The all encompassing RV thread

[Rip76 5022]

On 8/2/2023 at 9:32 PM, HOOKEM4 said:

The listing is here: 

https://www.airstreammarketplace.com/airstream-trailers-for-sale/2014-23ft-flying-cloud-for-sale-in-austin-texas

I did not write it. Grandma wrote it. It is better writing than mine. I would have had at least 1 joke in the ad.

Did it sell?

[HOOKEM4 5154]

On 7/30/2023 at 4:36 PM, HOOKEM4 said:

1234

Finally sold this I think. Supposed to meet at the bank Monday.  I will be so glad to be done dealing with all the idiots you deal with when you try to sell something like this. Got asking price so maybe I should have priced higher? Ha, oh well, on to new things. 

[HOOKEM4 5154]

On 11/10/2023 at 11:46 AM, Rip76 said:

Did it sell?

Just saw this when I posted. Also it is someone who lives right down the street from me so it was destiny I think.

[Rip76 5022]

Good price, and clean.

[HOOKEM4 5154]

Officially gone now, money in the bank. Realized that we had that thing 8 years and we got that thing for a little over $500 a year with what we sold it for. That is a deal. If I ever get back into rv shit I am going airstream all day. 

I am in the planning phase for my house at the ranch, once built I will sell the big Jayco we have. I will be lucky to get someone to just haul that pos off.

[horn4life 3838]

5 minutes ago, HOOKEM4 said:

Officially gone now, money in the bank. Realized that we had that thing 8 years and we got that thing for a little over $500 a year with what we sold it for. That is a deal. If I ever get back into rv shit I am going airstream all day. 

I am in the planning phase for my house at the ranch, once built I will sell the big Jayco we have. I will be lucky to get someone to just haul that pos off.

Well that's a hell of a return.  Wonder what the rental ROI model is on Airstreams that are rented?  More than $500 a year I venture.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3873]

Well I just completed the (almost) month in Port Aransas at IB MaGee.  Surf Fishing was tough with the early cold fronts, but managed to get a few Redfish.  We did a couple long weekends and then I went back to get the rig and do a little more fishing.  Well I finally got into t few fish the evening before I had planned to leave ahead of that big cold front.  The weather was just too good, and I decided to fish in the AM and just Iron man it home on Sunday night.  The good news was I caught a limit of Redfish in the AM.  I could have stayed another night but it was gonna be windy either way, and rainy the next AM.  So got off water at 11:30, got back to trailer to unload 12:15, cleaned Fish at 1:00, washed truck and got gas 1:30, fiinshing all the make ready and I drive right up on the ferry at 3 PM!
Unfortunately at about 4:00 just a few miles south of Refugio I have the exact same image as CoachTex. One of my tires had a flat, and it was a new one!  My TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) kept going off but I kept hitting the ignore button.  By the time I checked it I had like 5 lbs left in the tire.  Then the fun begins!  i am prepared ahd bought a hydraulic jack that popped the wheel right up and got it off.  Then found out that I was about 1/2 inch short of getting the spare on.  So I get the truck jack,  Takes a few minutes to get it in place an up goes the rig a little higher. Great!  Then I realize that from the angle of the truck jack I will not be able to get the jack down once the tire is on! Argh!  So drop it again, replace jack and third times a charm.  Screw on TPMS stem cap and off I go!  Only 45 minutes with the BS.  Then I notice the pressure system says 18 psi.  So I go slow into Refugio, and it takes me three damn stops to find a working air compressor.  With a trailer and exhausted it was more than frustrating.
Woke up at 5:45 to fish and rolled into Austin at 8:45.  This little dilemma is making me either put a cigarette lighter outlet by one set of the tires where the cord will reach to the other side. Or perhaps buy one of those cordless drill looking inflators.  AND I will check the pressure on my spare every trip from now on.  Good news is tire had discount certificate and they put the new tire on in about 5 minutes.  Now I am back and doing some maintenance, and I noticed my 30 amp outlet looks like there was a little arcing.  Apparently the screw tight threads on the outlet are fubar, so likely the connection was not solid at some point. Likely when I was messing with all the connections after getting the power going.  So I need to replace that.  
Going to clean the shit out of her, get my maintenance done a
nd reorganize the storage area.  I don't use the trailer near enough, but these months of on and off staying in Port A alone have been worth it.  Otherwise I would not have this fish pic!
 

I have a Ryobi cordless compressor. Works great.

[davidg 4057]

Had a great weekend up at the ranch. It was a little windy Sat night but overall  the weather was great.  My sisters (no pics) and one BIL stayed Friday night after a short memorial for a recently deceased aunt.  They had a good time shooting a few guns, cutting cedars and yaupon for Christmas decorations.  I made some great burgers for supper and we did a few rounds of s’mores and cocktails by the fire.  

My son and his roommate came up Sat night and we hunted ducks on Sunday morning with a little bit of success.   We had a late brunch and shot up more shells on some thrown targets and and spinners and plates on the pistol range.   
 

I really love camping at the ranch this time of year and can’t wait to get back up there after Christmas.

 

[fattyflattie 4640]

On 12/13/2023 at 9:13 AM, davidg said:

Had a great weekend up at the ranch. It was a little windy Sat night but overall  the weather was great.  My sisters (no pics) and one BIL stayed Friday night after a short memorial for a recently deceased aunt.  They had a good time shooting a few guns, cutting cedars and yaupon for Christmas decorations.  I made some great burgers for supper and we did a few rounds of s’mores and cocktails by the fire.  

My son and his roommate came up Sat night and we hunted ducks on Sunday morning with a little bit of success.   We had a late brunch and shot up more shells on some thrown targets and and spinners and plates on the pistol range.   
 

I really love camping at the ranch this time of year and can’t wait to get back up there after Christmas.

 

Nice water on the place. 

[stc 1500]

nine point draw in big bend, great site. added a 2nd solar panel and a new lithium battery to the van before the trip. heaven. 

 

 

[Chewbacca 7828]

nine point draw in big bend, great site. added a 2nd solar panel and a new lithium battery to the van before the trip. heaven. 
 
 

Yeah, van camping isn't really even camping, but it is spectacular.

[stc 1500]

25 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Yeah, van camping isn't really even camping, but it is spectacular.

still had to shit in a hole so i'm counting it. 

[Chewbacca 7828]

3 minutes ago, stc said:

still had to shit in a hole so i'm counting it. 

I've got a toilet in my Sprinter but I've never used it.  It is there so my wife will go places with me.

[utee94 16078]

44 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

1 hour ago, stc said:

nine point draw in big bend, great site. added a 2nd solar panel and a new lithium battery to the van before the trip. heaven. 
 
 

Yeah, van camping isn't really even camping, but it is spectacular.

I mean, this is the RV thread, not the back-country solo trekking thread or whatever...

 

[Chewbacca 7828]

Just now, utee94 said:

I mean, this is the RV thread, not the back-country solo trekking thread or whatever...

 

True.  My son gives me shit that the van is not camping all the time.  He's kind of right but I don't care.  I'm never going back to sleeping on the ground.

[ChickenSandwich 9939]

20 hours ago, stc said:

nine point draw in big bend, great site. added a 2nd solar panel and a new lithium battery to the van before the trip. heaven. 

 

 

time for a paint job

Edited January 4 by ChickenSandwich

[horn4life 3838]

19 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

True.  My son gives me shit that the van is not camping all the time.  He's kind of right but I don't care.  I'm never going back to sleeping on the ground.

Good thing you didn't draw the line at digging a little hole, and trying to aim your poop to fall into it....

[davidg 4057]

Any of y’all with RV’s in the freeze zone might consider a little winterizing before the front next week. We’re gonna go drain and blow out the lines this evening just to be on the safe side.

[Chewbacca 7828]

On 1/4/2024 at 7:30 AM, horn4life said:

Good thing you didn't draw the line at digging a little hole, and trying to aim your poop to fall into it....

Pooping in a hole is far preferable to sleeping on the ground.

[utee94 16078]

19 hours ago, davidg said:

Any of y’all with RV’s in the freeze zone might consider a little winterizing before the front next week. We’re gonna go drain and blow out the lines this evening just to be on the safe side.

All I've ever done with mine, is open the drain plug on the water heater, open all low points for hot, cold, and freshwater tank, open all faucets, and then drive it from my house to the storage lot (a couple of miles) to let all the water slosh around and drain out.  I have friends who will also blow it out and use antifreeze in the water heater, but I've never found that necessary.  It's survived both the Icepocalypse and the Snowpocalypse of 2021 and 2023, so I guess that's enough.

 

*Note-- I did lose the kitchen sink faucet a year or two before the first big freeze, when I failed to open it all the way and it must have had a little water inside that froze and cracked the cartridge.  I haven't made that mistake again.

[davidg 4057]

Took us about an hour to to hook up and drag it straight out of the storage bay, drain the main tank, drain the water heater, open low point drains and blow all faucets, hose connections and drains. We added some anti-freeze into the ptraps, backed it into the bay, set the jacks and unhitched. Probably over cautious but a little time now hopefully prevents issues when whe want to use it next month.

[Litig8r 418]

RV park in my town following tornado 

[fattyflattie 4640]

On 1/12/2024 at 10:36 AM, davidg said:

Took us about an hour to to hook up and drag it straight out of the storage bay, drain the main tank, drain the water heater, open low point drains and blow all faucets, hose connections and drains. We added some anti-freeze into the ptraps, backed it into the bay, set the jacks and unhitched. Probably over cautious but a little time now hopefully prevents issues when whe want to use it next month.

Went down to the ranch and blew mine out this weekend. Added RV antifreeze to the P-traps, and drained the water heater.   This is when she gets a new anode each yeah.  I think we’ll be just fine but would rather take the hour to take care of it than chase broken waterlines throughout the thing.  Also, got to make a few sits in the blind and drank at least one million beers (it feels like, anyhow). 

[rage-a-holic 4730]

So where are we migrating to this summer when it's 110 everywhere in Texas?

[Cajun 11772]

Saw this just down the road from my house here at Canyon Lake.  If it's for sale I'm going to buy it and get yellow hazmat suits for me and my buddy to smoke briskets in on the other side of the RV out where everyone is driving by -- 

[BabaYaga 15603]

1 hour ago, Cajun said:

Saw this just down the road from my house here at Canyon Lake.  If it's for sale I'm going to buy it and get yellow hazmat suits for me and my buddy to smoke briskets in on the other side of the RV out where everyone is driving by -- 

Damn, it's spot on - that's fantastic

[utee94 16078]

https://www.motortrend.com/features/bowlus-volterra-luxury-travel-trailer-overnight-review/?sm_id=organic%3Asm_id%3Afb%3AMT%3Atrueanthem&fbclid=IwAR27aCflYIxQliXNdG02Ge9cFO8Mxxs9esLgkjKpjDtFk9UsGJaLXRuQ2Bg

 

Quote

We rounded the corner and there it was. Behold, the Bowlus Volterra in all its polished glory beckoned us, lowly us, for a one-night stay. We politely obliged and settled in for the night, trying to act like staying in a $310,000 luxury travel trailer was normal, perfectly normal. We promptly excused ourselves to go buy some lotto tickets, promising that if we won the jackpot, the first thing we would buy was a Bowlus Volterra. We meant it.

 

[royiv 9759]

56 minutes ago, utee94 said:

https://www.motortrend.com/features/bowlus-volterra-luxury-travel-trailer-overnight-review/?sm_id=organic%3Asm_id%3Afb%3AMT%3Atrueanthem&fbclid=IwAR27aCflYIxQliXNdG02Ge9cFO8Mxxs9esLgkjKpjDtFk9UsGJaLXRuQ2Bg

 

 

I would be too paranoid about every little scratch or scrape with that thing to be able to enjoy it. No way in hell I would let any of my Neanderthal friends near it.

[Chewbacca 7828]

3 hours ago, utee94 said:

https://www.motortrend.com/features/bowlus-volterra-luxury-travel-trailer-overnight-review/?sm_id=organic%3Asm_id%3Afb%3AMT%3Atrueanthem&fbclid=IwAR27aCflYIxQliXNdG02Ge9cFO8Mxxs9esLgkjKpjDtFk9UsGJaLXRuQ2Bg

 

 

That thing is ridiculous, and that's coming from someone who spent way too much money building out a Sprinter.

[utee94 16078]

I like it 'cause it's shiny!

[Cajun 11772]

6 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Damn, it's spot on - that's fantastic

H-Berg's BBQ, where something good is always cooking.  Don't forget to try our Blue Margarita!  YO, SCIENCE!!!

Edited February 23 by Cajun

[fattyflattie 4640]

We didn’t make it out unscathed, even after blowing out the lines. Have a small drip in the backend I need to investigate.    Also, the water heater being temperamental.  Fucker. 

[Gil Bang 26229]

On 12/13/2023 at 7:13 AM, davidg said:

Had a great weekend up at the ranch. It was a little windy Sat night but overall  the weather was great.  My sisters (no pics) and one BIL stayed Friday night after a short memorial for a recently deceased aunt.  They had a good time shooting a few guns, cutting cedars and yaupon for Christmas decorations.  I made some great burgers for supper and we did a few rounds of s’mores and cocktails by the fire.  

My son and his roommate came up Sat night and we hunted ducks on Sunday morning with a little bit of success.   We had a late brunch and shot up more shells on some thrown targets and and spinners and plates on the pistol range.   
 

I really love camping at the ranch this time of year and can’t wait to get back up there after Christmas.

 

Recently joined the club, with a mini version of the Imagine.  19 footer, so I can pull it behind my midsize truck.  And, it's just the two of us, and we're only expecting to haul the thing up and down the socal beaches when the weather warms up. 

Maybe I'm kidding myself, but the build on this thing looks to be better than the others that we looked at. 

Edited March 14 by Gil Bang

[utee94 16078]

I've liked the Imagine models for years.  I don't own one but I tour through the boat and RV show every year and Imagine always have a tighter fit and finish than the majority of competitors.

 

 

[fattyflattie 4640]

On 3/14/2024 at 5:06 PM, Gil Bang said:

Recently joined the club, with a mini version of the Imagine.  19 footer, so I can pull it behind my midsize truck.  And, it's just the two of us, and we're only expecting to haul the thing up and down the socal beaches when the weather warms up. 

Maybe I'm kidding myself, but the build on this thing looks to be better than the others that we looked at. 

The GD stuff is nice. The family we camp With has one of their bigger 5th wheels, really nice. 

[davidg 4057]

We’ve enjoyed our GD Imagine. Camped this weekend and it was our 32nd trip and 91st nights sleeping in our trailer since we picked it up in Aug 2020.

We haven’t had any major issues with ours so our experience with GD is pretty good at this point. GD has a good reputation for handling customer support issues but there are still plenty of FB and forum posts of people having issues and not getting any satisfaction in getting it fixed.

My main two gripes are I wish our trailer had a full 3/4” plywood subfloor instead of the lightweight aluminum/foam/ply laminate sandwich they use. I also wish they didn’t use particle board for all the cabinetry. Any moisture and that crap instantly grows mold and fungus. Most of the other stuff I can deal with so issues with it doesn’t bother me too much.

[Armybrat 41373]

[horn4life 3838]

On 3/19/2024 at 10:55 AM, davidg said:

We’ve enjoyed our GD Imagine. Camped this weekend and it was our 32nd trip and 91st nights sleeping in our trailer since we picked it up in Aug 2020.

We haven’t had any major issues with ours so our experience with GD is pretty good at this point. GD has a good reputation for handling customer support issues but there are still plenty of FB and forum posts of people having issues and not getting any satisfaction in getting it fixed.

My main two gripes are I wish our trailer had a full 3/4” plywood subfloor instead of the lightweight aluminum/foam/ply laminate sandwich they use. I also wish they didn’t use particle board for all the cabinetry. Any moisture and that crap instantly grows mold and fungus. Most of the other stuff I can deal with so issues with it doesn’t bother me too much.

Kudo's for getting the days in!  I am pretty sure I am on par with that, simply from spending nearly most of the last few Octobers in Port A with a monthly slot.  Unfortunately right now I am taking care of my Dad and I am about to have to cancel the second planned trip of this year.  

So far I have been lucky on my Freedom Express, and don't have any soft spots in the floor.  My problem is that slowly but surely the vinyl slowly but surely is deteriorating on the high contact areas where they used it for trim.  But it may end up being the best thing in the end, as then I will replace it with some better trim.  I keep threatening to recover the Sofa with a softer fabric I bought, but haven't gotten around to that either.  But will do that before it gets hot come hell or high water!

My only real gripe is the yellowing of the clear plastic trim around the shower slide, as UV from the skylight damaged it in storage over time.  Of course now that I have dared utter the words "my only real gripe" means I have most surely fucked myself with some currently unknown issue. argh!

[Tyrone Krivacs 50]

Last week at Texas Motor Speedway

 

Edited April 17 by Tyrone Krivacs

[Tyrone Krivacs 50]

duplicate

Edited April 17 by Tyrone Krivacs

[jw4381 3246]

We pick up our new Forest River Salem next Saturday. Ol JW is pretty stoked, yo.

We haven't had a camper in many years. Looking forward to new adventures.

[jw4381 3246]

Any of you dipshits do the Harvest Host thing?

[troph 25162]

We are likely putting our RV in a permanent spot in rockport, I go down there 6-8 times and I’m tired of driving down and back so quickly. Could let me expand my fishing obsession which is always a good thing. We also have had a bitch of time using it for three real reasons - (1) I’m working way to much for even a long weekend of RVing, it’s a lot of work - which we love the constant puttering and activity when we do it - but coming back to my desk tired isn’t okay right now, (2) about that work, starting to slow down just a tiny bit and two even industrious women it’s at times a bit much to handle, we don’t make excuses but at times things are just too heavy or whatever, and (3) teenagers are sucking all my time - they are almost as intense for parenting as when they were really little, teaching teens how to be adults is whoa.

anyway, any spots you’ve been that you really like that we should check out?

we’d obviously pull it out if a hurricane was on the way.

Edited June 1 by troph

[fattyflattie 4640]

I’d make sure you do your best to spray it down really, really well every time you are there.    

[troph 25162]

2 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

I’d make sure you do your best to spray it down really, really well every time you are there.    

That’s a good point - we stop at the self serve truck wash on our way home everytime we take it down there, I’d have to make a weekend of any fishing trip so I can do that. 

Edited June 3 by troph

[Hawndoh 2409]

I'm about 2500 miles into an RV family trip. Wrapping up the fourth and final night at Yellowstone tonight. Hit Rushmore and Devils Tower before this.

Grand Teton up next. Been lots of fun, the Imagine 21bhe has been great.

Did get stuck in a 3 hour bison traffic jam, but otherwise Yellowstone has totally met all the hype. Crowds haven't been too bad either. Lots of places weren't out of school as early as we were.

[horn4life 3838]

8 hours ago, Hawndoh said:

Did get stuck in a 3 hour bison traffic jam, but otherwise Yellowstone has totally met all the hype. Crowds haven't been too bad either. Lots of places weren't out of school as early as we were.

Likely never ever happier to have a tow behind shitter!  At least on mine if I make sure to tie the bathroom door back you can access the bathroom without having to extend the slide out.  It's actually one of the things that has come in handy multiple times on the road.  

Sounds like a great trip!  But a 3 hour anything traffic related would have had me losing my mind...

[horn4life 3838]

On 6/1/2024 at 9:03 AM, troph said:

We are likely putting our RV in a permanent spot in rockport, I go down there 6-8 times and I’m tired of driving down and back so quickly. Could let me expand my fishing obsession which is always a good thing. We also have had a bitch of time using it for three real reasons - (1) I’m working way to much for even a long weekend of RVing, it’s a lot of work - which we love the constant puttering and activity when we do it - but coming back to my desk tired isn’t okay right now, (2) about that work, starting to slow down just a tiny bit and two even industrious women it’s at times a bit much to handle, we don’t make excuses but at times things are just too heavy or whatever, and (3) teenagers are sucking all my time - they are almost as intense for parenting as when they were really little, teaching teens how to be adults is whoa.

anyway, any spots you’ve been that you really like that we should check out?

we’d obviously pull it out if a hurricane was on the way.

I have considered getting storage much closer to the coast, but to be honest we don't go much in the Summer unless we are meeting folks.  So my main use is dropping it in Port A in mid to late September and keeping it there the month of October.  But you are right it's a lot of work for just a long weekend! But I love being able to come and go with the favorable weather and tides.

 If I could find some good covered storage out of the normal hurricane range, but making my towing only an hour or so, that may be where I end up, if my current free storage ever dries up.

 

[Hawndoh 2409]

10 minutes ago, horn4life said:

Likely never ever happier to have a tow behind shitter!  At least on mine if I make sure to tie the bathroom door back you can access the bathroom without having to extend the slide out.  It's actually one of the things that has come in handy multiple times on the road.  

Sounds like a great trip!  But a 3 hour anything traffic related would have had me losing my mind...

Ours doesn't have a slide, so it's always ready for action.

At least the scenery was pretty while stuck in traffic. We weren't towing at the time, though. Camper was at the campground.

We love having no slide because we have lunch on the road all the time. At devils tower we pulled up right by the prairie dog colony and had lunch while watching all the little prairie dogs run around.

I do have to pull the trailer through Yellowstone to get to Teton here in a couple hours. So we shall see how that goes. 

Our first travel day through Oklahoma and Kansas we had a strong tailwind and got close to 12 mpg.

But from Billings to Bozeman we had a 20 mph headwind and I was getting 5-6 mpg. Took a whole tank for that stretch.

I have 6 gallons of gas in a can I carry around while towing and I almost had to use it.

[utee94 16078]

If I really squeeze I can wiggle into the bathroom with the slide in.  But it's simple enough just to slide it out a few inches and get to the bathroom easily.

And yes, it's definitely come in handy over the years, especially when the kids were smaller and didn't understand the concept of going potty before we get in the car for a road trip!