After much, literally months of deliberation, and over 8 weeks of living out of bags after selling our old RV, we decided to purchase a brand new fifth wheel. This is the first time we have ever made a large brand-new purchase. For the last fourteen and a half years of our marriage we’ve always bought used cars and fixer-upper houses. To give you an idea on how hard this decision was for us, it took me over 6 months of research to buy a nice blender and three days of putting it in my online shopping cart only to delete it before I finally hit “check out”.
So why did we decide to go with a new fifth wheel? Two reasons, floor plan and Dixie RV Superstores. We first saw the Heartland Gateway 3650BH in Texas and, despite the hotel-like appearance of the interior, we immediately we fell in love with the floor plan. At the time we still had our old RV and thought there was no way we could buy a new RV so we kept looking at used ones. The Gateway is a new line from Heartland so there weren’t any used ones available. We found a used Cedar Creek Silverback we liked not loved in Michigan but the weather was not cooperating to go pick it up.
A few weeks later while waiting for a break in the nasty weather, we went to the Indianapolis RV show and saw the Heartland Gateway 3650BH again. We walked in and every one of us knew it was a perfect floor plan for our family. We sat in it for about 30 minutes imagining what it would be like to live in it. It had EVERYTHING we wanted: a full size refrigerator, tons of kitchen counter space, a gas stove and oven, a pantry, a huge bunk room with two slides, a booth dinette (we didn’t want a table and chairs), washer and dryer hook ups (which we decided to use as a place for Brent’s office), a second half bath, and a bathtub in the full bath. It’s so cute to watch babies play in the tub!
The next morning I got up early and started contacting RV dealerships. I made a few offers and Dixie RV got back to me. Dixie RV was awesome. Not only are the prices on their rigs great, the customer service is phenomenal. (We are going to write a post with video detailing the entire process of buying a new RV from Dixie soon so stayed tuned.)
Anyway, as you may know the weather in the midwest was horrendous so it took us almost two weeks before we could get down to Dixie RV to pick up our new rig. In the meantime, I needed to see my doctor so it was more cost effective for Thing Two and I to fly down to Florida than for us all to drive all the way down and then back up to Dixie in Louisiana. Plus it gave us some special one on one time with the boys. Our family was apart for 10 days which was really hard but eventually we reunited late one night in Pensacola during that crazy ice storm. The next morning we drove to Dixie to pick up our new RV.
The Kitchen and Living Room
The full size fridge is the most exciting part! It means no more playing tetris after going to the grocery!
Lots of counter space is going to make preparing meals much more enjoyable.
It’s hard to tell in the picture but there is a lot of open floor space in front of the couches. If we wanted we could comfortably fit a coffee table. Many of the fifth wheels we looked at had an island but then the floor space in the living room felt cramped.
The Master Bedroom
Meow Cow thinks the “king bed” means it was made for him. (He’s on the top right pillow.) 
The washer and dryer hookups are behind the louvered doors. We orginally thought we would install a washer/dryer combo but decided it would be more space effective to use it as Brent’s office.
The Full Bathroom
Again it’s hard to tell but the bathtub is actually quite large.
The Bunk Room and Half Bath
There is a ton of space in the middle of the bunkhouse.
The half bath taken from the outside door.
As far as renovations and decorating goes, we aren’t sure what we are going to do yet. While we had a blast painting and reupholstering everything in our old rig, we just don’t feel comfortable sanding and painting brand new cabinets or tearing off perfectly good fabric. To be honest, we don’t have the time for a full renovation anyway with the baby on the way. Another reason we decided to go with a new rig. We do know we’ll make new curtains and get a new bedspread. Gold is not our thing. We also have to come up with a solution for the leather couches and headboard because Meow Cow will turn them all into his own personal scratching posts and getting him declawed is not an option. So we may swap out the reclining couch and recover the lounge and headboard with fabric that could easily be removed by a new owner if we decide to sell the rig in the future. Lastly, we are going to build desks spaces for the boys in the bunk room and add another storage cabinet.
So that’s the new RV, a Heartland Gateway 3650BH. We filmed a tour for those of you who prefer video over pictures but haven’t had time to edit it. We’ll get that posted next week.
Love and Laughter,
Jenn
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February 8, 2014 at 2:09 pm
Absolutely wonderful! What a treat!
Fifth wheel is definitely the way to go and this one looks very functional for a family. Good luck to you all. Enjoy your postings very much.
February 8, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Congrats on your new rig! It’s really nice!
February 8, 2014 at 5:07 pm
DUDE. What’s to renovate?! That place is fantastic! Can I move in?!?
February 8, 2014 at 5:13 pm
HOW exciting! It looks amazing, and so spacious!!
February 8, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Love the new rig! I loved the pic of the kitchen BEFORE I read it was an RV pic I was looking at. Very cool.
Leather furniture – we have 2 cats and they are great with our leather couches and bed. No problem (yes they have claws). We love leather because it’s so easy to clean up after kids get sick, etc. They do have a scratching post however. And they do tear up our carpet.
February 8, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Holy moly! that’s gorgeous! The kitchen makes me swoon! Congrats!!!
February 8, 2014 at 9:09 pm
Congratulations!!!! Glad you have more space! It looks great!
February 9, 2014 at 10:55 am
i love it!!!! xo
February 10, 2014 at 9:18 am
Wow, it’s so nice! Enjoy!! xo
February 10, 2014 at 11:59 pm
I LOVE it! It is so perfect for you all! So proud for you and can’t wait to see the video!
xxoo
February 12, 2014 at 10:51 pm
Jennifer, you can buy wide tape that is sticky on both sides to put on the places cats like to claw. They don’t like tape. I think I got it at the pet store, it’s made for that purpose. It’s clear so not real noticeable. Might help.
February 28, 2014 at 12:54 pm
Beautiful RV, and very homey!
February 28, 2014 at 12:55 pm
Beautiful RV, very homey!
July 11, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Hi!! I just wanted to say THANK YOU for posting about how much you love this rig. We happened upon your posts about it while shopping for our own rig and hadn’t considered this unit until we read about your experience with it. You convinced us! We bought one last week. Planning to move in full time with our two kids in a few weeks once we get our house up for sale.
One question: do your kids find the bunk mattresses to be pathetic? I am thinking we are going to have to find replacements for those because they are soooo thin. But they are such an awkward size, I am wondering how much they will be to replace.
June 13, 2015 at 7:21 pm
Hey there! We have been considering the Gateway! It is GORGEOUS!! How do you like it now that you’ve had it a year? Thank you for sharing your home with us and the reasons you love it! I look forward to hearing more!! 🙂
June 19, 2016 at 10:27 am
We have a 2014 Gateway 3650BH also, we love it. Question: have you had issues with the heat to the bunk area? We get no airflow and the bunkhouse is colder than the rest of the coach, even with leaving door open. Have you had this issue?