The Shakedown

I took the new camper on a most excellent weekend jaunt, the heat notwithstanding

Here’s the setup I’ve built with the new camper, a 2026 KZ Confluence 21MK. The trailer bumper doesn’t have a hitch receiver, so the bike moves to the front of the pickup for transport and weight-balancing effect.

The wrench in my plans brought on by The Enormously Stupid Refrigerator Incident has idled me in Billings for nearly a month and will keep me pinned down here until mid-August. There’s a lot to like about being home, so I’m not complaining—OK, maybe a little—but I am feeling the call to get out there again.

This past weekend, I dug a nail into that itch and gave it a scratch, spending two nights at Spring Creek Campground in Big Timber, Montana. The lovely little riverside spot allowed for a more thorough exploration of the features of my KZ Confluence 21MK, some bike riding, and some leisurely walks.

Also, it was as hot as Satan’s nutsack, as a friend once memorably put it, so I got in some hours—many, many of them—sitting absolutely still in a recliner and watching Breaking Bad (again).

[Insert Breaking Bad-RV joke of your choice here]

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The interior of the Confluence with the slide extended (and the lights off, for some reason).

The camper, of course, is the star of the show here, and after a few hundred miles and three nights’ sleep in it, I’m cautiously optimistic.

I suppose the early lesson of my RV life is that optimism, while always present, must be tempered by reined-in expectations. First, no RV is perfect. Second, few RVs avoid the necessity of repairs, whether major or minor. Third, any plans you make are subject to the whims of serendipity, chance, negligence, etc. Every intention can be brought to heel by reality.

What I like about the Confluence, in no particular order:

• The shorter but still ample length (26 feet vs. nearly 29 for the Ember)

• The lighter impact on tow vehicle payload

• The open floor plan

• The rear bathroom

• The split kitchen (stovetop, oven, microwave on the slideout, prep area and sink/faucet in the rear of the trailer)

• The better finishes

• The insulated, heated underbelly that lends itself to an extended camping season

• The king bed

What I miss from the Ember:

• Tons and tons of storage

• Dual entries

• The configuration options, with a hitch receiver on the back of the trailer

What I don’t miss from the Ember:

• Rooftop solar (I’m a pavement-and-campground guy, so I never used it)

• The failure of the manufacturer to properly secure my fridge (yeah, I’m still bitter)

Overall, the Confluence seems like a tighter, better-put-together rig. I stress seems like. The remainder of this year, as I go from the West to the Midwest to the Mid-South to the Southwest, will tell the tale. The thing about travel trailers is that the elements of them—the refrigerators and hot-water heaters and steps and such—don’t vary a whole lot from model to model or manufacturer to manufacturer. So what you’re really choosing, in a way, is the assembler of those elements and the particular layout of that assembly. Construction, of course, is a vitally important aspect, a point that gets driven home when something that should remain upright instead splays out across the floor. (Really, really bitter.)

So, yeah. I’m cautiously optimistic that the Confluence will deliver a better experience for me. We shall see.

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As for the weekend at Spring Creek, the photos carry the story. Enjoy …

The Boulder River flows through the campground.

The campground was nearly full all weekend, hosting a diverse collection of rigs.

The campground sits in a lovely river valley.

The bike ride came early on Day 2 because of the heat. In retrospect, the black T-shirt was probably a mistake.

A shot of the rig at the last stop before home. The setup pulls really nicely.

The happy traveler. I’m still a little gobsmacked that I became a guy who unironically wears a Harbor Freight hat. (Harbor Freight is awesome.)