We have camped using tents, but, as we get older, the bones do not like getting off the ground in the mornings. So, we jumped into the RV camping lifestyle with both feet. We had contemplated pop-ups and smaller trailers, but, after much consideration and taking a long close look at our finances, we decided to get something with a bit more luxury. We chose the Forest River Rockwood Roo 233. It has 3 pop out bunks, bathroom, kitchen, dinette, couch, A/C, heat, water heater and quite a few other amenities. With tents as cover it still has the feeling of camping in a tent. Getting out of bed in the morning is much nicer now. The bunks have 4" thick heated mattresses. Makes those cold nights much cozier.
First, we researched this purchase quite a bit. I joined the Open Roads forum at RV.net. We Googled the RV/camping sites. Manufacturers, dealers,
retailers, etc. We went to RV shows and walked through the models to get a feel for livability. We talked to dealers about the positives and negatives of the business.
After all this, we chose the Roo 233. 
Now we looked into the vehicle we would need to tow it. At first, I was going to go along with the norm and get a pickup. I decided on Ford after research. I had a lot of friends who swear by their trucks. Ford was the prevalent make. I calculated the numbers and came up with a Ford F-150 Crew Cab for the space. It would need the 5.4 liter motor and at least the 3.73 rear end. We figured the financing would be tight, but, the payments reasonable. And I could use it for doing those things which may need the truck bed. We figured spending around $21K to $24K for a 2004 XLT model. Then fate stepped in. A 2003 Ford E-350 XLT Super Duty passenger van showed up at a local dealer. It has the 5.4 liter engine and the 3.73 rear end. And what a suspension. It's rated to tow 6900lbs. It had 37K miles on it with a clear Carfax report.
The dealer had a big tent sale going on and brought it out to sell. The Kelly Blue book on it was $20K and I found barely a few of them on Auto Trader going for $16K to $20K. The dealer was asking $14K at the sale. We did the math for money and towing ability and decided this was to be our new tow vehicle. I thought about the PU truck bed and what I would possibly do with it and figured I could accomplish the same work with the van.
Besides, it was green. My favorite color. 
Now that we have our TV (tow vehicle), we were ready to place the order for the Roo. We had looked into many dealers, including one in Ohio which sells them at a major discount. The Ohio dealer, RV Wholesalers had a great price, but, we really wanted a dealer closer to home and I also wanted to spend our money within our state. Researching again, we found a dealer in Danville, Va. A few people on the forum had dealt with this company and had positive comments to say. We drove down to Danville to talk to the owner/salesman about a purchase. We arrived at RV Outlet USA to find quite a spread. This was not your old-gas-station-turned-RV-dealer type of operation. They are a very established company. We spoke with John Merricks and we felt comfortable talking to him. After some negotiation, we got a price we could live with which was barely above RVW and way below some other dealers from out of state.
We gave them a down payment and ordered our camper on 8/28/06.
John told us it would be 6 to 8 weeks and, sure enough, we got a call from him during the last week of October. We had planned to do a "shakedown cruise" with the new trailer by reserving a spot at a campground within 20 miles of the dealership. That way, should anything not work quite right, we were close enough to haul it back to them for resolution. We were able to try out everything except the A/C. We tested that at the dealership during the PDI (post delivery inspection).
Since it was late October, we found out how good the heated mattresses worked. They were absolutely worth every penny. The propane heater is rather noisy, but, tolerable. We supplement it now with a micathermic space heater. We took in some of the sites around Danville and Martinsville. Some museums, shopping and a local church event for Halloween. We had a great time. On the way back home, it was a rather blustery day. There were some very strong crosswinds. I had wondered before how the rig would do in a situation like this and was very impressed. I had purchased an Equal-i-zer brand weight distribution/anti-sway hitch from RVW. The dealership helped with it's installation and having this van, well, let's just say, the drive home was not a white knuckle experience.
The rig handled very well.
In November we next hit the road to visit a relative in Virginia. She had just bought a house outside of Mechanicsville, Va. She didn't have the room for all to sleep, so, the camper came in quite handy. I parked it in her driveway and hooked up to the water spigot and an outside electrical outlet. The weather was kind and temps weren't too low. We spent the weekend and came home happy with our trailer. We visited her again on New Years Eve.
Again, the temps were OK and we had a great time ringing in the New Year.
All in all, we are happy with this camper. Now we can't wait until spring to take it up to Skyline Drive and the Big Meadows campground for some wilderness. Come on SPRING!
Forum Handle: VA_JAY55
This site updated 1/4/08