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Re: Help with keeping Refrigerator running
If you run the refrigerator on DC while you are traveling, the safest option (especially when pumping gasoline), make sure to switch it back to gas at night. Otherwise you will quickly discharge the house battery. If everything is in good working order, the house battery, the refrigerator, and you have a full tank of propane, you won't have a problem. Done it myself many times. Good luck on your trip.596Views0likes0CommentsRe: Downsizing
Trackrig wrote: Not to be argumentative, but other than length, you can have the same problems with any rig. We have a 40' DP with a toad and have no problems finding fuel and we don't use the high priced truck stops. This last ear we went from AZ to FL and MN to LA. Bill You will almost certainly have fewer problems with a Class B than any other type of RV. 100% factory drive train from GM, Ford or Mercedes. No need to pull anything. If you want to stay parked somewhere for a while and want to get around, rent a car. We will be doing just that at spring training in FL in a few weeks.699Views0likes0CommentsRe: PleasureWay Excel Questions
We owned a PW Excel for many years and loved it. Did not have a generator and didn't miss it. We camped unhooked many times but usually drove around during the day, visiting a national park, for example. We camped in freezing weather many times and never had a problem. We slept in travasaks and warmed up the van in the morning. I couldn't help you with staying parked in the same place for more than a few days, we were always on the move. With experience and forethought, I suspect you will be able to do whatever you want. Enjoy your RV and good luck.631Views0likes0CommentsClass A vs. B 5.0 - Mobility
Mobility is a huge advantage small RV’s have over big ones. Obviously, it is easy to pull off the road into a fast food joint or restaurant or maneuver in a campground but that is not what I mean. The mobility I am talking about is very important to the RV travel experience and has 2 aspects: 1. When you leave a campsite in a big motor home pulling a car and head down the road to a new one, you are pretty much limited to staying on the highway, maybe pulling into a rest area for lunch. We are not restricted like this. For example, let’s say our next destination is 250 miles away. If there are places we want to stop and visit along the way, it is no problem to do it. We have done this hundreds of times. We have visited Great Sand Dunes NP in CO, Niagara Falls, the cool town of Gallup NM, the Painted Desert NP, Gettysburg, and many other places en route to our next over night stop. Not easy in a big rig. 2. If you are using a car to do your sightseeing or other activity, you have to double back to your campsite at the end of the day. If you drive the beautiful high road to Taos NM from Santa Fe, for example, you stop at the historic churches, towns and scenic spots along the way. How do you do this in a car? You have to drive all the way back to Santa Fe. What a pain! We just camped in Taos. The drive along Hwy. 138 in Oregon from Crater Lake NP down to I-5 is the same scene, you stop at a number of places along the way and hike to spectacular waterfalls through beautiful vegetation that looks like Hawaii., then camp for the night at a very nice county park east of Roseburg. In a car, you would have to use the pit toilets at the trail heads and double back at the end of the day – no thanks. We arrange our itineraries so we can take advantage of roads like this. These advantages are not obvious but you will see and do a lot more traveling in a small RV such as a Class B.1.1KViews0likes1CommentClass A vs. B 4.0 - Campgrounds and Campsites
With a small RV, you can camp in many great places that big ones can’t - either because they can’t get there or the sites are too small. This is a big plus for traveling in a Class B or similar. Many of our best experiences have been in places like this, often without hookups, where RV’s over 24 ft. are not recommended. Examples are the Chisos Basin at Big Bend NP and the campground at El Morro National Monument. Unfortunately, most commercial RV Parks are dumps. There are exceptions, such as Goulding’s in Monument Valley and Fort Wilderness at Disney World in FL (excellent!). There are some very nice RV resorts in FL and along the Gulf Coast for snowbirds and we stayed in one, Bentsen Rio Grande Valley in Mission TX, out of season. However, most commercial “parks” are really just big RV parking lots with the flavor of a trailer park. Our preference is to stay in state parks or national parks and monuments in a real campground. We see big rigs in these places sometimes, but more commonly they seem to ride the major highways and interstates and stay in a KOA or something like it. Part of our RVing routine is a walk after dinner around the campground and on the trails nearby. We have enjoyed the wildlife on these evening walks and have seen deer, elk, bear, javelina, alligators, and other birds and animals. This is not the scene at a KOA. Who wants to walk around a bunch of RV’s? In some places, we have been allowed to camp in the tent area because we have just the one small vehicle and don’t tow anything. We did this in Sequoia NP, Rocky Mountain NP, Disney World and this year at Colorado Bend SP in Texas. The tent areas are nicer than the RV parking area. At Disney World we camped in the tent/van campground. I had to go over to the RV area to empty our waste tanks and I could see that our campsite was better. The long and short of all this, in my observation and experience, is that smaller RV’s tend to stay in more attractive places.3.1KViews0likes7CommentsClass A vs. B 3.0 - Comfort and Convenience
People who are full timing or spend winters in Florida or down in the Rio Grande Valley can really take advantage of the space and conveniences of a big motorhome or towable - you can't beat it. A small RV like a Class B is not suitable for these purposes, although I suppose there are some people doing it for their own reasons. Travel, however, is a different story, especially for people who have an active travel style. A small RV can actually be a more comfortable way to travel around the US and Canada, visiting our national parks and monuments and beautiful cities and towns. Why? Because you have the conveniences and comfort of an RV with you all day long. You always have food and drinks handy, a bathroom, access to medicine, extra clothes, sporting goods and a place to eat. Big rig owners run around all day in a car and don't have these advantages. When we are on a trip, we normally leave our campsite at say, 9 AM and are out and about all day sightseeing, hiking, browsing stores (my bride's favorite sport) or whatever. We get back in the afternoon usually around 4 O'clock. Then we enjoy a drink outdoors, take it easy for a spell and eat dinner. After dinner we go for a walk, then go into the RV for the night. We will read, watch TV or a DVD then go to sleep, pretty much the same routine when we are home. So you can understand why the space and comparative luxury of a big MH don't have a payout for us. We don't want to sacrifice the convenience of the RV all day for just a few hours in the evening. I am not criticizing the big rigs, they are the right solution for many people. On the other hand, bigger is not always better, and a small RV does offer many advantages for extended travel.1.3KViews0likes2CommentsRe: Class B vs. A 2.0 - Flexibility
Hiker_01 wrote: A few months back, a friend of mine was asking questions about our motorhome, as he and his wife were thinking about buying some type of RV, but really didn't know what he wanted. Gave him a few questions with a spectrum of answers (below) that he and his wife could discuss which might help guide them on what to pick. So far, they are still only planning. How many days/nights a year do you plan to use the RV? Full Timer / 4-6 months total / a few weekends each year How many days/nights will your average RV outing be? Full Timer / 2-3 months / 2-3 days How many consecutive nights in one campground? As long as they let me / maybe a week plus or minus / 1-2 days max How many people will typically be staying in the RV? Always extra guests / sometimes extra guests / only us Where are you going to go with your RV? Snowbird it / A few local parks / See the USA At what type of campground will you normally camp? Everything provided / mix commercial & state/national parks / Boondocks How important is space inside the RV? Room for everything / middle of road / multi-use all space Bottom line - what works best for me won't work best for everyone - which is why there are so many types and sizes of RVs. A class B might work for the OP - but not for me, my DW and five cats. JMHO Don Very good points from a fellow Texan! We just got back from a trip and never left the state. Ssw a Hooks game in CC, visited the historic district in Laredo, hiked in Seminole Canyon and the Davis Mtns, and saw lots of wildlife. Stayed exclusively in state parks.672Views0likes0CommentsRe: Class B vs. A 2.0 - Flexibility
The point here has been lost by the focus on hotels. The key is flexibility. For example, we have parked overnight in my brother's driveway in Tucson, at vacation rental houses with our kids in the Outer Banks of NC and Traverse City MI, and right on the street in Lincoln Park Chicago. Yes, sometimes we stay in a hotel for the luxury after dry camping and hiking for a long time. Sometimes it is for location, we stayed right on the water in Miami Beach at the Marriott and in the middle of town in Victoria BC. The key is the freedom to stay where you want. I am very surprised at the reactions of Class A owners on this post who are amazed that some of us actually prefer the small RV's and not because we can't afford a big one, because the fancy Class B's sure aren't cheap!672Views0likes0CommentsClass B vs. A 2.0 - Flexibility
An advantage our small RV’s have over big rigs is the flexibility to stay in a variety of different places. Over the years we have stayed in state/federal campgrounds (our first choice), both plugged in and unplugged, commercial RV parks, hotels, the driveways or streets in front of relatives’ homes (while staying inside), resorts, rental houses, and bed and breakfasts. We are burned out on B&B’s – they are overpriced for what you get. When you are in a city, sometimes you want to stay in a hotel. Parking can be a challenge, you have to call ahead and make sure they have outdoor parking because parking garages are a problem. I tell them I have a “high top van”. We have done this in Miami Beach, Quebec City, Victoria BC, and many other places. Sometimes the parking lot is a few blocks away. It is no problem to leave the RV parked because of our two way refrigerator. When we visited New York, there is an RV park right across the Hudson River from the Wall Street Dock so we took the ferry, very convenient. In Wash. DC, San Antonio, and Toronto, we stayed in RV parks close to public transportation. This flexibility gives us a great travel experience. When you are tired of camping in the mountains, pull into a Marriott Courtyard for a break!7KViews0likes17Comments
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