trailertraveler

Not all outdoor kitchens have the same features. Some have a grill, some do not. Some have a sink, some do not. Refrigerator size varies as does cabinet/pantry space. Ours does not have a built in grill. There is a gas hookup so that a grill can be used that taps into the trailers propane system. I have a 10' propane hose that allows flexibility in where I place the grill. This eliminates the need to carry a separate propane tank for the grill. Our outdoor kitchen has a sink so that cleanup can be done outside. The sink has its own gray tank and sewer hose connection which I am not particularly fond of. The 3 cubic foot refrigerator will hold about 30 12oz cans and small water bottles. Ours has one cabinet that will hold a couple of table clothes, dish towels, the gas hose and some rolls of paper towels. We use the outdoor kitchen fairly often in good weather.

6 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

What's on the market to get WiFi extended into a shadow zone.

4 hours ago, docj said:

The WiFi issue can be  readily dealt with by having a router on the roof with a second one inside, connected to each other by Ethernet.  Essentially, the rooftop unit communicates with the outside world (WiFi access points and the like).  While the indoor router creates the network for you computers. TV's and similar stuff to connect to .

Not sure exactly what they are classified as but the Ubiquity Nano station or Nano station Loco are designed to be located outdoors. I think they are significantly less expensive than a good router which might have to be waterproofed to protect it from the weather. They connect to your router by ethernet. They have their own wifi antenna's and transmitter/receiver. I have used one for a number of years connected to several generations of WFR routers. Since you will not be on the move, the rather cumbersome setup procedure to connect to the wifi source will only be required at initial setup.

The Roku Direct TV channel was recently updated to provide access to both Direct Stream and satellite customers. You log in with your DTV account username and password and have access to the same channels as your satellite account. Prior to this you had to use the Roku app for each channel/network and go through a device activation process that required going to a website. Of course you need internet access to stream the content but if you are in located such that satellite reception is not available but have internet, you can stream your DTV channels. Roku seems to work fairly well with internet speeds above 1 mbs. An advantage I have found is that you can watch your DTV channels (different channels on each) on more than one TV without multiple receivers.

I know there are many that are not fans of DTV, but just thought I would pass this along for those DTV customers that were not aware of it yet.

Welcome to the Escapees Forum!

With a Class C that has jacks, you may find one of the cell phone apps useful. Here is a link to download one. I used the trailer (caravan) version and it seemed to work pretty well but you needed to go in and out of the trailer to view it. If you can place the cell phone on the floor of the RV where you can see it from the jack controls, I think it might work pretty well.  Here is a video of another one.

Again, Welcome to the Escapees Forum!

On 11/19/2022 at 5:52 PM, pemase said:

I have in mind this tire: 225/75 R16 Pirelli Scorpion Atr Slt110

Check the Load Range rating recommended by the coach manufacturer. My 3500 Class C and current 3500 pickup run Load Range E tires. A quick internet search for the Pirelli tire showed them as Load Range D.

8 hours ago, NDBirdman said:

Has the *pandemic rush* to campgrounds calmed down, or are the campgrounds still full/booking way out? 

In our travels from the East Coast to New Mexico and return last August through November, things seemed to have eased a little bit, but much depends on the area in which you are traveling. Major highway and other infrastructure construction projects can fill all the commercial campgrounds for miles. Public campgrounds that do not allow long term stays are often the best option in such situations. We found that a number of Corps of Engineers and state park campgrounds have eliminated all first come first serve options. Some do retain some sites with a 2-4 day reservation window which worked well for us. The most common reason given was an inability to get camp hosts.

In planning for a trip South to Florida starting in February, one nighters do not look like they will be much of a problem. In Florida, multiple night stays appear to be harder to find. One other thing that I have noticed is that even small parks are starting to implement online reservations. This allows you to check availability as your travel dates approach and book a reservation when it looks necessary.

In the past couple of years, we have noticed some areas being closed to boondocking. In the Cottonwood AZ area, the roads in some areas were graded such that there was a significant ditch that would prevent most RVs from exiting the roadway. Specific areas were left where vehicles could exit the roadway and these were often occupied by one or more RVs.

5 hours ago, dblr said:

this year we are trying Oak Alley RV Resort in Webster Fl

We stayed there on a three nights for free offer last April. No sales pitch required. I think it was their first year of operations. I was impressed. The sites were mostly backins as I recall and pretty well spaced. They had about a dozen pull throughs with concrete pads for short term visitors. In addition to the facilities mentioned by dblr, they had a nice size dog run and even had a stainless steel dog bathing shower set up.

It is in the same general area as the Escapees Sumpter Oaks Park. Bushnell is not far and the Villages, Eustis and Mount Dora are not that far. There are quite a few RV parks in that area. Webster has a large flea and farmers market every Monday. There is also a smaller flea market in the area.

I have an HP 2700 series printer/scanner that seems to do a decent job at scanning. It will produce pdf or jpg files. It is wireless so can be placed anywhere in the trailer not just within cable distance of the computer. I am still using a 2000's version of a software called Image Expert (came as part of Dell Picture Studio) to crop, size, and make color/brightness adjustments. It works on Windows 11. I did have to buy a DVD/CD reader to load older programs from disc onto the new Windows 11 computer. Years ago I bought an attachment for my Nikon camera that would take photos of slides. I converted hundreds of 35mm slides taken from the 50's through the 80's to digital.

18 hours ago, Vladimir said:

TSP has low fees, but more importantly it has the G fund. 

A unique mutual fund open ONLY to members of Congress and Federal employees.  The G fund pays long-term interest rates on a daily basis with NO RISK to the underlying bond value.

I am familiar with the G Fund. If my memory is correct, when the TSP was first created, it was the only fund available. The stock funds were added later.

If you are interested in including U.S. government bonds in your IRA, these articles may be of interest to you. Can I Buy I Bonds with a Self-Directed IRA or Solo 401(k)?, How to Add Treasury Bonds, Bills and Notes to an IRA, 3 Ways Pre-Retirees And Retirees Can Use U.S. Series I Savings Bonds.

It is my understanding that I Bonds can be held for up to 30 years and the income tax on the interest can either be paid annually or when the bond is cashed in. The downside is that there are limits to how much an individual can invest each year.

If you are dissatisfied with the TSP, you can transfer all of your TSP account to an IRA account with a financial establishment(s) of your choosing. I did this years ago because it gave me a lot more investment options and control over my retirement funds.

I guess it depends on the parks that you stay in, but I have noticed no standardization of where the utilities are located on a site from park to park. Many have the utilities at the rear of the site. Others have them midway and some have them nearer the front. My electric inlet is on the rear driver's side corner of the 34' trailer. I recall only a few times that the 30' factory supplied cord was not long enough to reach the pedestal.

Have you tried calling or contacting WFR support through their website? I have found them to be extremely helpful. I believe DocJ on this forum is still associated with WFR. Try sending him a personal message. He is very knowledgeable regarding the WFR products. I believe the reset procedure using reboots has changed more than once. Not sure what the current intervals are. It may depend on the firmware version the router is running.  

I have used the same set of Linx levelers with the top caps since 2007. They are available at many Walmarts and on Amazon. There is a free app called Caravan Leveler that you can install on a tablet or phone. The downside of this is that it is inside the trailer and you have to go in and out of the trailer to view it. I mostly use a 10" torpedo level. If the bubble is slightly off center and the site is gravel, I will push up some gravel in front of the tire(s). If the bubble is off center about a half, I use 1 layer of blocks with a top cap. If the bubble is pinned to one side, I use two layers of blocks. I have rarely needed to use more than two layers. When the trailer is positioned where I want it, I place the blocks next to the tire. I then back up just enough to be able to push the blocks in front of the tire and then pull up onto the blocks.

We have had some success with ramps and some dogs that did not like them. The steeper the incline, the less our dogs seemed to like to use them. How does your dog get into the fifth wheel and the tow vehicle?

We spent September and most of October in New Mexico. The state parks are $14 a night for water and electric, $18 for water, sewer & electric in the few parks that have full hookup sites. New Mexico has an annual pass available to nonresidents for $225. The break even point is 23 days. Other State's parks seem to vary from $30-45 per night. Some give discounts to nonresident seniors, others do not. Some offer various discount passes.

With the Senior America the Beautiful Pass, Corps of Engineers parks in WV, AR, KS & NM varied from $10 - 26 per night with water and electric. We have only encountered a few COE parks with full hookups.  Forest Service and BLM campgrounds also honor the Senior Pass. Very few offer any hookups but there are some. We have a reservation at a Forest Service Recreation Area for a full hookup site in Florida for $221.50 for a week. This year we encountered some COE and BLM campgrounds that previously had at least some first come first serve sites now requiring reservations for all sites. The rules and reservation windows vary from park to park.

City and County Parks and fairgrounds often offer reasonable nightly rates. Unfortunately, one of the best resources for finding them, the Ultimate Public Campground Project is no longer available. 

Most of the commercial parks/campgrounds from Santa Fe South increase their rates substantially in October due to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. This fall, our commercial park stays varied from $22 in rural OK to $70 a night in tourist areas.

In my experience, relatively few back in sites are 90 degrees to the access road. I find it easiest to back in from the direction that presents the least angle whether that is from the driver's side or the passenger side. Backing into a site more than 90 degrees from the access road is not an easy task and I will even go the wrong way on a one way loop to avoid it. We did that just a few weeks ago at a COE park at the recommendation of the camp host. As for giving advise/assistance in the middle of an argument, I would avoid it.

We only spent a day in Knoxville on our way to Great Smokey Mountains National Park. This website was one of the more comprehensive I found when planning our visit.

12 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I guess that I was unaware that there are green people that hate RVs. Who and where are they?

I suspect that some of those folks that would target RVs would be the same ones slashing tires on SUVs. I will be very careful about where I park the 3500 if visiting larger cities.

8 hours ago, Vladimir said:

When I worked for the Forest Service it was open season on RV's, both internally and with the environmental groups that I had personal contact as part of my job.  Anti-RV people are everywhere!!! 

I had similar experiences working with Fish and Game agencies, but the wrath extended to hunting and fishing. There are a number of large popular organizations that desire to close all public lands to RV camping, hunting and fishing and any development. In the past, most limited their activism to law suits against government agencies and use permit applicants. Relatively few engaged in the more hands on disruptive tactics of Green Peace.

On 8/8/2022 at 8:48 AM, Kirk W said:

When you get there, ask to see what they know about the chage and share it with us, if you would be so kind.

We stayed two nights on a weekend and did not see a single employee. The campground was about one quarter full. Gate house was closed the entire time. There were notices posted on bulletin boards that said the change to all reservations was due to a lack of interest in gate attendant positions. Same day online reservations need to be made for what appear to be vacant sites. 

9 hours ago, Larry Burkett said:

I switched to Coach Net and last week lost a wheel bearing on our 5th wheel. It blew the tire out and ruined the wheel.  One call to Coach Net and they had a person out that got the spare on and followed us to the Indiana Welcome center in Hammond Ind.

How were you able to tow the trailer with a blown out wheel bearing? In my cases with the breaks dragging I would not have wanted to tow the trailer anywhere.

9 hours ago, bigjim said:

May not be relevant to your question but I have had coachnet for my TT for more years than I can remember.  I have had 2 tows

Were the tows for the tow vehicle or a trailer? All the providers kept asking about the truck as if that was what they intended to tow. I was never sure they understood that the trailer could not move far and would have to be loaded on a flatbed. Never got as far as where they thought they were going to take the trailer for repair.

6 hours ago, chiefneon said:

I’ve been using Coach Net now for several years after dumping GG ERS. used them several times even in Newfoundland and Alaska.

What kind of service did they provide. My recent issue is that Allstate, my Progressive insurance and Onstar will only provide a tow, tire service, jump start, or fuel delivery. They will no longer assist in helping to find onsite roadside repair.

9 hours ago, ARGO said:

who do you use now?

I currently have Allstate Road Help.

We have been taking cross country RV trips since 2004. Despite routine preventative maintenance we have had a number of needs for roadside assistance. I have always had policies with either Good Sam or Allstate Road Help in addition to the standard towing insurance that comes with the trailer/vehicle insurance. The last several years, Onstar for the truck also includes some roadside assistance help.

Our first two incidents were with a Class C which was under warranty and was towed by the roadside assistance provider to the closest dealer at no charge. Our next two events involved bearing failures on the trailer of the day. In both cases, the roadside assistance provider found and dispatched a repair service that in both cases replaced damaged parts and got us back on the road in a reasonable time.

This year we have had two issues with the trailer breaks over heating. In both cases, the roadside assistance provider, my insurance company, and Onstar would only arrange for a tow or tire change and refused to supply any contacts for roadside repair service. After numerous phone calls I was able to get roadside service and get back on the road. In both cases, 24 hour Diesel Truck/trailer service providers hooked me up with a service technician that could handle my situation.

Curious what others may have encountered recently when in need of roadside assistance for other than a tire change or tow.

11 hours ago, Kirk W said:

And that is only the places managed by the NPS. There are also parks and attractions managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureay of Land Management, Bureau of Reclaimation, National Forest Service, and probably several other federal agencies.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Tennessee Valley Authority are two of them that are popular with RVers.

11 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Then we could start to list the state parks, county parks, city parks, and on an on.

In addition to parks and historic sites; many states have state forests, wildlife management areas and state fishing lakes that are open to public recreation. There are even private organizations like The Nature Conservancy and Audubon Society that manage lands open to the public. At the county and local level there are many historical organizations both private and public that manage a wide variety of sites.

11 hours ago, Kirk W said:

This country should be very proud of the parks that it has.

I agree!!