So, here’s the entire story of why we decided on April 23, 2026 to get a new 5th Wheel, even though we were leaving for a 67 day long extended vacation on May 14th — three weeks later! (Not the smartest thing to do, since it’s not uncommon for there to be things that need fixing after a “shake-down”.) We haven’t actually told anyone about it, since neither of us really wanted to talk about it, haha, so if you’re bothering to read this post, you’ll be one of the few in the know!
We had an appointment on April 20th to get new tires for our Reflection, since it had been sitting for a couple of years and we were going to be putting over 8000 miles on them for this trip. Our driveway is challenging for a 40′ long 5th Wheel (see driveway photo below). It has a 90 degree right turn and then an immediate 90 degree left turn onto the narrow road. Randy had successfully gotten it out and back in one other time already, so we knew it was possible. But we were talking instead of concentrating hard enough and when I checked the mirror after the first turn, my gasp caused Randy to stop immediately. Unfortunately, a tree had already dented in the door and tore up a panel. <sigh> The photo below was taken after we backed up a bit to try to get away from the tree (which was harder than you might imagine and involved cutting away some branches to prevent more damage when we moved!)
Once we untangled ourselves from the tree, we went ahead to our tire appointment and had them replaced. While that work was being done, we called around and found A&L RV Sales, who said they could look at the damage that day. The door was stuck closed, so we were afraid to force it open while we were out and not be able to get it back closed. Once we got it to A&L, they forced it open, then took a sledge hammer to the door frame. They were able to unbend it enough for the door to function with a bit of effort. The steps weren’t damaged, so we could have taken the RV back home and used it as-is for our trip, but the thought of having to get it back out if they could get parts in time to fix it before we left was daunting. We decided to just leave it parked there while we figured out if they could fix it in time.
While we were waiting for the tires, after we knew we were taking it to a dealer to get looked at, I threw out the idea — “You know, we were planning to downsize after this trip; maybe it’d be better if we did that BEFORE this trip instead? It sure would be nice not to have to maneuver the huge one through the winding, hilly roads between California National Parks.” So, we walked around the lot to see if we liked anything. There were a couple of Alliance models that were pretty good, but they had the north/south bed which we don’t prefer, since there isn’t much storage space, especially if there is no slideout. Later, while looking on RV Trader, I found a used Forest River Rockwood 281RK floor plan that looked good, with the east/west bed slideout and a rear kitchen with a cool bar counter instead of a separate table or booth. I liked the pantry and larger bedroom closet for storage, too. I mentioned it to the sales lady at A&L and she said they had a new 2025 Forest River Flagstaff 281RK with a significantly discounted price, since it was last year’s model. (Rockwood and Flagstaff are built exactly the same, but have different names so that two different dealers can sell the same thing under unique names — whatever!)
We went back and forth on whether or not to sell the Reflection ourselves or trade it in. If we had not damaged it, we would have probably tried selling it ourselves, to get more money for it. But since it probably would not get fixed before we left, it’d be August before we’d could even try. And we didn’t want to get stuck with two RVs parked at the house! In the end, we opted for the convenience of the trade-in, but were disappointed with the fact that they did not take the added solar or the upgraded roof into account. (Not to mention the BRAND NEW STINKIN’ tires! <sigh>) In hindsight, we should have blown off our tire appointment and gone directly to deal with repairs, but at that point we fully intended to still take the Reflection on this trip and wanted those new tires. Anyway, since A&L was not giving us any extra trade-in value for our upgrades, we took most of them out to use in the new RV! (Solar panels, lithium batteries, keypad locks, soft-close toilet seat and programmable/wi-fi thermostat.) We were planning to trade the Reese Goosebox from the Reflection for the Flagstaff’s King Pin, since we really like pulling with just the ball, but the bolt patterns were not compatible, so we had to buy a new Gen Y hitch instead.
I haven’t gotten used to how small the Flagstaff is when I see it sitting in our driveway. It’s only 28′ 10″ long, compared to 41′ I had gotten used to (well, I would still look at it and say “it’s so huge!”, so maybe I didn’t really get used to it, haha). It’s so much easier to get in and out of the driveway with the Flagstaff! We took it overnight to a campground the day after we picked it up, to better test it out. We had a bit of an issue with one of the jacks not acting right, but after recalibrating it, it seems to be behaving now. It was still very comfortable, even with less space. I think we’ll be happy with our decision each time we pull in and out of a gas station or campground. So, maybe hitting a tree three weeks before leaving on our trip wasn’t such a bad thing after all! Blessings often come in disguise!!
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