Next up, a review on the camper itself.
We started looking at campers last fall, and continued through the winter. We looked at a bunch, but the first one that really spoke to us was a Whitehawk 25BHS. We liked the looks, décor, and general features and layout. As we continued looking, everything we looked at got compared back to the 25BHS. After looking at a bunch, we were left wishing for a slightly bigger unit (decided we liked the Couch), but we really wanted the outdoor kitchen. Just about to give up and order a 28DSBH, I came across the floorplan for the 28BHKS. It seemed perfect on paper – we just couldn’t find one to look at. Taking a chance, we placed the order Feb 19.
Fast forward to this past weekend, to sum it up – we love it. The larger shower is awesome. The back door to the bathroom is great to access both when we were hooked up, as well as when we were on the road. We were nervous with the two slides, but in use we loved the kitchen island, with two walkways around it. Standing there doing dishes, we were able to have a conversation, washing and drying, and not feel on top of each other. When Kimber (our Golden) was in the mood to play, she had room to roam with the expanded kitchen. The full size queen is very welcome as I hate sleeping with my feet off the bed. Speaking of the bed – I’ve slept on better, but also much worse. Another surprise was the tables on either side of the bed – all the other WH’s we looked at didn’t have the small tables to set clock/cell phone/glasses/drink on. The outdoor kitchen was already put to use, though I’ll probably remove the microwave as I don’t really need two of them.
Towing wise, I thought it was well matched to my Truck (15 Silverado 2500 HD Crew Gas). The hitch is easy to use, and must have worked since I didn’t know it was there. It is noisy when maneuvering, but I expected it. Backing it up was no issue – though the site at Whispering Winds was really tight (creek behind the site, large ditch to the front made for a tight jackknife to get into.
Quality wise – I’ll give the 28BHKS a fair to good. There were no major issues, nothing I had the dealer take care of. There were a bunch of nits that I’ll take care of in the next week or so. The bathroom door doesn’t shut flush, the top of the door protrudes about ½” beyond the wall – needs to be rehung. Several pieces of molding/trim need to be stapled down better as they were loose. The pull out stove in the outdoor kitchen was installed with the slides not perpendicular to the face frame – so it is difficult to pull out. This will require reinstalling the slides correctly. Same for the pantry drawer. Outdoor shower leaked like a sieve, just needed fittings tightened. The only component issue we have is with the TV/DVD player. Two issues – first there is no sound to the TV, it only comes through the ceiling speakers. I’m assuming the audio cord wasn’t routed/connected to the TV. Secondly, when we tried playing a DVD, it kept resetting to the credits after a couple of minutes of playing. After about 5 times, it worked fine – not sure if this is the player or a bad disk.
Otherwise, we were extremely happy with the purchase. We have a couple of driveway campouts planned for the next two weekends, then we’re off in Mid May for a 5 day trip up through the New England States.