Over the past 5 years, we have gone from tent camping, to a pop-up, to a couple of campers that really didn’t suit us. Our last camper, a Starcraft Autumn Ridge, was nice but we didn’t have the room we really wanted.
As it happened, we received a recall notice from Starcraft for some electrical issue so we took it to Camping World in Bryon to have it taken care of. Donna had been looking at other campers for some time now and we had made a list of the models we wanted to look at while we were there.
We had some things in mind that we wanted in a new camper. The Autumn Ridge was a bunk house model, without a slide. Eventhough it was 28 or so feet long, there just wasn’t enough room. We knew that we wanted either a rear living or rear kitchen, a slide-out, and the bathroom had to bigger and the sink had to be inside of it – in the Autumn Ridge, the sink was outside of the actual bathroom. We also were looking for a floorplan where the TV was not in an awkward place. Again, the Autumn Ridge’s TV was placed in a way that you couldn’t see it from the dining table.
Now, by this time, you may be asking if the Autumn Ridge had all of these things we didn’t like, then why did we buy it? Well, at the time we had not been out enough to really know what we wanted in a camper. We thought it would work and in our minds we saw things differently.
So, after looking at several on the lot at Camping World, we found the Keystone Outback 299URL. One step inside and we could tell that this was the one. The floorplan checked all the boxes. Follow this link for the floorplan. It is a rear living, with recliners and an entertainment center in a place where the TV (it came with the camper and it’s a 50″!!!!) can be seen no matter where you sit. The bathroom not only has the sink inside of it, it is large enough to change your clothes in and then some.
The slide extened out further than most, so the living space is very generous. The galley is laid out very efficiently and it has a stainless sink – something you don’t see very often.
This is an “Ultra-light” model. One of my concerns with having a slideout was the weight. I have a 2012 F-150 King Ranch with a towing package, so the recommended weight is 8000 lbs and the max is around 11000 lbs. The Outback comes in at just over 7600 lbs. Another box checked.
So after falling in love with the camper, we decided to pull the trigger and get it. All I can say about Tony and the crew at Camping World is that they gave us a great deal and really went all out to make sure we got the most for our Autumn Ridge. So thank you guys – Tony, Paul, George – for making buying our new camper so easy and painless.
Inside Georgia 