RV Camps How many on the board have some kind of camper (RV) ?

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
Well, I can tell you that your timing for your trip couldn't be better, at least as far as weather goes! Hope it goes very well for you :) You plan on salmon fishing? You'll be here for Kings and Silvers at least.

I'm not a camper owner yet, though my family of 8 lived in an 8x20' travel trailer our first year up here, so I know how it goes. I'm looking to get my son's 1983 Ford F250 in shape and put a camper on it to travel the US and see family for extended periods for a couple of years. I love driving and have done the trip south on my own twice now. Really can't wait to have the right kind of vehicle to do it right.

One point for ya: the law here says no more that 5 vehicles behind you, so if you are holding up traffic on the highway just look for a pullout to let them pass. And hope you enjoy the Alaska Highway portion - it's nowhere near as rough as when we first drove up, but facilities and towns are still widely spaced! :)
 

Reasonable Rascal

Veteran Member
Just purchased a used 25 foot 5th wheel. Haven't had a chance to take it out yet but hope to before the summer is over. This is our first venture beyond a tent so we'll see how things go before we invest more heavily.

RR
 

TerriHaute

Hoosier Gardener
We have a 35 foot Crusader fifth wheel with three slide outs and pull it with a diesel Chevy Silverado. Doing a lot more camping with it this year now that DH is retired too. We have made several improvements to make it more enjoyable, including replacing the original uncomfortable sofa bed with a La-Z-Boy loveseat/double recliner, adding a cell phone booster, replacing the entry steps with a much sturdier set, replacing the TV antenna with a more powerful one, and installing a new DVD system. We also replaced the original short queen mattress with a much improved memory foam one. We're ready to go.
 

rlm1966

Veteran Member
We bought a 30 footer this year that we are currently using as a weekend gateway on some property we are planning to build a house on in the next year or so. After that it will be used for traveling that we have talked about for years.
 

SuElPo

Veteran Member
My son and daughter in law have a bigger size camper, and they love going camping when they can. He is building a tear drop camper right now. It's very small, but he is doing a good job on it. He does youtubes showing his progress on it, and he is into photography too. He wants to use the tear drop camper for more places he can get too for his photography. I am making him a camper quilt for it in lime green, and other side is a rich medium blue. It's called 'Camp and Camera.' Here is the link if I am allowed to do that. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUu-Wbo58ba8ppxmfYH7Mlg
You will see why the quilt I am making him is lime green.
Susan
 

Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior
My son and daughter in law have a bigger size camper, and they love going camping when they can. He is building a tear drop camper right now. It's very small, but he is doing a good job on it. He does youtubes showing his progress on it, and he is into photography too. He wants to use the tear drop camper for more places he can get too for his photography. I am making him a camper quilt for it in lime green, and other side is a rich medium blue. It's called 'Camp and Camera.' Here is the link if I am allowed to do that. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUu-Wbo58ba8ppxmfYH7Mlg
You will see why the quilt I am making him is lime green.
Susan


the old tear drops are sought after and there's a retro move on them - the new smaller SUVs can tow them without any problems ....
 

Border Guns

Veteran Member
I have a 30' 5th wheel that I have used for the last eight years. Owned 2 of them before this one. Been to Oregon and back to Arizona several times. In 2012 did a cross country to North Carolina for family reunion. Headed up to Connecticut before going through Kansas on the way home. Great Trip.
 

SuElPo

Veteran Member
We don't have a camper, but I wish we were in a position to have one. I seen a school bus on Pinterest remodeled into a home the other day, and it was something else. It probably came under the new thing of tiny homes, but the only thing on the outside that still looked like a bus was the cab. It was so pretty, but the guy who did the work was really good at carpentry, and it was his passion.

Susan
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
I still have my 32' fema camper that I bought about 8 years ago, its a park model so no holding tanks. Its parked right where it has been for 8 years. DH has a leaky motor home that is still in Illinois that we lived in at parks for about 6 weeks, cooking outside and all, we won't be bringing it home. I think we are done with camping. we live in the woods and like our comforts, but sometimes its like camping out. We are as bugged out as we are going to get.

Judy
 

Pebbles

Veteran Member
We have a 20' toy hauler. As a control freak, I do all the driving HA. It is a breeze to pull fully loaded with our Dodge Ram 3500. Sort of overkill, but I can drive with no stress and my DH can snooze. We have had a lot of fun with the toy hauler, we can go to any campground without worrying that we are too big. Perfect for me and my DH. Even if we did not load our UTV I would still get a toy hauler because of the extra room and we can use the ramp as a patio, which is very nice.
 

dieseltrooper

Inactive
My wife & I bought a fixer 1990 Georgie Boy cruise aire iii for $1900 three months ago and live in it full-time. We are dependent on a park for now for shore-power. When I get the generator running, we will boondock locally to save $$ needed for new tires & spare. We plan to relocate west in the spring.
 

Siskiyoumom

Veteran Member
We bought a home build Tear Drop Trailer. We have not yet had our maiden shake out run. Hubby want to raise the frame for more road clearance as it sits pretty low. Our hauler is a 2004 Toyota pick up with a broken air conditioner,so no long distance drives this summer. We are hoping to do a couple two or three nighter journeys to state parks in Northern California, most likely Patrick’s Point or Jedidiah Smith. I have been watching a bunch of you tube videos on camping with a Tear Drop. My big issue is figuring how to deal with my CPap machine. Especially if we plan to Boon Dock. I also have been stashing prep stuff in under the bed. That way if we lose the house we have something in case the house falling in a quake.
 

GingerN

Veteran Member
we bought an Avenger 29rbs, but with tongue length it is 33 ft 10 in long. We had an 18 footer which worked great for dh and myself, then we got custody of 3 grandbabies, all currently under age 5. Had to have more room. Love it! We don't cook inside because my husband doesn't want it to smell like food in there (?) but it has an outdoor kitchen, so it is all good.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Not yet, we discussed it and decided to rent one from the place in Des Moines that does rentals, leases, and sales. Since neither one of us have any experience with a camper style trailer we have no idea what we would like. He was kind of resistant at first and I just said straight up that I didn't want to drop hard cash on one w/o knowing what our likes and dislike would be. I have a cousin who hates those slide outs and with a passion, her brother and his wife just cannot get enough of the slide outs.

My suggestion see if you can borrow or rent one for a weekend and see if it'll work for you. My bestie and her partner actually camped in theirs in their backyard before the bought it, he knew the dealer really well. They don't have slide outs either, they didn't like them and I suspect we won't like them either.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
We have a 20' toy hauler. As a control freak, I do all the driving HA. It is a breeze to pull fully loaded with our Dodge Ram 3500. Sort of overkill, but I can drive with no stress and my DH can snooze. We have had a lot of fun with the toy hauler, we can go to any campground without worrying that we are too big. Perfect for me and my DH. Even if we did not load our UTV I would still get a toy hauler because of the extra room and we can use the ramp as a patio, which is very nice.


What size is your hauler? I went with a Dodge RAM 3500 (Cummins) as well, some people will say its overkill but after talking to a few experts on loads the general consensus was better safe than sorry when it comes to towing.
 
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sunny225

Membership Revoked
We don't have one at the moment but would like to get one soon.
We've always had pull behind travel trailers but I see most here have the 5th wheels. They seem better at backing and pulling.
We have a chevy Silverado 1500 to pull something with so that puts most 5th wheels out of our weight range.
 

WanderLore

Veteran Member
I just bought a 12 ft little camper. it has a stove and fridge and bed. It pulls easy with my jeep. The main reason I got this one is its small. But it was gutted and redone top to bottom and underneath. Very well done. And if I have to sell it, I can get money back easy. I dont need much. I have to get a battery if I want to run interior lights. But I've bought some solar stuff that works well. My plan is to find a little piece of land as a homebase. If I like the area, I will put a little cabin there.

I should add that I am no stranger to camping, traveling, and off grid (14 years). But biggest problem is that my grown kids and grandchildren and I are pretty close. They all but one live in the city. I cant be too far away. Within a few hours drive I think.
 

Tundra Gypsy

Veteran Member
I have two trailers. I started 'glamping' a few years ago and bought a 1970 Terry Trailer; 15 feet long. I painted it pink on the bottom and made it really 'girlie' on the inside. Went 'glamping' with just gals for several years. I didn't feel comfortable pulling it; so bought a smaller 13 foot trailer, including the hitch, to pull to my camp outs with the gals. It is a 1976 Serro Scotty Trailer and it works just fine for me.

To me having those big old RVs or trailers is not my idea of camping; you are just pulling your house with you. I guess it works if you are on the road for weeks at a time.

I only dry camp a few days at a time; sometimes a week at the most; but, go as often as I can during the summer months. I enjoy kayaking during the day and sitting around the campfire at night with friends.
 
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TrueNorthNomads

Contributing Member
Our RV/minimalist experience... so far!

We’ve had several RVs over the years. First we had a couple of camper vans, then a truck camper, then a 23’ Class C, then a 27’ Class A Fleetwood Bounder, which we’ve been living in full time for almost a year and a half now. We pull a Kia Spectra (Mimi) behind our rig, which allows us to run errands etc when we’re boondocking for weeks at a time in a location that we especially like. The car gets about 35 mpg on the highway and is easy to maneuver and park, while our rig only averages 12 mpg and is no fun at all to drive in cities.

This summer we took a two-month, 6,000-mile trip in Mimi (our car), taking just the basics with us, and we had a great time! The front seats recline into roomy beds, and we were comfortable and cozy even when the temperature dipped below freezing, which it did on two or three nights. We didn’t even use sleeping bags, just two heavy duvets draped across us both. It was quite an adventure!

Because of our enjoyable experience in Mimi, we’ve decided to downsize to a white, GMC extended cargo van with a high top roof. We don’t need the room we have in our Class A rig, and we can park stealthily (the reason for choosing white as a colour, as white cargo vans are ubiquitous) almost anywhere in our do-it-yourself customized van. The savings on gas will be a welcome bonus too.

It’ll take us a couple of months to convert the cargo van, as we’re not spring chickens anymore, so anything labor intensive takes us twice as long to do these days, but that’s okay; we’re not in a hurry. We’re planning to buy our van in May 2019, as the weather will be good then and the conversion will be easier.

After taking many summer trips over the years, and after living a full-time nomadic lifestyle for the past 18 months, DH and I would never voluntarily go back to a ‘sticks & bricks’ lifestyle. We’re having too much fun! For us, minimalism is the only way to go!?
 

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
I left our old fifth-wheel in Oregon (no way to tow it, and it had been in an accident before we bought it and I don't think would have been safe to tow across the country). I'm considering doing something here, not for us to travel with, but to use as a guest cottage. Don't know whether it will be a small shed, or a travel trailer, though. The travel trailer would come finished inside, but they always seem to end up leaking eventually.

Kathleen
 

sunny225

Membership Revoked
We got us a 29 foot travel trailer, Grey Wolf. It has one slide out and is lightweight so will be easier to pull with our Chevy truck.
Planning to head south as soon as I get finished with all these doctor appointments.
Anyone got some favorite campgrounds in west central Florida that you can recommend?
 

SuElPo

Veteran Member
My son finished his tear drop camper, and they have already been camping in it. He is thinking of beginning some plans now on a bug out camper.

Susan
 

Vulture45-70

Veteran Member
32 Ft. Flagsaff 4 slides, pulled by F250 King Ranch Diesel. Not doing too much camping at the moment due to all BS taking place, but want to hit the road in 2020 seeing the sights. Pulling by myself, looking for someone to travel with. Have plans to head to Alabama Gold Camp to pan for a bit of gold, which is still around.
 

Firebird

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Just bought a 34’ Heartland travel trailer with triple slides, can’t wait to use it!
 

wintery_storm

Veteran Member
Bought a Grand Design Lightweight Reflection 33" with center island kitchen, fireplace, big screen tv. Could not ask for more. we have it for 2 years now/ Went to Nashville, Smokey Mts. Drove around Seneca Lakes in New York. Did Gettysburg. It was wonderful! Perfect for hubby and myself. The price was great.
 

Calfisher

Veteran Member
99 31' Airstream Excella Classic. Custom made. We purchased this in Oct of 19 after selling the house. Full timing ever since.

Across the desert and over the mountains we go. We passed thru 5 states in the southwest in the last year.

Currently wintering in Arizona. Heading to Texas to look at land soon.
 
I live in a tin can down by the river.

View from the driveway, coming in from over the bridge looking south, the tin can is barely visible:
Tin can3_1200.jpg
It's a 1986, 34 foot, Comfort 5th wheel. Was given to me so I'd have a place to live - four years ago.
The section over the hitch (designed as bedroom) is storage.
I've nothing to pull it with, so not going anywhere anytime soon.

With that in mind I stocked up on propane:
Tanks on a trailer2.jpg

A view of the tin can and tarp:

Snow tin can 1200.jpg

Windstorm hit hard this winter - dropped a tree on the school bus and had a couple of other trees threaten camp:
tin can.jpg

Which reminds me of Leska. Her place got slammed last month. Lot's of damage.
Here's a photo from two years ago, storms were so bad everything was shut down, was delayed ten days getting home, Greyhound, Amtrack, Airlines, highway all stopped. Here's a photo of Leska & I - the day I arrived in Portland:
Leska and Tom.jpg

Schoolie (Retro fitted school bus) is where I'm moving after It gets outfitted. Wood stove in bus:
Wood stove in the bus.jpg

So this is what the view from the tin can down by the river is - when we look North at the bridge:
winter view 1200.jpg

The whole Tin Can thing is a play on Chris Farley and David Bowie.

The Chevy I get to drive (1963 - loaner):
63 Chev.jpg


Close friend and his son took these lions out, interesting mount?

Mating lions.jpg

Anyhow -- all that to bring some bone fides to the RV/travel trailer, are you sure you really want to - conversation.

It's doable to live in tight quarters. If you're not handy and poor (cash strapped) - I wouldn't suggest it.

So far have during the last four years had to replace;
12 volt water pump,
12 volt propane furnace,
propane/12 volt fridge ( took the door off made into pantry), replaced with small electric.
propane water heater (went with on demand),
2 - 12 volt marine batteries,
propane regulator,
shower faucet,
vanity faucet,
kitchen sink valve o rings,
oven still non functional (parts are unobtanium),
replaced lighting fixtures with LED - florescent bulbs are very expensive, and surely there's a few more things.

OK - then there's power and water.
Fortunately both are available here. Unfortunately voltage is low because it's a long run to the source, and, water requires a tank refill when 50 gallons is tapped.

Then there's sewer - Which I'm going to skip over for now.

On the flip side - when the powers out, no problem. Have a Honda EU 1000 inverter which powers 12 volt and AC systems via 120 volt AC - (water, furnace, lighting, refrigeration, and comms). Communications is router, wifi, desktop computer, and phone. The little Honda EU 1000 ran for six days straight, 24 hours a day - used just about 5 gallons of gas.
The storm that took the power out (think Texas):
View: https://www.facebook.com/rachel.peterson.98499/posts/3848613358494689


Other considerations - food storage, have to really think it out in advance, frozen foods, foods that cannot freeze, and dry goods. Space is a premium commodity.

Laundry - sucks without your own. Covid shut down my local laundromat. Takes a lot of water and energy to keep clothes clean.

ETA - forgot about being over run by mice, couldn't keep up. Was getting two or three a day. Then the bears came to visit. Came home one day and a sow and two cubs got inside, there was a trail of inside items leading out to the river. The pinnacle of which was while eating breakfast, Yogi had entered the trailer. Was watching a youtube and didn't hear the door open. They are crafty after they've fed inside.

Hope this helps.

===
.
 
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OzRural

Inactive
I live in a tin can down by the river.

You paint quite a picture there Tom, a sort of pioneer lifestyle with a lot of mod cons, albeit low energy ones. That Gen set is nice, I should have bought one myself but instead bought a cheepie from the autoparts store. It does the job but for how long? I had a few acres in the bush but sold it and moved to town so it's a backup thing now. I just have to remember to cycle the fuel every other month.

When up in the bush I made a few off the wall things. One was a recycle shower where I filled two buckets with 10L of water each and used a 12V submersible pump to move from bucket to bucket. I could have nice long showers that way and when I wanted to rinse off I moved the pump to the second bucket. You need a shower stall with a drain plug of course but it's very water-wise.

Would love to hear more about your day to day lifestyle, do you have a community there? Is the land owned or off the track government land? How do you stop from getting eaten by bears lol.
 

winston

Contributing Member
How many on the board have some kind of camper (RV) ?

I have a 32ft 5th wheel and enjoy getting on the open road with it.

Next year we are heading to ALASKA (2019) our 50th Anv. on the road we will be leaving the day after mothers day we cant wait.
Yep, a 21ft Class-B Travato, fully self contained, generator has saved the day at home when we lose power, toilet saved day at home when we lost septic tank !
 

Leela

Veteran Member
We (as a couple) started out with tents, and then a camper shell that came with a truck we bought . Took it out for a few trips. We have both always camped in tents as kids. Then we bought a cabover camper. That was fun, took it to Mexico one year with our daughter. The truck crapped out on our way back from AZ. We were gifted a 73 Cadillac, put a hitch on it, and someone gave us a ? 1963 Aloha trailer. It was pink & white, about 13' long. We dragged that thing all over, people used to ask us if they could take pictures of our "rig". Except for the snobs who we parked next to in Tahoe in a big fancy RV. They were really rude.

Now we have a 1997 TrailManor that is in pristine condition, towed with a 2001 Chevy 4x4. It's getting really hard around here to get campsites. I spent at least 60 days in a row trying to get into Seacliff SB at 8 AM and have given up.

I would gladly tent camp again. We have a blowup bed that I sewed a cover for the with a pocket at the top to keep the pillows from sliding off, and have already packed supplies and equipment. All of our blowup beds have lasted forever since I made the covers. Oh yes, also a porta potty. Plenty of room in our 12 x 18 tent with a privacy screen.
 

Deeb

Member
Yep, a 21ft Class-B Travato, fully self contained, generator has saved the day at home when we lose power, toilet saved day at home when we lost septic tank

Same and love it. Have a 2020 G model with the back murphy and front 'puzzle' beds. Wouldn't buy a 2022 or later model due to the idiotic inside water connections.
 

Pebbles

Veteran Member
We have a 20' Carson Titan toy hauler. I really like it, easy to pull with our Dodge Ram 3500. We have not used it in a few years due to DH medical issues, but as we talk of downsizing I am insisting we keep it just in case!!
 
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