New to Full-Timing--but not for long

[Frosty_s_Mom]

as I wrote several months ago; the DH and I were moving into our Winnie to duck pond while we were between houses. after a year of looking for a home for us all (DH and I, daughter, 2 Gkids, and eventually my sister(?), we finally gave up late may and just bought something to get our daughter into. in the meantime, we've been staying at a G7 resort in Caldwell called Ambassador. what a great park! DH is LOVING it! changing our idea completely--now want to full time (he says) for several years before we start looking for housing again. since here we've met many full-timing residents all quite happy doing the seasonal thing following the weather. we want to snow bird starting with Pahrump NV and thence to quartzsite AZ but get no response from any RV parks. lots of BLM land tho. do most full-timers find a BLM space there? only problems we've encountered so far has been that of caring for the toilet; apparently a science we've yet to conquer.

[rockhillmanor]

gotsmart wrote:
Grapevine 7 Inc, aka: G7 RV Resorts

Thanks for the link.
I looked at the resort pictures and if the OP is only paying $350 as stated IMHO that's a pretty good CG rate for those type of amenities.

You pay that rate PLUS electric down here in Florida for 'far less' of a CG.

[gotsmart]

Grapevine 7 Inc, aka: G7 RV Resorts

[Frosty_s_Mom]

What is a G7 park?
Are you living in the MH now in Idaho? What will you do when winter comes?

....I'm actually seeing multiple offers coming in on houses for sale and bidding wars liken to the 80's happening.

Add up all the monthly CG fees and ALL the monthly gas, MH repairs, maintenance, etc-on the road living expenses times 12 and then multiply that by how many years the DH plans to stay in the MH......maybe the grand total on paper might change his mind! :W

oh I SOO agree! i'm anxious to find something that might work for us, but remember now we have DD in and settling are already paying one mortgage. SS just doesn't go too far and I know prices are on the upward swing. groan....I really think it's going to take at least this winter (and maybe next spring) before I can get DH to come back around. yes, currently living in Idaho but planning to split soon as we can get the house DD is now living in cleaned up and settled down. come October I assume we'll be heading south.

Eek! no, the toilet hasn't done any of that burping yet (thanks for the graphic description--i'll relay to the DH)--thank heaven--but maybe that would shorten this whole full-timing thing. ha!
:E

[rockhillmanor]

Frosty's Mom wrote:
yes, gary, have been on the site for awhile now and always appreciate your comments. and yes, you are so right on many levels and thinking the workcamping might make sense for us. something to look into and I will--TY. also, totally agree with the comments re home prices and mortgages. now if you could only convince the DH of that! you'll remember I said "he says" he wants to full-time several (or more!) years. i'm still trying to get my head around that as i'm very worried about home prices and mortgages pricing us out by the time we get back. unfortunately there would be no way we could buy and snow bird ($$$) at the same time. our current monthly in this G7 park is $350--very reasonable, I think. so if the point is that the southern parks are really that expensive we are really pushing that point, huh. personally, i'm hoping by next spring DH will be rethinking the full-timing. end of july marks 3 mos.
.......

What is a G7 park?
Are you living in the MH now in Idaho? What will you do when winter comes?

Since you only plan to do this short term it would really be a shame to miss the low prices on houses right now. As the real estate pendulum swings as it 'always' does in 6 or 7 years the houses will be inflated again. I'm actually seeing multiple offers coming in on houses for sale and bidding wars liken to the 80's happening.

Add up all the monthly CG fees and ALL the monthly gas, MH repairs, maintenance, etc-on the road living expenses times 12 and then multiply that by how many years the DH plans to stay in the MH......maybe the grand total on paper might change his mind! :W

[garyhaupt]

If it's your sensor that is showing 2/3 full? Sensors lie. Next time, after dumping, and before putting in any water, grab a flashlight, turn OFF water pump,kneel down in front of the bowl, open the valve that you'd open to flush and look down into the tank. You should be able to see just what you have down there.


And look..I speak from experience...I know what I am talking about.



Gary Haupt

[gotsmart]

Frosty's Mom wrote:
...
I've been following the suggestions re NOT dumping until full--not sure about it "burping".
...

"burping" starts with the black tank being so full of waste that it is generating a substantial amount of sewer gases (think hot summer day, compost pile). At some point a bubble of sewer gas will accumulate in the pipe that is directly beneath the toilet.

As soon as the next person opens the valve to flush the toilet, the gas bubble rushes up into the toilet bowl BEFORE whatever is in the bowl can flush down the drain. It literally makes a belching sound, and sometimes causes a very little bit of whatever was being flushed to spatter outside of the bowl - and you'll need a can of air freshener (been there, done that).

If a toilet burps then it is way past time to dump the tank.

[Frosty_s_Mom]

yes, gary, have been on the site for awhile now and always appreciate your comments. and yes, you are so right on many levels and thinking the workcamping might make sense for us. something to look into and I will--TY. also, totally agree with the comments re home prices and mortgages. now if you could only convince the DH of that! you'll remember I said "he says" he wants to full-time several (or more!) years. i'm still trying to get my head around that as i'm very worried about home prices and mortgages pricing us out by the time we get back. unfortunately there would be no way we could buy and snow bird ($$$) at the same time. our current monthly in this G7 park is $350--very reasonable, I think. so if the point is that the southern parks are really that expensive we are really pushing that point, huh. personally, i'm hoping by next spring DH will be rethinking the full-timing. end of july marks 3 mos.

the toilet; put our boys up in the winnie last year when we were celebrating our 50th and apparently didn't get the black tank cleaned well. I've been following the suggestions re NOT dumping until full--not sure about it "burping". messed up our sensors--easy to do anyway. been trying to get them cleaned but are chronically at 2/3 full. oh well. not really a big deal. I appreciate all the comments again--thanks, all.

[rockhillmanor]

Just keep in mind housing prices will 'never' be as low as they are not. It's bottoming out but there are still many foreclosures left at great prices, and regular house sales prices are still low, If you wait 'several years' as you are planning, the selling prices will be way higher and the interest rate is already climbing. And full timing will be eating away your savings. If it were me I'd buy a house now and Snowbird. Best of both worlds for you and your bank account. Just saying.

[AprilWhine]

We have a port home in Pahrump.

There are several RV parks in the area, you should have no problems. In my opinion, the best one is the Lakeside Casino RV Park. It's centered around a small lake, with ducks, a walking path, and lots of grass. Bonus, the casino restaurant is pretty good too. clicky

[garyhaupt]

You aren't a new member here, so you likely have been reading lots and have seen the comments about people full-timing and so on. It's not all roses, but life isn't anyway. The differnces between parks and boondocking is the services. You get only what you have when you boondock. You get whatever the park has, staying with them. Many b'dock for $$ reasons. A month in a park is over $1,000. Some, like me, feel that loot is better in my pocket. The deserts of Ca and Nevada call to many and there is a lifetime of places to see and things to do. It is different tho. And dirty. There is a constant wind that brings in a dusty grime, that soon covers everything. The only answer is a 12v vacuum and a wet rag.

If you hanev't looked at workcamping, perhps do so. It's usually a 3 month commitment, you normally get your site/services in trade. It's a great way to see your country, and have a place to call home, for 3 months, anyway.

What's the issue with the toilet?


Gary haupt