On The Road
A Tour of Lia & Trevor Eyre's Keystone Sprinter Fifth Wheel
Take a tour of Lia and Trevor Eyre's Keystone Sprinter Fifth Wheel.
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Welcome To Our RV
Keystone Carbon RV Tour
Why We RV in a Fifth Wheel Toy Hauler
Choosing an RV can be overwhelming, especially if you're new to RV travel. It’s hard to know what you'll actually need or want without firsthand experience. So, how did we make the right choice?
Our decision to go with a Keystone Carbon fifth wheel toy hauler was completely different from our initial vision for our family’s adventure road-tripping across America. At first, we thought we wanted a drivable RV, but after months of research, we landed on a fifth wheel toy hauler for its versatility, size, and home-like feel.
For RV newcomers, a fifth wheel toy hauler offers the perfect balance of home amenities and gear storage, making it an ideal choice for long-haul adventure seekers.
A Tour of Our Keystone Carbon 398 Toy Hauler
Toy Hauler Bunkhouse
Most people are shocked when we tell them our RV has five dedicated queen beds—more than some residential homes! Even more surprising is that, upon entering, you wouldn’t even notice the four queen beds in the toy hauler section. These beds rise and lower from the ceiling, making the space feel much larger than expected.
While the Carbon series offers several layouts, we chose the Carbon 398 with its 17-foot toy hauler—a perfect fit for our large family. During the day, this space serves as a multi-functional family area, and at night, each of our older kids has their own queen bed. This was a huge selling point for us, as we wanted to travel long-term without our kids feeling like they were sacrificing comfort. Thankfully, they still love this space as much as they did when we first hit the road!
You’d be hard-pressed to find another bunkhouse that compares, especially considering that this one also includes a washer/dryer unit and a full bathroom. That’s right—a full bathroom in the kids’ toy hauler bunkhouse!
Two Full Bathrooms
After years of cleaning kids’ bathrooms at home, we knew one thing for certain: we didn’t want to share a bathroom with our kids, especially with three young boys.
This quickly narrowed our search to toy haulers, as few other RV types offer two full bathrooms. A bonus we hadn’t considered was the extra black and gray tank storage, which extends our time off-grid. If you plan on traveling with a family for an extended period, we can’t recommend an additional half or full bathroom enough.
It’s a small feature that makes a big difference!
Home-Like Amenities
Our kitchen and living room have always been the heart of our home, and we knew that wouldn’t change in an RV. If your kitchen is your favorite space, you won’t want to sacrifice your ability to cook, bake, and host on the road. As someone who loves to cook while spending time with family, this kitchen-living room combo is perfect.
With a five-shelf pantry and a 12 cu. ft. refrigerator, we can stock up for long stays just like we would at home. The three-burner propane stove and oven allow us to cook and bake with minimal limitations. While counter space is limited, we’ve made room for our essentials: a coffee maker, toaster, air fryer, and baskets of fruit.
The kitchen has everything we need as a family of seven traveling on the road. The cozy kitchen-living space accommodates everything from cooking and family time to remote work and homeschooling. Where this area may lack in living space, our toy hauler section makes up for it tenfold.
In-Unit Washer and Dryer
Another game-changer? Having our own washer and dryer.
We expected this to be helpful, but after a few months of doing the laundromat shuffle, we realized just how essential it was. The laundromat is expensive and time-consuming, especially with the amount of laundry seven people go through each week.
For us, an in-unit washer and dryer is an absolute must. Even though it takes up some precious space, we can’t imagine living without it now.
Gear Storage
Space is always a concern when traveling in an RV, and we did our best to downsize before moving in. However, downsizing only goes so far when you're traveling with seven people in 350 square feet.
This is why the toy hauler was so appealing to us. While we don’t carry traditional "toy hauler" items like motorcycles or ATVs, we do travel with bikes, skateboards, paddleboards, and workout equipment. As outdoor adventurers, having space for our gear is a must.
The massive 17-foot toy hauler gives off a Mary Poppins bag illusion—it somehow fits everything we need.
We’ve even considered moving to a traditional fifth wheel for a more dedicated family living space, but we always come back to the same conclusion: the toy hauler is the best of both worlds, offering big storage that doubles as living space.
And, of course, we can’t talk about our living space without mentioning our patio.
Patio Porch
One of the best features of our toy hauler is the 8-foot back patio deck, which extends our living space and brings the outdoors in.
If you take the time to set up your patio space, it becomes the perfect place to start or end your day. Whether you back up to a river, ocean, wooded oasis, or mountain view, your deck transforms your backyard into something spectacular.
Morning coffee on the deck? Highly recommended. There’s no better way to soak in the beauty of this journey.
Toy Haulers
Many people think of toy haulers as the wild child of the RV world. Sometimes that’s true. While the toy hauler originated as a mobile man-cave complete with diamond plate walls, this popular RV type has evolved into much more. Today, you might want to think of toy haulers as open-concept living spaces with multi-purpose utility.
Find Your Perfect RV
Whether you're new to the world of RVing or you're ready to narrow your search, we're here to help you sort through it all and find the RV that's right for you. Explore RVs based off of your lifestyle and the features important to you.
