Maiden Voyage (in driveway) tonight!

[dbwiddis]

We got our first RV on Friday! Kids have been itching to try it out, so we're giving it its first overnight in our driveway tonight! Should be fun!

In 2 weeks we have a 1 night/1 camp stop. Week after that is a 4 night/3 camp trip. We've got firm plans/reservations made for those.

And then the week after that we embark on a 4 week cross country adventure. No plans made yet. I think we'll be playing it by ear! I suspect by the end of that we will either hate it or love it. 🙂

Wish us luck! Worst case, the house is a few steps away. 🙂

Dan, new owner of an old RV (2006 Fleetwood Jamboree GT-31W).

[Blazing_Zippers]

K3W3, could you tell us more? I mean, we're all friends here.

[dbwiddis]

It amazes me how much propane one can use keeping a camper warm. We've now invested in some (Black Friday deal) electric space heaters. 🙂

[mdcamping]

Welcome aboard! like everyone has said, you got the right idea, ease into it, find out what you need and ask lots of questions.

Hope you have great time on your camping adventures!

Mike

[Spleenstomper]

Good idea. We have been camping 4 of 7 times within 5 miles of our house. I think if you haven't been camping before, it is best to try it out a few times close to home. Enjoy!

[Canadian_Rainbi]

I have some friends who bought a new-to-them 38' sailboat and set off from near Victoria BC on a "shake down" cruise and ended up going all the way to Alaska and returned in the fall! Mind you they were experienced off shore sailors. But still . . .

[K3WE]

I have extremely fond memories of our first night in our camper in our own driveway!

[Bipeflier]

Congratulations on the maiden voyage in the driveway!

For the month trip, hope you are staying south, it's cold here!

[dbwiddis]

Successful first night! Learned where we want our alarm clocks/smartphones plugged in and appropriate thermostat settings, as well as how much propane gets used in a night.

Thanks for all the encouragement, everyone!

[mockturtle]

We always spent the first night of every trip in the RV. That way we could 'remember' items we forgot and make sure all systems were in good working order. Plus, we could get the stick & brick closed up, beds made, water heater and water main off, etc. the day before.

[Matt_Colie]

Dan,

By morning, you will realize why everybody recommends this as a first night.

Matt

[RoyB]

We sleep over nite alot in our two trailer setups here at the house. A great getaway...

Kids spending the night always head for the trailer first haha...

HDTV works great - use the fridge for backup to the house fridge - also allows me to support the house when we have power failures etc... I can run 120VAC extension cords to the house and we keep trucking on power wise... Then its easy running the 2KW Honda generator to recharge the batteries the next morning just like we do when camping off the power grid.

Just remember when camping you will be close to a WALMART or a LOWES just about anywhere you end up... We always stop at a WALMART just before arriving at the camp sites for the two to three days final stock up on groceries and items..

Its all about PLAN Bs here...

Roy Ken

[Jim_Shoe]

You'd be amazed at the number of Rvers that don't do that and pay for it. It just ruins that first adventure if you spend all your time and money in stores buying what you forgot or didn't know you needed.

[dan-nickie]

Driveway camping is the best way to start out.
Then a couple of short trips to work out the bugs and get familiar with the rig.
You have a good plan.
Have fun.

[SCVJeff]

Excellent idea! It's way better to figure out what you forgot or need a system refresher on in the driveway than pulling to the CG and say ^}!.*}!\<£. .?>' (all bad words) when you forgot something and the store just closed.