We've spent the past month working with Gary Hubbard, Sales Manager at Eagle Cap Campers, designing a slide-in truck camper to our specifications.

We finally got all the details squared away and Gary sent us a Retail MSRP sheet which we then proceeded to send to several Oregon dealers for a quote. Two of the dealers came in with quotes within a few hundred dollars of each other, but we finally decided to purchase the camper from Thunder RV in La Grande, OR (which is where Eagle Cap is located, too). Thunder RV is mainly a Northwood dealer (Arctic Fox/Nash/Desert Fox), but they also carry Eagle Cap. We decided on them, not because they had the lowest price (which they did), but mainly because we've heard many good things about them from the people on the Northwood Owner's Forum. The other dealer, who shall remain nameless, had several "poor" reviews on the RV Service Review website.

We are not selling our fifth wheel...when we make the trip to Alaska this summer (with a side trip to Yellowknife, NWT), we will put it in storage. When we come back in the fall, we will winterize the camper, put it in storage, then take the fifth wheel south for the winter. We were going to wait to get a camper once we get our lot at the Escapees' park in Sutherlin, Oregon, but when we decided to make the trip to Alaska this summer, we decided to get it early.

The camper we've ordered is the 950. We've ordered the following options:

• Swing out jacks
• Fantastic power fan
• Entertainment package
• Satellite dish w/TV antenna & Digital Magic
• 11,000 BTU air conditioner
• Water filter
• 2.5 KW Onan generator
• Full length wardrobe
• Diamond plate riser
• Exterior grab handle
• Counter top extension
• Hickory cabinets
• Slate interior color

In addition, Eagle Cap will install a 110-volt outlet in the slideout, install a Wilson antenna on the roof, and move the 110-volt microwave outlet into the microwave cabinet (we did not order the microwave; instead, our router and amplifier will be housed in that cabinet). They are also going to shorten and raise the wardrobe doors in the full length wardrobe so that we can add a memory foam pad on the bed.