the one we were looking for and it happened to be at the right price at the right time. 

It's 25 ft 5 inches long.  What a far cry from the 38 feet of the Safari~!!  We are going to have to adjust our camping style and adapt our gear we carry.  But now we can get into smaller sites, maneuver easier and turn around, more impulsive and less planning ahead. 

It is on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis with a 3.0 L turbo diesel engine.  There's a lot of  "oomph" when you touch the pedal for sure. It is 12 inches narrower than our wide body Safari, so it will be a bit easier to manage and take into some out of the way places that we had to pass up on before. 

Although it's able to tow 5,000 pounds, which would handle the Saturn easily, we don't think we are going to tow unless we really need to.  I think it's funny we have a Winnebago VIEW and a Saturn VUE.   tee hee heeeee

Here is the floor plan,

What I like best is that it separates the motorhome

into three separate rooms, 

with a long galley kitchen connecting them all.

Since it was totally empty, it was a perfect time to run it through the weigh scales to make sure we know our CCC (cargo carrying capacity) after we load it up. Being over weight is seriously dangerous, so we will watch what we are loading up once we get it home. 

Before we put anything in, 

I just HAD to shoot a video! 

We have never had slides before.  Here is the main living area when the slide is out. Look at the space!  There are 2 locations to put the table, but it's rather large.  I think we will only use it if we are actually eating inside. We usually are outdoors, eating on a picnic table. 

So we are thinking of a modification we found on a Winnebago View Owners Facebook Group to buy one more table post, cut it a bit shorter.  Then buy a heavy duty cocktail waitress tray from a restaurant supply shop.  It makes a nice little table to set between the two rotating cockpit chairs....  p.s. there are seat boosters that go on those two seats to raise them up to the living area level. Another pic down below shows them in place.

Over the livingroom area is a big powered skylight. It can be wide open, or a slider goes across with a screen to keep out bugs.  The slider from the other way is a room darkening fabric in case you want to keep out the hot sunshine or make it all dark at night. It really makes things feel light and bright and airy.

This photo is taken with the "wide angle" view to get it all in the shot.  The slide has a loveseat by Flexsteel called a "Fold N Tumble" feature.  It flips out to an extra wide twin bed. It may be fine for kids, but I think it's a tad bit uncomfortable.  We are considering taking it out and installing a reclining loveseat similar to what we had in the Safari. But for now, it's okay. It is very soft ultraleather and pretty comfortable. We brought out some ottomans from the house as leg rests.  There are seat belts tucked down inside that passengers can use to ride along.

Up top over the driving area is a queen sized bunk!  It has memory foam mattresses and feels pretty nice. We don't plan to ever sleep up there, and prefer the center section flipped forward so access to the cockpit is easier.  We looked at some View models that didn't have overhead bunk. Instead they had 2 cabinets and a big picture window. We think the extra space for grandkid sleepovers will be worth having this extra area.  I can put a few totes of fabric and sewing supplies up there when there aren't any little ones along. 

What I REALLY REALLY like (of utmost importance to us) is a BIG kitchen with deep drawers and lots of counterspace.  It only has a two burner propane cooktop for now, but we may change that to a traditional RV oven and stove like we did in the Safari.  The micro is also a convection oven, but that means you have to be either plugged in to shore power or running the generator to bake anything.  We will see. But all of the cabinet and drawer space is a real plus, even over some of the other models in the same year. I think this one called the G version has the most.  The 2 door fridge is 3 way (propane, 120 AC electric or 12 volt DC).  The flooring is a single piece sheet vinyl, with carpeting only in the back bedroom. All of the lights are LED 12 volt. Lots and lots of fancy recessed LED strip lights around the backsplash, on the wall, and under the cabinets. We are going to get some dimmable rv toggle switches to tone them down.

The queen sized walk around bed is in the back. Another slide goes out the rear of the rig, about 3 feet and the part of the mattress flops back into place. It is a memory foam, and pretty comfy. But we did find that by flopping the cushions around and putting the slit to the bottom third was better on the side sleeping.  When the slide comes in, the mattress can be flipped up and over, like a taco. The bed stays fully made. 

Today we added a 2" memory foam on top, and then an electric mattress pad heater too. I will post about mods and such things in another post.  We like all of the big windows, and also each one has heavy room darkening MCD roller shades. 

The bathroom is kinda hard to take pics of unless it's on wide angle.  So there is a bit of distortion.  

There are FOUR cabinets for storage in the bathroom.  

• A deep medicine cabinet above the toilet, 
• and a shallower medicine cabinet above the sink.  
• More cabinet space below the sink and some open shelves. 
• Then alongside of the door between the wall and shower is a tall skinny cabinet from floor to almost the ceiling.   

Steve is going to add a bigger fan on the vent system.  It lets in a lot of daylight too. 

We did give the toilet space a "trial run" to make sure there was enough room in the bathroom.  One time my mom bought a big Holiday Endeavor motorhome and there wasn't enough room in front of the toilet unless you opened the door!  Oh my!   It is a nice porcelain elevated toilet, good for Steve's long legs. 

The shower is also tall enough for Steve's 6'3" body, and extra room to boot.  The skylight even has an electric light built in, so you can see in the shower either night or day. 

That is about it for a "TOUR" from the inside.  Maybe tomorrow I will take pics of the outside bins and what we are taking along.  There is a LOT we left behind in the garage because we don't want to overload it.  Once we are done with the basics, we will go back to the weigh scales to check it again. 

We did notice a bit of giggling and wiggling of someone who just added more weight to our cargo area! 

STOWAWAY!

She said if they take their motorhome

and camp next to us, 

she will still come and sleep in ours! 

After all of the neighbors were done visiting,

and the grandkids went home, 

it was time to introduce Binney.

She approves. 

Today she acts like the queen of the house, and has made herself at home.  We are ready for some camping!  Oh, now you can see the boosters that are added to the swiveled cockpit chairs.  It makes them very comfortable and brings them up to the same floor level as the rest of the camper portion. 

I will post again about more of the outside stuff, but for now, we are just going to keep loading up gear and deciding what goes where. 

We are Happy Campers! 

More to come....

P.S. Let me know what you think if I change the name of the blog?