Our first MH was a 21ft micro mini class C Toyota Dolphin. It was a great little motorhome and served us well.
Needing more room and starting to define how we’d use the motorhome, we sold the Toyota several years ago and upgraded to a 30 ft Mirada, it was perfect, until now (2017)
The 30ft Mirada was a good size, it fit in our driveway and we rarely had problems finding an overnight spot. If length was a problem, it was usually because we had a toad. Disconnect the toad and we fit just about anywhere.
As for length, Its our observation that a lot of the places we like to stop, they start getting limited when the length starts getting much over 30-35 ft, especially if we had the toad. I think a lot of older places were set up for 30 ft travel travel trailers, so back ins are good up to about 30-35 ft.
During the winter months we used and enjoyed the Mirada the way we had envisioned, kind of like a mobile motel room or studio apartment.. However, during the winter of 2016 / 2017, we decided we’d like a little more room. A motorhome that was a little longer, with a slide, and a different floor plan. This would accommodate our lifestyle much better than the Mirada. We decided we weren’t in a hurry to buy, and if we didn’t find anything, the Mirada was OK for now. The search began.
Drum Roll
We actively searched for about 6 months and finally came upon the perfect candidate, a 35 ft 1999 Southwind. PERFECT, its a little longer, has a slide, has a table vs a booth, and a floor plan exactly what we wanted. It was 17 years old, but in very good condition. When the wife says she likes it, be prepared to jump on it, and we did.
At 35 ft, the Southwind just barely fits in our drive. I suspect the 5 additional feet will also place additional limits on parking spots as we travel. But from our experience, it’ll mainly be an issue of disconnecting the toad in order to use a spot.
We’re currently doing the little fix ups to make the Southwind ours, and are looking forward to upcoming trips.