With so many REALLY nice Cyclones out there it does make choosing difficult, scottyb. I fell in love with the 4100............until I saw the 2 patios on the 4200. After seeing the side patio I was sold, as was my husband. He actually wanted a Motorhome........until I showed him pics of the Cyclone 4200 (lol). Most times it will be just hubby and me so plenty of room in bathroom for us as well as ample living space; however there will be times when one or both of our sons (and respective families) will travel to be with us while camping. The extra living space (garage) with FULL bath/shower hooked us (4200) as this gives a whole separate place for our son, wife and 2 young grandchildren to 'live' w/out having to use the main shower/bath tub. If our eldest son and his wife camp with us then same set-up, they have their own full bathroom.
When traveling to some places in Florida I KNOW we won't be able to use our side patio due to the cramped camping but we always have the back patio in such cases. We LOVE sitting round a campfire for hours on end so we plan to purchase a good size fire pit so we can enjoy the fire nearby but at a safe distance. Fire rings at campsites might not be located on the same side that our patio is so having our own will allow us the enjoyment of a fire even if it is a bit further away from us than if we were on the ground. One more thought on the patio, WOW with the rain AK and OK have had these past 3 weeks we were SO glad we had the side patio while camping at Maumelle Campgrounds right next to the Arkansas river. The ground was so saturated that we all sunk into the ground as we walked but being outdoors was great with the side patio. It kept us off the saturated ground AND gave us a FABULOUS place to view of the roaring river, the geese and ducks paddling about in the river and we even had our shoes off.....no wet feet
Like you stated, one must decide what is important for their family size and needs. With just the two of us we don't mind losing the small kitchen slide (4100) to gain the patio, especially since the floor-plan of the 4200 kitchen is more open (sink/counter top not in the middle of the kitchen floor area as with the 4100). W/out the kitchen slide the kitchen area is a bit smaller but does not appear to sacrifice much due to the open layout. There were 8 adults at Maumelle for dinner and visiting (some on side patio and some in living room) and with sliding screen door we all could visit regardless of being outside or inside. I liked that I could talk to everyone while cooking, with only the back patio I would have been pretty much to myself while all others would have been in garage sitting area and out on back patio visiting
I LOVE OUR Cyclone, WE LOVE OUR Cyclone. We haven't used everything (TVs and DVD) and it is still so very new as we have only had it 2.5 months. Sadly after purchase we had to fly to Utah for a few weeks so we didn't even get to camp in it b/4 leaving OK. We don't have gas operated toys (just Kayaks and bicycles) so the smaller 12' garage vs. the 14' garage (4114 Cyclone) was a good trade-off in order to get the full bathroom for our grandchildren; even if we go for gas operated toys later we still have room for them as well.
