The all encompassing RV thread

[troph 24,821]

Not the truck thread but hey it was for a while... come a long way fellas thanks to y’all! Tuner mount came in while we were gone .... it may seem small but I’m super happy to have it mounted all professional looking, because well I’m like that.

[Pato del Muerto 52,510]

I just put on a light jacket to walk the dogs...

[troph 24,821]

New money from North Texas?  What the fuck? Like Dallas area has some monopoly on new money in Texas.  Or Dallas' new money is worse behaved than anyone elses' new money.

If they're from Dallas area, odds are pretty decent they're actually from California or some other place, just like the rest of the big cities.

 

I knew someone would grab that. Yeah I think there is a type of new money from Dallas that is supremely obnoxious and takes that with them.

[troph 24,821]

I just put on a light jacket to walk the dogs...

Nice humblebrag.

[Pato del Muerto 52,510]

1 minute ago, troph said:

Nice humblebrag.

Yeah, I have TWO dogs no big whoop. 

[troph 24,821]

I was talking about the weather. We arrived and hopped out of the truck around six o’clock and it was near a hundo. Ugh.

[Pato del Muerto 52,510]

16 minutes ago, troph said:

I was talking about the weather. We arrived and hopped out of the truck around six o’clock and it was near a hundo. Ugh.

48 right now. High of 58 tomorrow. But it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if someone gave me access to a hill country home for a couple of winter months. 

[Chewbacca 7,780]

48 right now. High of 58 tomorrow. But it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if someone gave me access to a hill country home for a couple of winter months. 

Yeah, we're on the verge of fall now. Shit is gonna get cold fast

[troph 24,821]

What’s the first of October like for weather and when do the aspens change color?

[fattyflattie 4,639]

27 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

36 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

48 right now. High of 58 tomorrow. But it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if someone gave me access to a hill country home for a couple of winter months. 

Yeah, we're on the verge of fall now. Shit is gonna get cold fast

Today was the most humid and utter hot day I can remember.   Just ignorantly hot.

[Chewbacca 7,780]

Today was the most humid and utter hot day I can remember.   Just ignorantly hot.

Not here. Maybe you should live somewhere else?

[troph 24,821]

9 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

9 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

Today was the most humid and utter hot day I can remember.   Just ignorantly hot.

Not here. Maybe you should live somewhere else?

haters gonna hate.  geez.  

[fattyflattie 4,639]

9 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

10 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

Today was the most humid and utter hot day I can remember.   Just ignorantly hot.

Not here. Maybe you should live somewhere else?

Buh.   I'll just visit.

[troph 24,821]

We’ve had a few serious convos about moving and RVing this summer was a big part of it, Austin the actual city doesn’t do it for us anymore. I’m tied by my clients (whom I love) and kids schools unless my ex and I agree to move in unison (she wants to but the likelihood of full cooperation and agreement is unlikely), and the only two things I love about Austin that keep me present are lake Travis and Texas baseball. I certainly love the Texas culture and things like thunderstorms and warm summer nights but not enough to stay. That said, I just don’t think we will do more than have a summer home away.

[Chewbacca 7,780]

Buh.   I'll just visit.

Watch out for all the meanies.

[utee94 15,830]

48 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

1 hour ago, fattyflattie said:

Buh.   I'll just visit.

Watch out for all the meanies.

No need to go to Colorado for that, we have one right here on this very thread.

 

[Pato del Muerto 52,510]

Weather is supposed to be nice this week, so I looked and found a spot in Custer National Forest for wed-fri, at the base of beartooth pass. Probably the last trip of the season, as our reservation in the bighorns in two weeks was cancelled by the site for some reason. 
 

so when that’s done and then I get the camper back from the solar install, I’ll have to work on moving our fence back to accommodate it next to the house and then winterize the thing. 

[utee94 15,830]

I've put together my Fall schedule, we'll be doing Port Aransas on Columbus Day weekend.  Kids are bummed that we won't be camping for TX-OU this year but with the State Fair canceled, and my own person doubts that the game will even be played, we're doing the beach instead.  

Then we're camping at Lost Maples in early November, Texas Renaissance Festival over Thanksgiving, and down to Guadalupe River SP for Christmas.

Also considering dry camping for Big Bend over Spring Break next year.

 

[Pato del Muerto 52,510]

Some shots (from 3 year old iphone do not great).Campsite was 7k ft, most of the landscapes are from 9k, and the last shot with the layers of mountains is from 11k (summit of beartooth pass).

think carefully before you head downhill on a trail at 10k.  Walking back up it was beastly.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Pato del Muerto

[Knoxtnhorn 6,052]

@Pato del Muerto That looks amazing.  I can't wait until we get our RV.  Hopefully in October.

[Pato del Muerto 52,510]

Forgot to mention, talked to the campsite host when I bought firewood from him. He’s a Vietnam vet who was a paratrooper. Said he made 131 jumps, made it home, and only got shot once. Also said he was sent to help clean up Jonestown in Guyana. 

[Texaus 377]

Those pics are awesome. Lucky dogs there

 

[Brew 3,049]

On 8/31/2020 at 9:38 AM, troph said:

We’ve had a few serious convos about moving and RVing this summer was a big part of it, Austin the actual city doesn’t do it for us anymore. I’m tied by my clients (whom I love) and kids schools unless my ex and I agree to move in unison (she wants to but the likelihood of full cooperation and agreement is unlikely), and the only two things I love about Austin that keep me present are lake Travis and Texas baseball. I certainly love the Texas culture and things like thunderstorms and warm summer nights but not enough to stay. That said, I just don’t think we will do more than have a summer home away.

There is something nice about not having to start over and chase a new client base. We’ve talked about moving several times and ultimately it comes back to staying and just spending more time on the road each year. We’ll probably end this year at 60/40 home/away and hopefully keep that up through high school and then reassess.

[JMFP 1,120]

On 5/27/2020 at 9:18 AM, troph said:

My main fatigue is spending cash to properly outfit it - and the truck was a fun get but not really wanted. So we are probs $20-22k out of pocket now and I’m ready for that to stop. But going forward gas and camp fees are about it. So it’s time to get on with the experiences. Last weekend was a work the kinks out weekend and so a lot of effort but we had a great time and for the first time in a long while I felt rested when we came home. I’m really confident this will work for me and my gal. Question really is will it work for my 15 year old and I’m not holding my breath on that. My 10 and 12 yes. Heck my 10 year old can’t wait to go rafting again and my 12 year old and I are fly fishing buddies, novices for sure, but ready to make it a life long hobby.

Man I wish I found this thread sooner...   I'm trying to get caught up but I had to stop at this post. It makes me laugh because I thought the same thing when we started (we bought our trailer 3 years ago almost to the day).  Keeping it properly outfitted and fixing the daily breaks never end. Just part of it

[utee94 15,830]

1 hour ago, JMFP said:

Man I wish I found this thread sooner...   I'm trying to get caught up but I had to stop at this post. It makes me laugh because I thought the same thing when we started (we bought our trailer 3 years ago almost to the day).  Keeping it properly outfitted and fixing the daily breaks never end. Just part of it

As a guy who renovated and maintained a 50-year old vintage camper I can certainly relate to to the daily breaks.  But when I sold that one and bought a brand-new travel trailer, I haven't had to worry with that bit at all.  Are you seeing these issues in a new one, or is it older, to need that kind of maintenance and repair?

 

[JMFP 1,120]

I gave up trying to read it all on page 12...

 

Anyway, we bought our camper on Labor Day weekend in 2017, we've got an '18 Palomino Puma bumper pull. We talked about it for a long time and my nephew in Houston was about to get married so we thought we would just jump into RV'ing and take a two week road trip around the wedding. Just like troph I went out and bought a bigger truck immediately too. Our trailer dry weighs around 8900 lbs so that was a little much for my F150.

The first truck was a '10 F-350 daully with the 6.4L diesel. I had it for 2 years. I loved the diesel torque and the stability of the duals but even though I live in a small rural town having a dually as a daily driver wasn't very practical. Plus maintenance on the diesel was beginning to strain the budget ($80 oil change, replacing the dual batteries, starter, oh and the fan clutch was a motherfucker.) So when it was time to replace the tires I just traded it in. Plus at the time I thought 10-11 MPG was bad.

The truck I have now is a '15 Silverado 3500 with the 6.0L gas engine. It's my fist GM truck. It will probably be my last GM truck. It pulls the trailer OK I guess, but it is pretty gutless and any kind of up hill has it almost redlined. Oh and thirsty, with the trailer I get about 6 MPG. My plan is to just hang on to it though for a few years, I'd like to get one of those new F350's with the 7.3 gas engine next but I'm gonna have to wait a few years until the used ones drop down into my price range.

 

Our trailer is a Palomino Puma 32 BHKS, its a 36 foot bumper pull with a bunkhouse. Our first big trip was my nephew's wedding trip. I live northeast of Tulsa and he was getting married in Houston. So I took two weeks off and we drove to New Mexico. We spent a couple days in Red River then spent a night in Roswell, then the next night we stayed in San Angelo on our way to Houston. Then Houston for a few days in a commercial park for the wedding. Then we went to New Orleans and stayed at Bayou Segnette for a couple days then headed back home, with a stop at Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas (this was probably my favorite). It was a handful of a trip for us as first timers. We've taken maybe 15 or so trips since and made some boring youtube videos of some of them (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp_VFVVO_bMTtKx_WOSJ1BA/videos) 😃

My girls are in dance and it's been pretty handy to have for their competition trips, we usually try to stay in a state park nearby and take an extra day on those trips to enjoy camping.  Haven't used it so much this year though, the competitions were all cancelled in person. We had planned a trip for early summer to Mt Rushmore but put it off because of the 'Rona. Haven't done much recently either because we are saving up for a trip to Telluride in January.

I kinda love/hate the trailer though.... I really enjoy where it takes us and the time with the kids but I don't sleep very well in it. I have a few sleeping disorders that I have been able to kind of get under control in the last few years but the tiny bedroom in the trailer gives me trouble. We've been talking about upgrading to fifth wheel and right now this one is on the top of our wish list...

 

[JMFP 1,120]

1 minute ago, utee94 said:

As a guy who renovated and maintained a 50-year old vintage camper I can certainly relate to to the daily breaks.  But when I sold that one and bought a brand-new travel trailer, I haven't had to worry with that bit at all.  Are you seeing these issues in a new one, or is it older, to need that kind of maintenance and repair?

 

Brand new... And not necessarily with the trailer. Like the water hose springing a leak,  the sidewinder sewer hose support breaking, I lost the outside cover off of the back of the fridge, I had the water line that connects the outside to the inside under the bathroom sink come loose, the water supply line to the toilet broke on our last trip, the wheel fell off of my honey pot one day, light covers fall off...  Just little things but it is almost every trip.

[JMFP 1,120]

So the day I brought the trailer home... It was Friday Sept. 8 2017. I got it home that day and parked it into the back yard. I wired up an electric plug for it in my basement and ran the water line to it. I turned on the water and ran inside and made sure there were no leaks and then ran into the house to watch the OK State/South Alabama game. I enjoyed the first half then went back out to check on this new trailer.

In the back there is an outdoor kitchen with a sink, kitchen, microwave, hot plate...

When I came out at half time I saw water pouring out of the back of the trailer from underneath and out of the outdoor kitchen. My brand new, almost $30,000 trailer. Turns out that the faucet on the outdoor kitchen had been left on and being a rookie I didn't even think to check it. Turns out that the gray tank for the outdoor kitchen will only hold so much water before it backs up and overflows the sink and runs into the underbelly. So on my brand new $30,000 trailer, not even having possessed it for eight hours, I had to take a utility knife and cut a big section out of the coroplast underbelly and pull out gobs of soaking wet fiberglass insulation. I was legit depressed for like 3 days over that but it turned out not to be a big deal. I was able to get all the wet insulation out and after I let everything dry out I replaced the insulation and patched it up with a new sheet of coroplast.

[Knoxtnhorn 6,052]

6 hours ago, JMFP said:

So the day I brought the trailer home... It was Friday Sept. 8 2017. I got it home that day and parked it into the back yard. I wired up an electric plug for it in my basement and ran the water line to it. I turned on the water and ran inside and made sure there were no leaks and then ran into the house to watch the OK State/South Alabama game. I enjoyed the first half then went back out to check on this new trailer.

In the back there is an outdoor kitchen with a sink, kitchen, microwave, hot plate...

When I came out at half time I saw water pouring out of the back of the trailer from underneath and out of the outdoor kitchen. My brand new, almost $30,000 trailer. Turns out that the faucet on the outdoor kitchen had been left on and being a rookie I didn't even think to check it. Turns out that the gray tank for the outdoor kitchen will only hold so much water before it backs up and overflows the sink and runs into the underbelly. So on my brand new $30,000 trailer, not even having possessed it for eight hours, I had to take a utility knife and cut a big section out of the coroplast underbelly and pull out gobs of soaking wet fiberglass insulation. I was legit depressed for like 3 days over that but it turned out not to be a big deal. I was able to get all the wet insulation out and after I let everything dry out I replaced the insulation and patched it up with a new sheet of coroplast.

I'm quite sure I'll pull something along these same lines once I get started.  Unlike you, I'm pretty damn far from a handy man.  

[dingleberryswitzer 2,724]

3 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

I'm quite sure I'll pull something along these same lines once I get started.  Unlike you, I'm pretty damn far from a handy man.  

^^ I would suggest getting something as simple and featureless as you can manage at your level of comfort. Outdoor kitchens sound nice, but that's another set of stuff to break.  Power this and that is convenient, but eventually will break.  But I'm a bit of a grump for stuff like that.  I go looking at cars, salesman points out all the fancy features and I just think "more shit that'll cost $300+ to fix WHEN it breaks. " 

 

[utee94 15,830]

I love my outdoor kitchen, works great for cooking things outside when you don't want to heat up the interior, or make it smell like whatever you're cooking.  Also like the easy access to a sink and refrigerator whilst tailgating.

I leave all the faucets open after I winterize, and I've occasionally forgotten to close them when I apply water pressure the first time of a new season.  But I intentionally make sure I'm watching all of the faucets and have my wife turn on the water, when I dewinterize, so I catch it quickly.

 

[Knoxtnhorn 6,052]

@dingleberryswitzer

Agree.  we really are looking at simplicity, but that's partially due to our towing max ~ 7,000.  We're also rarely going to travel over 4 hours, so that could help.

[JMFP 1,120]

5 hours ago, utee94 said:

I love my outdoor kitchen, works great for cooking things outside when you don't want to heat up the interior, or make it smell like whatever you're cooking.  Also like the easy access to a sink and refrigerator whilst tailgating.

I leave all the faucets open after I winterize, and I've occasionally forgotten to close them when I apply water pressure the first time of a new season.  But I intentionally make sure I'm watching all of the faucets and have my wife turn on the water, when I dewinterize, so I catch it quickly.

 

Yes. I like the smell of bacon as much as anyone but I don't want the inside of the trailer to smell like it for 3 days. We love having the extra refrigerator and a sink outside, ours has a microwave too but I think we've only used it to cook popcorn and the rest of the time it's just an extra cabinet.

We don't tailgate but we're thinking about pulling the trailer into the front yard this year for a Halloween setup especially if we play ya'll in the evening. Halloween's big in my town, depending on weather/day of the week we'll have anywhere between 1000-2000 trick or treaters. Should be a good party.

[JMFP 1,120]

10 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

I'm quite sure I'll pull something along these same lines once I get started.  Unlike you, I'm pretty damn far from a handy man.  

Fixing things usually isn't that hard. It's hardly ever as bad as it first seems.

[troph 24,821]

20 hours ago, JMFP said:

Man I wish I found this thread sooner...   I'm trying to get caught up but I had to stop at this post. It makes me laugh because I thought the same thing when we started (we bought our trailer 3 years ago almost to the day).  Keeping it properly outfitted and fixing the daily breaks never end. Just part of it

yeah things break but the the combined two of us are pretty handy and we are not afraid to use the heck out of our fifth wheel.  the value was in buying it used for a deal.  I have no expectation of getting a great resale value.  this thing will be *used* when we are done.  things that break we need to fix, we will fix.  but half of the amenities we don't even need.  I mean we used 5 gal buckets for fetching freshwater (not drinking water we brought that).  we haven't used the AC once.  we don't use the microwave, I've showered in it once, I mean it's just a fancy tent for us - yeah that kind of tent too. 

But repairs aside - what I meant by that statement was on a whim we can go and the base trip cost is a lot, lot less.  Hotels at $350 a night, Airbnb at $250 a night or either much higher in some locations plus airfare makes a $6000 trip easy.  Our RV trips are simply nothing like that at a base cost.  Yes we buy gear, we are thinking of keeping our tundra so we can haul ATVs up next summer too.  so sure, you spend on shit, but I guess I see that differently.  If I have two trucks and a couple of ATVs to go with my RV, well that's not trip shit, that's like kick ass stuff stuff, I could by a ranchette or some shit and outfit it the same day and my teen boys would go fucking nuts.  That's winning, not spending.  you know what I'm talking about.

[JMFP 1,120]

This thread got me to thinking about our personal dos and don'ts that we learned (and still learning).

 

I think the most educational trip we took was in the spring of 2018. We came away with some hard rules after that one:

 

1.When planning or just looking for fuel stops actually look at satellite and street views of your planned pit stops to have an educated guess on being able to navigate the gas station/truck stop and to have a good idea where the diesel pumps are.

2. No kids inside the trailer until setup is done.

3. This is a big one to us now - Wheel chocks are in place before the trailer is unhitched and never, not ever removed before the trailer is re-hitched to the truck.

 

Our trouble began in Kansas City. The girls had a dance competition in Excelsior Springs, MO so we booked an extended weekend at Watkins Woolen Mill State Park. The trip was fairly quiet and uneventful up to Kansas City. Now I have to tell you my wife can get a little anxious in heavy traffic especially when we're towing. She gets a little stressed and that can put her in a not so pleasant mood (tons of fun we we drive through Houston to visit my sister). Anyway, coming into KC the fuel gauge was between 1/4 and a 1/2, which should have been plenty to get us there. However we ran into heavy traffic on I35. I think there was a wreck, and after a long, long slow down we finally made it past the Missouri River. About this time I mentioned to her that we would need to stop for fuel soon as I was below a 1/4 tank now. She took this as we needed fuel now its an emergency! Googles up the closest place with diesel and makes me take the next exit. Really though what I meant was don't let me pass the next truck stop. But she is the navigator and I try not to argue too much because google is never wrong and if it is it's not her fault she steered me through the surface streets of North Kansas City pulling a 36 foot trailer to end up at a piss ant little corner gas station that did happen to have a diesel pump that even without a trailer I couldn't have gotten my dually in to anyway. So at this point I'm getting pretty aggravated because we are now at an 1/8 of a tank and finding fuel has become high on the priority list. We end up getting back to the highway and making it to the truck stop that was just a few miles from where we originally exited. That inspired rule 1.

Rules 2 and 3 kind of came about at the same time. After our sightseeing trip of North Kansas City we finally make it to the state park. We stopped and spoke to the camp host. Really nice retired guy (most of them usually are), he pointed us towards our spot. That state park was really pretty, kind of hilly and all wooded. We back into our site and the host gave us our tag for our windshield. Dear wife and I, after the extended driving, well neither of us was in the best mood. We got the trailer positioned and started to set up without really talking a whole lot. We set the wheel chocks and unhooked. Wife started puling slides out and doing whatever she does inside while I hooked up the water and electric and my outside stuff. The kids get in the camper to square away their bunk room. Off to our left the next spot was about 100-150 feet away, there was a family there with a couple little kids and across the street from us was another couple (first timers) backing in their fifth wheel with the camp host giving them a hand and checking them in. I get just about done and she comes out, this is funny, and tells me it's not level we have to hook the truck back up so we can put the leveling board under the driver's side. So I take a deep breath and say ok. I unhooked everything I just installed. Our spot kind of sloped slightly downhill away from the street and then after the pad the land sloped down more off into the woods. When I parked I put a rubber chock behind the back wheels on both sides. But now that I was going to have to pull up and then back onto a board on this side I pulled the wheel chock on my way back to the truck to rehitch. It was going to be in the way and I knew there was a chock on the other side that would have held it just because it really wasn't that much of a slope. Well, dear wife already pulled the chock on the other side without me knowing. The kids were still in the trailer. So when I yanked out the wheel chock, for I mean like a nano second as slow motion just started, I thought "why was that stuck in there?" Then before I could shove it back in the trailer started rolling backwards. All I know now is I have to stop it. Because I'm superman I jumped in and bear hugged the tire and at the same time I somehow threw my leg behind it too. The trailer stopped rolling and when the dust settled I was standing there with my right foot squarely underneath the rear wheel of the camper. It hurt and would not budge at all. I tried slipping out of my shoe but that didn't work either. Lovely wife came around the corner to asses the damage (and probably chew my ass for screwing up). When she saw my face she got the message that I wasn't in a good spot. LOL, she screamed and the camp host and couple from across the street came running over. The family next to us saw the whole thing go down and was already running over. The camp host was able to get my truck jack under the axle and lift the wheel up high enough for me to finally slide my foot out. I sat down and pulled off my shoe and sock to see how fucked up my foot was, I mean there was a 10,000 lb trailer sitting on it for a good 2 minutes. Nothing, it was red and sore but otherwise fine. It hurt that night and some the next day but that was it. I was very lucky that I ended up way more embarrassed than hurt. Oh and my favorite part is that after we put the board under the left side to level the camper, it ends up more cockeyed than it was before we moved it.

[troph 24,821]

21 hours ago, Brew said:

There is something nice about not having to start over and chase a new client base. We’ve talked about moving several times and ultimately it comes back to staying and just spending more time on the road each year. We’ll probably end this year at 60/40 home/away and hopefully keep that up through high school and then reassess.

zero chance I'm ever building a client base from scratch again.  never.  mine is on autopilot and is pretty damn sweet.  I still have two household name brands that work with me and a ton of other mid market stuff that I'd lose if I moved.  when we move, which is still probably a half-year sort of deal the only business we will remotely consider relocating is our custom home build division (not spec).  Can you say hello telluride.... ha.  I can only dream, amirite.

[troph 24,821]

2 hours ago, JMFP said:

Fixing things usually isn't that hard. It's hardly ever as bad as it first seems.

if you realize it's part of the challenge and therefore the fun then yeah it's not a big deal.  we have a full set up of tools and gear (which you saw about 2/3 of it up thread, I stopped reporting the crap we bought) and youtube makes it super easy to trouble shoot.  also you realize that you can trouble shoot somethings and sometimes you run into a real problem.  maybe you can't figure it out, or maybe it's just flat out broken.  no harm in trying.

[JMFP 1,120]

55 minutes ago, troph said:

yeah things break but the the combined two of us are pretty handy and we are not afraid to use the heck out of our fifth wheel.  the value was in buying it used for a deal.  I have no expectation of getting a great resale value.  this thing will be *used* when we are done.  things that break we need to fix, we will fix.  but half of the amenities we don't even need.  I mean we used 5 gal buckets for fetching freshwater (not drinking water we brought that).  we haven't used the AC once.  we don't use the microwave, I've showered in it once, I mean it's just a fancy tent for us - yeah that kind of tent too. 

But repairs aside - what I meant by that statement was on a whim we can go and the base trip cost is a lot, lot less.  Hotels at $350 a night, Airbnb at $250 a night or either much higher in some locations plus airfare makes a $6000 trip easy.  Our RV trips are simply nothing like that at a base cost.  Yes we buy gear, we are thinking of keeping our tundra so we can haul ATVs up next summer too.  so sure, you spend on shit, but I guess I see that differently.  If I have two trucks and a couple of ATVs to go with my RV, well that's not trip shit, that's like kick ass stuff stuff, I could by a ranchette or some shit and outfit it the same day and my teen boys would go fucking nuts.  That's winning, not spending.  you know what I'm talking about.

There a lot of pros and cons to having one. For us part of the justification was to have our own little mobile apartment. We usually go to 3 or 4 dance competitions a spring which usually means a two day hotel stay. On those trips instead we can the trailer for a four day weekend (my kids homeschool and I work a rotating shift with long weekends so we don't have to be back home by Monday morning) which gives us a day to play in whatever state park or spend a day in that city. And it's nice not having to eat out every meal. In reality those trips probably even out in actual cost but we get a lot more out of it. Plus it's really nice packing up at home (not that it's actually packing) and then not unpacking (or just bringing in dirty laundry) until we get back.

And then just loading up to go camping is another plus. We like to stay in state parks, we don't boondock unless its just an overnight on the way somewhere. I got three daughters and a wife in the trailer, I need full hookups. I mean I can go without sewer because I've got the honeypot tank trailer thing but that sucks to use. Going with out water and electric though is not for us right now.

I tell people that if they want a camper then buy one and go have fun. Yeah the trips themselves are cheaper but that upfront cost. At three years in I think I'm still way behind in the saving money part :). But it's not about that, it's about spending time with my kids while I can and the places we can go because of it.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by JMFP

[troph 24,821]

Roads travelled in Colorado this summer:

 

 

[Pato del Muerto 52,510]

Forgot to mention something important and often overlooked. 
most people remember to check their water supply and their gas supply, but how many of you check your air supply?

 

[utee94 15,830]

I'm afraid to do so, I might find that I'm all out of love.

[Pato del Muerto 52,510]

23 minutes ago, utee94 said:

I'm afraid to do so, I might find that I'm all out of love.

You can make that out of nothing at all

[Knoxtnhorn 6,052]

On 9/5/2020 at 8:57 PM, JMFP said:

This thread got me to thinking about our personal dos and don'ts that we learned (and still learning).

 

I think the most educational trip we took was in the spring of 2018. We came away with some hard rules after that one:

 

1.When planning or just looking for fuel stops actually look at satellite and street views of your planned pit stops to have an educated guess on being able to navigate the gas station/truck stop and to have a good idea where the diesel pumps are.

2. No kids inside the trailer until setup is done.

3. This is a big one to us now - Wheel chocks are in place before the trailer is unhitched and never, not ever removed before the trailer is re-hitched to the truck.

 

Our trouble began in Kansas City. The girls had a dance competition in Excelsior Springs, MO so we booked an extended weekend at Watkins Woolen Mill State Park. The trip was fairly quiet and uneventful up to Kansas City. Now I have to tell you my wife can get a little anxious in heavy traffic especially when we're towing. She gets a little stressed and that can put her in a not so pleasant mood (tons of fun we we drive through Houston to visit my sister). Anyway, coming into KC the fuel gauge was between 1/4 and a 1/2, which should have been plenty to get us there. However we ran into heavy traffic on I35. I think there was a wreck, and after a long, long slow down we finally made it past the Missouri River. About this time I mentioned to her that we would need to stop for fuel soon as I was below a 1/4 tank now. She took this as we needed fuel now its an emergency! Googles up the closest place with diesel and makes me take the next exit. Really though what I meant was don't let me pass the next truck stop. But she is the navigator and I try not to argue too much because google is never wrong and if it is it's not her fault she steered me through the surface streets of North Kansas City pulling a 36 foot trailer to end up at a piss ant little corner gas station that did happen to have a diesel pump that even without a trailer I couldn't have gotten my dually in to anyway. So at this point I'm getting pretty aggravated because we are now at an 1/8 of a tank and finding fuel has become high on the priority list. We end up getting back to the highway and making it to the truck stop that was just a few miles from where we originally exited. That inspired rule 1.

Rules 2 and 3 kind of came about at the same time. After our sightseeing trip of North Kansas City we finally make it to the state park. We stopped and spoke to the camp host. Really nice retired guy (most of them usually are), he pointed us towards our spot. That state park was really pretty, kind of hilly and all wooded. We back into our site and the host gave us our tag for our windshield. Dear wife and I, after the extended driving, well neither of us was in the best mood. We got the trailer positioned and started to set up without really talking a whole lot. We set the wheel chocks and unhooked. Wife started puling slides out and doing whatever she does inside while I hooked up the water and electric and my outside stuff. The kids get in the camper to square away their bunk room. Off to our left the next spot was about 100-150 feet away, there was a family there with a couple little kids and across the street from us was another couple (first timers) backing in their fifth wheel with the camp host giving them a hand and checking them in. I get just about done and she comes out, this is funny, and tells me it's not level we have to hook the truck back up so we can put the leveling board under the driver's side. So I take a deep breath and say ok. I unhooked everything I just installed. Our spot kind of sloped slightly downhill away from the street and then after the pad the land sloped down more off into the woods. When I parked I put a rubber chock behind the back wheels on both sides. But now that I was going to have to pull up and then back onto a board on this side I pulled the wheel chock on my way back to the truck to rehitch. It was going to be in the way and I knew there was a chock on the other side that would have held it just because it really wasn't that much of a slope. Well, dear wife already pulled the chock on the other side without me knowing. The kids were still in the trailer. So when I yanked out the wheel chock, for I mean like a nano second as slow motion just started, I thought "why was that stuck in there?" Then before I could shove it back in the trailer started rolling backwards. All I know now is I have to stop it. Because I'm superman I jumped in and bear hugged the tire and at the same time I somehow threw my leg behind it too. The trailer stopped rolling and when the dust settled I was standing there with my right foot squarely underneath the rear wheel of the camper. It hurt and would not budge at all. I tried slipping out of my shoe but that didn't work either. Lovely wife came around the corner to asses the damage (and probably chew my ass for screwing up). When she saw my face she got the message that I wasn't in a good spot. LOL, she screamed and the camp host and couple from across the street came running over. The family next to us saw the whole thing go down and was already running over. The camp host was able to get my truck jack under the axle and lift the wheel up high enough for me to finally slide my foot out. I sat down and pulled off my shoe and sock to see how fucked up my foot was, I mean there was a 10,000 lb trailer sitting on it for a good 2 minutes. Nothing, it was red and sore but otherwise fine. It hurt that night and some the next day but that was it. I was very lucky that I ended up way more embarrassed than hurt. Oh and my favorite part is that after we put the board under the left side to level the camper, it ends up more cockeyed than it was before we moved it.

Thanks.  This may have been a tl;dr; however, this is the type of stuff I need to learn.  As absent-minded as I can be, I have no doubt I'll be dealing with this same stuff.

[troph 24,821]

get road side assistance with your purchase.  we've used ours once now, it's fully paid for itself and now we have 2.5 years left of it for free.

[JMFP 1,120]

Which one?    same price, same floor plan.... Sabre 36BHQ vs Prime Time Crusader 382MBH. 

 

 

[JMFP 1,120]

On 9/7/2020 at 9:07 AM, troph said:

get road side assistance with your purchase.  we've used ours once now, it's fully paid for itself and now we have 2.5 years left of it for free.

BUT.... check with your insurance company, their roadside my be a better deal... 

[JMFP 1,120]

On 9/7/2020 at 8:24 AM, Knoxtnhorn said:

Thanks.  This may have been a tl;dr; however, this is the type of stuff I need to learn.  As absent-minded as I can be, I have no doubt I'll be dealing with this same stuff.

First tip from very first weekend: Keys on a long bright lanyard. Wife's set is pink and mine is flouro orange. 

 

Dear wife lost her set of keys on our first camp. She left them on the bumper of the truck and the park host happened to find them in the road a day after we left. He called us since he figured they were ours, lucky for us. 

[JMFP 1,120]

On 9/5/2020 at 9:44 PM, JMFP said:

 

I tell people that if they want a camper then buy one and go have fun.

 

 

I didn't finish my thought here... BUT if your just trying to be cheap then keep looking...

[troph 24,821]

Meeting my lady friends parents in a few weeks - they are bringing their motor home and meeting us on mustang island at one of the local parks. My kids are coming too. He’s a huge Aggie and retired Col in the Marines. Worked at the pentagon for the last couple of decades of his career. Should be fun and interesting. We’ve got fishing planned on a Friday and football and a shrimp/crab boil planned for Saturday - her dad’s favorite thing to do on a Saturday. I mean I can’t argue, watching football all day with the beach in front of us and a cold beer in our hands sounds devine. Colorado boondocking was hella fun but I’m stoked about camping the Texas coast with full hookups and making it a CFB weekend.