Newbie Needs Help! From experienced rvers
Folks, This forum has been a big help. I am totally new to RVing. The last experience I had with "camping" was riding a motorcycle in CO Rockies. Breath taking. That was tent camping. Before that, I ...
Forum Discussion
As far as towing your present vehicles, there are some publications out there and here is one of them. Motor Home magazine publishes one each year and I believe you can get older years - not sure what age your vehicle are.
We traveled with a Jeep which gave us lots of additional fun and entertainment in the backcountry.
2014 Guide for Tow Vehicles
We happily full-timed for 16 years and 8 of those years were in a 40' 2004 Newmar Dutch Star. We absolutely loved it. It only had 2 slides which is what we wanted because we go to forest service campgrounds and have to deal with parking amidst trees. We wouldn't want more slides.
You said you wanted a desk. Newmar offered them as options so if you're buying used, look for them. Keep in mind that Newmar and other places can build anything you want (within reason) so if you want to do any renovations with a used unit you can, especially a desk.
Our Dutch Star had 370 HP and we traveled in the western mountains all the time. It had plenty of power. We rarely drove interstats unless there was no way else from A to B for short distances. We got 7-8 mpg in mountains and 9 on straight-aways.
Check into some of the campgrounds that you think you'd like to stay, including state parks and see what size RV their sites will hold. It's different east of the Mississippi than out West. We did stay in state parks and Corp of Engineer park in the east with our 40'.
In the West we had absolutely no problem fitting into campgrounds with our 40'. Our first preference was always public parks because we liked room and scenery. We fit in most national parks in the West - Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Zion, Grand Canyon, Bryce and others. State parks were no issue except for in California. As I stated, we loved national forest campgrounds and no problem in the West. There were many county and city parks that we used, also.
We also did a lot of boondocking by traveling down gravel roads. No issues if the road was maintained. We spent the summer in Alaska and boondocked a lot in gorgeous places.
I would first choose some good manufacturers and Newmar is one. Then choose a floorplan from what they have to offer. You can get terrific buys under $100,000 for a used diesel.
Check out a couple of the well-known consignment places for an idea of what your budget can purchase. We sold our 2004 Newmar through PPL. A couple from Florida flew in to purchase it. Here are a couple sites:
http://motorhomesoftexas.com/c#/coachesrv/all/default/all/all/all
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/diesel/diesel-motorhomes.php
We traveled with a Jeep which gave us lots of additional fun and entertainment in the backcountry.
2014 Guide for Tow Vehicles
We happily full-timed for 16 years and 8 of those years were in a 40' 2004 Newmar Dutch Star. We absolutely loved it. It only had 2 slides which is what we wanted because we go to forest service campgrounds and have to deal with parking amidst trees. We wouldn't want more slides.
You said you wanted a desk. Newmar offered them as options so if you're buying used, look for them. Keep in mind that Newmar and other places can build anything you want (within reason) so if you want to do any renovations with a used unit you can, especially a desk.
Our Dutch Star had 370 HP and we traveled in the western mountains all the time. It had plenty of power. We rarely drove interstats unless there was no way else from A to B for short distances. We got 7-8 mpg in mountains and 9 on straight-aways.
Check into some of the campgrounds that you think you'd like to stay, including state parks and see what size RV their sites will hold. It's different east of the Mississippi than out West. We did stay in state parks and Corp of Engineer park in the east with our 40'.
In the West we had absolutely no problem fitting into campgrounds with our 40'. Our first preference was always public parks because we liked room and scenery. We fit in most national parks in the West - Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Zion, Grand Canyon, Bryce and others. State parks were no issue except for in California. As I stated, we loved national forest campgrounds and no problem in the West. There were many county and city parks that we used, also.
We also did a lot of boondocking by traveling down gravel roads. No issues if the road was maintained. We spent the summer in Alaska and boondocked a lot in gorgeous places.
I would first choose some good manufacturers and Newmar is one. Then choose a floorplan from what they have to offer. You can get terrific buys under $100,000 for a used diesel.
Check out a couple of the well-known consignment places for an idea of what your budget can purchase. We sold our 2004 Newmar through PPL. A couple from Florida flew in to purchase it. Here are a couple sites:
http://motorhomesoftexas.com/c#/coachesrv/all/default/all/all/all
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/diesel/diesel-motorhomes.php
