Questions about RVing

[Mailmom]

My husband and I are considering RVing in the near future. We love to travel, but while working RVing has not been possible. There is so much of America we want to explore and think this would be a great way to go. We have always owned a truck and trailer for many week and weekend camping trips and a few long trips over the years. Now we would like to venture on longer trips, staying in areas along the way for several days and maybe even weeks.
Some of my questions to you experienced RVrs - Am I dreaming to think I can travel up the California coast staying in RV parks or national parks and seeing the sights? Will it be extremely cost prohibitive in camparison to taking a 2-3 week road trip in a car, staying in motels?
I can truly see us taking a 3-4 month RV trip to the east coast, parking the trailer and exploring an area for a week at a time. Am I missing an important detail here?
Thank you for your advice.

[Chock_Full_o__N]

Mailmom wrote:
WOW! So much great information! I can see I am planning in the right direction from all your posts. My goal to stay in an area for a week or so before moving on to a new area. Thank you all for the great suggestions and recommendations for me to look up information. I really liked the suggestion to do a 'test' trip. Great idea. We are 'three' when we travel, myself, husband and our adult handicapped son... he is 27 going on 10!.. always happy as long as he has his sprite and the sports page each day. I plan to use a travel trailer that unhooks from our pickup and take the pickup to adventure to places in the area. Tatest I appreciate the comparison of road tripping compared to RVing - good points. We are avid baseball fans - and want to visit and attend ballparks in our travels. Where we live now we are 500 miles from 7 different parks in 5 directions! We usually just road trip and motel when we go to any of those parks, but they are short trips. I really appreciate the suggestions on finding places to camp in different parts of the country. In Utah we can find camping spots most anywhere!

OT--I just wanted to say Bully for you! We traveled with our handicapped son until he was 17. He is much lower functioning than your son, like a 6'2",134-lb butterfly; he has the mental age of about 12-18 months. Still, he sure did love to go camping. We took him on a 6,000-mile cross country RV trip about 6 years ago and I'm so glad we were able to do it. He had a fabulous time. Our last trip was last September. DS is as big and as strong as a normal young adult male. He pulls me right off my feet now. DH is disabled and he can only handle him about 2 days, and only if I am there to help. On our last trip, DS had a major seizure, which was hard to handle in the confines of a TT. DH & I realized that it was DS's last camping trip. Kinda sad, but it is what it is.

Best of luck to you with your son. It sounds like he would really have a great time on your trip!

[1775]

It is certainly doable. Before you buy, rent and take a few trips. Yes, rental is expensive but you need to know if you are really going to like this. And you will know what type of RV or Travel Trailer you will be comfortable with. Have you ever towed anything? There is some learning curve, particularly in backing up. Then if you decide on a TT you need to match up the tow specs to your tow vehicle and see if you need a new one of those - or perhaps then you will choose an RV instead of a TT. You might like a Class B RV - big enough for 2 and can go anywhere a car can go.

Think of this as a whole new way of traveling. Many love it - some don't. It took us a year to say that we loved it - and we still do. We go sightseeing and not camping. We are out in the morning to see the sights and come back at the end of the day. Others love to stay in the campground and just look at nature and the other RVs parked around them. We will never stay in another motel/hotel again. There is a great benefit to sleeping in your own bed with your own sheets and not dealing with anything that the last guest left behind in the room. Is there a drawback to this - well if there is something wrong with a hotel room you ask for another room - if something goes wrong in your RV you stop your trip until you have it fixed or fix it yourself. As I say, it takes some getting used to.

As to expenses on a trip without factoring in the initial purchase costs and insurance - this varies by parts of the country. If you come to the East Coast you will encounter campgrounds that charge from $35 to $90 and more. We also discovered that there are not always campgrounds near to where large attractions are and cities can be a problem in general. The best way to find out is plan a fantasy trip - check out the campgrounds and set up a trip you might take Here is a link that will show you campgrounds for any location you put on the map on this link -

http://www.epgsoft.com/CampgroundMap/

For each campground there will be a link to reviews and the campgrounds website for current rates. Then compare that to what the trip would cost if you stayed in motels and drove your car. Expect that gas will be twice or more than what many cars will use. Food can be cheaper if you don't mind cooking every night. We use restaurants - it is a vacation for both of us.

Check out my site linked below to see what it was and is like for us who never owned an RV before. Go back to the beginning to see what we experienced shopping, buying, etc.

[StukInTexas]

I would not generally want to take an RV on HWY 1 other than for a short part of the road, meaning stay somewhere near a fork that branches back to I-5. I've driven it on a car many times. It gets VERY foggy sometimes, and the fog can take days to lift. When I say very foggy, remember that mountain fog you once saw where you couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of you...

I guess if you do it in the summer and make sure no fog and no bad weather in general. Though the road in places itself is treacherous, too many curves. It will wear you out from the LONG curves. In some ways it is worse than driving on mountain roads, because the roads are made to where people go much faster.

I got worn out driving it from LA to Monterrey when I was 25 years old and in a sports car, much less driving an RV!

Also people are careless on that road, sometimes motorcycles by kids, other times tourists looking at the scenery instead of the road.

I'd camp not farther than 10-20 miles from the ALT route, because otherwise you will get stuck on the road driving for hours and hours in the fog.

[Mailmom]

Thanks so much! I did not realize there would be a big difference in bumper pull and 5th wheels with the 1/2 ton pickup. Sounds like a good place to start. Thanks everyone for all the great information!

[SomedayisNow]

Make sure any RV & tow vehicle you choose, that the tow vehicle can STOP the RV in a safe reasonable distance.

[Terryallan]

Mailmom wrote:
I looked at a used 5th wheel the other day, but did not realize I would not be able to pull it with my pickup. My son-in-law explained it was too heavy - I would need something bigger. What size RV can I pull with a 1/2 ton crewcab Dodge? Maybe I am looking at way too much trailer?

There are a few 5ers that can be towed with a 1500, but you would prolly not be able to walk around the bed. On the other hand. There are hundreds of traveltrailers you can tow with a 1500. Just find your towing capacity, and stay within them. My Apex is 31' long, and weighes in the 6000lb range loaded ready to camp. My 150 towes it with ease.

[wa8yxm]

Regarding site fees..... The most expensive sites I've parked on were about the same as a decent hotel room in the same area.. Most were less expensive.. Plus there are a few "Ups and Extras" on hotels you do not bother with in an RV and a couple of "Extras" in the RV you do not get with the hotel room.

Meals: You can cook in your RV preparing a meal for a family of 4 for lelss than what just one person would eat at a restaurant, and if you are a decent cook the food is better, and healthier as well. Most people overlook this when calculating the cost of a hotel.

CampFires: you build a campfire outside your hotel room door.. Management is going to request you leave.. NOW, and they won't be at all nice about it.

What's under the bed: Hotel: you don't want to know: RV: you know, you put it there.

How to save a bit of cash doing the california coast bit....

Thousand Trails is a membership camping firm... They used to sell (And I have) "National Memberships" that let me to go most any of around 100 campgrounds scattered around the country.. 2 weeks from now I'll be in one, and six months (winter time) another (Gets too hot down there this time of year, too cold up here in six months). They stopped selling that class of membership and there are all sorts of nasty rumors about how long mine will be good.. This does not, however, concern you.

They now sell a "ZONE PASS" It is 500 or 600 bucks as I recall, gives access to roughly 1/4 of the TT/Encore parks (including some I can not use). sometimes they have a 2 for one sale (two zones one price) or you can get a 2nd zone at a discounted rate (not sure what that is) .

Like my membership it's 2 weeks in system, one out, I think you get 30 nights free and some small charge (3-5 bucks) a night after that 600/30=20/ight which is not a bad rate for campgrounds. and the low price after that is gravy.

You can choose to renew... If you wish.

IF YOU THINK this might be of interest,, First, most TT parks are like 35/night for non-members so you can "Try before you buy" and please PM me for a number to give to the manager when you buy. (my Member ID, yes I get credit).

NOTE: The downside (there is always a downside) Most of the parks are older, Most have fairly poor 30 amp service on most of the sites and the 50 amp sites cost more even if you only use 30 amps. And they have been operating "Short on funds" for a while so sites may not be as clean and level as some newer parks.

Still.. If I had to give up one of my memberships (I have 2 in different systems) I'd keep the TT,, Why.. Well.. The staff at the TT parks is the best of any of the parks I have visited.... And as I'm a "Regular" I have lots of friends in those parks as well. Heck, the manager in Wilmington, OH, is named AMY,,,,, So is my daughter (Though she lives a "Few" miles south of Wilmington,,, Like southern Georgia).

[bikendan]

Mailmom wrote:
I looked at a used 5th wheel the other day, but did not realize I would not be able to pull it with my pickup. My son-in-law explained it was too heavy - I would need something bigger. What size RV can I pull with a 1/2 ton crewcab Dodge? Maybe I am looking at way too much trailer?

we need more info other than just "1/2 ton crewcab Dodge".
year, engine size, factory tow package or not, bed size, rear end ratio and 4x2 or 4x4.
very few 5th wheels can be towed by a 1/2 truck, usually only the smallest and with the lowest pin weight.
that's the problem for nearly all 1/2 tons, when it comes to 5th wheels.
they don't usually have enough payload to handle the pin weights of most 5th wheels.

[Mailmom]

I looked at a used 5th wheel the other day, but did not realize I would not be able to pull it with my pickup. My son-in-law explained it was too heavy - I would need something bigger. What size RV can I pull with a 1/2 ton crewcab Dodge? Maybe I am looking at way too much trailer?

[Terryallan]

tenbear wrote:
If you include the cost of the RV then RVing is more expensive than a car and motels. .

Not necessarily. MY RV, $20K. 8 nights for my family at a Myrtle Beach oceanfront condo. $5740.00. X 5 trips = $28,700. So in 5, 8 night trips to the beach. My RV is more than paid for itself, the site rental, and the fuel it took to get it there.

And that is not even counting the numerous trips to the mountains. So for us. RVing / Camping is WAAAAY less than moteling, or condoing. In fact. If it were not for the Camper. We would have to stay home.

[frankdamp]

We reckon on 200 miles per traveling day at 7 mpg plus CG fees, mostly in the $30 to $50 a night. We don't tow a car, so we tend not to stay more than 2 nights anywhere. We do our sightseeing as we go. With current gas pries, and two nights every other place, that works out to around $125 a day, plus entry fees to tourist things if we visit.

As far as food is concerned, we eat on the road pretty much what we eat at home, so the difference is negligible (other than buying commercial bread instead of making our own).

[Squonk61]

I can totally relate. A combination of dry camping and electric hook ups will definitely get you thru New England cheaper than a hotel. And knowing you have everything with you is comforting. I've found truck stops (free) and destination combos to be cost effective.

[dennis1]

Yes it's doable. My feeling is you can fly to your destination, rent an car and eat out every night and stay in a motel. You can do you destination in 4-5 days. However is you have an RV you do the same thing. However You can stay twice to three times longer. In your RV you can't add the cost of food because you got to eat anyway but you don't have to pay for high price restaurants food. The biggest cost is fuel and Campsite. But if you don't go into RV resorts you can get by cheaper. Of course this is not counting the cost of RV itself. The sames goes with fishing. If you have to add the cost of the boat for fishing you might as well buy the fish. Now what kind of fun is that.

[Mailmom]

WOW! So much great information! I can see I am planning in the right direction from all your posts. My goal to stay in an area for a week or so before moving on to a new area. Thank you all for the great suggestions and recommendations for me to look up information. I really liked the suggestion to do a 'test' trip. Great idea. We are 'three' when we travel, myself, husband and our adult handicapped son... he is 27 going on 10!.. always happy as long as he has his sprite and the sports page each day. I plan to use a travel trailer that unhooks from our pickup and take the pickup to adventure to places in the area. Tatest I appreciate the comparison of road tripping compared to RVing - good points. We are avid baseball fans - and want to visit and attend ballparks in our travels. Where we live now we are 500 miles from 7 different parks in 5 directions! We usually just road trip and motel when we go to any of those parks, but they are short trips. I really appreciate the suggestions on finding places to camp in different parts of the country. In Utah we can find camping spots most anywhere!