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Our Foretravel has decent-sized tanks, and we've gotten used to how long we can go before needing to fill/dump. When traveling I plan on dumping and filling when we arrive at a campground. One park we like has only electricity at the sites. You dump and fill at the dump station, which is conveniently located for people leaving, but is still possible for arrivals to get in and out. Why not dump when leaving? I think that everything sloshing around gets it all mixed better, so that more stuff dumps out. Like others, we have a third valve, so the procedure is this: hook up the stinky slinky; open the third valve; open and immediately close the grey valve to check for leaks, poor connection, etc.; if all okay, dump black tank; leave black valve open and dump a bit of grey; repeat as often as necessary until no more brown water; close black valve and finish dumping grey tank. I wear disposable gloves for all of this. When everything is done and cleaned up, I throw the gloves away and hook up the fresh water hose. You will work out your own system. Whatever you settle on, though, follow it every time. Don't let someone distract you while filling and dumping. We can all tell stories of what we've seen others do.

The nominal difference is 3' and the actual difference may be more or less that that. The 43' coach has a tag axle, so that's another two tires and air bags vs a 40' without a tag. We have a 40' MH and tow a Lincoln MKT, so we're about 65' overall length. We generally prefer back-in sites, especially if we are staying several days. We've not had a problem finding sites that suit us. We rarely just show up somewhere and try to get a site. If we don't have planned reservations we'll call ahead and ask. How often do you have all five granddaughters with you, and how old are they? If this is a most-of-the-summer thing, and they are getting to the teen years, yes, the 43' is the way to go. If it is only two or three of them at a time, for a weekend, you could go either way. Since you already have an RV you know about "doing" all the daily activities to see how the floor plan works for you. It sounds like both coaches have been used, which is a good thing. The Phaeton may need tires, while the Allegro Bus may not - yet.

We haven't stopped yet, but are pausing for a time. I've accepted a part-time, temporary position for up to two years. We'll be able to travel some during the summer, so will so some exploring in the general area. Last year we got a lot at The Ranch (Escapees co-op in SE NM), which stood us in good stead this spring. About the time we were scheduled to head out was when everything shut down. This is a discussion that every family needs to have. Sometimes the health of one person dictates a change. Sometimes it is just not as much fun anymore. Whatever the reason, all of us need to have at least some sort of plan for the day when it becomes necessary to slow down our activities. We may not get to follow our plan, but at least some discussion ought to be held prior to the day when a decision must be made.

South Dakota also has an online form to download. As was mentioned above, you will have to mail that form in and then the actual ballot will be mailed to you at the appropriate time. Beware, though, that if you have it sent to your mail service, you will have to let them know to send the mail on to you in a timely manner. We've received our absentee ballots several days AFTER the election. I don't think that the election officials are able to send the ballots to wherever you happen to be. They will send them to your official address (your mailing service) because technically that's where you live.

If you find something, please let the rest of us know. Seriously, you might see if some sort of hoist mechanism could be installed. I suspect that height may be an issue, but maybe going to the 30# tanks would help. They aren't as tall, nor are they as heavy. If you are at a lot that you own/lease (like at an Escapees co-op) you may be able to have the local propane company park a tank on your lot. They will keep it full, and all you will have is a hose that goes to your coach. We have a lot at The Ranch and that's what our neighbors just did.

Since we've kind of strayed to PPL, I've been to two of their three locations. Houston has FAR more rigs than you could want to think about. They are packed in with just enough room to squeeze between one and the next one. As was mentioned above, most of the rigs are just as the seller left them. They do offer an optional clean-up service, but I don't think may sellers take advantage of it. The prices are at the low end of the scale, and they move the inventory quickly. If you are looking for a diamond in the rough, you may find it there. We've also been to the New Braunfels location. Not as many rigs there, and they seemed to be in better condition. MOT has an excellent reputation with the Foretravel people.

I wouldn't say a six-day-old thread was very old. We had a similar experience when we were first starting out. For some reason, don't remember why, I shut the MH off at the end of the driveway. When we got ready to start again, a few minutes later, no start. After some headscratching, meter reading, and a phone call, I disconnected all of the battery connections, cleaned them, and reinstalled them, making sure that everything was good and tight. The Detroit fired up almost before I hit the switch. Lesson learned.

Yesterday we came down from Gering, NE to Limon, CO on hwy 71. The first part was nice. The last half, though, was terrible. The road was very rough, and 50 mph was the best compromise between getting there at a reasonable time and shaking things apart. We did lose one breakable item that was supposedly stowed in a safe place (where it has ridden for six years), but fell to the floor and smashed into lots of little, sharp pieces. Replacement is on order. Tomorrow we go to TX, and we're on US highways, so maybe they aren't as rough.

A private seller is selling the vehicle as is, where is. There is NO guarantee that it will do anything. Offsetting that is the fact that the seller is usually the person who is most familiar with it and can give you a really good instruction time. Private sellers sometimes have no idea of what their rig is worth, so you may have to educate one or two. A reputable dealer (and "reputable" is the key) has a good reputation in the area and wants to keep it. Said dealer has spent some money on the rig before you ever see or hear about it. Some other rig went off the lot at a huge discount because the dealer gave that buyer a trade-in allowance. The dealer has no guarantee that anyone will every want to buy that coach. Offsetting that is the fact that the dealer usually knows exactly what he can get for the coach and factors in his expenses and overhead in making the trade-in offer. The coaches on the lot are generally priced a bit higher than what the dealer expects to get for them because people like to negotiate the price. I said that "reputable" was the key. There are some dealers that only want one reputation - they sell for the lowest price. Those people do the bare minimum to get a rig ready for sale, they know little about their inventory (other than what they are supposed to get for it), and really aren't expecting you to return to them. It still comes down to buyer beware. Do your homework before you go looking. Ask questions, both about the prospective coach and the dealership. Join the owners forums for any brands you are considering, ask lots of questions there, and when you are going to go look at a specific rig, ask about it. Ask that any comments be sent to you privately, not posted publicly on the forum. Sometimes people know things about an owner or rig that they don't want to share publicly.

There are several threads about buying/selling an RV from/to a private party. The biggest issue is one of trust. In your case, are you willing to give a stranger the keys and title to your rig before you know you have his money? Unless the buyer is paying with actual cash, the piece of paper he presents may or may not be worth anything - and that includes "bank" checks. One common method is that the buyer leaves with the keys and a Bill of Sale but no title. When the check clears the title is mailed. If the check doesn't clear the police are notified, as the rig is considered stolen. The buyer should come to you, and will be responsible for doing whatever is necessary to title/license the vehicle in his State. If Texas wants you to turn in the plates and registration in order to get a refund that's on you. Some States do that, and others don't. We just paid the bill to get our MH license plate renewed, and our coach is for sale. I think that SD (our domicile State) doesn't issue any refunds and doesn't transfer plates, so if we sell to someone else who has a SD domicile the State will collect twice on this coach. Oh well, so they get an extra couple hundred dollars. Big deal.

I, too, quit FB several years ago. Interestingly, several of our children/children's spouses have also quit - and they are in their 30's. BTW, this forum is also a social media thing, and anyone can read what you post. They may not be able to get a lot of details about you, but someone with malicious intent toward a specific individual could perhaps glean enough to cause some damage. Read over what you wrote BEFORE clicking the button. Besides catching errors that might make you look foolish you may decide that you have written something that you'd rather not share with the whole world.

Welcome, Emily. Lots of opinions on everything, and as always, the correct answer is, "It depends on you." A diesel pusher will cost you more to buy and maybe to own, but gives you lots of advantages, as mentioned above. Gas is cheaper to buy and maybe to own, as mentioned above. Your choice. Remember that everyone drives a used vehicle. All recreational vehicles depreciate, so you can buy a nicer MH for the same amount of money if you are willing to go a bit older. The one we're in was $350,000 new in 1993. I've got it for sale for 10% of that now. Hurricanes: A visitor to Florida asked an old timer where he should go if a hurricane was coming. The old timer answered, "Michigan." An RV has wheels so it can go elsewhere when that seems like a good idea. Just don't be the last one our of Florida. Covid: There are some great deals to be had now. We're getting to the main travel season, and things are starting to open up. Be careful, but be ready to buy when the right coach comes along.

Welcome, Les and Elaine! My suggestion is always to do a LOT of research before making any major decisions. Start with the type of RV. Have you considered travel trailers, fifth wheels, and class A motor homes before focusing on a class C? That's perhaps the first place to start. How will you use your RV? Are you looking at a full-time coach, a long-time vacation coach, a vacation coach, a few times a year coach? Are you minimalists or do you plan on taking everything possible with you? As you talk about your proposed plans you should look at every single RV you can get into, no matter the cost or condition. You are looking at two things: quality and floor plan. It won't take very long for you to figure out what floor plans will work for you and what brands have the quality you are looking for. As was mentioned above, "do" your regular activities ("cook" an meal, "watch" television, "take" a shower, "use" the bathroom, etc.). Class C motor homes originally (50 years ago) were a combination of a pickup camper attached to a cargo van chassis. They have grown considerably since then. Like some class A motor homes, some have quite a bit of coach behind the rear axle. That can create some driving problems if you don't pay attention to how you are loading and how you are driving. Some years ago there were quite a few class C rigs that were near their maximum allowable weight with only full fuel and a driver aboard. Be sure to check the weight information on anything you are considering. This advice applies to ANY RV you are looking at, not just a class C. Remember that most people will tow something with something else. Those who choose a travel trailer, popup trailer, or fifth wheel will tow it with a car, truck, van, etc. Those who choose a class A or B will often tow a car, motorcycle, truck, etc. behind it. The reason is that the towed vehicle can be used to go sightseeing, shopping, etc. without having to take the entire rig. Remember that when the RV moves, everything has to be stowed for travel - even if you are just going to the dump station. Spend some time talking with owners of various types of RVs. Don't ask them why they chose that particular coach; ask them why they chose that TYPE of rig.

I believe that many, if not most, co-ops require you to visit BEFORE getting on the waiting list. The listing by 2gypsies, above, is interesting, but reflects THEIR priorities, which may or may not match yours. You can, however, use the information there to put the list in an order that reflects your interests. We're not interested in swimming pools, so we'd probably put those places at the bottom of our interest list. We had visited two co-ops before we put our names on a waiting list. Both were interesting to us, so we chose the one that we thought would be the best fit. We had a wait of several years before we got to the top of the list, so even though we expressed interest in certain lots, we were too far down the list to get one. As we were waiting we started looking at actual driving mileage from each co-op to family. It turned out that the place where we were on the waiting list was FARTHER away than the other place (we thought it was the other way around, but that was just guessing). As it turned out, a lot that was pretty much what we wanted was available at the other co-op, so we asked for our deposit back from the first co-op and signed the papers at the one that was actually our first choice - The Ranch. BTW, some people have lots at more than one co-op. It may be that one of the southern ones would be a good winter headquarters for you, and one of the northern ones might be a good summer headquarters. I'd suggest that you look at each one's website and plan a visit to those that look interesting to you.

We use another mail service (Escapees wasn't in SD back then) and we've instructed them to always use Priority Mail. The two-day promise is a joke, as we've NEVER gotten our mail in two days. It sometimes takes that long just to leave Sioux Falls. We plan that it will always take a week, so that we're pleasantly surprised when it arrives sooner.

We're heading north on Monday. We have things pretty well laid out for May and the first bit of June, then we'll see what's what.

Welcome to the forum. You are on the right track as far as doing research BEFORE you buy something. We did several years of research before buying what was right for us at that time. Question 1: How much can your present truck tow? You really need to have actual weights for both axles to start. Fill the truck's tank, then put in everything that you KNOW will be in the truck when you are towing. Weigh both axles. Now you know what's already on those axles, and the door sticker will tell you how much more you can carry. When you look at trailers, use the GROSS Vehicle Weight Rating for the trailer. The sales person will often quote the empty (dry) weight, which is less. You're most likely going to be close to gross weight, so use that number. Figure 15% of that weight will be your hitch (tongue) weight, which goes on the rear axle of the truck. Question 2: Can your truck be towed behind a motor home? Check http://www.remcotowing.com/Towing/Store.php to find out. If it can, you have a choice about with type of RV to get. If not, you are limited to a trailer unless you are willing to trade vehicles. Question 3: Do you NEED a truck? If you went with a motor home you could tow something else. That might be something like a Smart (good fuel economy), a Jeep set up for off-road adventures, or even a luxury car (we tow a Lincoln MKT). It might be that your truck isn't worth what you have in it, and you don't want to trade vehicles. That's your call. Which is better? Only you can make that decision. I'd suggest you go to every RV dealer and show you can, and go into everything there, no matter the condition or price. It won't take long for you to figure out what floor plans will and won't work for you. Then it is just a matter of finding the right floor plan in an RV that meets your quality and budget requirements. Final thought: with all of the concern about disinfecting things, you might want to seriously consider only those rigs that are completely self-contained, so that you don't need to use the campground facilities. That was one of our requirements when we bought our coach seven years ago.

Well, we were supposed to be long gone from here by now, but things changed. We've been saying that when we start planning God starts laughing. We actually only have one thing that HAS to happen this summer: getting our drivers' licenses renewed in SD. Worst case, we could leave the MH here at The Ranch and take the car up to SD, get the licenses, then return. That would be four days on the road, but doable. Assuming that we could actually do the other thing on the plan, a wedding in NW IA, we're looking at possible routes. Beyond that, we'll see what happens.

We're in the other camp. When it is time to fill and dump I connect the proper hose, take care of that job, then put it away and do the other hose. When I'm dumping, I pull the grey handle and immediately close it again to check for leaks. When there are no leaks I dump the black tank, then use the grey to rinse the black. When the black is clean enough I close the black handle and open the grey. Once both tanks are empty I make sure the sewer hose is empty, then put it away. We normally fill/dump once a week, although lately I've taken to filling twice a week, just to make sure that I have plenty of water. If we went on a stricter water plan we could easily go 10 days between fill/dump days. We've had sewer flies a couple of times, and the sewer hose is connected only as long as necessary.

Is there any way that we can correct what we put in online? Like you, we didn't get anything in the mail, so we filled it out online. The instructions sure sounded like we had to put down where we were at that time (our winter base in NM), not our legal address (SD). After reading more since then, we really should have put down our SD address. Is there any way to correct it? We do have the number we got when we submitted the form online.

It seems that Jay has a couple of problems to deal with, and they are somewhat related. 1. Something must be done about his mother's property. Her will tells you what you must do as far as distributing the value of the property. Should you have the financial resources to do so, you could simply purchase the property yourself from the estate and distribute the cash to the various other heirs. Many people have done that, either because they actually wanted the property themselves or to buy themselves some time. You may well fit into the latter category. 2. Purchasing an RV. Many people spend several years researching this before making their first purchase. Since it sounds like you aren't an experienced RV'er yet, you may want to purchase your mother's property and stay there while you do your research. Don't be in a hurry to buy something just because prices are low right now. Buying the wrong thing, even at a low price, will be expensive in the long run. 3. A home base can be a good thing. Again, if your purchase your mother's place, you will have such a home base while you learn more about the rv life. No law says that the home base you start with must be your home base for all eternity. Of course, someone will have to take care of your home base while you are out on the road, and that may influence your decision. My suggestions are (and they are worth every penny you pay for them) are that you get some legal advice regarding settling your mother's estate. If the only beneficiaries are you and your siblings, and none of you are anxious to get it all settled, AND your attorney agrees, you may well all benefit from a bit of a delay. Begin your research on what sort of RV you want, need, and can afford. Find out what you like and don't like. Most people want slides, but some of us don't. Get used to the idea of something towing something else. A motorhome can tow an off-road vehicle, a trailer with a couple of different vehicles, a truck, or a fuel-efficient car. Your choice. A fifth-wheel (5'er) or travel trailer will require a truck. That truck will be your daily driver. A small trailer can be pulled by most SUV-type vehicles. Join the owners' forum for any brands that interest you, and ask lots of questions here and on any other forums you join. As you travel, check out the Escapees co-ops. Many have waiting lists, but if one seem interesting to you, you can get on the waiting list with a deposit that applies to your lease payment. Should you change your mind, that deposit is refunded. At least that's how the two that we dealt with operate. The waiting period can be as short as a few weeks to several years. Some of the Rainbow Parks have some lots that have long-term leases, and Livingston actually has an area with actual deeded lots. Lots of options with Escapees, and we're not the only such group. There are Airstream-only parks, should you purchase an Airstream.

We're in SE NM, and need to get up to SD sometime between 1 June and 7 September. We have a wedding to attend in NW IA in late May, so we were going to go to the wedding, then over to SD to get our licenses renewed. I'm guessing that we will be able to renew our licenses in time, but we may not be able to get to the wedding. Is there any issue with just passing through a State? As I write this, Nebraska has not closed down. I'm thinking that maybe we could get up to NW NM, overnight there, and then make it up to NE the next day, without stopping for anything.

We go to Walmart about once a week for shopping, and each time we check for RV tp, usually without success. Today, though, there was plenty, at at the usual price. Jo Ann picked up two packages, only to be told at checkout that there was a limit of one package per person. No sign to that effect. We went back later and each of us got a package.

Welcome! Removing the dining booth ought to be a pretty simple project. You may be left with some marks on the wall, though. The bedroom project will be a little more involved. The biggest part will be removing the wall between the living room and the bedroom. What's in/on that wall? Any electrical stuff? Is that where the television is mounted? The wall coverings (paneling, etc.) may not be continuous on the outside walls, so you will have a bit of a gap where the wall comes out. Same thing with any closet walls. You probably won't know about this until you start the demolition. You could try a phone call to the factory, but probably wouldn't accomplish much. You may want to think about keeping any built-in closets or drawers in the bedroom. Those can be very useful storage spaces that you have already paid for. You asked about software to help you design the project. I prefer some graph paper (I prefer 1/4" squares) and a sharp pencil with a good eraser. Costs very little, and you can see how the design changes over time.

A cat's litter box can also set it off. So can unusual air currents if the black tank is getting full. All of those, though, would be very intermittent. Since this happens only when not on shore power (what about generator power?) I'd look at the house batteries first. If they are good, check the date on the detector. Those things only have a five year life, and the newer ones will chirp to let you know that they are dying. From the age of your rig, that's probably a long shot, but it is also one of the cheaper fixes. Let us know what you find out.