Introduce Yourself!

[TeamGoodSam]

Hi all, and welcome to the Good Sam Community — we’re excited you’re here! Take this chance to say hello and tell us a bit about yourself.

Whether this is your first time here or if you’ve already jumped into the conversations, kick today off with a quick, friendly hello. It’s always great to run into familiar faces further down the road.

So what’s the inside scoop? Your RV of choice. Where you like to travel. Where you call home. Need an icebreaker? Tell us where you would go if you could RV anywhere in the world. And finally, be sure to welcome others as they join!

[Likes_to_tow]

Thru the years I have owned 4 truck campers before moving into a 5th wheel when I retired.   Now on my third 5th wheel but would go back to a truck camper in a heartbeat if the wife would agree!!   Apparently when a woman experiences counter space and closet space she is reluctant to give it up.     Truck campers are easy for many reasons.     You don't have to do much planning with a truck camper.    Any state or national park can accommodate you and there is no issue with length !     Many parks were constructed before people traveled with long tall trailers.    Generally I've found most private parks will find somewhere to put you up for a night.   Not so with a 5th wheel.    Traveling on narrow roads is no issue with a truck camper.  Switchbacks and steep curvy roads are not a problem.     Pulling a boat trailer or horse trailer is no issue.    I generally plan weeks ahead of a trip with my 5th wheel.   I research routes,  road conditions,  campground availability and all other aspects of traveling with a big rig.    We are reluctant to travel the back roads for fear of getting trapped.    Scenic pull offs are a big concern for fear of not being able to get in a out easily.    Thus we have missed some beautiful views in our travels.   Buying fuel is a major concern with a 5th wheel.    Most stations now have the pump lanes facing the building instead of being parallel to it.    This can cause major issues trying to get in and out in a limited space!   No problem with a truck camper.   Basically you drive like you do without the camper onboard or with a car.     Of course there is a downside to a truck camper.   Limited space is the number one issue for my wife but I like the ability to go anywhere without considering any restrictions except possibly height.    Truck campers in my opinion are profanely expensive considering they are much smaller,   have no axle or frame or brakes and must be easier to build.    Yet they cost as much as a 5th wheel !!     If you have a dually already you have the ability to carry a good size truck camper with no problem.    It's all about how you travel and how much pre planning you want to do.    We have changed to reserving a campsite for a few nights in an area we want to visit,  dropping off the 5th wheel,  then driving around for a few days site seeing the area.  It works well in a place like Grand Tetons or Glacier National Park where you can spend several days in one area and be entertained.    I'm very cautious about getting into an area I'm not familiar with while pulling the 5th wheel.    The truck campers we've owned were not a concern.   You can be spontaneous in your travels and exploring!!     

[PyroGod]

New owner just purchased a Class A 2014 Thor Hurricane. First long distance trip will be in February  Recently sold my wholesale fireworks business I have owned for 23 years.  Owning a RV is one of my last bucket list items.  Have seen all of the US except Pacific Northwest and Most of the eastern Seaboard.  Looking to do that. 

[pianotuna]

Welcome to the wonderful world of RV'ing. Unless you have experience as a bus or freight truck driving you may want to take some driver's lessons. Consider replacing all the "rubber" (rad hoses etc). Make sure the tires have not aged out. If the fridge can be run on propane make sure that the RV is level when ever you stop for more than 15 minutes. An ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure!

[Hankhenry]

Hi Hank here. I have a Rexhall Freightliner RV and the throttle wants to stick in high position.

[Likes_to_tow]

We have a 31' Reflection Grand Design 5th wheel and enjoy traveling the US.   Our current tow vehicle is a 2021 F250 with the 7.3 Gasoline engine.    

[Community Alumni]

Hi folks, I'm an oldtimer from a long, long time ago from RV.net who just recently discovered that RV.net has moved over here, more or less. I was part of the NW Rally group and have been trying to find the members of that again but most of you don't seem to be here any more. Does anyone know what happened to Tradewinds (the original) or Bigdog (also the original)?   I finally bit the bullet and bought a 2019 Coachmen Mirada 32SS last month and have already put 3K miles on it. I never thought I'd give up that old Nomad trailer but here we are. Besides, she was so old, she was nearly old enough to drink and the Suburban I pulled it with hot on her heels. I still have both vehicles but I reserve those for Burning Man nowadays. There's NO way I'm taking this Mirada to Burning Man.  😄

So, if you remember who I was back then, we're out of the farming business (I raised sheep for forever) and are looking to part-time in our new rig. I never thought you could blast me away from the farm but here we are. Anyone going to Quartzsite this year? We're considering going.

To the rest of you, hi, I'm the Laura half of TomNLauraWA and live in western Washington on my soon-to-be-completely-shut-down farm. Tom doesn't post on here although he might someday. I'm a retired environmental chemist and he's a semi-retired software developer. We have a couple of cats who don't travel with us due to age or being semi-feral, I like to sew and do needlepoint (my drug of choice), and both of us enjoy longbow/recurve archery. I am very much into horses and finally lost my ancient 34 year old this past January (23) so I'm out of the horse business. I still have chickens and turkeys so my farm isn't shut down just yet. Both of us love to read and listen to music, and Tom likes going to the movies. Tom works at Burning Man (there's no way we'd go except for getting paid to do so) so we go to that every year. It gets amusing to watch all the different people there.

So, that's me/us in a nutshell.

[Lance27a]

Hi to all,  I'm Lance and becoming an active RVer with my new motorhome.  I'll have some questions from time to time seeking your experience and thoughts.  Does anyone have a suggestion for a portable tire air compressor?  I've learned to avoid poor quality China stuff and prefer quality over a few extra dollars.

[WisTexan]

Lance,  three very good brands are Porter-Cable, Dewald or Ridgid; but I would make sure no matter which brand you purchase that you purchase one that will do at least 150 PSI; first to make sure it will meet all your needs; and second to make sure you are purchasing a quality product that will hold sufficient air pressure in the tank while meeting your needs without having to overwork the compressor.  These are not very expensive and do not cost much more than the cheap junk that you buy from the discount stores.

[pianotuna]

Lance27a,

Be sure to get one that does 120 psi.

[Fowler2765]

Sad to see the clubs are not a priority with the company anymore. I rejoined to be active in a Club and seems they have just about closed down most of the Clubs. My parents were lifetime members and they had a great club that traveled and enjoyed the RV life.

[padredw]

I have been using the predecessor of this forum for many years. I am totally lost in this new version. Unless I can get some help in using it, I will just drop it as a sad failure.

[WisTexan]

Don't drop, I am new to this - together we can all learn and build on this and teach each other.  There is another couple on here who purchased a 2008 Monaco who was looking for manuals.  I know the site where they can get the free factory manual and original brochure and register / transfer the ownership information even though Monaco does not build these units any longer because the original company went bankrupt and sold all their assets (I lost a lot of money on that stock - lol) and then were subsequently sold again.  I tried sending him the information, BUT it appears that our messages have completely fallen off this site.  I also just purchased a 2008 Monaco and the site is amazing - the manuals and brochures  available are so complete and detailed and free.  I hope they received my information before our messages disappeared.

[padredw]

Fifth wheel, 34' HitchHiker II. Almost 200000 miles. Northeast Texas. More later

[Idaho23]

Hello, I am lost as well.. New to Good Sam and this type of chat. We recently purchased a 2018 Coachman Prism 25 foot motorhome, had three trips in it, we really enjoy traveling in it. We live in Idaho, first trip we went to Yellowstone, then we went to Redwoods, the Avenue of the Giants & last week we went to the Grand Canyon (south side) .... WOW!! Amazing! We are now home, winterized the motorhome and have a few repairs and will put it away for the winter. Start planning our next adventure. Cheers to you. 😁

[padredw]

Thank you for the courtesy of your reply. (I tried to post a reply just now and it vanished into the cloud). Idaho is a beautiful state. We stayed some years ago at Red Rock RV near Island Park  for a visit to Yellowstone, and more recently at Henry's Lake State Park in that same area. We live in Northeast Texas in the Piney Woods and rolling hills--very different from the stereotype of Texas than many have. We have a fifth-wheel trailer on which we have logged over 117,000 miles. If I can ever help by sharing information about our area--or for that matter almost any area in the USA, just send me a PM (Private Message). We have trips planned in the Spring to Florida and to a spot in Texas even nearer to the total eclipse in 2024.