Zulu

Reminds me of the Monty Python routine. Anyway, my wife and I were in similar situation when we started full timing in 2013 -- I was 63 and she was 61. Both of us had to purchase our own health insurance for several years. Also, we started full timing a year before the ACA was even available. Luckily, for the first 18 months, I had a good BCBS COBRA plan (national-wide network, dental & vision, $1000 deductible) for about $1000/month. On the other hand, the "closest" private health insurance at that time was about $860 with $5k deductible and plenty of restrictions. COBRA got me to Medicare age. My wife went on an AZ ACA plan ($1100/month) for about 2 years after that. Then she went on Medicare in 2016. If we were thinking about full timing now, we would wait until we both could get Medicare. The ACA is too expensive if you have to pay full cost. However, if you can "adjust" your income level, you can qualify for an ACA subsidy, which could greatly lower the premium cost of your health insurance plan.

Are you using the ACA?

Remember what Egon said.

When we do this (also in Sept), we go South -- I-25.

Only a month late . . . No, it's not true. In the approximately 1,700 State Parks and 1,500 Federal Parks about 50% of the sites can handle a 40-foot RV.

I'd recommend HealthSherpa. From the horse's mouth: How To Estimate Your Expected Income I believe AK, AL, AR, CA, FL, and WY all offer nationwide (typically, but not exclusively "PPO") plans. It sounds like you are domiciled in TX. If you're under 65 and need an ACA plan, I think a FL EPO plan is still your best bet. For sure.

Yep. My "desirable" RV is more along these lines . . . 2002 32' Country Coach Intrigue or 2005 34' Country Coach Allure. Well, in a week you went from 30 - 35 feet to 36 - 37 feet. So in another week . . . you'll be at 40'? Just kidding. You said that you had rented and driven a Class C before. Have you driven a Class A? I think you should try searching on RV length & king bed. Then see what's available. For example, here are a few, but they're over $100k . . . - 36' 2017 Nexus Bently DP - 36' 2017 Forest River DP

Amen. We went from 34' gas Class A to 40' DP with some trepidation, but we don't regret going longer. Plus a diesel ride is much more comfy than a gasser -- and that makes a big diff when traveling long distances. That said, I've seen full timers (with big dogs!) in those little teardrop tow behind trailers. So dinky can be done. However, for your wish list, I don't see anything less than 40'. For several years when we part timed, we used state parks exclusively. However, before we started full timing I decided to compile a list of length restrictions in State and Federal campgrounds. Here's what I found: State Park Data Federal Park Data To sum up, nearly 50% of the sites in state and national parks have sites 40 feet or greater. However, under 10% for state parks and under 5% for federal have full hookups. That's the hangup for me. OP is from Roanoke, VA. Seven out of the last 10 Escapades have been 1000+ miles from Roanoke, so OP might be an expert driver before he arrives at an Escapade driver school. Either find a driving school or do what Barbaraok recommended: BTW, my wife is now doing most of the driving too. Both of us had a learning curve, especially with mountains, but we got it.

Ok, did you read my link?

Nope. Purogene SDS Sodium Dichlor SDS

That slime is biofilm which will probably be present regardless of the how much chlorine is present. In fact chlorine disinfection may "select out" less harmful bacteria in favor of deadlier pathogens (see Reduced Chlorine in Drinking Water Systems). For tank sanitation, I've switched to Purgene instead of bleach. Yes, I use sediment, carbon block, softener, and UV filters on my water before it enters my tank. However, when on the road, I don't think I ever let water in my tank sit for more than a few days.

You don't full time, right?

Not a fair comparison. The effects of an auto accident are very evident and often dramatic. The effects of drinking bad water may be delayed, cumulative, or not evident at all. Also, this is an odd way to judge risk. It's like a heavy drinker saying "At least I'm not a smoker."

The arguments For Tank Drinking seem to break down into two reasons: REASON 1 -- "I've been drinking from our water tanks for XX years and I'm still standing." Well, using that line of reasoning, I think I'll cancel my auto and health insurance because I'm accident free and feeling pretty healthy. Right. REASON 2 -- "Man up! What doesn't hurt you only makes you stronger!" Almost to a certainty, drinking out of a garden hose will be mentioned. As if this compares to drinking from a contaminated water source. People wax nostalgic explaining this reason . . . they'll talk about their younger days drinking from hoses, wells, streams, etc. You know, the days before the amounts of agricultural and manufacturing chemicals went through the roof. Finally, will you be ok drinking from your RV's water tank? Probably. However, most of us here are getting up there in years and our immune systems aren't what they used to be when we were drinking from hoses. So I don't drink directly from my water tank. I filter the bejeezus out of that water first because from my experience, campground water systems are not as good as municipal systems.

Not me. Been to too many campgrounds with questionable water. I filter my water tank through reverse osmosis for drinking water.

I've been full timing since 2013 and I think some times are actually better than others. To me 2020 (and probably 2021) aren't those better times. I continue to run across people in denial or pretending that there's nothing to worry about traveling. They believe that if they're careful, it'll all be ok. However, you're obviously committed, so . . . be very careful because many others aren't.

Ditto. However, the manufacturer of my two, clear Big Blue housings claims they won’t last as long as opaque ones. Nevertheless, I got over 7 years out of them before I replaced them — with another set of clear housings.

The manufacturer who makes the pleated 5 micron sediment filters I use does not recommended cleaning filters that are less than 5 microns. So I’ve stuck with 5 micron filters which I can clean over and over again.

If you don't have to, don't go. There's a whole lot of pretending going on about the virus . . . pretending that kids can go back to school, pretending that if we're careful (and many, if not most, aren't), then it'll be ok, pretending if we ignore it, it will go away, and so on. Don't kid yourself.

Settings -> Power -> Inactivity Timeout

Unlike HDTs, eh?

When I first joined this site a few years back, there was only an "HDT" (and maybe "MDT") truck sections. It took a lot of persuading to get the sections you see now -- Class A, Class B, etc. So in the meantime, try the IRV2 Truck Camper forum.

When I'm sitting outside, I use it with my iPad with the Dish Anywhere app installed. I connect my Hopper 3 and iPad to the same WiFi hotspot and watch live or recorded TV programs. Since the two devices are on the same hotspot, no broadband data is used. Very handy.

RV Roof Vent

BTW, if you put the DPH42 switch on your RV roof, I'd suggest putting some sort of sun screen over it -- just don't box it.