Class C with a 20 ft enclosed trailer

RE: Volunteering and your love to explore and hike...that would be perfect for you.

Our gigs were selected by where we wanted to explore. We carefully chose our locations. In our free time we were able to hike, explore and go Jeeping. We volunteered once in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park and one of our 'duties' once a week was to hike a certain trail and 'mingle' with other hikers - look out for problems or just a friendly "hi". What a tough job! :) We've also given lighthouse tours and for three seasons lived on an island in Lake Michigan giving tours. The park service gave us a little historic house to live in. They gave us a spot on the mainland to store our RV. Every 10 days we'd go back to the RV for 3 days and then restock groceries to bring back to the island via ferry. It was an awesome experience. It was mainly a day tour island with some backcountry camping. When the ferry left with the day trippers at 4pm it was like the island was ours - no one around.

Parks always need help in maintenance - not bathrooms, but machinery or landscape maintenance or in the office or Visitor Centers. There are many opportunities out there to keep you from becoming bored.

Plus, you actually get to live in those gorgeous parks free. Our reason for volunteering was to help out those parks since they have low funding and less personnel. It's a good feeling and volunteers are really appreciated. Rangers had us over for meals and gave us special tours of secret places not seen by tourists. I hope you consider volunteering. You won't regret it.

2gypsies wrote:
It seems like all this hinges on full-timing for a year "to see if you like it". I can assure you that a year is not going to let you know. You'll probably be using the time to work any kinks out and to try and see as much as possible with short 'vacation-mode' stays. Full-timing is a new lifestyle and it takes more than a year to really work into it.

You're concerned of boredom. That's going to be a big issue for you. You'll want to move around continuously to fight it off. Many Type A's succeed in this lifestyle but you need to make changes....pick up a new hobby or activity....volunteer in parks so that you have something manually to do.

Also, with your planned RV/car/trailer set up it may stress you and you'll think it's the lifestyle rather than your equipment.

You mentioned desert toys so you might be working in some boondocking in your plans. If so, the Escapees RV Club (recommended) has two groups you might be interest in...the Boomers (but any age is welcome) and a new one for younger folks - X-Scapers (some still work from the road in various ways). They will both be meeting in Quartzsite mid-January so you might want to check them out - all are fun full-timers. They have many planned activities - 4-wheeling, ATVing, hiking, geocaching, happy hours and learning opportunities "how to do" & "where to go" around a campfire, eating.....

...just some things to think about. Best of luck!

Thank you for your response.

Volunteering at campgrounds is probably the best way to keep busy. I am a jump in a help kind of guy. It isn't our plan to move too often unless we really don't like the area. My wife and I are both active and like to explore, so we will be doing a lot of hiking ect.. We have looked into Escapees RV Club and plan on joining.

The more I think about it a jeep with 4 down will probably be the best for us. I can try to make the SUV work but the jeep seems easier.

We got rid of the desert toys because I was getting tired of going and tired of getting banged up. That is another reason I think the jeep would be better. We can go 4 wheeling if we find some cool trials.

Yesterday I took everything out of the motor home. The was a lot of stuff in there the we do not need. I think if we get creative on storage we will be ok. I will be looking at things that I can down size. I was just looking at how much room the coffee pot took. I am going to look at see if there are any other options like an under cabinet one.

...Now if you have any suggestions on putting 10 lbs of c.r.a.p in a 5 lb bag and stay within the weight limit then please let me know. LOL

I have seen some pretty inventive solutions when it comes to enclosed trailers. One neighbor had a complete wood shop in his with all sorts of overhead storage. When it came time to move the lower table tops would flip down and their Jeep would pull in.

Now staying in the weight limit might require some extra effort to make the numbers work.

It seems like all this hinges on full-timing for a year "to see if you like it". I can assure you that a year is not going to let you know. You'll probably be using the time to work any kinks out and to try and see as much as possible with short 'vacation-mode' stays. Full-timing is a new lifestyle and it takes more than a year to really work into it.

You're concerned of boredom. That's going to be a big issue for you. You'll want to move around continuously to fight it off. Many Type A's succeed in this lifestyle but you need to make changes....pick up a new hobby or activity....volunteer in parks so that you have something manually to do.

Also, with your planned RV/car/trailer set up it may stress you and you'll think it's the lifestyle rather than your equipment.

You mentioned desert toys so you might be working in some boondocking in your plans. If so, the Escapees RV Club (recommended) has two groups you might be interest in...the Boomers (but any age is welcome) and a new one for younger folks - X-Scapers (some still work from the road in various ways). They will both be meeting in Quartzsite mid-January so you might want to check them out - all are fun full-timers. They have many planned activities - 4-wheeling, ATVing, hiking, geocaching, happy hours and learning opportunities "how to do" & "where to go" around a campfire, eating.....

...just some things to think about. Best of luck!

Thank you for the replies. I have towed for many years with the 20' enclosed trailer with our desert toys in it, but those toys do not weigh as much as the SUV.

Now for the back story on this. We were not supposed to start this journey for 3 years. My wife was going to retire in oct. and I was going to still work as retirement scares me a little. I am worried about boredom. The owner of the company I worked for and I did not see eye to eye on some things, so we decided to part ways. Wasn't anything bad, but just some things that were making me an unhappy person. My wife and I have saved our penny's over the years and are lucky enough to be able to retire young. We leased the SUV in May when we did not know we would be doing this sooner. The SUV wasn't a retirement splurge. My wife wanted it and her lease was up on her Lexus.

So back to the current issues. We bought our C new in 06 and love it. If we like full timing after a year we will upgrade to a Class A. We may sell the SUV and get a 4 door jeep wrangle to tow.(we have had this set up in the past)I am sure I will take a little bit of a hit on the SUV, but that is life.

Now my next problem is storage. Today I am going to pull everything out of the motor home and start seeing how creative I can get over the next couple of months. I am going to be changing the cab over bed into an entertainment center, so I will be looking to add cabinets/drawer ect...

Again thank you for the replies. Now if you have any suggestions on putting 10 lbs of c.r.a.p in a 5 lb bag and stay within the weight limit then please let me know. LOL

IMHO you need to look into what your SUV weighs first. :W
If you are talking a full size SUV you will be almost over what the C is rated for. And even if not pulling it up grades with the weight of the trailer is going to suck big time for you and your MH.

Regarding towing of anything. Most if not all CG's have 'pull thru' sites. Meaning you pull in and pull out and they are long to accommodate big coaches and coaches towing. I always ask for a pull thru site.

Congrats on retiring fairly young. While there are some that can FT in a Class C with a Gvwr of 14,500 lbs I do not think that will give FTing a fair chance. As you are realizing, a C has very little storage or CCC. Add three dogs and only a 5K hitch... a 3500lb SUV and a 3500lb is well over what your C can do.
Since the SUV is a 2016... retirement splurge??? I would suggest getting rid of the C and buy a more capable Class A with more of everything... like a 7.5K hitch for starters. This will give FTing a better chance of succeeding.
Backing the trailer up will be easier than most would think although there are often pull through sites... no backing. I'm at 57' and do not find it a problem to find sites long enough, even in USFS CG.

You have a big problem with the GLA250 that can only be towed on a trailer.
Best bet is to trade it off on something that can be towed 4 down.
A Lincoln MKX can be towed 4 down. :) http://www.lincoln.com/crossovers/mkx/

Your hitch is rated for 5000 lbs. Your GCWR is 20000 lbs.Your GVWR is 14050 that leaves you 5950 lbs. for your trailer and car. Your car weights 3428 for the cheep one. A 20 ft enclosed trailer weights 3600 lbs. I don't think you can get the numbers to work and be safe. As far as RV parks you should be able to find spots.

Hmm you bring up a good point. I will look at the weight limit. SUV is 4300 lb.

My other option is to sell the suv and get a 4 door jeep to tow and just store stuff in it, but that would be a pain.