2gypsies

We spent a week in Glacier Nat'l Park in rain. Still... our solar charged enough to keep us going. Again... we're not energy hogs. A reading light and the radio was just fine with us. Even if you're in dappled sun you'll still get some charge.

Backing into a pull-through spot doesn't always work because of angles and one-way roads.

Welcome to the forum! If you're going to stay in RV parks with hookups there's no reason to have solar. If you're planning on national parks, national forest campgrounds or just out in the boonies on national forest or BLM lands, then solar is awesome. You get a charge continuously with no noise. You won't be running the AC though and although you can get some charge in shade it will be minimal so you'll need to find sunny spots. We always stayed above 6500' elevation in the summer so it was fine with us. For our 40' motorhome we had 300w of solar which was plenty for us because we're not energy hogs. Some people would need more and if you have a residential refrigerator you'd need more. Batteries are an important part of solar installation.

Keep in mind that when folks refer to different types of camping without hookups, this may mean what they're talking about. Boondocking - out in the boonies; national forest lands or BLM lands Dry Camping - no hookups in an established campground; typically a national park, national forest campground but can also be in a state park, Corp of Engineers campground, county or city park and other public campgrounds. Pavement parking - such as WalMart, rest areas, etc.

Matthew, the family history you gave doesn't mean it's an absolute given for you. A lot of things aren't hereditary. You could also be in a car accident, for instance.

This is exactly what I would recommend. Go to a state park with full hookups, if possible, since you seem to want to experience public parks. Come into the park with a full tank of fresh water and empty grey and black. The first days do what they call '"dry camping" ( in a campground without hookups). See how much water you use and how fast the other tanks fill. See how long it takes before running out of power. When any of them needs help then plug in for the remainder of your stay and you'll probably need to dump the grey, at least. A full hookup site will help. This will give you a basic idea but definitely not foolproof. As to not setting off the smoke alarm when cooking - we had a plastic bowl cover with elastic (not a stiff plastic) that we found in a .99 store. I believe it came in a set of 3 sizes. One of them was a size that fit over the smoke alarm in the kitchen area. If we were going to make toast, especially, we'd put the cover on the alarm (stored with our toaster so we always knew where it was). That solved the problem. You have to remember to remove it though!! It seemed that only toast set off the alarm. We never fried foods other than eggs & the alarm didn't go off with eggs.

So instead, the upset guests were disabled because those with so-called emotional pets got their seat? Disney has a big problem there! The whole 'emotional pet' thing has gone too far. People need to put a little more honesty in their lives.

This was us, also. However, we left at ages 52. Never regretted it!

The Boomer group accepts any age...... and they are all ages. It's an awesome fun, active group & easy to make friends within it. No officers; no rules. Their big gathering is in January in Quartzsite.... approx. 150+ rigs present during a 2-week period. There are other planned meet-ups during the year in various places. Mini-rangs happen as people travel. Here's the recent newsletter: http://link.rm0004.net/client_files/Boomersbof/06_June_2019_Boomer_News.pdf

The America the Beautiful 62+ card. There are others if you're not 62 or if you're handicapped. https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm

We've used Miller for full-time coverage for all our years of full-timing. Every two years we'd call them to have them check for a better price and they always came through. Once a company gets you they feel they can gradually up the price. That's when we start checking around. Miller deals a lot with full-timers so they know what you're talking about. http://www.millerrvinsurance.com/

What brought PPL into this conversation? PPL doesn't do this. You take the RV to them & you don't have to make appointments for a potential buyer to see it. You don't pay PPL anything until it's sold.

Here's an excellent post on everything you wanted to know about Moab: https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29448394.cfm

There are a couple other posts on this subject. Hopefully, they can all be combined with comments so that we have just one to follow. I'm sure there will be many more posts. Good luck. It's not a done deal.

You certainly don't need lithium batteries or internet boosters. We full-timed 16 years without them. When we began we didn't have a t.v., computer or cell phone. We had the telephone booth! We got along just fine... even in the boonies. As to what kind of RV to buy it depends on many factors..... for full-time travel; for weekends & a two-week annual vacation; for sitting still in a campground, etc. If you've never camped you might want to start out with a small travel trailer - approx. 27' or a 5th wheel.... if you already have a truck. Then if you like it you can progress upward in size or type. Everyone is different. It's up to you alone. Don't fall for the 'you've got to have this and that' because you don't. Don't put a big chunk of money into something before you know if you'll even like RVing. Also, don't go into debt to do so.

You can certainly do it. You'll see all types of RVs and all lengths. You won't be driving at internet speeds so plan for the trip to take longer than you might think. You'll encounter some road construction as you do in the lower 48. Around Tok, Alaska there are always frost heaves to watch for & I heard that area is also doing construction so you'll be driving slow for 20-30 miles. The trip is very doable... it's just a long one. Don't zoom through Canada and the Yukon because it's just as beautiful as Alaska. Go up on the Alaskan Highway and return on the Cassier for different views. Taking the Cassier the end of August rewards you with fun watching the bears at Hyder, Alaska and their antics catching salmon. Be sure to stop. All you need for the trip is 'The Milepost' which is excellent for history and maps, Mike and Terry Church's book 'Alaskan Camping' which includes Canada and the Yukon and gives RV parks, campgrounds and boondocking spots. If you have time, get the TourSaver 2/1 coupon book online. One glacier tour will pay for the book and you'll want to do at least one. Don't bog yourself down with reservations. Pull into campgrounds early afternoon and you get a site. The only ones we made for the whole summer were for the July 4 weekend (Alaskans like to camp, too) and for 5 nights in Denali Nat'l Park's Teklanika campground. As it turned out we were a littler early so on a whim we boondocked nearby at a beautiful spot and drove into Denali early morning. We easily secured an additional 5 nights in Denali's front campground, Riley Creek. We saw 'THE' mountain 7 of 10 days. Some never see it. We also saw every one of the big animals founds in the park.... more than once. Now get packing.... you're late!

Ruby's RV isn't at Moab. For Moab you would fit in the beautiful sites of Dead Horse Point State Park. We love it there. We've also stayed at Ken's Lake.

Absolutely amazing bobsallyh!!!!

Hey.... I know that site #63 in Baker's Hole!! Glad you found a space. It's a beauty!!

Thanks. Sounds easy. Computers isn't something I enjoy so I didn't know how to approach it. I'll give it a try.

I have hundreds of Google Favorites (IE10) and I really want to start using Chrome but don't know how to move them over to Chrome. Is it possible? Thanks!

There are some 'rustic' RV parks in the vicinity of Tucson Mtn. Park/Saguaro West. Use this site to read about them: http://www.campgroundreviews.com/ Gilbert Ray, Pima County Park, is a favorite of ours right in the heart of hiking the Tucson Mtn. Park trails but I think you can only stay 2 weeks. Others in the area are Bar J RV, Desert Trails, Western Way. This is the area where Snyder Hill BLM boondocking is if you're familiar with that. Good luck!

I have it set with my credit card (cash back) to text me an alert when fuel is purchased. So far, it's only been when I purchase but in the past that wasn't the case. One does need to monitor purchases by credit card. We also use Quicken to reconcile everything. Have done that for over 30 years.

Also keep in mind what kind of activities you plan to do. We had a 5th wheel but hated driving the truck on gravel backroads looking for animals. The truck was very noisy & scared them away. Friends latched us onto 4-wheeling so when it was time to change RVs we chose a Class A pulling a Jeep. We could explore quietly the backroads and the 4-wheeling gave us lots of fun and seeing awesome countrysides with roads too narrow for a truck to go. If you're a fisherman or have other hobbies also think of where you'd put things. Do you think you'd enjoy dry camping in public parks or boondocking on public lands? If so, holding tank size would be important. Lots to think about. Whatever your choice you'll love the RVing lifestyle Best of luck to you!

Since you don't have children yet why not keep what you have until you really need to upgrade? Money saved and no need for a bigger truck yet.